Do not insult Allah; He is your God too.
The icon of evangelical fundamentalist Christianity, Pat Robertson, would not waste a chance to restate that Muslims do not worship the same God that ‘Judeo-Christian’ believer’s do. I am not sure if most Jews agree with his Christian understanding of God, but that has never stopped him and others of the same mindset from making that claim.
To him, Allah is not God. It is just an Arab Muslim Idol. Not only that, but he comes up with whole Hollywood type story about the moon god who has three daughters that Muslims worship (see that and more equally ‘smart’ statements here:
http://www.cbn.com/700club/features/bringiton/falsereligions-index.aspx#3. This nonsense is ear-catching for his target audience, but is just - to put it mildly - stupid; plain and simple.
These statements prove that one may be famous, rich, and influential yet be totally ignorant and do not even know what they are talking about. That, unfortunately does not change the fact that many non-Muslims, especially in North America, that still think the same way, regardless of what they think of Pat Robertson.
Allah is the Arabic word for God (upper case ‘G’). It has its roots in Aramaic, one of the roots of Arabic Language, and has been used many centuries before Islam by Arab Jews and Christians. Not only that, it is the word used for God/Lord (upper case) in the Arabic translations of the Old and New Testament.
Take a look at this example from Genesis (http://www.ibs.org/) with the Arabic translation from http://www.biblegateway.com/. The words “God” and “Allah in Arabic, الله ” are highlighted:
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning-the first.
And for an example from the Gospel of John:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Arab Christians use the word “Allah” (meaning God) in their prayers and worship. Many Arab Christians have the name “Abd-Allah”, meaning the “Servant-of-God”, the same name that many Muslims have. The image on the side is the Arabic script for ‘God is Love’, a common saying for Egyptian Christians. Notice the word on the right. It is Allah (for God).
The Arabic language has masculine and feminine forms. Like English, it also has single and plural forms, with a third form for a count of 2 of the same thing. The word Allah in Arabic has a very special status though. It is not defined as masculine or feminine, it exists only in the singular form, and it does not undergo any derivation. Grammatically it is treated as masculine, but it has no inherent gender.
The uniqueness of the word Allah in Arabic may be in part responsible for the occasional use of Allah by Muslims speaking in English, rather than the word God. The word god has multiple forms: upper case, lower case, plural and feminine forms (God, god, gods and goddess). It can be used to describe the absolute divine, but it can be used to describe a teen idol or a music diva. I personally prefer to use the word ‘God’, but I would always remind my listeners that it is the ‘upper case one’.
I know some people may be now thinking: Well, even if it means God it still does not mean that Muslims worship the same God Christians and Jews worship. So here is a brief primer on divinity in Islam.
Islam is a monotheistic religion (defined by some as ‘rigidly’ monotheistic). God in Islam has no form or shape that is amenable to human senses, but his presence can be perceived. Therefore, humans can sense the existence of the Divine, and believe in it. Any attribute of His that may have a human equivalent, is made with no attempt to make analogy or simile to humans.
This is expressed in a very short chapter of the Quran (Ch. 112, 1-4): “SAY: He is the One God: God the Eternal, the Uncaused, Cause of All Being. He begets not, and neither is He begotten; and there is nothing that could be compared with Him”.
In Islam, God is the ultimate abstract idea of a Divine Entity. He has no beginning, and no end. He is the creator of the universe and the sustainer of all that exists. He is the Master of the Day of Judgment. He cares about us, knows what we do, and wants us to succeed in this life, and in the life after.
If someone does not think that this is the God they worship, then that is their concern. As for those who grasped my description of what God means to Muslims, the next time one feels like saying something nasty about “Allah”, they should hold back. It is their God too.
Useful links:
- Wikipedia article on Allah: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allah
- Allah, in the Catholic Encyclopedia: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01316a.htm
- The definition of the word ‘Allah’ on Christiananswers.Net: http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/allah.html and here http://isaalmasih.net/other/glossary.html
- My essay on what is Islam: http://muslimdreamer.blogspot.com/2007/11/islam-q-what-is-islam.html
Khaled Hamid, 48, is an American Muslim. He was born in Egypt but has lived in Canada and the United States for nearly 20 years. Since 2000 he has worked as a physician in St. Louis where he lives with his wife and two sons. He is especially interested in civil rights issues and inter-faith dialog. 
Enlightening and Informative, Khaled. You’re not, however, going to convince any of the diehard fundamentalists here.
I consider it this way: Abraham had two sons, and was the first to clearly worship One God. Of the many lessons he passed on to his sons, was the history changing lesson that there was One God, not many gods. Those sons carried that message forward, through the generations to today.
The NAME that God is given does not matter. One can linguistically see the obvious similarities between the Hebrew YHWH (more or less YahWeh) and the Arabic Allah. Further the descriptive parallels between the I AM of Moses and the Allah you describe above as being self-existent are very obvious.
Thanks HS for your comment. I am, though, not aiming at the diehard fundamentalists on either side. I think they are not only a minority, but also the lost case.
The audience for most of us who hope for coexistence and mutual respect are those on the fence, limited from joining the moderates by the lack of access to simple basic facts. There is a lot of those, and they are the only reason we should continue to try.
Well-stated Khaled. It is amazing how some “men of God” out there curse God via Arabic (by cursing Allah).
My husband learned Arabic many years ago and now works at a Sam’s Club. The other workers have sometimes derided the use of the name Allah and think it shows Muslims worship a different God than Christians and Jews. My husband has told them unequivocally that the name Allah MEANS God…to their great astonishment. He has also gone on to give them a little bit of Biblical history. Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. Isaac is the father of Judaism and Ishmael is the father of Islam. So Christianity, Judaism and Islam have quite a bit in common.
I consider myself a diehard fundamentalist Christian who can co-exist even with ones who worship a different God than me. In fact, it seems to me many times that other Christians and myself are worshipping a different God.
HS (#!) and D. Walker (#3):
Should we try to define what we mean by die-hard fundamentalists? I am afraid we may be using it with different things in mind.
Also, D Walker: I am not sure what you mean by your last sentence: “In fact, it seems to me many times that other Christians and myself are worshiping a different God.” Can you please clarify for me what you mean?
Thanks so much for this column! I recently tried to convince a (Pentacostal) friend of this fact, but he refused to believe me. I was planning to do a bit of research later today to provide proof. You’ve done it for me! Thanks!
It is amazing how can an informed man , spreads untrue facts. It is very easy for anyone to look up Islam, to find out that this talk about a moon God, and the three daughters is a total fabrication. How can this go on in a well read place like North America.
The god of Islam is not the God of Christianity or Judaism. By the very nature of Allah and God as written in the the Old Testament, New Testament and Quran and studied through the centuries within their respective theologies, there is a difference. Islam’s god is not the same God that Christians worship. Language has nothing to do with it.
If the god of Islam and the God of Christianity are the same, there wouldn’t be such a difference in the nature and aspects of diety that exist between the two religions. The core concept of monotheism in and of itself is not enough to base a claim that the two religions worship the same diety. Nor is the assertion that language and word choice are evidence that two religions that differ on several very key hermunetical points in fact worship the same diety. What one believes does not necessarily make something true. Belief -no matter how sincere and honest- and fact don’t always coincide.
Allah was known and was used in Arabia pre-Islam. Does that mean that the pagans who worshipped him prior to Mohammad were worshipping the real god, much less the same one as the Christians or Jews? It only proves that he was known as a spiritual being, which can be something other than the one diety.
Consider the Quran’s use of the word Isa for Jesus. Why not Yasu? Yasu is more linguistically correct? Is it because there was a misunderstanding or purposeful misrepresentation of Jesus by comparing him to Esau?
While in and of itself, the use of a name may not matter, it is evident in scripture that God’s names have power and authority. They can describe Him sometimes. While the importance of “allah” in and of itself as a name is minimal when trying to find similarities to two mutually distinctive faiths, the name/word is important in worship and praise.
Christianity and Islam have plenty to seperate them, specifically as concerns a fundamental understanding of monotheism, that is, the nature of that singular God. You and I do not worship the same diety.
Two people can live in what they call a house, yet how the two are constructed and what they have within them may well be drastically different, yet that term, “house” would apply to both.
Islam is “intrasigent” in its belief and concept of monotheism, whereas Christianity’s understanding is quite a bit different. How then can we be worshipping the same diety?
And I wear my fundamentalism with honor as I believe in absolutes, there there is such a thing as knowable truth. Thus, I believe that some things are wrong or are in error.
As Dr. Robert Morey stated, ” The sloppy thinking that would ignore the essential differences which divide world religions is an insult to the uniqueness of world religions”
My concerns with Islam stem not from its teachings, but the very source of those teachings, which I highly suspect.
I, too, found D.Walkers’ comment about how different Christians seem to be worshiping a different God interesting. I’ve also found that it rings true for me.
Here’s my thought on the statement: Ask any group of Christians what they believe is the function or purpose of scripture. Or, perhaps, ask them to share their perspective on what the fundamental message of scripture is. Or, ask them to pick a few favorite Bible verses and defend their choice.
The answers to those questions will say a lot about how they see or experience the God they worship.