It is both with amusement and with a sense of sadness that I watch the events that are transpiring in Malaysia, regarding that country's courts verdict to allow Christians the right to use the word Allah in reference to God. This web article entitled Malaysian Christians fearful as church attacks rise, outlines the extent of the problem in Malaysia “Would-be arsonists in mostly Muslim Malaysia struck at a convent school and a sixth church on Sunday while church and government leaders called for calm in a row over Christians' use of the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God” {More...}.
The Muslim outrage which has been capped with the firebombing of churches is saddening but it also lead to a multitudes of questions. For example, if Allah is God and the only God as the Muslims claim, then he is the one who created all people, both Muslims and Christians alike, and as a result it is the right for everyone that is created by God to use the name of God as they see fit, unless of cause, Allah is only a god for a specific religion, then this changes things, as only Muslim should have the right to that name.
It is sadly amusing that of all the names that God has availed for the Christian believer that a church would go out of its way to call God by a name that He has not ordained. Just as it is not right for a thief to blame God when he is caught and punished for stealing, the Christians in Malaysia have no one else to blame but themselves for the persecution that has come as a result of their misguided belief in freedom.
God's name is not just a title, but it is also a source of power, and since Allah is not one of the revealed names of God, that name offers no power to the Christian and using it actually caused the Christian to become powerless. The following story can help to illustrate this point.
John and Peter were friends, and one day John was in the market when he saw Peter on the other side. Peter was too far from John and had not seen him and so John started calling after Peter, but instead of using Peter's name, he called him James. Despite his frantic effort, John failed to catch Peter's attention and had to give up. The problem was not that Peter did not hear the shouting, but because the name he heard being called was not his, he naturally assumed that the call was for someone. It is the same with God, in that when a Christian call on God using a name that God does not recognise, will mean that the believer’s call will go unacknowledged. The Christian believer needs to remember that, just because a name or title is that of god does not mean that it is the name of God, and just as Christians should never use the word baal to refer to God, they should also, never call Him Allah.
God's name is holy and there is never a justifiable reason for a Christian to use the name of any other god except the name that God have revealed in His word - the bible [Ezekiel 39:7 I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel].
