The Malaysian government has refused to release 10,000 Bibles which it seized because they contained the word Allah to refer to God.
The government, which is dominated by Muslim Malays, claims that the word Allah is Islamic and that its use in Bibles could upset Muslims.
The Roman Catholic Church is challenging the ban in court.
Religion has become highly sensitive in Malaysia, where about two-thirds of the population is Muslim.
Religious minorities have accused the government of undermining their rights.
The government has impounded Bibles before, intercepting 5,000 in March as they were imported from Indonesia.
Church officials say that although the word Allah originated in Arabic, Malays have used it for centuries to refer generally to God, and Arabic-speaking Christians used it before Islam was founded.
The Christian Federation of Malaysia said the religious freedom guaranteed by the Malaysian constitution was meaningless if people were denied Bibles which used their own language.
Hinduism
See also: Sahasranama, Kirtana, and Japa
For an example refer to: Hare Krishna
Radha and Krishna Venerated within several traditions of Hinduism as the Supreme God, svayam bhagavan and his shakti, or as manifestations thereof. Referred to by the popular recitation of the holy names.
Within Hinduism, there are number of names of God which are generally in Sanskrit, each supported by a different tradition within the religion. Brahman, Bhagavan, Ishvara, and Paramatma are among the most commonly used terms for God in the scriptures of Hinduism.
* Bhagwan (Bhagwan) means “God”.
* Ishvara (īśvara) means “Cosmic Controller” or “Lord”.
* Maheshvara (mahā-īśvara) means “Great Lord”, used as an attribute of god Shiva.
* Parameshvara (parama-īśvara) means “Supreme Lord”.
* Paramatman (parama-ātman) means “Supreme Soul”.
* Para Brahman (para-brahma), an ineffable entity, best translated as “The Absoute Truth”, Supreme Brahman, or Supreme Cosmic Spirit.
* Adi Purusha (ādi-puruṣa) means “Timeless Being”, “Primordial Lord”, “First Person”.
* Vishnu is seen as Para Brahman within Vaishnava traditions, and the Vishnu Sahasranama enumerates 1000 names of Vishnu, each name eulogizing one of His countless great attributes. The names of Vishnu’s Dasavatara in particular are considered divine names.
* Krishna (Kṛṣṇa) is associated with Vishnu and certain Vaishnava traditions also regard Him as Para Brahman and Svayam Bhagavan (svayambhagavān) or the Lord Himself.[1] In Krishna-centered schools of Vaishnavism, which includes the Nimbarka, Vallabha and Caitanya schools Krishna is held as the Supreme Personality of Godhead[2] based on the descriptions of Him within the Bhagavata Purana and Mahabharata, with particular reference to the Bhagavad-Gita.[3]
* Rama (Rāma) is associated with Vishnu and is especially venerated in bhakti literature, such as that of Kabir and Ravidas, and more recently in the writings of Mohandas Gandhi.
[edit] Sikhism
Main article: God in Sikhism
There are multiple names for God in Sikhism. Some of the popular names for God in Sikhism are:
* Waheguru, meaning Wonderful Teacher bringing light to remove darkness, this name is considered the greatest among Sikhs, and it is known as “Gurmantar”, the Guru’s Word.
* Ek Onkar, ek meaning “one”, emphasizes the singularity of God. It is the beginning of the Sikh Mool Mantra.
* Satnam meaning True Name, some are of the opinion that this is a name for God in itself, others believe that this is an adjective used to describe the “Gurmantar”, Waheguru (See below)
* Nirankar, meaning formless One
God according to Guru Nanak is beyond full comprehension by humans; has endless number of virtues; takes on innumerable forms; and can be called by an infinite number of names thus “Your Names are so many, and Your Forms are endless. No one can tell how many Glorious Virtues You have.”[4]
[edit] Semitic religions
[edit] Judaism
Main article: Names of God in Judaism
In the Hebrew scriptures the Jewish name of God is considered sacred and, out of deep respect for the name, Jews do not say the name of God and do not erase it if it is written. (See Exodus 20:7) The tetragrammaton (Hebrew: יהוה, English: YHVH or YHWH) is the name for the group of four Hebrew letters which represent the name of God. The Tetragrammaton occurs 6,828 times in the Hebrew text in the Biblia Hebraica and the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Neither vowels nor vowel points were used in ancient Hebrew writings.
Some claim the pronunciation of YHWH has been lost, other authorities say it has not and that it is pronounced Yahweh. References, such as The New Encyclopædia Britannica, validate the above by offering additional specifics:
Early Christian writers, such as Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used a form like Yahweh, and claim that this pronunciation of the tetragrammaton was never really lost. Other Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH should be pronounced Yahweh.[5]
Clement of Alexandria transliterated the tetragrammaton as Ιαου. The above claims were founded upon the understanding that Clement of Alexandria had transliterated YHWH as Ιαουε in Greek, which is pronounced “Yahweh” in English. However, the final -e in the latter form has been shown as having been a later addition. For a more in-depth discussion of this, see the article Yahweh.
Instead of pronouncing YHWH during prayer, Jews say Adonai (“Lord”). Halakha requires that secondary rules be placed around the primary law, to reduce the chance that the main law will be broken. As such, it is common Jewish practice to restrict the use of the word Adonai to prayer only. In conversation, many Jewish people, even when not speaking Hebrew, will call God “Hashem”, השם, which is Hebrew for “the Name” (this appears in Leviticus 24:11).
A common title of God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim (Hebrew: אלהים); as opposed to other titles of God in Judaism, this name also describes gods of other religions, angels, or even humans of great importance (John 10:34-36).
Christianity
Main article: Names of God in Christianity
Many Christians refer to God simply as “God”.
The names Yahweh and Jehovah, based on the tetragrammaton, are also used. Jehovah appears in Tyndale’s Bible, the King James Version, and other translations from that time period and later. Many translations of the Bible translate the tetragrammaton as LORD, following the Jewish practice of substituting the spoken Hebrew word ‘Adonai’ (translated as ‘Lord’) for YHWH when read aloud.[6] Some[who?] avoid using either Yahweh or Jehovah altogether on the basis that the actual pronunciation of the tetragrammaton has been lost in antiquity. They use God or The Lord instead.[citation needed] Similarly, the original Hebrew pronunciation of “Jesus” is unknown.
Jesus (Iesus, Yeshua, Joshua, or Yehoshûa) (Arabic: يسوع) is a Hebraic personal name meaning “Yahweh saves/helps/is salvation”,[7]. Christ means “the anointed” in Greek. Khristos is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah (Arabic: المسيح); while in English the old Anglo-Saxon Messiah-rendering hæland ‘healer’ was practically annihilated by the Latin Christ, some cognates such as heiland in Dutch survive.
In Messianic Judaism, generally regarded as a form of Christianity[citation needed], YHWH (pre-incarnate) and Yeshua (incarnate) are one and the same, the second Person, with the Father and Ruach haQodesh (the Holy Spirit) being the first and third Persons, respectively, of ha’Elohiym (the Godhead). YHWH is expressed as “haShem,” which means ‘the Name.’
The less evangelical branch of the Quakers often refers to God as The Light. Another term used is ‘King of Kings’ or ‘Lord of Lords’ and Lord of the Hosts. Other names used by Christians include Ancient of Days, Father/Abba, ‘Most High’ and the Hebrew names Elohim, El-Shaddai, and Adonai. The name, “Abba/Father” is the most common term used for the creator within Christianity,[citation needed] because it was the name Jesus Christ (Yeshua Messiah) himself used to refer to God.
In the movement Imiaslavie (“Name glorification”) opposed by the Russian Orthodox Church, the name of God is God Himself and can be used to evoke miracles.
The Assemblies of Yahweh is currently the only Christian group to use the name Yahweh exclusively and consistently.
Shangdi 上帝 (Hanyu Pinyin: shàng dì) (literally King Above) is also used to refer to the Christian god in the Standard Mandarin Union Version of the Bible. Likewise, Korean Christians and Vietnamese Christians also use cognates of this name, to refer to the Biblical god.[citation needed]
Shen 神 (lit. God, spirit, or deity) was adopted by Protestant missionaries in China to refer to the Christian god. In this context it is usually rendered with a space, ” 神”, to demonstrate reverence. (An alternate explanation for adding a space is that doing so simplified typesetting with two versions carrying 神 or 上帝 made parallel.)[citation needed]
Zhu, Tian Zhu 主,天主 (lit. Lord or Lord in Heaven) is translated from the English word, “Lord”, which is a formal title of the Christian god in Mainland China’s Christian churches.[citation needed]
Some people refer to God as “Yair”.[citation needed]
See also: Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament.
[edit] Islam
Main article: Names of God in the Qur’an
Allah is the most frequently used name of God in Islam. It is an Arabic word meaning “God” [8], and was used in polytheistic pre-Islamic Arabia to refer to the creator god, who was possibly their supreme deity.[9] The word Allah is a cognate of the Hebrew word Eloah.
A well established Islamic tradition enumerates 99 names of God, each representing certain attributes or descriptions of God; in which God is seen as being the source and maximum extent of each name’s meaning. The names Ar-Rahman and Ar-Raheem are the most frequently mentioned in the Qur’an, both meaning the “Most Merciful”, but with different emphasis of meaning, either of which are also often translated as the “Most Compassionate” or the “Most Beneficent”.
Besides these Arabic names, Muslims of non-Arab origins may also sometimes use other names in their own languages to God, such as the Ottoman anachronism Tanrı (originally the pagan Turks’ celestial chief god, corresponding to the Ancient Turkish Tengri), or Khoda in Persian language. The use of the word “God” in English is also seen as acceptable to Muslims.
[edit] Bahá’í Faith
Shoghi Effendi refers to Baha’uallah as the “incarnation of ‘Everlasting Father’.” and in another place as the “complete incarnation of the names and attributes of God”.[10]
Bahá’ís refer to God using the local word for God in whatever language is being spoken. Bahá’ís often, in prayers, refer to God by titles and attributes, such as the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise, the Incomparable, the Gracious, the Helper, the All-Glorious, the Omniscient.[11] The above-mentioned attributes are sometimes referred to in their Arabic form - for instance Bahá’ís refer to “Bahá” (meaning Glory or Splendour) or any derivation thereof (ex. Al-Abhá, or The Most Glorious) as the Greatest Name of God.[citation needed]
[edit] Traditional Chinese religion
See also: Chinese terms for God
* Shangdi 上帝 (Hanyu Pinyin: shàng dì) (literally King Above) was a supreme deity worshipped in ancient China.
* Shen 神 (lit. God, spirit, or deity) is commonly used to refer to various spirits, including gods.
* Tian 天 (lit. sky or heaven) is used to refer to the sky, but is not a personification of the sky. Whether it possesses sentience in the embodiment of an omnipotent, omniscient being is a difficult question for linguists and philosophers.[citation needed]
* Tengri, also used to refer to the sky, is the one God of many Turkic ethnic groups in China, Mongolia, and the Near East, a practice now called Tengri. Tengri is built upon on the existence of one God. It was the official religion of The Göktürks (Old Turkic: Celestial Turks[1] or “Blue Turks”)[citation needed]
I’ve gone to all this bother because the names of ‘God’ are so numerous that to support any offense to any one is ludicrous.
It seems to me that this is yet another case of political correctness gone amok.
Pretty soon the “Thought Police” will be empowered to fine or imprison you when it seems you might be “reasonable expected to be thinking offensive thoughts.”
As a Christian I really believe any Government has no place getting mixed up in religion of any sort. Of course the normal laws of the land should still apply to any religious group but this just seems like a classic case of why Government should not get involved in such things.
To me Government should be a secular institution. That’s not to say politicians shouldn’t belong to any religious group but the running of government should not be under the influence of religion. I believe in the separation of Church and State.
