Monday 6 October 2014

Malaysia requires sole use of God's title for Muslims

In June Malaysia authorities ruled that non-Muslims cannot refer to God as 'Allah'.

Allah in Arabic (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Muslim-majority country, many Malays believe that the national conscience must be firmly rooted in Islam, therefore they are happy that Putrajaya’s persistence in refusing non-Muslim Malaysians the right to use the word “Allah” so that their faith can be honoured by having the only right to use that title.

The Malaysian people and government forget that God belongs to the whole world. I would have thought the court ruling will soon be made unfinished, but it did not. Holding strong to this court ruling it is not only tantamount to the systematic destruction of the language and culture of the Bumiputera community in Sabah and Sarawak,but also does damage to all other languages where they use "Allah" as title for the the Divine Creator.

Archbishop Datuk Bolly Lapok said the word “Allah” has been part and parcel of the community’s language for generations and has become “embedded” in every aspect of their culture, including for the Bumiputera Christians, who make up the majority of Malaysia’s Christian population.

The government’s prohibition and the Federal Court’s denial for the Catholic Church to appeal for the right to publish the “Allah” in its weekly newspaper, had made the Bumiputera Christians feel they had been wronged, said the Sarawakian senior clergyman.

“We feel there has been a miscarriage of justice. It is insidious. It is tantamount to an act of language and culture genocide,” said Bolly, who also chairs the Association of Churches in Sarawak.

Malaysia’s Bumiputera Christians are accustomed to praying in their native tongues and the national language, Bahasa Malaysia. Their bibles, scriptures and hymns too have been translated into their respective indigenous languages, many of which contain the controversial “Allah” word as reference to God.
In its landmark ruling on June 23, a seven-judge panel at the top court had in a majority decision dismissed the Catholic Church’s bid to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision last year, which held that the word of Arabic origin was not “integral” to the religious practice of Malaysia’s Christians.
The Federal Court has however noted that the “integral” comment in the Court of Appeal was non-binding on other cases as it was just a remark made in passing.

The Catholic Church recently applied for a review of the Federal Court’s June decision while a Sabah evangelical church, Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB), succeeded in clearing the first hurdle for its “Allah” challenge to be retried at the High Court, providing a glimmer of hope for Malaysia’s native Christians.

Those people should know that all people who speak Arabic or do have words in their language which came from Arabic, will have "Allah" for the title of "God", be it atheists, Hindus, Jews, Christians or Muslims. It is not a word which Muslims can claim only for themselves. In case such a thing happens all sorts of groups could claim singular words in any language claim for their own use, and forbidding others to use it in their own daily language.

Syed Putra Jamalull writes:

This whole problem can be traced to the home ministry directive way back in 1986 prohibiting non muslims from using certain arabic terms that snowballed malay intolerance. Who was the home minister then? It could either be Musa Hitam or Dr M. Just like books and ideas, words should never be prohibited from being used as its the foundation.

Mark Beaumont, senior lecturer in Islam and mission at the London School of Theology, says that while there is controversy regarding the way that God and Allah are referred in Malaysia, in other parts of the world it's considered far less of a contentious issue.

"In the Arab speaking world there's no difficulty in calling God 'Allah' – they've been doing it in the Christian church and in the Bible for hundreds of years,"

he explains. Which is logical, because it is a word like any other word in the Arabic language and is in that language also used to indicate other gods that the Most High Divine Creator of heaven and earth form the Abrahamic faiths. In the early days of Egypt Pharao was also called Allah.

Muslims also should be aware that in many countries is spoken about "Allah" in respect, presenting the Divine Supreme Being, Whose Name was also given to His People, the Israelites and should come to be known all over the world as Jehovah.

In several churches not always is used the Name, but more often the title of the Elohim, as such

"In the Coptic Church in Egypt, the church in Syria, Jordan, Iraq and even Iran, it's always been the practice to call God 'Allah' using the Arabic form. Although the Arabic Bible wasn't translated fully before Islam came, it's obvious that people were reading the Gospels using 'Allah' before the rise of Islam.

Whatever people want to believe about creation and all that, accepting or not believing in a Divine Creator, they should know that in the ancient history of the Middle East, 'Allah' was the equivalent of 'Elohim', the Hebrew word for the Most High God.

While it may be mostly Malaysian Muslims who are offended by the Christian use of the word 'Allah', many Christian believers the last decennials also have been reluctant to use the Name of God (Jehovah) as well as His title "Allah". With the growing of non-trinitarian Christians and with the growing of the Islamic faith more Christians find the use of "Allah" to be controversial.

in Arabic language. The book was written by the end of 16th century (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lots of Christians and Muslims do think they have a different God. This makes that people wonder if it is really possible to reconcile the name 'Allah' with the God of the Bible?

"Anything is possible! You just have to think about the person who is saying 'I believe in Allah,'"

Beaumont insists.

"When I lived in Morocco, there was a Christian man who was being interrogated by the police. He had grown up as a Muslim but came to know Christ and became a Christian. He was told to confess his faith, and he said:

'There is no God but God, and Jesus Christ is my saviour and Lord'. He confessed it in Arabic, using the word 'Allah', and so he was quite happy to use the Muslim testimony of faith as a Christian because of course we also believe there is no God but God! He was able to affirm the basic statement of faith for Muslims – There is no God but Allah – but wasn't able to affirm Mohammed as God's prophet, which is the second part of it.

Normally Jews, Christians and Muslims should have one and the same God, but I do agree with Jews and Muslims, in case certain Christians take Jesus to be the God of gods, than I as a Christian would also dare to question those trinitarian Christians if they have the same God as me.
An other difficulty by Muslims is that they do get more and more a distorted image of Christians and cannot come to see that a person can really embrace a genuine faith in Christ Jesus, accepting this rabbi and prophet as their Messiah, but still believing in the Only One True God.

Beaumont also says:

"It's usually not that big a difficulty using the word 'Allah' and filling it with a Christian meaning. There are of course people in the West who worry about that – it makes some Christian missionaries feel uncomfortable, and I can understand that – but it's not my personal position."

Beaumont contends that it is not only just possible to use Islamic terminology while offering a Christian meaning, but it is, in fact, a vital part of helping Muslims to understand the message of Christ.

"I favour beginning where Muslims are, with what they understand, and trying to draw them into another way of thinking," he explains.

According to him

"The word 'God' came when the Bible was translated into Anglo-Saxon, and comes from a pagan name for a deity – it's a northern European understanding.

and as such in our regions it is also used regularly for indicating higher or in the picture standing figures, like fashion queens, film-stars, sports-favourites, etc.

So when Christians have strict view on using the word 'Allah' but are very happy to use the King James translation of the Bible, or even more recent, I smile to myself,"

Beaumont says.

"Language can take a word and change it – you can fill an old word with a new meaning, and that's what's going on here. Some people feel uncomfortable with that – they say 'you can't fill an old wineskin with new wine' but nobody says you can't use the Anglo-Saxon word for God.

"There's also a parallel with William Carey, who translated the Bible into Bengali and used the word 'Ishvara' – 'Ishvara created the heavens and the earth' – and that's the word Christians in India still use today.

"Ishvara is the God Hindus believe created the earth, and so Carey thought it would be best word for the Biblical creator – it's interesting to see how different translations use local deities to help explain the Bible, rather than 'Elohim'."

In Dutch:

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Friday 3 October 2014

Condemning QSIS or the self-claimed Islamic state ruler, al- Baghdadi their extremist ideologies and to clarify the true teachings of Islam

Dar al-Iftaa signs an open letter addressed to QSIS to condemn their extremist ideologies and clarify the true teachings of Islam

More than 120 Muslim scholars across the globe have signed an open letter which was sent to the leader of QSIS or the self-claimed Islamic state ruler, al- Baghdadi, in their attempt to clarify the true Islamic stance on issues such as the Islamic caliphate, jihad, and treating non-Muslims among other vital issues.

This open letter comes after the horrific atrocities that were committed by QSIS which in no way shape or form could be remotely related to Islam. The Islamic scholars felt the responsibility to cite their vehement rejection and utter condemnation to the theological fallacies and warped ideologies that these terrorist groups embrace.

Dr. Shawki Allam, the current Grand Mufti of Egypt was one of the signatories of this open letter to state his adamant refusal of placing any association of Islam with their abhorrent acts of extremism which is prohibited under all religions.

This move was necessary especially due to the unfortunate fact that a number of European Muslims are joining these extremist groups and are lured by the myth of establishing an Islamic caliphate as they are wrongly embracing the notion that establishing a caliphate is the only legally valid political system in the eyes of the Islamic law. Also Muslims across the globe are dismayed with the atrocities that are committed both against Muslims and non-Muslims which totally go against the merciful teachings of Islam.

The "black flag of jihad" as used by various Islamic terrorist organizations (since the late 1990s) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“These terrorist groups failed to recognize that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was not sent except to be a mercy to all the worlds and they failed to understand that God bestows mercy on those who are merciful and thus we should have mercy on those on earth, for the Lord in heaven to have mercy on us” said Dr. Ibrahim Negm, the Senior advisor to the Grand Mufti.

QSIS among other terrorist groups lost all meanings of compassion, mercy and affection towards humanity as they use the pathetic classical approach of hiding behind the motto of religion to attain their pity political goals of usurping lands, gaining political power and ruling people through torture, killing and persecution.

To read the open letter, please click here http://lettertobaghdadi.com/

Please do find as well:

Do Al-Qaeda, Islamic State, ISIS and ISIL belong to true Islam

President Barack Obama channeled George W. Bush. The former has assembled a grand coalition to fight a new Middle Eastern war. According to Forbes only President Obama acted without legal authority and stuck the U.S. with most of the work.

English: President George W. Bush and Presiden...

President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama meet in the Oval Office of the White House Monday, November 10, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to Forbes Contributor Doug Bandow the Islamic State is evil, but the organization’s raison d’etre is establishing a Middle Eastern caliphate, or quasi-state, not terrorizing Americans. In fact, grabbing territory provided the U.S. with a target for retaliation in response to any attack, something lacking with al-Qaeda and its many off-shoots.
But are the aims of Al-Qaeda and Islamic State not going further, hoping to convert the whole world to the Islam and having one world regime under Islamic Law?

U.S.A. Secretary Jeh Johnson said: “We know of no credible information that ISIL is planning to attack the homeland at present.”

Two weeks ago President Barack Obama did try to make a broader point when he uttered

"Let’s be clear: While this group may call itself the “Islamic State,” it is not “Islamic.”c,"

which made that several Americans and critics on Twitter quickly fired off on the President for making the assertion, with many noting that ISIL in fact stands for the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant."

What Obama said in his prime-time speech Wednesday night September 10 can be found in ISIL will find no safe haven where the president rightly accuses those who just kill innocent people and destroy also Islamic heritage not to be people who live according the rules of the faith they say to defend. Why would they rape and kill other Muslims if they are real faithful Muslims and how can it that they bomb, burn and destroy Qurans, whilst in case Western people would do such a thing they would call for a fatwa and shout for murder of that person.

Muslim political, religious and social commentator regularly appearing on British television and radio presenter Mohammed Ansar also know as a leading public advocate against extremism, has tackled both international terror threats and domestic far right radicalisation. Mohammed is well known for his advocacy for Muslim civil rights and is outspoken against Islamophobia. Mohammed became the focus of international attention when he was named at the top of terrorist organisation Al Shabab's most-wanted list. In spite of this, Mohammed has continued to speak out publically against the rise of terror and extremism, and to promote peace and tolerance amongst communities. Mohammed advocates a return to an authentic Islamic enlightenment as part of the Muslim revivalist and spiritual reformational movement.

For him there is no doubt that in these coming days, global Islam, almost a third of humanity, will unite across all forms of division, in the worship of one God. But to have Islamic State being part of that true worshipping community seems to be a bridge too far. Many today still have no idea that Islam is the completion of the religion which was revealed to mankind through a single line of Prophets.

On the 11° of September he tweeted:

ISIL is not Islamic, says prime time @BarackObama (and virtually every Muslim and reasonably educated person on the face of our planet).

Also for Ameena Jandali, the Content Director for Islamic Networks Group ( ING), a non-profit organization that counters prejudice and discrimination against American Muslims by teaching about their traditions and contributions in the context of America’s history and cultural diversity, while building relations between American Muslims and other groups, it is clear there is something wrong in the attitude of those Jihad fighters.

this year, hajj will take place against the ugly backdrop of a group that has come to represent the antithesis of what the pilgrimage signifies: Unity through diversity, brotherhood and equality, and the sanctity of religion, its symbols and holy places.

For Patheos and Time he writes:

As ISIS sends another two hundred thousand Muslim Kurds fleeing into Turkey after terrorizing Christian, Yazidi, and other populations for months, millions of pilgrims in Islam’s two holiest cities are gathered to peacefully commemorate Abraham, the father, not only of Islam, but of Judaism and Christianity.

Jandali points to the other major theme of hajj which is the interconnectedness of humankind, which is demonstrated by the simple white pieces of cloth which all male pilgrims wear during the duration of the hajj, no matter from where in the world they come.

Jandali continues:

Especially at this holy time, the stark contrast between the lofty goals of the religion and the actions of groups like ISIS, Boko Haram and others who make a mockery of Islam with their brutal and merciless behavior is a painful reminder that religion is not about terminology or slogans. Rather, true religion is explained in a saying of the Prophet Muhammad,
“I was only sent to perfect good character.”

I also think when we see and hear what those fundamentalists do that they do too many things which are against the idea of Quran and certainly against the Words of God like we know them. Seeing how they treat other Muslims makes us think and wonder what their real motives are. There we clearly can see that power and making an own state is the major mover. In case the incentive would be to make a sacred Islamic State than they should accept all Muslim brothers and sisters as part of the people united under the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. In case their ideas, motives are really funded on the believe they should spread the true belief in One God, they would not destroy such books like the Quran, which would and should be a Holy Book for all Muslims.

In my article Not true or True Catholicism and True Islam I go deeper into this matter and show more reasons why Islamic State (IS) is not a real true Islamic Movement.

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Please do find to read:

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Tuesday 23 September 2014

Quran can convert to Christianity

That the holy Quran can convert people to Christianity has been said already previously by former Muslims who became Christian. Recently also a former Muslim imam convert to Christianity and believes that God protected him from death threats and torture at the hands of his family members.

Mario Joseph, a former imam who shared the story of his conversion and subsequent persecution with the HM Television program “Changing Tracks,” broadcast by the EUK Mamie Foundation run by the Home of the Mother religious community, got the English-language interview, first posted in April 2014, by now has more than 250,000 views on YouTube.

Mario Joseph got onto this world because his mother rejected doctors’ advice to abort him when she had an infected womb during pregnancy. After his birth she dedicated him to God. Studying the Quran, he noticed that the name of Jesus was mentioned more often than the name of Islam’s prophet Mohammed and that Mary, known in Arabic as Mariam, was the only woman mentioned by name in the Quran. In Islam, Mary is recognized as a perpetual virgin who was conceived without sin.

Mario Joseph decided to accept Jesus, which was not happily received by his parents, who found they had to punish him. He was bound and deprived of food and water for several days and his brother forced him to drink urine as a punishment. The lack of food and water affected him severely, he recalled, adding that after as many as 20 days, his father entered his cell, choked him and threatened him with a knife unless he renounced Jesus.

“I knew my dad well that he would kill me,”

Mario Joseph said.

“When I knew that it was my last moment… I thought, ‘Jesus died, but He came back. If I believe in Jesus and die, I too may get my life’.”

At that point he felt energized, pulled his father’s hand down, and cried out Jesus’ name. His father then fell down and was cut severely by his own knife, causing him to foam at the mouth, Mario Joseph said. When family members took his father to the hospital, they forgot to lock the room.

The young man then ran out and caught a taxi. The driver was a Christian and helped get him food and drink.

“That day, really I understood, my Jesus is alive even now. When I called him for my need, he saved me.”

Mario Joseph found a Catholic retreat center in India, where he could stay and give talks in various languages.

He took the name “Mario,” a male version of Mary in Italian. He also took the name Joseph for Mary’s spouse.

Mario Joseph said he did not expect that he would still be alive 18 years after his conversion. He said people are still trying to kill him, and his parents held a mock funeral ceremony for him to signify that he was an outcast. On the mock grave, they marked as his death date the date of his baptism.

Although he has had no contact with his family members, he prays for them and believes that “God can touch them within a moment.”

Even if they never accept Christianity, he explained,

“I’m always saying ‘Jesus, please take them to heaven’.”

This imam former Muslim imam may have found Jesus, and found many things in Catholicism where he found himself at ease.

It is strange he came to accept the Trinity and even came to do worship of the human being Mary. For such conversions Muslims are very afraid, but if some of their Muslim brothers and sisters would come to see who Jesus really is, and what the Plan of God is with humanity, they should not be so much afraid.

I do invite Christians and Muslims to come and look at the Quran and Bible verses which are presented to come to understand both writings better and see the similarities and come to see where certain Quran verses can lead tot and how certain teachers can twist the words of those holy books.

Come and have a look at the series Quran and Bible verses comparison:

Quran versus older Holy Writings of Divine Creator

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Quran quotes

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Welcome

Welcome at this zone created by Marcus Ampe for the Belgian Free Christadelphians, where previous articles from the MSN Groups and Multiply are brought together and made available again to the general public. On 2012 October 26 this site came into development and new articles shall be added next to our main site and to the Christadelphian Ecclesia site: Christadelphian Ecclesia.
You are welcome at that site to find more articles.

All who want to follow Jesus/Jeshua (Yeshua/Yahsua) from Nazareth, the Christ, the Messiah and wants to be united with people who sincerely want to keep to those teachings of this masterteacher are welcome to share their love for Christ and their hope for the coming Kingdom.

The names "Christadelphia" and 'Christadelphian' is compounded of two Greek words: 'christos' and 'adelphoi' and means 'brethren in Christ'.

This site is created by a Free Christadelphian only bounded to Jesus Christ. We are open to anybody who wants to share the brotherly love of Christ. Coming together by a common belief in 'the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ' (Acts 8:12).

In the older Multiply messages links to Multiply shall not always work from 2012 December 1, but you shall be able to find them by copying and pasting the title in the search machine. I have worked on re-editing those links from 2005 onwards, so that they could work in the future, but it became a to much time consuming job, so I stopped doing it after a while. (My apologies for certain links not working any more.)

Thanks for visiting us and hope to see you again.

Welkom

Wij wensen allen welkom die hier op deze pagina's terecht komen en hopen dat zij geïnspireerd mogen geraken om verder de Bijbel ter hand te nemen en zelf op onderzoek te gaan wat er in de Heilige Schrift werkelijk staat.

De namen "Christadelphia" en "Christadelphian" is een samentelling van twee Griekse woorden : "Christos" en "adelphoi" en betekent 'broer in Christus'. De Christadelphians zijn een groep van mensen die samen verbonden zijn door hun gemeenschappelijk geloof betreffende de dingen aangaande het Koninkrijk van God en de naam van Jezus Christus (Jeshua, de Messias) (Handelingen van de Apostelen 8v12).
Christadelphian mensen zouden tot een wereldwijde gemeenschap moeten behoren, wiens doel is zo trouw als mogelijke de leerstelling en voorbeeld van Jezus/Jehsua Christus te volgen, zoals het geregistreerd staat in de Bijbel.
In een wereld die vol is van onzekerheden genieten wij van een eenvoudig, rechtstreeks en logisch geloof, dat nu al vrede en voldoening aanbiedt en de belofte van het nog te komen eeuwigdurende vreugderijk: het Koninkijk van God.

Op deze site, gecreëerd door Marcus Ampe voor de Vrije Belgische Christadelphians, of Broeders in Christus, zijn in oktober 2012 de vroegere berichten uit de MSN Groepen en Multiply samen gebracht en terug zichtbaar gemaakt voor het algemeen publiek.

Meerdere linken in de vroegere artikelen zullen vermoedelijk niet werken, maar u kan de titel dan kopiëren en plakken in het "Zoek" venster om zo bij het juiste artikel te komen. Ik maakte er werk van om de artikelen vanaf 2005 terug te editen en daarin de linken te vernieuwen, zodat zij terug zouden werken. Maar dit vroeg zo veel tijd dat ik het heb opgegeven. Daarom verzoek ik mij te verontschuldigen indien u een link tegen komt die niet meer werkt.

Vanaf 26 oktober 2012 is deze website opengesteld naar het publiek en zullen er in de toekomst nog enkele artikelen bij komen. Maar de meerderheid van de teksten zullen nu geplaatst worden op de site van de Vlaamse Broeders in Christus of Christadelphians en op de kerkgemeenschapssite
Christadelphian Ecclesia.

Graag ontmoeten wij u daar voor meerdere artikelen.

Our World

Pages

Monday 6 October 2014

Malaysia requires sole use of God's title for Muslims

In Dutch:

More Mexicans start questioning Catholic doctrine and the concept of the Trinity

Friday 3 October 2014

Condemning QSIS or the self-claimed Islamic state ruler, al- Baghdadi their extremist ideologies and to clarify the true teachings of Islam

Dar al-Iftaa signs an open letter addressed to QSIS to condemn their extremist ideologies and clarify the true teachings of Islam

Do Al-Qaeda, Islamic State, ISIS and ISIL belong to true Islam

Tuesday 23 September 2014

Quran can convert to Christianity

Quran versus older Holy Writings of Divine Creator

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Quran quotes

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Pages

Monday 6 October 2014

In Dutch:

Related articles

Related articles

Friday 3 October 2014

Dar al-Iftaa signs an open letter addressed to QSIS to condemn their extremist ideologies and clarify the true teachings of Islam

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Tuesday 23 September 2014

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