Dear Editor,
Views publicly attributed to influential personalities, including to YB Dato’Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi, prohibiting the use of the word ‘Allah’ by non- Muslims are very disturbing — including for those of us whose mother tongue is Iban.

Islam is the official religion of this country. No one questions that. Similarly, the Constitution guarantees the right to religious freedom. Followers of different faiths worship in their own established ways, and there is always some sensitivity attached to religious issues. Thus, I will not touch on matters of theology or religious doctrine. Moreover, this is more a question of language.

I am told the word ‘Allah’ is a standard Arabic word for God and is also widely used in the Middle East by non- Muslims. YB Datuk Daud bin Abdul Rahman, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs) in the State Government of Sarawak, noted the word has been used by the followers of the Sidang Injil Borneo in Sarawak for more than 50 years.

Furthermore, the Majlis Islam Sarawak (MIS) does not think the Muslims in Sarawak are confused when non- Muslims use the word ‘Allah’ in their liturgy (Borneo Post, Mar 9, 2009) My parents and family members were baptized into the Catholic faith some time in 1947. As a young boy from the age of six, I was taught to pray to ‘Allah Taala’. The Creed, the acclamation of faith in the Christian prayer, when rendered in Iban begins as follows:

“Aku arap ke siko aja’ Allah Taala, Apai Ka besai Kuasa, Ke ngaga Seruga enggau dunia...”

In my own immediate family, through inter-marriage, there are Muslims, Christians and Hindus. Once a year, at Gawai Dayak, we visit the family longhouse. When the prayer leader lead prayers in Iban and reads excerpts from the Iban translation of the Bible, the words ‘Allah Taala’ are an integral part of those prayers. After the Gawai, when we return to Kuala Lumpur, the grandchildren continue to attend mengaji lessons. There is no hint of confusion among the Muslim members of the family. YB Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is no ordinary individual. He received the highest number of votes of the three newly-elected Vice Presidents of UMNO. Going by tradition, it may be expected he will be appointed to a senior and important portfolio in the new Cabinet line-up.

One hopes when he is given a wider national responsibility, as different from aspiring to a post in UMNO, he will recognize that those of us who use the ‘Allah’ or ‘Allah Taala’ in our Christian prayer and publications have no other agenda but to practise our Faith in our own language. How can that be made illegal?

Leo Moggie Anak Irok Kuala Lumpur Herald Malaysia