OXFORD: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said he would not allow the issue of using the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims in Malaysia to recur in the future.
WORK HARD: Muhyiddin chats with Malaysian students after delivering a lecture entitled ‘Islam and Critical Challenges in Multi-religious Malaysia’ at Islam Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. — Bernama photo
He said (former prime minister) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad once mentioned that the legal process was not the best solution to a problem, and there could be other avenues.
“I agree to a certain extent. What is important is to handle the situation wisely,” he said when answering a question from the floor after delivering a lecture entitled ‘Islam and Critical Challenges in multi-religious Malaysia’ at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCFIS) here.
“Things (religious tension and church attacks) have of course happened but we hope they will not recur in the future,” he said.
Muhyiddin said he had been receiving quite a number of messages from non-Muslim friends in Sabah and Sarawak who said there were Christians who felt that things would not have happened in the first place “if we, the Christians, would just not use the word ‘Allah’”.
“This is because in Malaysia and in many parts of the world and in all Muslim countries, Allah is the only God for Muslims. We cannot equate Allah to god in the other religions and even in Christianity, which believes in the concept of the Trinity.
“There are differences, I don’t want to go deep into that issue. I think we have to manage issues at home our own way because we have our own way of life, culture, traditions and respect for one another which are our strengths.
“I think we can manage that, and InsyaAllah (God willing), those things that have happened will not recur,” he said.
OCFIS, which is about 100km from London, is a recognised independent centre of Oxford University.
It was established in 1985 to encourage the scholarly study of Islam and the Islamic world.
The Prince of Wales is the patron of the centre.
Several great world leaders had spoken there, including former South African president Nelson Mandela, Dr Mahathir, former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan and Indian National Congress president Sonia Gandhi, as well as Prince Charles himself.
Earlier, in his lecture, Muhyiddin said that as a multi-religious country, Malaysia continued to face challenges in promoting religious tolerance and maintaining religious harmony.
“This is a constant and permanent challenge. Just as I speak today (yesterday), there is hue and cry among the Muslim community in Malaysia over a High Court ruling which allows a Christian publication to use the word ‘Allah’ in its newsletter.
“No matter what our personal view is on this issue, whether we think that it is the right of Christians to use the word ‘Allah’ for the Christian God or it is the exclusive right of the Muslims to claim possession of the word, we have to acknowledge that such an incident causes discord in a multi-religious country.”
He said this was just one of the many examples of discord arising from disputes over the rights of religious communities.
“Furthermore, as the discourse on the right to freedom of religion gather strength, some disillusioned groups might raise competing demands in pursuit of group interests under the guise of religious freedom.
“Of late, there were court cases involving the issue of conversion, divorce, child custody and building of cemeteries and houses of worship that have led different religious groups to reinforce articulation of group interests,” he said.
The combined effect of these competing interests, if not properly managed, he said, was hatred and animosity among the religious communities. — Bernama