Maybe It's Just Me, But...

A comment made by Farid regarding the A-L-L-A-H issue:

Maybe it's just me, but it seems to me that people are putting a lot of value into the name "ALLAH" but none into Allah itself. I mean think about it, getting all worked up over a name and then forgetting the actual values that the religion aims to instill.

To me, the letters A, L, L, A and H in this order respectively, was placed under a religious canopy and given sacred attributes. In truth, it's just a name regardless of its history. What's important is what is attached to your concept of god. People sometimes forget that though religion can be standardized, their belief system is as purely subjective as its deity. If I, a muslim, were to refer to Allah as Dandelion in my prayers, does that make my prayers invalid? If Allah was almighty, then surely he would be capable of recognizing it. Many of my brothers forget that Allah can think for itself, without their assistance in the matter. Allah or Dandelion or Yahweh is supreme afterall.

That being said, it's just a name, a concept constructed by human convention in languages that are humanly constructed. Allah or God or Dandelion encompasses all human constructs and so to put such Godly attributes into a word constructed with just 3 letters is to reduce Allah into those 3 letters. Isn't that the bigger sin?

Closing statement: The fact that many of my brothers and sisters do not allow the use of allah (yes, in small caps) by non-muslims not only limits their rights to freedom of expression, but also implies that they can do nothing with the name but use it in a negative context.

Afiq's note:

Very well said Farid. We need more people like Farid in Malaysia!