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The use of the word 'Allah'

IR123

Alfrescian
Loyal
http://www.krisispraxis.com/archives/2010/01/allah-and-tuhan-in-bible-translation/


Why It is Not Possible to Substitute Allah with Tuhan in Bible Translation

Muslims in other parts of the world (Arabs, Persians, North Africans, Pakistanis and Indonesians) have no objection and are not worried about getting confused when Christians use the word Allah. In contrast, some Malaysian Muslims claim to be confused; a strange phenomenon indeed. This observation lends credence to the suggestion that the Allah issue is an artificial Malay issue and not a genuine Muslim issue. The truth is that the current orchestrated protests against the recent High Court decision to allow the Catholic Herald (and Christians) to use the word Allah must be seen as cynical manipulations by Malay politicians to gain votes from their community.

See Malaysiakini 31/12/2009, “Court Declares Allah Ban Invalid” LINK or Malaysiakini 5/1/2010. “Allah Row: Dr. Mahathir Says Law Cannot Solve it” LINK

See Asia Sentinel 3/1/2010, “God and Allah in Malaysia” LINK

I am more interested in going beyond these political maneuvers. Politicians (including government bureaucrats) are happy just to stay at the level of vague suggestions since they have no competence nor care to address real issues of translation. In contrast, Christians must ensure their arguments for the right to use the word Allah are based on concrete evidence supported by a coherent linguistic philosophy of translation of Scripture.

One major demand from the Malay protestors is that Christians stop using the word Allah on grounds that Christians can find a simple alternative, that is, simply substitute the word Allah with the word Tuhan. Unfortunately, this demand only betrays the ignorance of the protestors. I would have thought that any Malay would know that the meanings of the words Allah (God) and Tuhan (Lord, Rabb) are not the same. How can they suggest that Christians simply use the word Tuhan to substitute the word Allah? To express the issue linguistically, Allah and Tuhan have different senses even though they have the same reference.

Both the terms Allah and Tuhan are used in the Malay Bible. Following the precedent set by Arab Christians, Allah is used to translate el/elohim and Tuhan(or TUHAN in caps) is used to translate Yahweh (YHWH). The two words are sometimes paired together as Yahweh-Elohim in 372 places in the Old Testament (14 times in Genesis 2-3; 4 times in Exodus;8 times in Joshua; 7 times in 2 Samuel; 22 times in Chronicles; 12 times in Psalms; 32 times in Isaiah; 16 times in Jeremiah and 210 times in Ezekiel etc.).

More importantly, the word Tuhan is also applied to Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Thus we read of the LORD Jesus as Tuhan Yesus (The word LORD was used to translate the word kurios 8400 times in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament. It refers to human beings only 400 times and refers to God 8000 times. Of these 8000 times, 6700 are substitutes for the word YHWH). The transference of the title kurios LORD/YHWH to Jesus Christ is testimony to the belief in the deity of Christ right at the beginning of Christianity.

This simple statistical survey shows clearly that the demand by Muslim demonstrators that Christians simply substitute the word Allah with Tuhan is unreasonable since it renders many Biblical references to God and Jesus Christ incoherent. First, the substitution is incorrect since the meaning of Allah and Tuhan are different. Second, it creates an absurd situation when Christians try to translate the paired words Tuhan Allah (LORD God). Are Christians now required to call the LORD God, Tuhan Tuhan? This sounds like committing linguistic redundancy. Worse still, the repeated words Tuhan Tuhan come across to Malay readers as suggesting that Christians believe in a plurality of Lords/Gods (since the plural form in Malay is expressed by repeating the noun and setting them in apposition). Finally, Christians are unable to express the Lordship of Jesus Christ as one who is distinct from the Father and yet shares with the God of the Old Testament, the name that is above every other name – kurios /Tuhan (Philippians 2:9, cf. Isaiah 45:23). In other words, Christians are rendered unable to affirm the deity of Jesus Christ and teach the doctrine of Trinity without the foundational words that maintain the semantic relationship between the words Allah and Tuhan as they are applied distinctively in the Malay Bible.

Christians in Malaysia would do their utmost to maintain religious harmony in Malaysia. Indeed, the Christian community has made many concessions to accommodate the concerns of the Malay community. However, it cannot accept the demand that it abandons the use of the word Allah and adopts the word Tuhan as a substitute simply because some ill-informed Malays take offence at their practice – an offence which would not have arisen if only these people set aside emotions and prejudices and examine the historical and linguistic evidence in a calm and rational manner. At the very least, Malays (or rather Muslims) should understand that believers are not at liberty to change the meaning of their Scriptures, the Word of God, to satisfy the unfounded scruples of man.
Postscript
I refer readers to the accompanying post, “Translating the Names of God” LINK published in the learned journal (The Bible Translator) that gives more concrete examples of how the names of God are translated in the Malay Bible. The article also discusses the controversy among some scholars on how the words Allah and Tuhan should be used in the revision of Shellabear’s version of the Malay Bible. In any case, all the scholars in the controversy agree that Christians need to use both the words Allah and Tuhan in the Malay Bible.

Please note that the article is reproduced (partially) with permission from the author Dr. D Soesilo.​
 
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IR123

Alfrescian
Loyal
I find this paragraph particularly illuminating:

Muslims in other parts of the world (Arabs, Persians, North Africans, Pakistanis and Indonesians) have no objection and are not worried about getting confused when Christians use the word Allah.

In contrast, some Malaysian Muslims claim to be confused; a strange phenomenon indeed.

This observation lends credence to the suggestion that the Allah issue is an artificial Malay issue and not a genuine Muslim issue.


The truth is that the current orchestrated protests against the recent High Court decision to allow the Catholic Herald (and Christians) to use the word Allah must be seen as cynical manipulations by Malay politicians to gain votes from their community.​


The feelings of the Muslims are fanned by their Politicians.
 

ChaoPappyPoodle

Alfrescian
Loyal
Indeed therre is a case that the Malaysian authorities may be using this issue to gain support from the Malay population.

However there is no denying that the use of Allah, a proper name for the Muslim god to replace Elohim or Yahweh in the bible is awkward at best and blasphemous at worst.

It's like calling the PM of another country LKY. It's truly ludicrous.

The only reason people use Allah instead of Elohim or Yahweh is because they are willing to twist and bend God's words and His Name in order to gain strength in numbers by making it easier for others to accept their brand of religion.
 

IR123

Alfrescian
Loyal
However there is no denying that the use of Allah, a proper name for the Muslim god to replace Elohim or Yahweh in the bible is awkward at best and blasphemous at worst.

It's like calling the PM of another country LKY. It's truly ludicrous.

The only reason people use Allah instead of Elohim or Yahweh is because they are willing to twist and bend God's words and His Name in order to gain strength in numbers by making it easier for others to accept their brand of religion.


In this case, you are sorely mistaken.

First point

'Allah' is used by Muslims to refer to the God of Abraham.

Which God does the Christian and the Jews worship? The God of Abraham.

How then is that akin to calling the PM of another country LKY?

The correct analogy is the same Prime Minister ruling three countries: Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

..

Second point

There is an interesting article in today's Straits Times.

The Christians have been in Saudi Arabia even before the Muslims ever stepped foot there.

The presence of a Nestorian Church testifies to this and it has been an embarassment to the Muslims who would like to believe otherwise.

Using the language of those days, guess what was the name used by these Christians to worship God?

'Allah'

..

Third point


What the Malaysian Muslims said is that some may come to know Christ as a result of the word 'Allah'.

How?


They may have more questions, like 'why you hate the Christians so much when they too worship Allah', 'How can Allah like it when you bomb His Church?', 'Will Allah not take Judgment against the fire-bombers?'



Fourth point

Look into the other side.

If all worship the same God, then don't you think that Muslims, Christians and Jews should work together to find a common ground of faith?

The use of 'Allah' will foster this sense of common ground and may lessen the hostility brought about by Sarah, the wife of Abraham.


Fifth point

There must be something in Malaysian politics that i am not aware of that makes the Malay Muslim Politicians to play the religion card.

Perhaps it is due to the tremendous support given to Anwar by the Malay voters that a diversion is needed.
 
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