One God, Many Names

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One God, Many Names ... by Janadas Devan

Does it matter what one calls God? Would he answer to Allah but not X, Yahweh but not Y, Brahman not Z? Would he be confused if Christians called him "Allah", Hindus "Yahweh" and Muslims "God"? Is he a linguistic chauvinist? Would he say: "Call me 'God' as in English, not Gott as in German; Theos as in Greek, not Deus as in Latin; Allah as in Arabic, not Alaha as in Aramaic or Syriac?"

These are, of course, inane questions. Idiotic humans might ask them; God, if he exists, cannot possibly abide such silly questions.

Neti, neti, the Buddha would say when pressed by over-eager disciples to describe the nature of ultimate reality - "not this, not this".

Jews are reminded of the utter incapacity of language to encompass God by the Tetragrammaton - the four Hebrew consonants (Yod Heh Vau Heh) designating God, usually transliterated as YHWH in English. So sacrosanct is the name of God, observant Jews do not vocalise the Tetragrammaton, preferring instead to refer indirectly to Yahweh as Adonai ("my Lord") or Elohim ("God") or by means of euphemisms such as hash-Shem (the "Name") or Shem Hameforash ("the ineffable Name").

Muslims are told by scripture that 'God has ninety-nine names" - among them "the King, the Holy One, the Perfect Peace, Granter of security, Giver of protection, the Omnipotent, the Overwhelming", and so on.

"In congregate, (these names) affirm God's supreme perfection and cultivate deeper understanding of his beauty and majesty, " writes Dr Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, a Muslim scholar, in an article aptly titled One God, Many Names. They also affirm that the transcendent cannot possibly be fully encompassed by language.

Mystical literature illustrates the point. Here is a list of some phrases that one scholar culled from 17th century Christian mystical writings describing the experience of God: "Inflaming transubstantiations; super-essential unions; abyssal liquefactions; deific confrications; meridian holocausts in a visceral and medullar penetrability."

The extravagance of these phrases illustrates how every attempt to describe religious experience has to be, of necessity, "a raid on the inarticulate," as the poet T.S. Elliot put it. If God is ineffable - and all the religions are agreed that he is - a degree of linguistic modesty ought to figure among the prime religious virtues.

It is a lesson the religious, of all faiths, are apt to forget. Consider, for instance, how Reverend Pat Robertson, the American evangelist, spoke one of the names of God. Speaking of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, he said: The conflict is about "whether Hubal, the moon god of Mecca known as Allah, is supreme, or whether the Judeo-Christian Jehovah, God of the Bible, is supreme."

Almost every word in that statement is nonsense, Firstly, Hubal was a pre-Islamic pagan god that Prophet Muhammad rejected. Secondly, "Jehovah" is not a name that appears anywhere in the Jewish Bible. It is an English mistransliteration of the Jewish Tetragrammaton, YHWH. Most scholars now believe the Tetragrammaton is better vocalised in English as "Yahweh". And thirdly, "Allah", far from being un-Christian, is related to the word that Jesus Christ himself - who spoke Aramaic, let us not forget, not English, Greek or Latin - would have used to refer to God: Elah or Alah.

Which brings us to the nonsense uttered on the other side - by the Muslim Pat Robertsons of Malaysia. Christians, they have ruled, cannot use "Allah" to refer to God in Malay translations of the Bible. The word is unique to Islam, they insist. It would confuse Muslims - and presumably God too - if Christians used the same word. These assertions make no sense whatsoever - culturally, historically and linguistically.

A section of my family on my mother's side are Chitti Melakas, the Indian version of Baba Chinese. For as long as I remember, they have always referred to God, when speaking in Malay, as Tuan Allah or 'Lord God', though they are HIndus.

They are not the only ones. To this day, hundreds of thousands of Arab Christians call God "Allah". Arabic-speaking Jews do the same. There is no indication Arabic-speaking Muslims have been confused as a result.

Arab scholars and Imams would know what linguists have established beyond a shadow of doubt: The word for "God" in Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic, all Semitic languages, are so closely related as to be virtually indistinguishable. The Abrahamic faiths - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - may have different conceptions of God, but etymologically-speaking, they all call God by the same name.

The Arabic Allah shares the same root as the Hebrew Elohim and the Aramaic Alaha. Elohim derives from eloh (Hebrew for "God"), Alaha is an emphatic form of alah (Aramaic for "God"), and Allah is linked to ilah (Arabic for "God").

"All three of these Semitic words for 'God' - eloh, alah and ilah - are etymologically equivalent," as Dr Abd-Allah notes. "The slight modifications between them reflect different pronunciations conforming to the historical pattern of morphological shifts in each tongue."

How would it be possible to say Christians cannot say "Allah" when Christ himself - who walked the face of the Earth six centuries before Prophet Muhammad did, and is accepted by Muslims as a prophet - would have said Alah, Elah or Alaha?

There are reasons why the Quran calls Jews and Christians ahl al-kitab - "People of the Book". They share the same religious texts as Muslims; they share similar revelations; and the Semitic languages they spoke are more closely linked than are Sanskrit, Latin, English and the other Indo-European languages.

There are two ways in which this linguistically meaningless argument in Malaysia may be resolved.

One, Malaysia's Islamic authorities might consider what word for "God" the Prophet would have used when speaking to his wife's cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, a Christian. For two years after he first received God's revelations, the Prophet spoke of his experiences to nobody other than his wife Khadija and her cousin.

Would he have told his Christian relative: No you can't say "Allah"; say "Tuan" or "God" or "Deus"?

If the Malaysian authorities can confirm this could not possibly have been the case, then the matter might be closed: All Christians, like the Prophet's relative, may be allowed to say "Allah".
But if the authorities still insist that what was admissable for the Prophet's relative should be inadmissable now, for whatever reason, then they might consider another option. Denied the right to use "Allah", Christian Malaysians may be allowed to go back to their linguistic roots, and use the Aramaic Alah or Alaha as Christ would have.

One letter "l" less or one syllable "a" more than "Allah" - that should be enough to prevent the impossible and non-existent confusion of Islam and Christianity in Malaysia.

janadas@sph.com.sg

Plastered Over

The wall was falling down. It was in a terrible state of disrepair.

Finally, the workmen were summoned to do something about it.

There were sounds of hacking.

There sounds of hammering.

And then silence.

Suddenly the appearance of a workman over the top of the fence on the other side.

He was applying cement OVER the crumbling wall. Rather than taking it down first before building a new one, he was plastering over the old one as it was.

So often we do that with relationships too. Instead of dealing with the fundamental problem, we put on a facade, a face, a front.

This is a recipe for a future downfall. And a big one at that.

For the Asking

He had been working very hard for long hours. He didnt do it to be rewarded. Nonetheless, when someone else was given a reward and not him, he felt it. It didnt seem fair.

She had been working very hard for a long time. She didnt do it to get recognition. Nonetheless, when someone else whom she had mentioned as being a part of the project got most of the recognition and praise, she felt it. It didnt seem fair either.

And yet.....

To speak out would seem to be blowing one's own trumpet. Self praise is no praise at all.

Would being silent come across as being humble? Or would one be perceived as a door mat?

The phrase "Your reward will be in heaven" rankles sometimes. But WHEN should one speak out, if at all?

Wisdom required.

And the Man said whoever asked, He would give of it liberally.

It would be best to ask for that above all else.

Can Someone Tell Me?

The New Straits Times said in EDITORIAL: Not yet the final frontier

"WHEN plans were made to launch a Malaysian into space, some wondered how such an endeavour could be beneficial. Or whether it was even at all possible. That question was answered definitively on Wednesday when the Soyuz rocket blasted into the infinite reaches of space with our own angkasawan on board. Malaysians watching the live telecast across the nation would have doubtlessly felt a transcendent surge of pride when the rocket lifted off, trailing a plume of brilliant orange from the arid plains of central Kazakhstan. History has been made. A Malaysian has achieved a feat that just several years ago was beyond anyone's wildest imaginings, and it proves beyond a flicker of doubt that Malaysia, certainly and absolutely, "boleh". The efforts and sacrifices of Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Mustapha and certainly all the others who have helped propel the nation to such stratospheric heights deserve the highest approbation."

and more

Editorial: Coming to Earth
"MALAYSIANS," said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Mustapha's safe touchdown last Sunday afternoon on the steppes of Kazakhstan, "can stand a few inches taller now that we have had a Malaysian travel in space."

But then there is talk about needing A Bigger Budget. It is reported that "More money needs to be allocated for scientific research and development for Malaysia to experience a "big bang " in this sector."

Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation Sdn Bhd chairman Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Zaharuddin Idrus is quoted as saying ".....the experiments conducted by our first astronaut were of great importance in generating scientific knowledge, and not just an attempt to create an icon of a successful Malaysian space programme."The cost of sending one man into space should not be questioned as it hails the country stepping into the space programme. This is a genuine scientific project," he said at the Astro office in Technology Park Malaysia.

But why do we need to spend so much just to generate scientific knowledge? Money that could surely be better spent elsewhere?

Can someone tell me why this angkasawan thing is so much to be lauded? After all, there are people who, with the right price, go into space as Space Tourists....

The Re-Merger of Singapore and Malaysia?

The newspapers report-

KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore would be happy to rejoin Malaysia if it surpassed the island’s success, its former prime minister and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said.

“They have all the resources. If they would just educate the Chinese and the Indians, use them and treat them as citizens, they can equal us and even do better than us, and we would be happy to rejoin them,” he said in an interview with the Asia Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles, published earlier this week.

Bernama reported that the Singapore founding father had made similar remarks in June 1996, raising a storm on both sides of the Causeway with the then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad saying he did not think the time had come for a merger yet.

Dr Mahathir also described the remarks as just a means “to jolt Singaporeans” to their senses.

Asked about Singapore’s “sense of endangerment” and why it worried about its survivability in the long run, Lee replied: “Where are we? Are we in the Caribbean? Are we next to America, like the Bahamas?

“Are we in the Mediterranean, like Malta, next to Italy? Are we like Hong Kong, next to China and, therefore, will become part of China?

“Singapore is a superstructure built on what? On 700 square kilometres and a lot of smart ideas that have worked so far — but the whole thing could come undone very quickly.

“When (Malaysia) kicked us out (in 1965), the expectation was that we would fail and we would go back on their terms, not on the terms we agreed with them under the British.

“Our problems are not just between states, this is a problem between races and religions and civilisations.

“We are a standing indictment of all the things that they could be doing differently.”

Analysts in Singapore, however, do not see any possibility of a Malaysia-Singapore merger.

“The chances of a re-merger in 1996 and in 2007 are the same — zero,” said Dr Ooi Kee Beng, co-ordinator of the Malaysia study programme at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and author of The Reluctant Politician: Tun Dr Ismail and His Time.

“The very idea of a re-merger on Singapore’s terms is appalling to most Malays,” Ooi told the Today newspaper. — Bernama

Another response-

'Kuan Yew should not dwell on the past'

KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew should not pass uncalled-for remarks about Malaysia and its people.

Referring to comments by the former prime minister published by the local media yesterday, Gerakan secretary-general Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye said the remarks were "unstatesman-like".

Lee had said that Singapore would be happy to rejoin Malaysia if it surpassed the island's success.

"They have the resources. If they would just educate the Chinese and the Indians, use them and treat them as citizens, they can equal us and even do better than us. "We would be happy to rejoin them," Lee had said in an interview with the Asia Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Chia said Malaysia and Singapore had their own success stories.

"Let's build on this and not dwell on history." Meanwhile, DAP chairman Karpal Singh said that the destiny of Singapore and Malaysia was intertwined."

Singapore must realise that it has Malaysia, a country endowed with natural resources, as its hinterland. A day will come when Singapore will burst at its seams."

"Pure logic demands that one day Singapore will have to return to the fold by rejoining Malaysia for its survival, whether it likes to or not," he said.

Seems to me that there is a lot of truth in both articles....

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