Earlier, Lim had come under fire too from former Penang deputy chief minister, Umno's Dr Hilmi Yahaya.
The present deputy CM, Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin of PKR however defended Lim's use of 'Amar Makruf Nahi Mungkar' as something Muslims should be proud of.
Fairus added that the state mufti had said there was nothing wrong in the CM quoting the phrase.
If we're agreed on the shared values at the core of the major faiths, then we can appreciate how their scriptures have enriched our lexicon. Think of the teachings of Christianity which have found a place in our vocabulary, such as 'Love thy neighbour as yourself' and 'Do to others what you would have them do to you'.
Doesn't Umno's nitpicking then negate the universality of the 'Amar Makruf Nahi Mungkar' message?
Below is my English translation of an article which appeared in the PAS-affiliated website Tranungkite on Nov 19 headlined 'Will Umno faint away if Guan Eng understands Islam?'
It is written by 'anakbulan'
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A visitor Helen Ang had left an e-mail in my Inbox drawing my attention to a piece of news in Malaysiakini titled 'K'jaan Guan Eng ditegur silap eja 'Amar' (Guan Eng's government taken to task for misspelling 'Amar'). She asked for my view on the matter.
Let's have a quick look at the article. *** An Umno assemblyman had reprimanded the Penang state government for wrongly spelling the word 'Amar' on the Pakatan Rakyat banner which dotted the landscape in conjunction with the Hari Raya celebration recently.
The reproof came from Datuk Dr Hilmi Yahaya (Umno-Teluk Bahang) because of the misspelling to the sentence 'Amar Makruf Nahi Mungkar' – which carries the meaning 'menyuruh kebaikan dan menjauhi kejahatan' (To enjoin what is good and abhor what is evil).
The banner instead bore the wording 'Amal Makruf Nahi Mungkar'. According to Hilmi, 'amal' means "melakukan" (to practise) whereas 'amar' means "menyuruh" (enjoining). Therefore the spelling mistake connoted a different sense of 'Amar Makruf Nahi Mungkar'. He also questioned whether Lim – a non-Muslim – is qualified to use Quranic verses to refer to the governance of his state.
Hilmi said the phrase was an ayat (verse) from the al-Quran for Muslims and as such, doubted whether the non-Muslim Penang chief minister should have invoked it. In relation to this, Hilmi asked the Islamic religious authorities to clarify on the issue.
Lim often uses this ayat in his speeches, including at his public debate with Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon in August, as well as in the Hari Raya banners which were recently put up prominently throughout the state. Hilmi also castigated Lim for equating his rule with that of Caliph Umar Abdul Aziz, and asked Lim to prove his good governance first before comparing with others. ***
The following is my explanation in reply to Helen Ang.
wassalam
Firstly, it is a good reminder which Lim Guan Eng should heed. But a mistake such as this is not tantamount to insulting Islam, and it can be corrected.
I feel LGE should consult an expert in ilmu lughah (philology/exegesis). 'Amar Makruf Nahi Mungkar' and 'Amal Makruf Nahi Mungkar': To me, both are erroneous for being rendered in Malay. It is not LGE or DAP members only who are confused, the Umno people too may be unaware if not reproached.
'Amar' is correct to replace 'amal' which carries a different meaning even though both words are in the form of 'fe'el amr'. 'Mungkar' has been Malay-ized from the original Arabic 'mim + nun + kaf + ro', and this is similarly incorrect as well even though there are those who proffer the excuse that they have approximated it (meng'ikhfak'kannya*). Accurate spelling and pronunciation should refer to the jawi script. Insya Allah.
That's all I think there is to it. If I were to render Mandarin or Tamil phonetically in Roman script, I'm sure the result will be hilarious or not as exact as if I were to read the languages in their original written characters. Agree? If I'm mistaken, I apologize.
Secondly, Hilmi queried if Lim – a non-Muslim – is qualified to use Quranic verses to refer to the governance of his state. He said the ayat from the al-Quran was for Muslims and expressed his doubt that the Chief Minister should have used 'Amar Makruf Nahi Mungkar'.
Hilmi probably does not understand the 'uslub' and 'manhaj' of dakwah (ways and means/methods to proselytizing) and was politicking too much in this regard.. I ask him to show which nas qat'iey [ayat from Quran or Hadith used in determining Islamic jurisprudence or hukum syarak] forbids non-Muslims from making Quranic verses a basis of their sayings.
Islam is a blessing for all mankind, for all races, and in fact, there are more Muslims in China than there are Malays in number.
Islam is inclusive in nature, not exclusive to Hilmi and his Malay race solely. In my opinion, Hilmi's statement just proves how Umno has failed since before Merdeka in explaining Islam to the non-Muslims.
For sure, Islam is not ‘seburuk’ (as intolerant) as depicted by Hilmi. It is hoped that Hilmi repents. On a personal note, I'm amazed by what has been carried out by LGE's administration. The problem is Malays in Penang have been too much Umno-ized [influenced by Umno] to the extent of their looking at non-Muslims as the 'enemy' that is threatening their 'ketuanan'. In reality, Islam teaches its adherents to bring non-Muslims into the fold through dakwah.
Islam is not Umno's right alone. Islam belongs to all the children of Adam. Who is Umno or Hilmi to gainsay this? Thank you. This response is my personal perspective. Perhaps other visitors to this website might care to share their understanding on the discussion. The floor is open.
[Dictionary definition: Ikhfak = bunyi nun mati (sukun) atau tanwin yang didengungkan sepanjang dua harakat ketika bertemu dengan salah satu daripada huruf ta, sa, jim, dal, zal, zai, sin, syin, sad, dad, ta, za, fa, kaf, qaf.]
The original article in Malay can be read here,
http://www.tranungkite.net/v7/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=18618
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It is crystal clear that the Penang Umno, and other states Umno as well as Helmi are Malays who practise 'holier than thou' attitude. They just want to show that they know so much about Islam and are true followers where in fact, their knowledge on it is limited and questionable. To those Umno bigots, do you all practise 'Amar Makruf Nahi Mungkar' in its true sense of the words? Allahualam.