KALIMAH ALLAH CONTROVERSY: DISTORTION, HYPOCRISY & MISCHIEF @heraldmalaysia

KALIMAH ALLAH CONTROVERSY:

DISTORTION, HYPOCRISY & MISCHIEF

By : Idris Md Isa

The Christians certainly have gone overboard in pursuing their demand to use the name Allah. There’s too much distortions and exaggerations. The issue originally before the court was ultra simple i.e. some time in 2008 the Home Minister had prohibited the Catholics from using the term “Allah” in the Malay language edition of their publication called “The Herald”. The Catholics then sought a judicial review of the Home Minister’s decision from the Kuala Lumpur High Court and also sought a declaration that the name “Allah” is not exclusively for Muslims. The application was granted. Hence, the appeal by the Home Minister to the Court of Appeal against the High Court decision, which the appeal court overturned. Since then all hell seems to have broken loose. Now, it’s not only about The Herald, the Christians/Catholics also want to use Allah’s name in their prayers and all other acts of devotion. 

Why this sudden obsession with Allah? A has law already existed in Selangor and  probably also in almost every other state in Semenanjung since 1988 prohibiting the propagation of other faiths among Muslims. If I remember correctly, the enactment, which I had a glancing read way back in the early 1990’s, even bans the publication of materials of other faiths, even orally, in Bahasa Malaysia/Malay. The words of the law, I still remember, are all embracing, leaving no room for manoeuvre. There wasn’t the slightest murmur of discontent then from the non-Muslims. With that law, which is still in force now, even the publication of The Herald in Bahasa Malaysia and the import of the Indonesian language bible [called Al-Kitab and uses the name Allah to refer to god] ought not to have been allowed in the first place.

I remember attending a PAS meeting, discussing about that enactment, chaired by the late Ustaz Fadhil Noor. Also present were a few PAS lawyers, where all present were in agreement that, if the letters and spirit of that law were to be applied strictly, even an open celebration of Thaipusam would not be allowed. At that time PAS’s number one concern or rather, political ammunition against UMNO, was apostasy and Christianization. How apt is the Malay proverb; “sekali air bah, sekali pasir berubah” to describe PAS. Now its leaders say; “we have other more pressing issues to tackle, like corruption, abuse of power by BN, etc, etc, than…..”you know what.

Later, in the late 1990’s the Home Ministry then banned the use of a number of Islamic religious words, names and terms by non-Muslims. Again, there was no complaint heard. After all, non-Muslims have no business to use them for their religious purposes, just as we Muslims would not use languages of other religions in our acts of devotion. Why this sudden obsession with Allah and other Islamic religious words, names and terms?

The reactions to the Court of Appeal decision, by Christians, non-Muslims of other faiths and Muslims themselves, were tempestuous, provocative, contemptuous, ill-mannered, uncivilized and full of arrogance. It’s insanity all around. The impacts of the court decision were also excessively exaggerated. The Christians and their supporters make it appear as though, with the ban, Christianity in Malaysia will become extinct because when deprived of the right to use Allah’s name, the Christians will not be able to practice their religion any longer. But how did they practice their religion before? Why this sudden obsession with Allah? This is mischief of the highest degree. The Christians’ attitude and conduct is most disgraceful.

The al-ahzab [alliance] of the kafirs and munafiqs even claim that Christians in Malaysia have been oppressed and the ban will open the door to further oppressions. There seems to be no limit to their distortions and exaggerations. The disrespect, ridicule and contempt the Court of Appeal decision has been subjected to are unprecedented. The Catholics even went to the extent of openly declaring they will not comply with the ban. This insolence and arrogance certainly bode ill for the country’s religious and racial harmony. They have now become the country’s biggest social menace.

The law, as it stands now, i.e. until and unless, the Court of Appeal decision is overturned by the Federal Court, bans the use of Allah’s name by non-Muslims. Why this lack of respect and civility by the Christians, especially The Herald editor, Lawrence Andrew? Has he not been advised by the Christian lawyers?

Anti-Islam @ pro-Christian news portals, with Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insider, The Malaysia Chronicle, Malay Mail online and Free Malaysia Today leading the way, even took the extra steps of roping in hitherto obscure foreigners, elevating them to the status of Islamic expert and scholar not only to give pro-Christian views and opinions but also to ridicule the Home Ministry’s action. Even local lawyers and academicians who were willing to support the Christians’ cause would get an instant bestowal of an expert stature. As for the so-called foreign experts, I would give some of them some benefits of the doubts because I did not know what kind of facts were presented to them to comment on.

My first advice to the Christians is, since you were the ones who initiated the court actions, you must be willing to accept the court’s decision with open mind. When the High Court decided in your favour, did the Muslims react the way you do vis-à-vis the Court of Appeal decision? Now that you Christians have filed in your application for leave to appeal at the Federal Court, why not let calmness, civility and commonsense prevail? Don’t you know that when a case is pending at a court, public discourse on it is prohibited? By the way, by writing this piece I become a law breaker myself. But I am forced by the circumstances created by the so-called [cry-baby] victims of oppression. The Christians and other non-Muslims are super quick to label Muslims/Malays as extremists, racists and bigots but they are much worse than the people they condemn.

The Christians argue that “Allah” is an Arabic term for god, any god at all and therefore, they have the absolute right to use it in their The Herald magazine to refer to god and also for their religious practice. They are absolutely wrong. “Allah’ is not a term, it’s a name under the category of proper noun that is incapable of translation.  A name God has given Himself. That’s why it’s always spelt with the capital “A”. But then, if it’s true that Allah is Arabic for god [which is not] when the Christians publish materials in Bahasa Malaysia/Malay, why not use the Malay word “Tuhan” instead? Why choose an Arabic word? What’s the Christians’ motive? If the Christians have accepted “Tuhan” as the translation for “God” in the first place, we would not have had this unnecessary social and religious storm. Why this obstinacy and belligerence as though they are willing to wage a war and die for it? And why this sudden obsession with Allah?

In a dispute of this nature, the ultimate arbiter has to be the book of Allah itself i.e. the holy Qur’an. The Qur’an is the only revealed book that has remained pristine pure throughout the ages. It is the only book where Allah is elaborately described and where Allah’s name is quoted and referred to directly, not by allusion or rhyme. Therefore, I will present my arguments that, linguistically, Allah is a name and a proper noun incapable of translation, not a term, and that doctrinally, Allah refers to a specific and the one and only Being, based on the Qur’an alone.

As a matter of academic interest, though, allow me to digress a little. Some claim that the name “Allah” has its origin in the Arabic words of “Al” (the) and “ilah” (deity or god). When combined they become “Allah” [trans: Alif Lam Lam Ha] which means “the One God”. And “the One God” refers to a specific Deity that also renders His name, in this case, “Allah”, a proper and not a common noun. It has been reported that this “theory” was expounded by Sheikhul Islam Ibnu Taimiyyah. I find this proposition untenable because since the Arabs were the descendants of prophet Ismail a.s. [upon him be peace], son of prophet Ibrahim a.s., Allah must have been known by a different name before him. This goes against the Qur’anic narrations, unless the Arabic language existed before its people. Many verses in surah Hud [Hood], just to quote a single chapter, indicate unequivocally that the name Allah was already used even during the time of prophet Noah a.s. [upon him be peace] who lived hundreds of thousands of years before prophet Ismail a.s. I will just quote two of those verses here i.e. verses 15 & 16; “We sent Noah to his people [with a mission]: I have come to you with a clear warning; That you worship/serve none but Allah….” And verse 41; “So he said: Embark ye on the ark, in the name of Allah, whether it move or be at rest….” Additionally, if Allah was known by a different name before prophet Ismail a.s., prophet Muhammad [saw] must have informed his companions about it because it’s a fundamental fact but there is no such hadis.

Now, here’s my arguments on the linguistic issue. Firstly, the phrase BismIllahir Rahmanir Rahim, [In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent and the most Merciful], a phrase on almost every Muslim’s lips almost all the time, a phrase always recited by most Muslims before embarking on any permissible act [as opposed to sinful ones and those permissible but disgusting acts] is an irrebuttable proof that Allah is a name, not a term  and a proper noun at that. The next evidence/authority/dalil is the first verse of the first or the opening chapter of the Qur’an, surah Al Fatihah; “All praise be to Allah, Lord of the universe” [Trans: AlhamdulIllahi rabbil ‘alamin].  This verse and the earlier paragraph above [on the theoretical origin of the name Allah] also are evidence that the generic Arabic words for god are “rabb’ and “ilah” .

Additionally, verse 54 Surah Al-A’raf: “Verily your God (Rabb) is Allah” and verse 14 Surah Thoha: “Verily I am Allah, there is no god [ilah] but I…”  are further clear evidence that “Allah” is a proper noun referring to the one and only God and “rabb” and “ilah” are Arabic generic terms referring to any other gods (where there's none). These two verses are the most unequivocal of all. Surah Hood also has numerous verses that differentiate between “Allah”, “rabb” and “ilah”[kindly refer]. Therefore, the argument by the Catholics was not valid and more invalid was the argument by Malaysiakini’s award winning dumbo scholar who says Allah is a generic Arabic word for god, any god.

Now that we know Allah is the One and Only God, we then go to the doctrinal aspect of the issue i.e. who is Allah and what are His attributes? Is

 "He is Allah, the Creator, the Originator, The Fashioner, to Him belong the most beautiful names [al-asma ul-husna]: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, do declare His praises and Glory. And He is the Exalted in Might, The Wise. (Quran 59:24)

 "The most beautiful names belong to Allah (God): so call on Him by them;..." (Quran 7:180)

Beautiful names referred to in the above verses are also the attributes of Allah. There are 99 names/attributes in the al-asma ul-husna [too numerous to be appended here-kindly google them] which must be treated with equal sanctity as Allah.

Having described His attributes, Allah further declare that "...There is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things) [Qur'an 42:11]                      

An analogy to the Muslims' reactions to this controversy can be had from the example of someone who builds a statue that looks like the Hindu god Ganesh but calls it Buddha or vice versa. How would the Hindus and Buddhists react? Here, we Muslims are showing exactly the same reaction you would expect of the Hindus and Buddhists in the aforesaid hypothetical situations.

As a further doctrinal argument, in addition to al-asma ul-husna, through Surah Al-Ikhlas [112], Allah has also declared: “Say, He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He beget not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.” Compare this Surah with the Christian doctrine or belief; “God is three, He begets a Son, the Son God is begotten and the son [Jesus] himself is god.” A stark contrast. So, how could we allow the Christians to call what they regard as gods, Allah? My argument is further fortified by Verse 17, Surah Al-Maaidah: “Disbelievers (kafirs) indeed are those who say that Allah is Jesus the son of Mary”. Is this not a clear Qur'anic injunction that Allah is most displeased that Jesus Christ is called Allah by the Christians? Therefore, is it wrong for Muslims having political and executive powers (the government) to stop the Christians from misusing and abusing Allah’s name? Whether the government’s motive is political or not should not be of any concern to Muslims. The government must be supported and even lauded, not condemned. What needs to be done has to be done. Don’t try to play God by questioning others’ sincerity since sincerity of intention is not tangible. It can only be gleaned through a series of deeds, corroborated with other evidence. Then again it may still not be conclusive.

Actually, it’s PAS who’s playing politics for fear of offending the anti-Islam, anti-Muslim and anti Malay DAP and the godless PKR and for fear of losing popular support among the Christians in particular and non-Muslims in general. Those heretical PAS leaders, self-proclaimed Islamists, fear not Allah but fear their political allies and non-Muslim electorates. Is it any wonder that Allah has not granted them victory after almost 60 years of struggle? Allah will not grant victory to insincere, dishonest and shameless [self-proclaimed] flag bearers of Islam.

Therefore, any being, not having all of the above attributes and as per the al-asma ul-husna cannot and ought not be called “Allah”. Doing so is blasphemous and sacrilegious because Allah’s is a sacred name. And therefore, we Muslims, as vicegerents of Allah on earth are duty bound to protect the sanctity of His name even though He has the power to just destroy those blasphemers. 

Further, in Surah Al-Kafiruun; "Say: O ye disbelievers, I worship not that ye worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship, And I will not worship that which that which ye worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship, To you be your religion, and to me mine". By this surah, I am of the opinion that Muslims are committing a major sin if they don’t [stop the misuse and abuse of Allah’s name] and it is much more sinful for Muslims to support the Christians’ demand. In either case, those Muslims who are indifferent or supportive of the Christians, are complicit in blasphemy and sacrilege against Allah.

The foregoing notwithstanding, if the Malaysian Catholics really regard Allah as referring to any god, and they are so obsessed with it, then they should use the name  in The Herald magazine and bible of every language. But that is not the case. Why only in the Malay version the name “Allah” is used? They have to give a credible answer, otherwise, it is not preposterous for us Muslims to suspect their motive as ulterior and sinister. If they have identified Jesus or Isa as god, why not call him Tuhan Isa in Malay instead of Allah as they call him Lord Jesus in English? To us Muslims, the true issue here is not to prohibit the “use” but “misuse”and “abuse”of the  Allah’s name by the Christians. Their demands are hypocrisy of the highest order. Thus, when Muslims try to prevent the Christians from using Allah’s name to refer to god, they are not interfering in the internal administration and practice of Christianity but they are trying to stop the Christians from blaspheming Allah.

On the other hand, in the advocating the Christians’ use of the name “Allah”, their Muslim supporters have invoked both the Qur’anic narrations and prophetic traditions. Firstly, they are unanimous in saying that non-Muslims during and even before the time of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w [peace be upon him] were using and allowed to use the name “Allah”. They argue that some non-Muslims were even named “Abdullah” or “slave/servant of Allah”. Nothing could be further than the untruth. In their eagerness to please the Christians in particular and all the anti-Islam kafirs in general, they failed to see the contextual and situational differences between then and now and between the pagan Arabs and the present day Christians of Malaysia. 

Foremost, as mentioned earlier, the Arabs were the descendants of Prophet Ismail a.s, son of Prophet  Ibrahim a.s., both of whom preached that the only God was Allah. Thus, the Arabs had always known Allah even before the time of Prophet Muhammad [saw]. Only that, before Muhammad’s [saw] time, the teachings of Ibrahim and Ismail had become so corrupted that they ascribed partners to Allah. In their heart, though, the idolaters had always acknowledged Allah as the supreme God. They even, at times, swore and supplicated in the name of Allah instead of their idols. The kafir or pagan Arabs, when asked why they ascribed partners to Allah, replied that the idols were just acting as their intercessors to bring them closer to Allah.  So, when they mentioned the name Allah, they always referred to the real Allah, unlike the Christians who refer Jesus Christ and others as Allah. That's the first contextual and situational difference between the two situations and people.

Further, it must also be remembered that the kafir Arabs, despite ascribing partners to Allah, always maintained high regards for Him. They gave different names to their deities; al-latta, al-uzza, al-mannats, etc, etc. They did not call any of their deities Allah, not like the kurang ajar Christians here. That’s the next contextual and situational difference.

To back their pro-Christian arguments, those treacherous Muslims have also invoked the Qur'an Verse 61 of surah al-Ankabut that says; “If indeed thou ask them [the mushrik Arabs] who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon (to His Law), they would certainly reply, “Allah”; how are they that then deluded away (from the truth)?

Based on the above verse, they argued, even Allah Himself has given an express consent to the non-believing Arabs to use His name. Really? Hold on. There are two other almost similar verses in the Quran, namely Verse 63 of surah Al-Ankabut; “And if indeed thou ask them who it is that sends down rain from the sky, and gives life therewith to the earth after its death, they will certainly reply, “Allah”. Say, ‘Praise be to Allah’, but most of them understand not”; and in Surah Luqman, Verse 25; “If thou ask them, who it is that created the heavens and earth. They will certainly say, “Allah”. Say; “Praise be to Allah, but most of them understand not”.

Only through a fleeting, nonchalant and lazy reading [and/or supreme dumbness] would anyone reach such a conclusion. In those verses Allah was actually chiding, rebuking and ticking off the mushrik Arabs, for, despite acknowledging Allah as the Supreme Creator, still ascribed partners to Him. So, their invocation of those verses is totally without merit. The very essence of those three verses lies in their respective final part. Please focus your attention to them i.e. Say, ‘Praise be to Allah’, but most of them understand not”, "how are they that then deluded away [from the truth]?" and "...but most of them understand not". Those verses in effect actually say; "Hey you stupid Arabs, why do you still ascribe partners to Allah/worship idols when you know very well that the Supreme Creator and Programmer of the universe is Allah?" I can cite many more verses from the Qur’an to the same effect but this short piece does not permit. And I will also not cite the prophetic traditions quoted by those Muslim champions of the Christians’ cause as it will render this article too lengthy. Maybe in another opportunity [in fact I have got it written in another write up].

The Christians and their supporters also claim that the name “Allah” has been used by the Christians in Indonesia for decades already and there have been no problem. Yes, no problem, because the Muslims there have no [Islamic] religious sensitivity. But by the way, as far as Islamic practices are concerned, Indonesia and the Indonesian Muslims are the worst example to follow. And by the way, Muslims’ faith in Indonesia have been corrupted almost beyond repair by the Christians, small in number but big in influence and power. We will not let the Christians do an “Indonesia” on the Muslims here. Here too, they are very small in number but so arrogant, big headed and contemptuous.

Muslims, therefore,  must approach this issue and controversy against the backdrop of verse 120 Surah Al-Baqarah, :”Never will the Jews or the Christians be satisfied with thee unless thou follow their form of religion. This holy verse tells us to be suspicious of the Jews and Christians in religious matters until their motives become crystal clear.

However, to my utter surprise and disgust, PAS MP for Parit Buntar, Mujahid Yusof, invokes a verse from surah Al-Baqarah; “no compulsion in religion”; to support the Christians’ demand. MasyaAllah, I never knew PAS has someone with a very pathetic understanding of the Qur’an among the ranks of its leadership. I would not be surprised if the said verse was quoted by an UMNO or PKR Muslim leader, but from PAS? Small wonder PAS has never prospered. With that kind of leadership managing PAS, Allah will never grant it victory, because doing so will bring disgrace to Islam.

Now back to the pro-Catholics arguments. Their Muslim supporters further argue that since the Christian Arabs have been using the name Allah to refer to god, the Christians in this country must be given the same freedom. My question is, since when have the deeds and words of the Christian Arabs become a source of the Islamic law? Elevated to the status of the Prophetic traditions or even Qur’anic injunctions? That must be followed and complied with? Is it not an almost unanimous opinion of the ulama that the verse "those who have gone astray" in Surah Al-Fatihah refers to the Christians? So, why must we follow lost people?

On another front, it must also be noted, and which the Christians cannot deny, that the original  bible has gone through continuous process of "nasakh" and "mansukh" [abrogation and subrogation], even to this day, whereby some original verses were replaced with man made ones, while some others were deleted totally without being replaced. In fact, Christianity has gone through evolution continuously that much of the true words of God, especially on the fundamental teachings of Jesus, have disappeared from the Christian holy books. As such, they have actually deviated from the true teachings of Jesus Christ because according to the true teaching of Jesus, God is Allah, not Allah is Jesus Christ or the father of Jesus Christ. If the Christians are really sincere in wanting to know Allah, please read the Qur'an  and they don’t need to enter the fold of Islam. Then only will they know the real Allah. But if they want to invoke Allah’s name, they have to become Muslims [no compulsion, though].

Besides the above, the Qur’an itself is replete with Allah’s condemnation of the Christians, mainly for saying that God is three in one or one in three, God begets a son and even regarding the son himself as god. Let me quote but a few verses from Surah Al-Maidah alone; verse [17]; “In blasphemy or kafir indeed are those who say that Allah is Christ the son of Mary. Say: “Who then has the least power against Allah, if His Will to destroy Christ the son of Mary, his mother, and everyone that is on the earth?........” [18] {both the Jews and the Christians} say: “We are sons of Allah, and His beloved. Say: “Why then doth He punish you for your sins”…….”[51] “O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors; they are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them IS OF THEM. Verily Allah guide not people unjust” [Note: this verse requires some commentaries. It does not mean Islam advocates enmity against every Christian in any situation].

Verse 72, “Kafir are those who say; “Allah is Jesus the son of Mary”. But Christ said; “O Children of Israel! Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord……”, verse 73; “Kafir are those who say: “Allah is one of three in a trinity for there is no god except One God. If they desist not from word of kafir, verily a grievous penalty will befall the kafirs among them”. Verse 75; “Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their daily food. See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them, yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!

The above verses clear show that Allah really despise the Christians and have even disowned them. So, what right or privilege have they to use Allah’s name when the Being whose name they want to adopt has openly denounced them? And what more, when what they refer to as Allah is not Allah but Jesus Christ and/or the trinity? Since Allah Himself has unequivocally shown His displeasure at the belief and conduct of the Christians, all arguments must stop here i.e. the Christians cannot and must not use Allah’s name. So, instead of urging the Home Ministry to uplift the ban, the Christians must now abandon their farcical and mischievous demands immediately, and thus restore peace and harmony in this country.

The Christians’ insolence, belligerence and brazen defiance vis-à-vis the court, government and Muslims [opposed to their demands] can be attributed to in no small part by the open and strong support shown and given by Muslims themselves, especially PAS leaders, the self-proclaimed champions and defenders of Islam, notably Khalid Samad, Mujahid Yusof and Dzulkefly Ahmad and some of their ustaz, especially Wan Ji Wan Husin who seems to have been assigned the task of providing [Islamic] religious justifications for all PR’s political manoeuvres, especially PAS’s. Beware of this little creature!

Those fasiqs and munafiqs have actually opened the floodgates to all those insults and belligerence. Khalid Samad for instance, was so tenacious in his support for the Christians and vicious in his attack against Muslims, it’s as though he’s waging a crusade against the Muslims to please the Christians. The latter’s bigheadedness and obstinacy, especially in Selangor, is a clear sign that they have the backing of an invisible “superpower” in the state, which is none other than PR leaders led by the DAP, many of whose leaders are not only Christians but also evangelists. With just a small fraction of power, the Christians have shown their true murky colours, treating others with contempt and malice.

To all my Muslim brothers and sisters, remember some of the Qur’anic injunctions quoted above; do not ever  give your votes to any Christian candidates in any future elections. They have already given a full picture of their future conducts if they have the executive and political power. Their fascism is all too clear for us to see, so, BEWARE!

To conclude, and to cut the discourse short, I will present the ultimate of the ultimate arbiters i.e. verse 61 of surah Aali-Imran [the Family of Imran] which says; " If anyone disputes in this matter with thee, now after full knowledge has come to thee {about Jesus], say: “Come, let us gather together,  our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, then let us earnestly pray , and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie".

However, it will cause confusion if the above verse is quoted in isolation, without citing the two verses preceding it which say; (59) "The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from clay, then said to him : Be! and he was. [60]; "The truth comes from your God, so be not of those who doubt".

The above three verses require some commentaries to understand their true nature and meaning because as is the nature of the Qur'an, its narrations appear jumbled up. It will not pass a basic language test. But therein lies the magic of the Muslim holy book. In verse 59 Allah is actually saying, if He was able to create Adam without parents, He was more able to create Jesus without a father. Therefore, if Jesus is deemed the son of God because of his fatherless creation, then Adam has more right to be considered as the son of God since he came into existence without parents. Further, the creation of Eve was from Adam, i.e. without a woman and the creation of Jesus was without a man. Both events were intended to show Allah's power of creation [in fact verse 59 was also a rebuke to the Jews who maliciously accused Mary of adultery and deemed Jesus an illegitimate child since his father was not known]. Therefore, when the truth about Jesus was revealed, men were commanded to remove any lingering doubt about the creation of Jesus [verse 60]. Then came the challenge to the Christians via verse 61.

The cause of revelation of the above verses  was about the visit to the Prophet [saw] by some 60 Christians from Najran. They were led by 14 scholars who in turn mandated 3 most learned ones from among them to be their spokespersons to debate with  the Prophet [saw] about Jesus. One of them, the smartest and most learned, was Abu Haritsah bin Alqamah. He was an Arab who became a Christian and was a celebrated man throughout the Roman empire. He knew about the prophethood  of Muhammad [saw] through his reading of the classical Christian books. However, not wanting to lose his celebrity status among the Romans and all the attendant privileges afforded to him, he refused to declare and accept the truth.

The Najran Christian delegation met the Prophet [saw] in latter’s mosque in Madinah, and after performing their [the Christians’] prayers, in the mosque, facing Jerusalem, both parties had a debate/discourse. The Christians persisted that Jesus was Allah for reasons that he could bring back to life dead people and he could heal lepers, congenital blindness and other impossible to cure diseases. Further, they also proclaimed that Jesus, Allah and Maryam were the trinity, one god in three based on the fact that in the Qur’an Allah address Himself as “We” not “I”. The Prophet [saw] then invited them to become Muslims. They, however, proclaimed that they were already Muslims even before the Prophet [saw] was. The Prophet denied their claim by saying; “You are lying. You rejected Islam. You claim that Allah has begotten a son, you worship the cross and you eat pork”. The Christians then retorted by saying; “Who then was the father of Jesus?” This, the Prophet [saw] was unable to answer. Then Allah revealed the answer through the opening half of surah aali-Imran.

The Christians, after having heard the answer, still refused to budge from their stand. Then verse 61 was revealed, with Allah ordering the Prophet [saw] to dare the Christians to an oath taking whereby both sides would invoke the curse of Allah against the party of liars. The Christians, knowing they were in the wrong and fearful of the repercussions, refused the challenge.

[I just could not resist the temptation to take a swipe at Dr Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin, hugely popular among anti-Islam non-Muslims, who argued that verse 61 is a licence from Allah to the Christians to use His name. This man is not a scholar, he’s an impostor]

Now, since the Christians would not listen to reasons nor obey the law, I would like to throw the same challenge to them to do the same. Let’s invoke Allah’s curse on the liars and let’s do it at Bukit Jalil National Stadium, where Muslims are to fill one half of the stadium and Christians, the other half. Let Allah Himself decide for us. If the national stadium is too big, then let’s do it at Stadium Merdeka or perhaps, Dataran Merdeka. The Christians of Najran chickened out, what about you, Christians of Malaysia? Will you take up the challenge?

Also, to all my Muslim brothers and sisters, do not be afraid of the insult and ridicule that we are the laughing stocks of the world over this issue, but instead we must be proud to be the first and one and only Muslim nation that defends the sanctity of Allah’s name. We must not budge and neither buckle under any pressure.

With the Christians’ intransigence and very, very, very poor handling of this issue by the hapless and clueless prime minister, Najib Razak, the country is heading for sectarian violence, surely. Then let’s see who’s willing to die for Allah!

Sg Buloh

Selangor