Hisashiburi.
Humans always have irrational
fears to various sorts of things. My younger sisters have excessive fear towards
lizards and the likes of it, that they would burst into tears and run off every
time I bring a wriggling gecko in my hands into the house. Well, that sort of fear is better defined as a phobia. And that fear my
sisters have is quite rational, as I had been chasing them with lizards every
chance I get. A fear is irrational when there is absolutely no reason to freak out at all.
Fear towards ghosts is irrational, perhaps,
as nobody in this world was ever murdered or eaten alive by ethereal beings. The fear that arose among some muslims that
their brothers would get confused by Christians who use the name Allah in their
bibles , is an irrational fear, one that has no basis at all.
My muslim brothers aren't
Pokemon that can get confused by certain psychic attacks. I recognize the lack
of depth in religious knowledge among the vast majority, but at least, give them
some credit.
Sahih International
Say, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah ." But if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]."(3;64)
The attempt to ban the use of the
name of Allah by non-muslims in their publications seems like a claim that
Allah is a god exclusive to muslims only. The phrase rabbul muslimin is nowhere
to be found in the Quran, and Allah introduces himself again and again as the rabbul alamin. We certainly have no rights for
exclusivity , because He is the God of all creatures, men and women, even if
they are Christians , Hindu, Buddhists and even atheists who do not even
believe in god. It doesn't even matter if they believe in Allah or not, because
regardless of their choices and beliefs, Allah is the only God for all, and
there is nothing they can do to change it. Is it logical, that when they
recognize the name of God, we try to ban the non-muslims from even saying it?
Sahih International
Say, "To whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and earth?" Say, "To Allah ." He has decreed upon Himself mercy. He will surely assemble you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. Those who will lose themselves [that Day] do not believe.
(AL-An'am ,12)
We are not given the exclusivity
to Islam if we are born muslims. We are also not given the right to ban others
from Islam. The fact that we have the
same God can be used to spark further debates and discussions between religions
, which I believe will only bring others closer to Islam. Muslims won't convert
to other religions just because the name Allah is in their books. There are always
other reasons that cause such tragedies to occur. As stupid as we Malays are,
converting for that reason would bring us to a level similar to singular cell
organisms. What are we afraid of? Why is inter-religion debates a taboo in this multicultural country?
This is not an attempt to advocate
pluralism, and if this writing seems to be doing just that, please enlighten
me.
Under the clutches of this irrational
fear , we tried to limit our interactions with non-muslims , because we
believed that every single one of them is conspiring against us, working towards
our downfall, or planning a massacre of muslims in the near future. Well, what
the hell? The paranoia that exists among Malays that there is an attempt to put
some pig blood in every food we have is a good example.
It is not fun to live as a pessimist , or
in this case, as conspiracy theorists. To waste away our lives imagining
malicious schemes that are being plotted against us by people we barely know about , that is
really not a healthy way to live. Everything is a conspiracy. There are too
many Chinese shops in a city-there's a conspiracy
behind all that . A new big church is built- there are freemasons running in
their rooms. Rather than imagining
conspiracies and making stories about these evil plots, we are better off working
for the economy and the well-being of muslims. In other words, we should face the reality.
Allah told Nabi Musa to talk
to Firaun with a gentle speech , so that he might be reminded of Allah or be made
to fear Him. Firaun was a dictator, a transgressor, and Nabi Musa is told to
interact with him with kindness. Yet, in our country, we try to ban our
kind-hearted fellow citizens from using the name of God, we march in front of
courts ,yelling our rights for exclusivity.
Sahih International
Go, both of you, to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed.
Sahih International
And speak to him with gentle speech that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [ Allah ]."(Taha; 43-44)
If we proceed with the act of
banning the use of the name of God by others, what will we achieve? Will the
number of Muslims converting to other religions decrease? It won't. Will the
gap and antagonism between Islam and other religions increase? Most probably
so. I fear that the verdict made by the court about the ban is not a case for
celebration; it is a cause for grief.
Peace, yo
