Malay language from the womb of Islam?

From The Herald

Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) has posted in its website a number of interesting articles on Islam. Some of them are of interest to us as well, especially that on the topic of the use of the word “Allah”. Their website’s search engine can easily track the section on the use of the word “Allah” under the following heading: Isu penggunaan lafaz “Allah”. Under this broad subject there is a cluster of other articles that subscribe to the view that the word “Allah” is for the exclusive use of Muslims.

There are nine articles in the above section but we chose the article entitled The implications of the use of the word “Allah” by Non- Muslims (Implikasi Penggunaan Kalimah “Allah” oleh Bukan Islam) presented in powerpoint as our subject for discussion in this editorial.

The starting point of this article is the statement that the Muslims feel uneasy about the verdict of Dec 31, 2009 in which Justice Lau Bee Lan “allowed HERALD - The Catholic Weekly to use the word Allah”.

JAKIM says that we sought the High Court’s permission to translate the word ‘God’ to ‘Allah’. That is not correct. We never asked any permission. We only asked the Court to review the Home Minister’s prohibition on the word that we have been using for centuries. Their contention is that the word ‘Allah’ implies a different theological connotation when used by Christians.

Malay Muslims opine that ALLAH is a proper noun for Lord God Almighty or in Malay Tuhan yang Maha Esa. However the word ALLAH is purely linguistic as both Christians and Muslims understand it in Indonesia and in other parts of the world where the Arabic language is the medium of communication. What surprises and perturbs us is that the word ‘Allah’ though universal has now become particular and focused for the use of the Malay race in the Malay language.

Thus JAKIM writes:

The Malay language refers to the Malay race

The Malay race is synonymous with Islam

The Kuala Berang encrypted stone in Terengganu dated Feb 22, 1303 declares the presence of Islam there

The Malay language is born from the womb of Islam (rahim agama Islam).

JAKIM’s equating of language, race and religion seems logical, but unfortunately the starting premise is false and thus the conclusions derived from it cannot be accepted.

James Sneddon, in his thoroughly researched book, says that the Malay language is a member of the Austronesian language family. Austroneisan in Greek means ‘southern islands’, which would refer to the islands of the present Indonesia, Borneo, Malay Archipelago and the many other islands in the Pacific Ocean. The development of the Malay language as the lingua franca started some 2000 years ago: “The first event leading to the spread of the Malay language was the establishment of sea trade with India.” (James Sneddon, The Indonesian Language, UNSW Press, 2003, P. 33)

This led to the incorporation of Sanskrit words into the Malay language long before the influence of Islam. Thus JAKIM’s statement that the Malay language was born from the womb of Islam is not true. The famous Kuala Berang stone that was discovered by a trader in the 19th century has 29 Sanskrit words and less than 10 Arabic words.

Therefore, to even claim that the Malay language refers to the Malay race, which is regarded as synonymous with Islam, is truly re-writing history in the face of naked truth. Can we hide the truth? Is it not a sin? Indeed, the word sin in Malay is dosa, which itself is a Sanskrit word. The words, neraka, puasa, syurga, bangsa, keluarga, bendehara, mentri, perdana mentri, raja, agama, asrama, desa, etc are all Sanskrit words.

Hence, how could any scholar worth his dignity say that the ‘Malay Language is born from the womb of Islam’? We are disappointed that truth is being sacrificed at the altar of falsehood. We pray that such unscholarly as well as unethical means may not be used to prove a point that is not true. It shows a lack of belief in the presence of the Almighty God in our midst.

It is terribly wrong to say that the using of the revered word ‘Allah’ for hundreds of years by Christians is a ploy to indoctrinate Malay Muslims with Christian doctrine. If this were in any way true of the Malay race then many would have already become Hindus because of the numerous Sanskrit words incorporated in our everyday use of the Malay language.

What we need is the fear of God, as it is expressed in Proverbs: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Prov 1:7).