Language should be constantly evolving, and not stuck in a rut or forever set in a mould, said Kelantan Mentri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat today.

Elaborating on the " Tuhan samseng " (God is a thug) controversy which is now being relentlessly used in attacks against him in the mainstream media, Nik Aziz argued that what he did was merely provide a modern translation of the words Al-Mutakabbir and Al-Jabbar as contained in the Quran.

" Samseng (thug) was how I interpreted those words to mean in Malay, and I did not insult Islam in doing so. If the words are in the Quran, then it is a perfectly valid thing for a translation or interpretation to go along with them,'' he told reporters after chairing a state exco meeting.

Nik Aziz, who is also PAS spiritual leader, was responding to the latest salvo fired against him by former Supreme Court judge Harun Hashim, as reported in today's Utusan Malaysia .

The front page report quoted Harun as saying that Nik Aziz can be charged under the Penal Code for insulting Allah for describing one of the attributes of God as " samseng ".