I too am concerned at possible misuse and abuse, which will undoubtedly happen.
However I still believe that this can be turned to Muslim advantage, if Muslims act, instead of react.
A gap in the wall may seem to open one way, but it is up to us to push the other way.
Muslims dont have to believe the Christian line that they need to use Allah for the reasons they give.
The reality is that they are under threat of conversions to Islam, which is much more numerous than vice versa in Msia.
They fear that with a whole new generation of Msian Chrstians raised in Bahasa M, schooled in Bahasa M, speaking in BM, exposed to Malay culture and entertainment, and with the dominant cultural and national discourse being Malay-Muslim, that their religion is under threat of being an alien anachronism, and even more Christians will become Muslims.
Hence the step taken, which I see to be a desparate act of a losing adversary.
Just as Muslims fear their use of "Allah", they also fear that it would weaken their community - imagine what great crisis it would take to force Muslims in a country to start using "Buddha" instead of Allah.
Malaysian Muslims can either fear the tiger, or ride on it.
But they must not be distracted by the politics, which will lead them away from what they should be doing, in order to achieve success. This is exactly the diversion that the Christians expect, in fact, they are the hidden hand behind orchestrating most of the drama that happens.
In every crisis there is opportunity.
We must stop treating the Christian evangelist as the monster under our childhood bed. We are bigger and stronger than him, and here's a secret - he's more scared of us than we are of him.
They are forced to teach their people to believe and love "Allah", so as to keep their minds.
Then we must teach them that "Allah" is One, and He will get their hearts.
May Allah guide us and give us strength and patience to stay united, and to give us wisdom to see things as they truly are.
May You Be
11 years ago