ANALISIS - ISU KALIMAH ALLAH DIBENARKAN PENGGUNAAN OLEH KRISTIAN

WANTED

Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi, Yang Arif Hakim Puan Lau Bee Lan yang membenarkan penggunaan kalimah Allah oleh terbitan Herald - The Catholic Weekly telah membuka lembaran baru dalam sejarah undang-undang negara

ANALISIS

1. Mengapakah Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Murphy Nicholas Xavier Pakiam, Memohon Semakan Kehakiman No: R1-25-73-2008 Kepada Mahkamah Tinggi?

Untuk memohon perisytiharan bahawa:

a. Keputusan Kerajaan pada 12 Februari 2008 untuk melarang Herald – The Catholic Weekly daripada menggunakan perkataan "Allah" sebagai tidak sah dan batal;
Quote:
(i) That the decision of the Respondents dated 12.2.2008 that the Applicant’s publication permit No. PP 8460/12/2008 (020574) for the period 1.1.2008 until 31.12.2008 is subject to the “ GARIS PANDUAN PENERBITAN” dated 1.3.2007 which prohibits the Applicant from using the word “ALLAH” in “Herald – The Catholic Weekly” is illegal and null and void;

b. Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur berhak menggunakan perkataan "Allah" di dalam Herald – The Catholic Weekly;
Quote:
(ii) That the applicant is entitled to use the word “Allah”” in “Herald – The Catholic Weekly”;

c. Perkataan "Allah" tidak eksklusif kepada agama Islam.
Quote:
(iii) That the word “Allah” is not exclusive to the religion of Islam.


d. Perenggan 4.1.10 Garis Panduan Penerbitan yang menyatakan "Penerbitan agama selain daripada Agama Islam dilarang menggunakan istilah-istilah khusus agama islam iaitu Allah, Baitullah, Solat dan Kaabah kecuali bagi menerangkan istilah-istilah berkenaan." sebagai batal dan tidak sah.
Quote:
3.5 This application is to quash the said paragraph 4.1.10 of the said “garis panduan” and to declare the same as null and void.


2. Apakah Keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Mengenai Permohonan Ini?

Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi, Yang Arif Hakim Puan Lau Bee Lan, telah memutuskan pada 5 Mei 2008 bahawa permohonan ini diterima dan semakan kehakiman dibenarkan.

Quote:

5. Decision of the Court : 5.5.2008

5.1 The application was heard by YA Justice Lau Bee Lan and the decision was delivered today.

5.2 The Court overruled our objections and allowed the application for leave.


3. Adakah Permohonan Kebenaran Untuk Mencelah (Intervene) Terhadap Semakan Kehakiman Ini?

Ada.

Permohonan untuk mendapatkan kebenaran mencelah (intervene) terhadap semakan kehakiman ini telah dikemukakan oleh pihak-pihak berikut 1 2:

a. Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Melayu Perak (MAIAMP);
b. Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (MAIWP);
c. Majlis Agama Islam Dan Adat Melayu Terengganu (MAIDAM);
d. Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Pulau Pinang (MAINPP);
e. Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS);
f. Majlis Agama Islam Kedah (MAIK);
g. Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Johor (MAIJ);
h. Majlis Agama Islam Melaka (MAIM);
i. Persatuan Cina Muslim Malaysia (MACMA);
j. Majlis Gurdwara Malaysia.

Mahkamah Tinggi telah menetapkan tarikh 28 Mei 2009 untuk mendengar permohonan Gereja Katolik bagi mengetepikan permohonan pihak-pihak di atas.1

4. Mengapakah Majlis-Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Memohon Kebenaran Untuk Mencelah (Intervene) Terhadap Semakan Kehakiman Ini?

Dalam satu kenyataan akhbar pada 3 Jun 2008, Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, Presiden Persatuan Peguam Syarie Malaysia (PGSM) yang juga merupakan peguamcara bagi Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Melayu Perak (MAIAMP) dan Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (MAIWP) telah memberikan sebab-sebab berikut:

Quote:
2. Akibat daripada keputusan semakan kehakiman / deklarasi hak-hak tersebut ialah :-

(i) Membenarkan Gereja tersebut untuk menggunakan kalimah ‘Allah’ di dalam penerbitan buletin Gereja tersebut ‘Herald-The Catholic Weekly’;

(ii) membenarkan Gereja tersebut mandapatkan hak menggunakan kalimah ‘Allah’,

(iii) menyebabkan timbul kekeliruan di dalam beragama yang boleh mengancam keselamatan, keamanan dan keharmonian masyarakat awam dan komuniti Islam.

3. Permohonan mencelah oleh Majlis Agama Islam negeri-negeri adalah wajar untuk mengelakkan sebarang kekeliruan di dalam beragama akibat daripada penggunaan kalimah ‘Allah’, yang mana boleh mengancam keselamatan, keamanan dan keharmonian masyarakat awam serta meyebabkan sensitiviti agama. 3


Menurut Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi pula:

Quote:
"Pada hemat kami, mengikut Perlembagaan perkara 11(4), menjelaskan bahawa agama-agama lain tidak boleh disebarkan di kalangan orang Islam. Maka peraturan yang termaktub dalam Perlembagaan harus dihormati oleh agama-agama lain. 4


Beliau merujuk kepada Perlembagaan Persekutuan, dalam Perkara 11, Fasal (4), yang menyatakan:

Quote:
(4) Undang-undang Negeri dan berkenaan dengan Wilayah-Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Labuan dan Putrajaya, undang-undang persekutuan boleh mengawal atau menyekat pengembangan apa-apa doktrin atau kepercayaan agama di kalangan orang yang menganuti agama Islam.


5. Wujudkah Aktiviti-Aktiviti Pengembangan Kepercayaan Agama Kristian di Malaysia?

Ya, ia wujud. Sebahagian kecilnya ialah:

a. Hope Malaysia
Organisasi ini aktif menjalankan aktiviti-aktiviti khususnya untuk para penuntut IPT seperti UTP, KUSTEM, KUKTEM dan Kolej Matrikulasi Pahang:

Quote:
Gambang is a small town situated 30 minutes driving journey from Kuantan. This town is very near to the MEC city, Kuktem (Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan Teknologi Malaysia) and Kolej Matrikulasi Pahang. So it is a very strategic place to touch all the matriculation and university students. 5

b. Freedom Life - Church of God
Gereja Pentecostal yang berpusat di Oklahoma, Amerika Syarikat ini telah menghantar mubaligh-mubaligh untuk menjalankan aktiviti church planting di Malaysia Timur:

Quote:
John and Suzie Pickens
Missionaries to Malaysia

John and Suzie are appointed missionaries to Malaysia where they are involved in church planting. Before their appointment, they were teachers in various Bible schools.

Suzie planted a church deep in the interior of East Malaysia before meeting John, who was teaching in East Malaysia. In addition to their work in Malaysia, John and Suzie have ministered together in Singapore and Indonesia. 6


c. MCGM (Malaysian Center for Global Ministry)
Organisasi yang aktif menjalankan latihan untuk mubaligh-mubaligh Kristian dan menjalankan aktiviti pengembangan kepercayaan agama Kristian kepada pekerja-pekerja asing di Malaysia. 7
Pengembangan kepercayaan agama Kristian kepada pekerja-pekerja asing, terutamanya dari Indonesia, diakui sendiri oleh Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Murphy Nicholas Xavier Pakiam:

Quote:
In his affidavit, Archbishop Pakiam said, "I am advised by my solicitors that I have a legal right to use the word "Allah" in the HERALD (published by him) and this legal right stems from the right to freedom of speech and expression as enshrined in Article 10 of the Federal Constitution and from the right to profess and practise the Christian faith as enshrined in Article 11 of the Federal Constitution which includes and is not limited to propagating the faith amongst the non-English speaking faithful in Malaysia especially the Indonesians and the Arabic-speaking of the Christian faith." 8


6. Adakah Penggunaan Kalimah 'Allah' Merupakan Kaedah Pengembangan Kepercayaan Agama Kristian?

Ya.

The People of the Book merupakan organisasi yang giat menjalankan pengembangan kepercayaan agama Kristian kepada umat Islam yang boleh bertutur dalam bahasa Sepanyol.

Walaupun mengakui bahawa kalimah 'Allah' di dalam Al-Quran tidak memiliki maksud yang sama dengan 'God' di dalam Bible, organisasi ini berpendapat penggunaannya amat berkesan untuk memurtadkan umat Islam:

Quote:
We believe that it can be very effective to use the Quran as a tool to share concepts that are familiar and acceptable to Muslims, and that support Biblical principles. There are many concepts that are very compatible with the Bible and there are other Quranic teachings that may actually be misunderstood by Christians and Muslims. Of course, the Holy Bible is the only and complete authority for everything pertaining to doctrine and lifestyle.

We believe that it is perfectly acceptable to use the name Allah, both in the Bible that we use to minister to Muslims, as well as materials that we distribute. It is the translation of the word "God" in Arabic. Joshua Massey has written an excellent summary about this topic. This does not mean that Allah in the Qur'an is exactly the same as the God of the Bible. 9


Kevin Greeson, seorang mubaligh Kristian, telah menulis sebuah buku bertajuk The Camel: How Muslims Are Coming to Faith in Christ! yang dijadikan panduan oleh mubaligh-mubaligh International Mission Board (IMB) khusus untuk memurtadkan umat Islam.

Menurut Greeson:

Quote:
In a cross-cultural witness you use the language of the people and you use whatever terminology they have for God. 10


7. Selain Daripada Satu Kaedah Pengembangan Yang Efektif, Adakah Penggunaan Kalimah 'Allah' Diterima Oleh Dunia Kristian?

Tidak.

Kalimah 'Allah' digunakan semata-mata kerana ia adalah satu kaedah yang terbukti efektif untuk memurtadkan umat Islam.

Jika tidak, ia mungkin tidak akan digunakan sama sekali oleh penganut-penganut Kristian kerana ia dianggap sebagai pencabulan (sacrilege) dan kufur (blasphemy). Menurut Sandy Simpson daripada Apologetics Coordination Team:

Quote:
Among the words that cause concern is “Allah.” It's the word Muslims use for the deity they worship, but the Arabic word pre-dated Islam and is also used by Christian Arabs when referring to God - despite the considerable differences in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic conceptions of God. The Iban translation of the Bible uses the term “Allah Taala” for God, while the other banned Christian books, in Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia, also use “Allah” for God. This is thought likely to be one of the problem areas for the Home Ministry. I think the Home Ministry made the right move by lifting the ban. But the language issue is an interesting one. Allah is used interchangeably with Tuhan to mean God in Bahasa Malaysia, but Tuhan is the original Malay word. When my son learns the meaning of an Arabic dua in school, Allahumma (Oh God) is still translated as Ya Tuhan. I don't speak any Iban at all, but I would be very surprised if Allah is the original or preferred word for God, what to speak of Allah Taala (Almighty God), which is rarely heard even among Malays outside of Islamic religious sermons. So why would the Bup Kudus translators go with that translation? It is reminiscent, as Anak_Alam pointed out, of the uproar over Arabic Bibles that began with the Bismillah (that's it in the upper right of the white column on my page), a distinctly Islamic invocation whether it has an intelligible meaning to non-muslim Arabs or not. 11

Yet the deity known as “Allah” to Muslims is not YHWH. 11

Simpson turut membuat kenyataan menghina apabila melabel 'Allah' sebagai tuhan palsu:
Quote:
The false god “Allah” is not the same as the One True God eternally existing in Three Persons Who is YHWH, “I AM”. Allah has no son. 11


Tambah Simpson, penggantian kalimah 'Allah' untuk 'God' di dalam Bible ialah satu kekufuran:
Quote:
Therefore the substitution of Allah for the name of God in the Bible is a sacrilege, a blasphemy. 11


8. Adakah Penggunaan Kalimah 'Allah' Oleh Gereja Disokong Oleh Pemimpin Beragama Islam?

Ya.

Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad, Ahli Parlimen PAS Kuala Selangor, berkata persoalan mengenai penggunaan nama Allah tidak harus timbul kerana telah diakui dalam Al-Quran bahawa kalimah Allah turut digunakan oleh bukan Islam. 12

Ahli Parlimen PAS Shah Alam, Khalid Abdul Samad, menyokong pandangan Dzulkefly dengan membaca sepotong ayat Al-Quran yang menunjukkan orang bukan Islam mengakui bumi ini diciptakan Allah. 12

Dzulkefly dikatakan merupakan ahli Parlimen beragama Islam pertama yang mengunjungi sebuah gereja di Malaysia. Beliau mengakui bahawa beliau mengunjungi Gereja St. Paul The Hermit di Ijok pada 16 Mac 2008, kurang 2 minggu selepas PRU ke-12. 13

Khalid Abdul Samad kemudiannya mengunjungi Roman Catholic Church of the Divine Mercy di Shah Alam pada 27 Mac 2008 dan memberikan kebenaran kepada Gereja untuk menggunakan kalimah 'Allah'.

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1. "Kristian boleh guna 'Allah'," 28 Februari, 2009,
http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2009&dt=0228&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Mahkamah&pg=ma_01.htm

2. "Isu Penggunaan Kalimah Allah oleh Pihak Gereja," 3 Jun, 2008,
http://peguamsyarie.blogspot.com/2008/06/isu-penggunaan-kalimah-allah-oleh-pihak.html

3. "Kenyataan Akhbar Peguam Kes Kalimah ‘Allah’," 6 Jun, 2008,
http://jasa-my.org/v2/?p=71

4. "Elaun Guru Kafa Wilayah Persekutuan Naik 100 Peratus," 24 Januari, 2009, http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/bm/news.php?id=385905

5. "Mission," http://www.hopemalaysia.org/mission/mission_local.aspx

6. "Missions - The Heart of Our Great Commission," http://www.freedomlifecog.org/Missions.html

7. "Five Primary Tracks of MCGM," http://www.mcgm.net.my/primary_tracks.htm

8. "Herald Goes to Court," Mei, 2008, http://www.archway.org.my/news.asp?Year=2008&Month=5

9. "Strategy," http://www.thepeopleofthebook.org/strategy.html

10. "Is Camel Method leading thirsty world to oasis of truth?," 7 Jun, 2007, http://www.christianindex.org/3313.article.print

11. "“Blasphemizing” the Bible," Julai, 2006,
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/blasphemizingthebible.html

12. "Taib Azemuddin Jelas Penggunaan Nama Allah," 5 Mac, 2009,
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/bm/news.php?id=394352

13. "Dzulkefly may be the first Muslim MP at a Catholic Mass," http://www.themalaysianinsider.com.my/index.php/malaysia/5660?task=view

14. "The day Catholics welcomed a man from PAS in Shah Alam,"
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/5661-the-day-catholics-welcomed-a-man-from-pas-in-shah-alam