Recently both CNN and Al-Jazeera news reported the religious violence in Malaysia, which was caused by the court ruling allowing a Roman Catholic newspaper to use the word ALLAH to describe God.
I found this news item to be especially interesting, as a Hausa/Fulani Christian from Northern Nigerian, Arabic has the most influence on my language Hausa, which is spoken by over 24 million people and a second language to about 15 million or more, has borrowed numerous words over centuries of cultural trade with Arabs. In our Hausa Bible the word for God is Allah.
The word ALLAH has been used pre Islamic period by Christian Arabs to describe God. ALLAH is not an exclusive preserve for just Muslims. What I can deduce here is that there should be a demarcation between language and religion.
I found this news item to be especially interesting, as a Hausa/Fulani Christian from Northern Nigerian, Arabic has the most influence on my language Hausa, which is spoken by over 24 million people and a second language to about 15 million or more, has borrowed numerous words over centuries of cultural trade with Arabs. In our Hausa Bible the word for God is Allah.
The word ALLAH has been used pre Islamic period by Christian Arabs to describe God. ALLAH is not an exclusive preserve for just Muslims. What I can deduce here is that there should be a demarcation between language and religion.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tell us your opinion