YOURSAY 'Maybe the ones who should grab the bull by the horns are Muslims and non-Muslims to bridge the divide created by the politicians.'

Through the looking glass: Losing one's religion

Ferdtan: Having listened on Youtube to the two-hour talk given by the famed Islamic scholar and writer Tariq Ramadan when he was in Malaysia recently, it gives Islam a worldly wisdom that even a non-Muslim like me agrees with most (if not all) of what he teaches.

From what I had heard of the sermons (which I cannot confirm) that are said to be preached in the Malaysian mosques, they should take the cue from him - talking about love and respect.

Tariq told us to change the way we look at things. Nature, for example, is a gift from God and not to be abused.

He spoke of respecting women, the poor, the kids and our parents, of treating animals well. All injustice must be fought without care who the perpetrators are.

He said racism is not Islamic. What is important is what comes from the heart and not skin colour.

To him, education (equipping oneself with knowledge) and humanity are the key ways to move forward. If only it were to be this, all the negativity of the religion would vanish.

Peacemaker: Very challenging, insightful comments by S Thayaparan.

Let's take a look in the employment field - the public sector is dominated by one race while the private sector is being dominated by another race. Malaysian minds can be easily shackled due to a lack of maturity to engage in real issues.

We speak and engage with people along racial and religious lines so much so that we prefer to buy things from the same race. It is a virus and we're breathing it every day. Why blame the politicians alone?

Marymag: Why wait for the politicians to make things right? Maybe the ones who should grab the bull by the horns are like-minded Muslims and non-Muslims through open dialogues to bridge the divide created by the politicians.

Shanandoah: Where is the 'bumiputera' in all this argument? Is the federal constitution secular or Islamic?

Where in the world does it discriminate its citizens as being first class and second class? Does it say that one particular race must have rights and privileges for all time over other races who are also citizens, born and bred in this country?

Five decades is a long time to tolerate this apartheid nonsense, which has disappeared in South Africa but is very much alive in Malaysia.

Swipenter: Islam (or any other religion) is for the salvation of the soul but in Malaysia, Islam is exploited for worldly gains and ambitions.

Sadly, Islam here is used to frighten and control Muslims in order to gain political and/or material power by the political and clerical elite.

Muslims are brainwashed to accept their faith blindly and conform without question. It gives us an impression that a bad Muslim is considered better than a good non-Muslim.

Puteri Umno chief Rosnah Abd Rashid Shirlin and university lecturer Ridhuan Tee Abdullah are good examples of such kinds of Muslims.

Simpang 4 : There is a huge dichotomy between theory, belief and practice. Just read our history (not Biro Tatanegara's version though).

Scholar: Allah row shows signs of 'inferiority complex'

2ctsworth: I believe there is one God and whatever one calls him by, he is the same God we address. Indeed, we are calling him various names through our individual set of religious beliefs. The end result is to foster goodness and love.

So what is the big deal how we call him? Of course, people with inferior complex want to monopolise God. They believe God is with them and the rest are infidels.

Anonymous #07443216: Malaysia never had an issue with the word 'Allah' until some idiots in the Home Ministry during Syed Hamid Albar's tenure as home minister declared it was the copyright of Malaysian Muslims, and the most ridiculous thing to happen was that the home minister endorsed the idiots' decision and that was the beginning of the circus.

Then we also had loads of so-called Umno's bootlicker imams jumping on the bandwagon to voice their support.

Ourvotesdecide!: Those who try to stop others from using ‘Allah' have no reason to do so but only because of their own political agenda, that is all. It's only a problem in Malaysia, not anywhere else.

Proarte: This manufactured ‘Allah' crisis which resulted in church bombings and so much unnecessary religious and racial angst could have been avoided if credible Islamic leaders had made timely comments educating the ignorant and 'insecure' Malay Muslims that ‘Allah' is a generic term for God.

As Tariq Ramadan says the use of ‘Allah' pre-dates the advent of Islam so this issue should not have arisen. Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim could have averted this crisis if he had unequivocally told the authorities and Malays not to indulge in ignorant notions that the term ‘Allah' is a Muslim prerogative.

Anwar should have informed Malays that if we deny Christians the use of the term ‘Allah' than Islam itself will be undermined as Islam recognises the Bible as being revealed by Allah.

It is no use Anwar now latching on to Tariq Ramadan. Where were you Anwar when the nation needed you? Shame on you!

Timothy: Prof Tariq Ramadan, not only that, there is a list of other Arabic words that non-Muslims cannot use. We are even not allowed to greet nor reply in Arabic. It is like a grave sin being committed.

My Muslim and Christian Arabic friends greet me in Arabic and I return it in Arabic. For this, I could be persecuted in my home country. Where does the fault lie?

Blind Freddo: What the good professor has done has scoured Islamic principles trying to find principles that support the universal (not western) concept of human rights and common sense.

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