Is Malaysia heading towards racial riots following the ruling by High Court Judge Lau Bee Lan that the word “Allah” is non-exclusive to Muslims and that the Roman Catholic newspaper, The Herald, is free to use it. Zamihan Mat Zin from the Institut Latihan Islam Malaysia certainly thinks so. He said: “Who knows, there might be a Feb 13?”
But what did Zamihan Mat Zin mean by “Feb 13″? He was obviously referring to the May 13, 1969 racial riots between the Chinese and the Malay in Kuala Lumpur that resulted in the death of 196 people between May 13 to July 31 that year.
So is Zamihan Mat Zin saying that another racial riot along the scale of the May 13, 1969 riot is possible in the current unrest following the Allah ruling? Speaking at a recent forum organised for civil servants by the Islamic Development Department (Jakim), Zamihan Mat Zin said: “Extremism can be found in any religion and this challenge is definitely one of them.”
So what challenge was Zamihan Mat Zin referring to? He was referring to the Roman Catholic Church’s legal challenge against the Home Minister’s ban on The Herald for using “Allah” in its publication. Zamihan Mat Zin was saying that The Herald provoked Muslim anger by challenging the ban in court. That’s why he suggested that a repeat of the May 13, 1969 racial riots is possible if the Christians “extremists” (in his view) do not back down on the usage of the word “Allah”.
Another speaker at the forum, Mahamad Nasir Disa, deputy chief of Syariah Research Department of the Attorney-General’s office agreed that the filing of a legal challenge was an act of provocation by Christians. Mahamad Nasir Disa said: “Often the argument given by them is that to deny the usage is to deny their rights to practise their religion but our argument is that the word ‘Allah’ is not an integral part of their religion as compared to us. If that is the case, then we can talk about rights. If not, don’t talk about rights.”
Mahamad Nasir Disa said that there is “a lack of real leadership” in dealing with this issue. Zamihan Mat Zin agreed. He said: “Some politicians are ever so vocal when it comes to defending Malay rights but when it comes to their religion, they are quiet. What is the use of defending Malay rights if our religion is not protected?”
Think about it. Is Zamihan Mat Zin right in saying that unless the Christians “extremists” back down on the Allah issue, there might be a “Feb 13″ situation, a clear reference to racial riots which took place on May 13, 1969? Mahamad Nasir Disa said: ‘Allah’ is not an integral part of their religion as compared to us. If that is the case, then we can talk about rights. If not, don’t talk about rights.” But isn’t this precisely what the legal challenge is all about? – to determine whether the word “Allah” is exclusive to the Muslims or whether it is also integral part of other religions?
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Zamihan is nonsense. he doesn’t have any knowledge in islam let alone other religion