By Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR: Former premier Tun Abdullah Badawi today said the “Allah” controversy had now turned into a religious crisis pitting Muslims against non-Muslims and pushed for inter-faith dialogues to be stepped up before turning to the courts to resolve the problem.

“If we act fast, Insya Allah, we can resolve this religious crisis quickly,” Abdullah told reporters after chairing a day-long closed-door expert discussion on organised by the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia, better known by its Malay acronym Ikim.

The discussion, themed “Translating ‘God’ as ‘Allah’: Identifying the Source of the Problem and Resolution”, was atended by some 70 Islamic intellectuals from various fields which cut across the political divide.

Among the notable panellists were PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang; religious adviser to the Prime Minister Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zain; PKR central leadership member Dr Mohd Nor Manuty; former Perlis mufti Dr Asri Zainul Abidin; and Dr Kamar Oniah Kamaruzzaman, an associate professor from the International Islamic University’s Usuluddin and Comparative Religion department.

“In our discussion today, we all agreed that we must respect and uphold the Federal Constitution which allows for religious freedom to be continued in peace and harmony,” Abdullah, who is Ikim chairman, stressed.

He noted that the institute was responsible for “managing this religious crisis” and would be holding follow-up discussions, including one with religious leaders from the Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) next Monday.

“The aim is to identify the crisis, ways to resolve it and to find understanding for the harmony of all races in this country,” said Abdullah, who is noted for introducing Islam Hadhari, a middle-of the road concept of the religion, to Malaysia.

“Whatever happens, we must act fast. We must face forward,” he added.

“Before this, there was no crisis,” he replied when asked why dialogues were not held before the issue was taken up before the court.

Ikim director-general, Datuk Nik Mustapha Nik Hassan, cut in and clarified that the institute had held discussions with representatives from other faiths before the crisis arose, but admitted they needed to step up the discussions.

“We don’t want to impose our ideas on others,” Nik Mustapha said, attempting to tone down Ikim’s stand.

“If want to use, must have certain guidelines,” he added.

Earlier however, Abdullah told reporters that the participants of today’s discussion has “unanimously agreed” that the root cause of the crisis was due to the “inaccurate translation of ‘God’ as ‘Allah’“.

“Panellists and participants agreed that the use of the word ‘Allah’ as the translation or replacement for ‘God’ is inaccurate and contrary to the concept of God hosted by the religion of Islam based on the current reality in Malaysia,” he said.

Courtesy: TheMalaysianInsider