The following is a transcript of His Holiness Younus AlGohar's speech (video above).
Recently there was a news item on BBC about a Malaysian court banning non-Muslims from using the word 'Allah'. I do not know how other Muslims would react and what would be their stand on this. I want to tell you how I feel in the light of Quran.
The History of the Word 'Allah'
The father of Prophet Mohammad SAW was Abdullah and there was no Islam at the time; which means the word ‘Allah’ is not the property of Islam.
The first verse of the Quran:
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
'Allah is the Rab of the entire world and Allah is the creator of all humanity.'
Then, Prophet Mohammad is 'Rehmat al lil Alameen' (blessing upon the entire humanity), not just Muslims. Allah is 'Rab al Alameen', not just for Muslims.
Now, what the court of Malaysia said was, 'Don't use the word "Allah"; it is our God. Use your God's name; don't use the Muslims’ God's name'. This sentence is Shirk. When you say this, it means you believe that there is another God. You can understand how ignorant and short-sighted they are! Muslims today do not have any understanding of Quran, and in matters like this I don't think you need a lot of understanding.
It's very simple and so clear that the word 'Allah' can be used by any human being, just because everybody is the creation of Allah. There is no other creator, so why must you ban people of other religions from using God's name? I understand that these Malaysian judges and interpreters of the law in that country are highly ignorant, short-sighted and prejudiced.
It is not just that they are not allowing other religions to use the word 'Allah', but when we went to Malaysia we came to know that minorities in Malaysia are regarded as second-class citizens. Although some Hindus have lived in that country for many generations now and they are lawful citizens of Malaysia, yet they do not have the same rights as the Malay people have. This problem is not just with Malaysia. Look at all these Islamic countries, for example: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait. People have lived in UAE for 30-40 years - still they are on a visa. Some people are born in UAE but, all these people are like stranded, abandoned dogs. When they go through immigration, the Immigration Officers get confused: nationality, Pakistani; travel document, United Kingdom; place of birth, Abu Dhabi. Because it is generally considered that the place of birth is the place of your nationality. Those who are born in America are American citizens and those who are born in England are British citizens; however, these Gulf States and all Muslim countries don't let you breathe for free. They are so cruel.
We should raise our voice against this tyranny! It's not just that it is a verdict that came from a Malaysian court and we should raise our voice against this verdict, but this represents the mentality of these Muslims. If you want to correct Islam, you have to address these issues.
Some people think the word 'Allah' is just an Arabic word. It’s not Arabic; it's Suryani (language God uses to communicate with the angels). Allah is the original name of God.
When there was no language of Arabic, even then people used to say 'Allah'. Saying, 'Use your God's name,' implies to having accepted the existence and presence of another creator besides God. So we really condemn this Malaysian court's verdict. It is deplorable and condemnable.
His Divine Grace Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi said in relation to the origin of the word 'Allah':
'God communicates with the angels in Suryani, which is spoken in the celestial spheres. Adam spoke the same language while he was in Paradise. When Adam and Eve descended on Earth, they resided in the Arab region. This language, as their progeny spread in the world, through Arabic, Persian, and Latin reached English through literal evolution. People called God with different names in different languages. Adam resided in the Arab region; therefore, so many Suryani words are still present in the Arabic language. Adam was known as Adam Safi Allah (the word Safi Allah is from Suryani). Noah was called as Nouh Nabi Allah, Abraham was called as Ibrahim Khaleel Allah, Moses as Moosa Kaleem Allah, Jesus as Esa Rouh Allah and Prophet Mohammad as Mohammad Rasool Allah. All these phrases were already written on the preserved scriptorium in the Suryani language prior to the arrival of these Prophets in the world. This is why Prophet Mohammad said that he had already been a Prophet before his arrival in this world. Some people perceive, the word 'Allah' is a Muslim name of God. This is not true.' - The Religion of God (Divine Love)
It is written in the Quran that God is the creator of the entire humanity and here you are putting limitations on God to be Muslims’ God only. That's wrong. This is shirk.
The Arabic language is not Islamic language. People used to speak Arabic even before the birth of Islam. The Arabic language is a very old language; it existed before Adam Safi Allah came into this world. Maybe it's 10 000 years old. Some people are so ignorant; I have heard some narrations that say, 'Arabic is the language of the paradise.' But that is absolutely disgusting; there is no truth in this. If the Arabic language is the language of paradise, then what about Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis - they don't know Arabic, how would they communicate in paradise? That is wrong.
Quran:
نَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ
[12:2]
'The only reason the Quran is revealed in the Arabic language is because your language is Arabic, so you can easily understand it.'
There is no other reason. The word 'Allah' is not a word from the Arabic language. It is not just the Malaysian Muslims; most Muslims around the world have this misunderstanding that 'Allah' is a Muslim name for God. But in Lebanon, even the Christians use these words: 'Masha Allah', 'Insha Allah' and 'Alhumdulillah'. I read that the Malaysian Government has seized 350 copies of the Bible. This is injustice!
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