Muslims must not let the word "Allah" be misused

Let me start this one by repeating what I had written before - that I don't consider myself to be a really good Muslim.

That is so because I have been struggling all my life to observe even the most basic rituals of my religion.

I would nonetheless stress though that I have never deny any of the teachings of Islam, as I was taught of them since I was a little child.

For instance, I will never dispute the five pillars of the religion, which are the syahadah, five daily prayers, fasting during Ramadhan, payment of tithe, and performing the Haj pilgrimage for those who could afford it.

Nor do I disbelieve any of the six main components of the faith, that are believing in the existence of Allah, the prophets, the holy books, the angels, the afterlife, and the fate as set by Allah.

My questions are confined to certain interpretations in matters such as hijab for women, age of consent and other teachings, which are not so clear cut in the Quran.

What's clearly stated in the Quran are indisputable for a Muslim but the ulama interpretations, I believe, are not beyond being debated.

Having said all that, I would like to point out yesterday's news about a motion filed to parliament by Pas to amend the law, which effectively requires the word "Allah" to be defined as according to its definition in the Quran.

The definition as according to Surah Al-Ikhlas, reads "Say, He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent."

As a child, I was thought that the surah was inspired by Allah upon Prophet Muhammad when he was asked by a Christian delegation about what kind of god that Muslims believe in, bearing in mind that in Christianity, God the Father begets Jesus and that Jesus is part of the godly trinity with the other entity being the Holy Spirit.

In Islam, Jesus is not a god or son of god and instead just a prophet like Muhammad.

The PAS' motion was intended to settle the dispute over the use of the word "Allah" among the non-Muslims,  effectively confining them to be allowed to use it only if they believe that Allah, as they are referring to, is the one true god that has no equivalent as dictated by the Quran.

The motion was rejected from being tabled in parliament and now Pas and its Perikatan allies will appeal the matter to the Rulers, whose role, among others, is to protect the sanctity of Islam.

I don't know who were specifically responsible behind the rejection of the motion, but I sure hope they are not Muslims.

Bear in mind that Islam is the official religion of Malaysia as you read this.

Now, as a Muslim, I have to support the Pas' motion as failing to do so will put my faith in question.

Well, maybe the proposed law on the word "Allah" should have specific qualifications for Christians in Sabah and Sarawak, whose community had been thought by their priests for generations that their god should be called by that name.

Yet again, I must stress that Muslims cannot deny what are clearly stated in the Quran.

It is their religious duty to ensure that the word "Allah" should not be allowed to be used by just anyone, who may do so willy nilly.

Failing to do so, I believe, we will have one day someone saying Allah has a son or equivalent to other gods and that would just cause trouble.

As it is, we nowadays have stupid stand up comedians who resort to insult others just to get a laugh from the audience.

And they are not even the most insidious individuals who may want to misuse the word "Allah" to confuse or rile up the Muslims.

Freedom of speech and expression should not lead to causing troubles.