The recent attacks on churches and the ruling over the use of the word Allah in the Catholic Herald have left our nation troubled and worried. And the youths we've interviewed - Christians and Muslims alike - are angry that this is happening.

To date, eight churches have been vandalised; one was burnt to the ground. Never before has this happened in Malaysia. Who are the culprits? It could be locals. It could be foreigners. The truth remains unknown.

But fingers are pointing to certain quarters - Muslims - incensed by the use of the word Allah by the Catholic publication, The Herald, in its Bahasa Malaysia section.

The Christians are angry with the attack, naturally. They are also confused as to why this has happened when in fact the word "Allah" has been used in translation to refer to God for many years, especially for the Malay-speaking, non-Muslim communities of Sabah and Sarawak.

Then, there was an announcement that the blanket ban that had been imposed on The Herald in 2007 had been overturned by the High Court after numerous appeals and legal tussles.

According to the then-Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, he imposed the ban on the grounds of national security - as well as to avoid misunderstanding and confusion among Muslims.

But the Catholic church had argued on the grounds that the barring of non-Muslims from using the word "Allah" is unconstitutional and violates freedom of religion.

Yet, with the lifting of the ban, it seemed as if all hell broke loose. Even those who never knew about the initial ban started reacting.

And our troubles began. 

 

The Young Speak Up

When the administration building of the Metro Tabernacle church in Desa Melawati in Kuala Lumpur was burned almost to the ground and Molotov cocktails were thrown into several other churches' compounds, it was an attack that spoke of violence of the likes which we have not seen since May of 1969 and has gripped the country in worry and fear.

Reactions, opinions, thoughts, comments - all came fast and furious (not literally, with the exception of a few); some which spoke objective, level-headed truth, some which spread dishonest, ignorant lies.

But the young have a better head on their shoulders, and they are the people whose eyes have been glued to both the new and traditional media to sift through the articles and commentaries to see the biggest picture of all: The burnings are actions not condoned nor tolerated by any religion, least of all Islam, and many sincerely believe that the use of 'Allah' to refer to God is not a matter resolved by violence.

 "I am appalled and saddened by what has been happening in our country over the past few weeks. We have always boasted about the tolerance and harmony between multiple races in our beloved country. Sadly, the incidents that have been happening lately is threatening to jeopardise that," says Jannah Radzif, 22, who is currently pursuing her final year of Medicine.

"As a young Muslim, I absolutely do not condone the act of burning down and attacking churches or any other places of worship for that matter. Even Islam does not!" Jannah stresses.

"There is a verse in the Quran that forbids us to attack or destroy places of worship during war, what more so during a time of peace! So, in my opinion if the culprits behind these church burnings are in fact Muslims, they don't truly understand the teachings of Islam."

Jannah is clear-cut when she says that ignorance is the worst enemy, not each other.

"The issue is that there are still a lot of Malay Muslims who are unaware. Forgive me for saying this, but I do think that most of us are still ignorant and choose to come to an opinion based on our limited knowledge and not by doing sufficient reading and research or referring to a knowledgeable authority," she says. "We often come to premature decisions and use our 'traditional' thinking instead of critical thinking to deduce a solution. I do not think that getting agitated or rallying about this issue on the streets is necessary at this point. Instead, we should promote healthy discussions between Muslims and Christians. This is where leadership is important."

She also adds: "I love my country, and it is absolutely heart-breaking to see something like this happening."

Heart-broken is the word to describe Karin Chang, 28, as she shares that she was completely horrified when she first received the SMS that her church's (the Metro Tabernacle) administration building was almost completely destroyed by the 'gangsters'.

"I never once would have imagined that anyone can even think of destroying places of worship, let alone torching churches!"

As a member of Metro Tabernacle Church, she takes the official stand of the church in that she condemns the heinous and cowardly act of the person or persons involved.

"Although we forgive the said person(s) and we have moved on, I personally hope the culprit will be caught as our country needs to send a strong message that we do not condone such acts," she adds.

Nonetheless, she believes that nobody has the right to take matters into their own hands.

"We are a multicultural and multi religious country where we accept and embrace our differences. Malaysians should learn to respect the Rukun Negara and Federal Constitution and whatever differences or grievances they may have, it should be resolved amicably through the proper channels."

This is the solution offered by many of the young people interviewed, one of them being Nana Eddy, 23, who wants everyone to look at the positive to find a solution.

"We should be focusing on how to improve the situation, instead of how bad or negative the situation is. It's good to acknowledge and analyse the problems at hand, but instead of working towards the solution, people tend to only focus on the problem - and that worsens the situation."

When it comes to the use of 'Allah' by non-Muslims, Nana believes that it is not the use that is the issue, it is the catastrophe that could occur due to confusion and ignorance.

"Using the term 'Allah' to signify another God than the One that we believe in is somewhat disturbing, when we look at the potential confusing that it would bring. The use of the word is not such a big issue, but the catastrophe it would bring due to potential confusion is. But I would still agree that the Herald should not use Allah in their publication, more so for keeping the peace than anything else."

However, the confusion in which Nana speaks is not something Roya, 22, sees as even possible.

"I think anyone can use the word Allah, because it means God. And there is only one God. What we want to call Him is up to each individual."

This entire issue, she feels, is a crying shame. "It is an issue blown completely out of proportion by people who refuse to let the proper authorities take proper action. Instead they choose to take matters in their own hands - and not good hands, for that matter. Especially the perpetrators behind the church attacks."

She wholeheartedly condemns the attacks.

"The world is watching us now," she adds. "Imagine how embarrassing it is to say we are Malaysians and we want 1Malaysia when we can't even respect each other's place of worship! People are finger pointing at each other, there is ever more hatred, anger and disappointment."

Her opinion is reflected by Mohd Azlan bin Zulkarnain, 23. He agrees that finger-pointing is no way to restore peace.

"I think in order to solve this issue, everybody first must not point fingers at anybody and not to keep putting the blame on the government. The authority plus opposition should sit down and discuss on the right action that should be implemented as well investigating who are the really culprits behind this issue," says Azlan.

He has some strong words for the perpetrators of the church attacks.

"I totally disagree and I despise their actions. For me, it is wrong to attack any place of worship. It's our responsibility to make sure the place of worship is protected from any harmful and irresponsible action. No religion blesses the action of harming a place of worship."

He also disagrees with the court ruling.

"My stand is the usage of word Allah is a privilege to Muslims only. The usage of word "Allah" in The Herald may confuse the Muslim who reads it. Instead of using the word "Allah", The Herald can just simply use the word 'Tuhan' which I think  is the most preferable way and will not offend anybody."

Still, Jess, 22, has brought up an important point.

Drawing examples from the East Malaysians, who have for years come to an understanding about the use of 'Allah' in both Islam and non-Islam worship, Jess says: "What we should learn here is that the Sabahans and Sarawakians, Muslims and non-Muslims, all live in peace and harmony regardless of their religion. So, why can't we be like them? Aren't we suppose to achieve 1Malaysia - or is that concept merely another failure to be 'cherished'?"

This is exactly what Sabahan Christian, Ryan Heng, 24, has to say as well.

"I am disappointed but also not surprised that it happened, because there are those who just can't see the bigger picture. Worst case scenario: What if the Christians retaliate? It will be a vicious, horrible, dangerous and unimaginable cycle. And we definitely do not want that!"

Heng worries how this makes us look in the eyes of the world.

"We pride ourselves in being a tolerant, peaceful and multi-cultural country. Yet with what has happened, they will only think that Malaysia is a country in turmoil. We can only stand idly by and watch the world as it criticises us."
The best way to alleviate this, he feels, is to educate the people that violence never solves anything.

"We must strive to see beyond religion, and see that we are all of the same nation. Religion must not be an issue. Being a Sabahan, I have been exposed to a diversified group regardless of race, from Malay to Indians, Chinese and other Bumiputeras."

The same must apply to the ruling of the court over the use of 'Allah'.

"The word has been used by Christians for a long time now and even the court allows its publication so why should it stop? It's a word used in a publication of a Christian newspaper read by Christians. It has no effect on our Muslim brethren. It's not to be for the purpose of converting Muslims to Christianity, so why should it be illegal?"

In Sabah, he explains, the word is frequently used even as he was growing up. "The word is frequently used in Sabah, since even I was a small kid. So why must it be an issue, its significance is in its referral to God."

Avila Geraldine Samuel, 23, who is a Sabahan Catholic, does not agree with Heng.

"Honestly, the only way to solve this issue is for The Herald to stop using the word 'Allah' for the sake of peace. It is just a word and there are other words that can be used to represent God, such as 'Tuhan' 'Yahweh' and so on, so why make it such a big deal? You only make yourself look stupid and sound stupid. It's just ludicrous to fight over a word."

Ling MW, 24, agrees that for peace, the word should not be used anymore - but as a Catholic, Ling believes that misunderstanding is the true culprit behind this.

"There is misunderstanding from all sides. Muslims misunderstand Christians - saying that Christians want to encourage apostasy. Christians, on the other hand, misunderstand Muslims by crying foul over religious superiority and the 'Islamisation' of our country."

"Both are wrong!" she stresses.

Why, asks Ling, can't everyone see that our country does not need foolish assumptions and ignorant rumours to fuel the fire?

"For years, our inter-racial relationships have been peaceful. There are a lot of factors at play here and the only way to solve it is to sit down and understand each and every side of the story. There is nothing to be gained from continuing to propagate religious bigotry."

And on that note, in the end, these young Malaysians agree: The solution is in tolerance, understanding and knowledge - not in prejudice, misunderstanding and ignorance.