YOURSAY 'The majority of the Muslim world has no objections to it. Sabah and Sarawak have been using it since pre-independence days.'

Selangor sultan shocked at Guan Eng's 'Allah' call

Yenno: I respect Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah. He is a learned man. He surely know the ‘Allah' issue is pending appeal over a High Court judgment that usage of the word ‘Allah' is not illegal. Surely the sultan knows that he is not above the Federal Constitution.

A decree like that does not befit the constitutional monarchy in Malaysia.

Anonymous_ABG: Islam is the most abused religion and so done by the Muslims themselves.

‘Allah' is used with reverence by the non-Muslims when saying prayers and goes back to the days even before Islam was born. Nobody can stop the Sikhs, Hindus and other non-Muslim religionists from mentioning ‘Allah' when praying.

There is no problem with the term being used by non-Muslims in the Middle East as well as in the world's largest Muslim country - Indonesia.

The sultan should not stray outside his area of responsibility as stipulated and defined by the nation's constitution. There is a reason for the saying that "royals should only be seen and not heard."

Mirror On The Wall: Is the sultan for all, or just for the Muslims? I thought he was the state monarch for all and sundry in the state. By this edict, he is restricting his own sovereignty, and perhaps, even popularity.

BangunlahMalaysia: The majority of the Muslim world has no objections to it. Sabah and Sarawak have been using it since pre-independence days.

I believe that the majority of our Malaysian Muslim brothers and sisters do not object to this so long as it does not associate the teaching with Islam.

Chee Hoe Siew: Since young I learn about the word ‘Tuhan' for expression of god in Malay. Allah, on the other hand, is mainly used by Muslim as an identification of ‘God' in the Quran.

Even when ‘Allah' is also used to define ‘God', I think we should reserve the term ‘Allah' for Muslims as a sign of respect to the religion.

Using ‘Allah' by the Christians to define their God in the Bible seems to me having a sinister plot to confuse Muslims by blurring the line between the two religions, even though they are of the same origin.

Christians should show respect to other religions instead of attempting to sabotage others.

YF: Chee Hoe, the Arab Christians have been using the word long before Prophet Muhammad was born. What nonsense are you saying regarding a sinister plot? Go search the Arab Bible at and you'll find that word there.

The same applies to the local language here as the local language have borrowed words from the Arab language and perhaps the first religious text in Romanised form of our local language is the Bible.

So what nonsense are you trying to accuse the Christians of? Please do not say anything before checking the facts. There's too many ignorant people commenting on this issue already. We do not need another one.

Mohamad Abdul Malik: God has many names. Why use ‘Allah' when it has not been used by other religions in Malaysia except maybe by the Sikh religion?

I have not heard of any Muslims protesting the Sikhs' use of the word ‘Allah' since I was born. Why the sudden interest in using the word ‘Allah' by the Christians or rather by their bishops?

Coming on the heels of alleged attempt to Christianise the Muslims, would not it be deemed as provoking the Muslims? We have enough religious strife and conflicts in the world today. Do we have to create an additional one just to prove a point?

Hedonese: Malay-speaking Christians have already been using ‘Allah' for centuries and there was never any suggestion that in using the term ‘Allah', Christians were at any time confusing Muslims.

Indeed, it may be argued that the existence of a common term ‘Allah' facilitates communication and promotes mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims.

Krissman: People are trying to find cure for diseases such as cancer and here in Malaysia, we are fighting over a term used to refer to god. Why the insecurity and who is the sultan to stop anyone from using a term to refer to god?

There are thousands of borrowed words in all languages, and the Malay language is no exception. Indeed, the word he uses to refer to himself - ‘sultan' - is a borrowed word from another language.

If anyone should be upset, it should be the Arabs as they came up with the word. In this globalised world, no one has a monopoly on any word, 'sultan'.

Changenow: It would be shock for the Sikhs if the fatwa is imposed on them. It's like the tenant asking for the ownership of the house he rents from the landlord.

Joe Lee: The supreme law of Malaysia is the Federal Constitution; 1,000 fatwas, and a dozen sultans, plus a hundred religious departments won't change that.

The sovereignty of the country ultimately resides not with the publicly-funded monarchical heads, but in the popular will of the people of Malaysia. The sultan of Sulu can attest to what can happen when sultans lose the support of the people.

Ian2003: Action speaks louder than word and I shall say no more, or else I might be charged for treason.

Mano: Tuanku, are you saying I cannot now sing my Hindu song ‘Ragupathi Rajava Raja Ram', which has the word ‘Allah' for Lord Shiva? ‘Iswara Allah' (meaning Iswara God) is the word to denote god in this song. So how now?

Bluemountains: The sultan has banned non-Muslims from using the word ‘Allah'. Does it also mean that all non-Muslims are not allowed to sing the Selangor state anthem?

Or are the non-Muslims allowed to sing the state anthem except for the third line, i.e. "Allah lanjutkan usia Tuanku"?

Why create so much confusion? It was okay when the state anthem was first introduced decades ago.

Anti Umno: This is the only country that we are fighting over petty issues. What is the big deal that even the sultan is being dragged into this? Don't we have better things to do? Who cares whether we can use the "word" or not?

The important thing is that those who claim that they are the champion of Islam are the ones who practise corruption, steal from the rakyat and cheat on their spouses.

Jean Pierre: More than 300 comments from Malaysiakini subscribers. To sum it all up, everyone is shocked that the sultan is shocked.

Sultan embroils himself in 'Allah' controversy

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