(Photo courtesy of missionislam.com)When I first heard of the word Allah in church, I thought it was very strange. I thought why are we following the Muslims. This was in the early 90s I think, during the Cathecism classes if I am not mistaken. Cathecism is the Sunday school that Catholics go for religious education almost every Sunday of the schooling calendar.
The material used for Cathecism was for the entire Malaysia which of course includes Sabah and Sarawak. There were even hymms sung in Bahasa Malaysia that also used the word Allah.
Last year, when I was in Kuala Lumpur attending mass, the priest also used the word Allah.
As I grew older as a person of faith, I learnt that it means that we are all praying to one God. From my understanding, there is only 1 God in this world. I also learnt that Christians, Muslims and Jews have many simillarities fundamentally but differ in the practice and approach.
A few weeks back, I saw a photo of a church in Indonesia which was called Gereja Allah. :S This would seem very confusing / controversial if there was such a church by that name in Malaysia.
I read from Wikipedia that in Arab countries where there exist churches, Christians refer to God in Christianity as Allah and so far I have not heard of any protest from these Arab nations.
I was very offended and shocked about the vandalism that took place in a few churches in Kuala Lumpur and in Perak. This happenned after the Malaysian High Court rulling that it was ok to continue to use the word Allah by Catholics in the newsletter Herald.
There was a lot of mixed feelings within me. I felt it could be done by people who did not agree for non-Muslims to use the word Allah. Then there was also possibility that such a thing could be politically motivated but I am a bit naive at how politics and religion come in play together.
As far as I am concern, I am a true Malaysian. I acknowledge that Islam is the national religion. I have no issues about this. I mix openly with all Malaysians including Muslims and I really enjoy their company. Not forgetting their lovely food too! Haha!
Whatever religion a person is, I respect that.
However, I also do know that in any basket of apples, there are good apples and bad apples. You be the judge! ;)
The material used for Cathecism was for the entire Malaysia which of course includes Sabah and Sarawak. There were even hymms sung in Bahasa Malaysia that also used the word Allah.
Last year, when I was in Kuala Lumpur attending mass, the priest also used the word Allah.
As I grew older as a person of faith, I learnt that it means that we are all praying to one God. From my understanding, there is only 1 God in this world. I also learnt that Christians, Muslims and Jews have many simillarities fundamentally but differ in the practice and approach.
A few weeks back, I saw a photo of a church in Indonesia which was called Gereja Allah. :S This would seem very confusing / controversial if there was such a church by that name in Malaysia.
I read from Wikipedia that in Arab countries where there exist churches, Christians refer to God in Christianity as Allah and so far I have not heard of any protest from these Arab nations.
I was very offended and shocked about the vandalism that took place in a few churches in Kuala Lumpur and in Perak. This happenned after the Malaysian High Court rulling that it was ok to continue to use the word Allah by Catholics in the newsletter Herald.
There was a lot of mixed feelings within me. I felt it could be done by people who did not agree for non-Muslims to use the word Allah. Then there was also possibility that such a thing could be politically motivated but I am a bit naive at how politics and religion come in play together.
As far as I am concern, I am a true Malaysian. I acknowledge that Islam is the national religion. I have no issues about this. I mix openly with all Malaysians including Muslims and I really enjoy their company. Not forgetting their lovely food too! Haha!
Whatever religion a person is, I respect that.
However, I also do know that in any basket of apples, there are good apples and bad apples. You be the judge! ;)
