Everyone except those living in caves should know by now that Umno has imposed a ban on the use of the word 'Allah' by non-Muslims. This has, of course, triggered an uproar, more noticeably throughout the Christian churches. Anyway, let’s not go any deeper into this issue. Let’s leave it to the more experienced and qualified professionals to argue out their case.

However, there is one thing that I just can't seem to understand. Why are the Malays (I'm sorry, the Umnoputeras actually) so afraid of the non-Muslims using the word ‘Allah’?

What does Allah mean? Does Allah mean the God of Arabians? Because obviously 'Allah' is an Arabian word. Does Allah mean the God of Muslims? If that were the case, are those Umnoputeras suggesting that each religion has a different God?

I thought they were thought that only one true God exists? By saying that Allah is the God of the Muslims, they are also saying that there are other Gods for other religions.

I read one argument that said 'Allah' is a sacred word in Islam and should only be used by a certain group of people. I certainly do agree that 'Allah' is a sacred word, and that it should not be used casually. The same goes for words such as 'God', ' Pencipta Alam ', ' Tuhan '.

So why should 'Allah' be confined to Muslims? Doesn't 'Allah' mean Tuhan ? If Tuhan doesn't mean Allah, then I say that all Muslims have committed a mistake. This is because our Rukun Negara itself has a phrase called 'Kepercayaan Kepada Tuhan', which is professed under oath by all Malaysians.

So by saying that Tuhan does not mean Allah suggests that Malaysian Muslims are worshiping two Gods. One called 'Allah', another called 'Tuhan'. What say the experts?