Literature
As a Muslim majority country, opinions on whether the Indonesian-language Bible and Malay-language Bible, both known by the name al-kitab, should be banned, are polarised. The word rendered ‘Lord’ in English translations is given in Malay as ‘Tuhan’ while the word ‘God’ in English is translated as ‘Allah’. It was claimed that there is no closer translation from the original Hebrew since both Arabic and the Hebrew word for God come from the same Semitic root. Other Christian materials in the Malay language have been banned at various times for similar reason. However, the Prime Minister clarified in April 2005 that there was no ban on Bibles translated into Malay, but they must be stamped with the disclaimer "Not for Muslims".
The Iban Bible named Bup Kudus was also banned for using the term Allah Taala for God. Eventually it was explained to the government that there was no other comparable term in Iban. As such the ban was not enforced further but it was neither officially repealed. The ban was later lifted only for Iban people usage, after protests from the Christian leaders.
Read more about this topic: Christianity In Malaysia
Famous quotes containing the word literature:
“Since people no longer attend church, theater remains as the only public service, and literature as the only private devotion.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“Woe to that nation whose literature is cut short by the intrusion of force. This is not merely interference with freedom of the press but the sealing up of a nation’s heart, the excision of its memory.”
—Alexander Solzhenitsyn (b. 1918)
“A book is not an autonomous entity: it is a relation, an axis of innumerable relations. One literature differs from another, be it earlier or later, not because of the texts but because of the way they are read: if I could read any page from the present time—this one, for instance—as it will be read in the year 2000, I would know what the literature of the year 2000 would be like.”
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)