WHO OWNS THE WORD "ALLAH"

Who owns the word “Allah” ?
Mike Ghouse

The Malaysian Government need to learn that no one owns the word "Allah" nor does any one own "Allah". Same formula applies to the other names of God be it Yahweh, Ahura Mazda, Krishna, Allah, Ahura Mazda or any other name one can imagine to call on the creator.

Perhaps, one single event led to the other and the whole cosmos came into being. Thus the concept of oneness creation, oneness of the humanity and oneness the people translates into Oneness of God, One all loving God. I hope you find the answer in various ways of praising the lord; your lord, my lord and every one's lord; the same causer and sustainer of the creation.

The phrases like One God, One family or Vasudeva Kutumbam is all about peaceful co-existence of diverse people as one family. If we can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of the 7 billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

The Qur’aan starts with this verse:
1:2 All praise is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds,
Topics discussed in this Verse: [Allah:Praise be to Him] [Allah's attributes: Cherisher and Sustainer] [Allah's attributes: Lord of the Worlds]
Alhamdu lillahi rabbi alAAalameena
الْحَمْدُ للّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (1:2) Baset - Hussari - Minshawi

In this instance, the term "worlds" denotes all categories of existence both in the physical and the spiritual sense. The Arabic expression rabb - rendered by me as ',`Sustainer" - embraces a wide complex of meanings not easily expressed by a single term in another language. It comprises the ideas of having a just claim to the possession of anything and, consequently, authority over it, as well as of rearing, sustaining and fostering anything from its inception to its final completion. Thus, the head of a family is called rabb ad-dar ("master of the house") because he has authority over it and is responsible for its maintenance; similarly, his wife is called rabbat ad-dar ("mistress of the house"). Preceded by the definite article al, the designation rabb is applied, in the Qur'an, exclusively to God as the sole fosterer and sustainer of all creation - objective as well as conceptual - and therefore the ultimate source of all authority.(Quran Ref: 1:2 )

Here is how the last chapter begins :

114:1 SAY: "I seek refuge with the Sustainer of men,
Topics discussed in this Verse: [Allah:seek refuge with Him] [Allah's attributes:Cherisher and Sustainer] [Mankind]
Qul aAAoothu birabbi alnnasi
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ (114:1) Baset - Hussari - Minshawi

The most important aspect of quoting both the first and last chapters of Qur'aan has a purpose in it. Both verses do not address Muslims exclusively, in turn they address the whole cosmos and the human beings.

God belongs to all, we don't need to own him (her or it), let him remain the creator and owner of our lives and let us call him whichever way we can.

The Neocons Muslims (Equal and opposite counterparts of Neocons in all faiths) need to be happy that the Christians and Sikhs want to keep "Allah" as one of the names of God.
Indeed, the Arab Christians and Jews do call God "Allah".

Allah is God's name in Arabic. Allah, the creator and sustainer has no problems if we call him Yahweh, Ahura Mazda, Buddha, God, Ishwar, Mahavir, Wahe Guru or Allah. Let's not limit the capabilities of God to a language and a religion. He is the creator and sustainer of all worlds.
As a Muslim I welcome every one to call God with his name in Arabic – "Allah" with equal devotion and honor. Quietly and peacefully this would be the response of over 99% of Muslims in the world. It is time for us not to run over by the few.

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker, Writer and a Moderator. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing Pluralism, politics, Islam, Religion, Terrorism, India and civic issues. He is the founder of the World Muslim Congress, a group committed to building bridges and nurturing a world of co-existence. He also heads the foundation for pluralism, an organization committed to studying religious pluralism and pluralistic governance. His personal website is http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and his writings are on the above websites as well as several of the ancillary Blogs listed on the sites.

Malaysian Sikhs join debate over use of the word 'Allah'

4 Jul, 2008, 1042 hrs IST,
IANS KUALA LUMPUR:

Malaysia's 100,000-strong Sikh community is the latest party seeking to intervene in the suit by the Catholic church over the use of the word Allah. The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council filed an application to intervene in the suit Tuesday.

In a supporting affidavit, its president Jagir Singh said the word Allah in reference to god was an integral part of the original version of the Sikh holy book, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. As such, he said, no followers of the Sikh religion would tolerate any form of obstruction on the use of the original terms taken fromthe holy book, The Star newspaper reported Friday.

Jagir Singh said the council, the umbrella body of some 130 gurdwaras nationwide, had an interest in the declaration sought by the applicant of the suit. In the original suit, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Murphy Pakiam is seeking to declare that the Catholic weekly Herald is entitled to use the word Allah. He is also seeking to declare that its usage was not exclusive to Islam.

Pakiam, 70, had named the then internal security minister and the government as respondents in the application filed March 19. The archbishop is named as an applicant in the action in his capacity as publisher of the Herald. Other parties which have applied to intervene in the suit are the Penang Islamic Religious Council, Terengganu Islamic Religious and Malay Custom Council, Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council and Perak Islamic Religious and Malay Custom Council. Practised by the majority Malays, Islam is the official religion of Malaysia. But it is not an Islamic state as per the constitution, which permits religious minorities to practise their respective faiths.

Multi-ethnic Malaysia has significant populations of over two million Hindu settlers from India, Buddhists and Christians of various denominations, and smaller numbers of people practising other faiths.