The debate about the word ‘Allah’ gets more interesting and challenging as days go by. The background is simple enough to enunciate, and I reiterate it here as a reminder (principally to myself) not to be confused about the issue.

It is that the generic or mainstream Malay mind does not distinguish between (a) the term ‘Allah’ as a concept of the transcendent super-being, and (b) as a specific name to label it. So to the Malay mind there is no difference between god as the concept and as a name give to recognise it; they are perceived as identical and synonymous to one another.