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. 
If allah is merely a generic term for god, then would Muslims have a problem using Yahweh? Yahweh is the revered name for God among Jews, so much so that they will only spell it G-d out of respect.
Would Muslims have a problem saying “There is no God but Yahweh, and Jesus is His Son”?
“And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial name unto all generations. ” Exodus 3:15
To Logus (#11): “Yahweh” is certainly NOT the revered name for G-d among Jews. Jews believe that G-d’s name was not to be spoken except under very specific circumstances. Further, they believe that no one now living knows how to say G-d’s name any more.
The Hebrew word for “God” is El. (You can see how close Hebrew and Arabic are, as languages: “El” and “Allah” are similar.)
The four Hebrew letters that are a place-holder for G-d’s name, YHVH, are not pronounced. Instead, the Hebrew word for “the Lord” is said instead.
Most Jews are bemused by Christian attempts to pronounce G-d’s unpronounceable name as Yahweh or Jehovah or whatever. Some Jews are insulted. But, believe me, it is NOT something Jews do.
I stand corrected Becky. I am aware of El as the Hebrew word for God. I am reminded of Beth-El, House of God. And I realize that linguistically Arabic and Hebrew have some common Semitic roots. I recalled the use of Adonai in scripture as I was reading your post, as well as Elohim.
My argument still stands though, that a shared or similar name (via linguistic roots or usage) in and of itself does not confirm unanimity of belief or worship rather in the same diety.
If the Christians, and especially the Jews of ancient Arabia felt that they were worshipping the same diety as Mohammad preached, then surely they would have joined him more readily. Nor, would there be passages within the Quran that conflict with each other concerning the faith and beliefs of Christians and Jews. There are many ayat proclaiming that the Christians and Jews are fellow believers, but there are also verses berating or even condemning them for not following, either intentionally or not. If one is practicing or believing that which is corrupted, a half-truth, then it is not truth at all, no matter how fervently believed, and in that, the person(s) are not worshipping the same diety as others, even if there is some shared roots, similarities or concieved equality.
And lastly, if Allah is just another term for God, then why would you still use it when you speak or write in context of your beliefs? Why not just use the word ‘God’? After all, it’s a generic term, and you’re writing in English, not Arabic.
And while wiki isn’t always the best source, I found it quite enlightening… reiterating some material I had already come across.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allah
That there is a similarity between the spellings or semantics of the English word God and Arabic il illah in no way links the entity that is described in the Bible and the Koran.
The Koran’s Allah is ultimately the descendent of the Sin, the chief pagan moon god , represented as a crescent , of the Babylonian city of Ur. The same place where Abram was from.
This crescent god went through many evolutions before finding its way to Mecca as the chief pagan god in the Kabbah with 359 other pagan gods.
The crescent worship was also usually associated with worship of the morning star, Venus.. and thus the Crescent and star symbology of Islam. Above every mosque you will see a crescent moon.
Of course Muslims today do not acknowledge this heritage of Allah, instead they believe Mohemmed’s lie that Mohemmed was visited by the angel of the God of the Bible.
Islam is a monotheistic pagan religion of war. All moon god religions in the Middle East were aggressive , war religions.
Islam, as a religion, has almost no resemblance to the religions established by the Bible.. instead Islam merely continuied the preexisting pagan Arab rituals.
The Bible has one clear reference to the crescent / morning star partnership. In Isaiah 14:12, in a chapter that is describing the future destruction of Satan’s empire on Earth and the antichrist:
14:12 Look how you have fallen from the sky,
O shining one, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the ground,
O conqueror of the nations!
In the Hebrew, O shining one is “Helel ” and Son of the Dawn is “ben-shakhar” . In Arabic Helel is the root for crescent,. And Son of the Dawn is recognized as being Venus.
By the way , the King James english translation uses the word Lucifer for “Helel ben shakhar”
Draw your own conclusions.
So what was the name for god used by the people who became the Israel before they were Israel?
I recommend, “Islam: A Short History” by Karen Armstrong as a good introduction/overview.
http://www.amazon.com/Islam-History-Modern-Library-Chronicles/dp/081296618X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209555069&sr=8-1
It is clear to me from conversations with Muslim friends, some reading in the Quran, and the majority of scholarship (Christian or secular) that Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the same God. Jesus tells us in John’s gospel that his Fathers house has many rooms. Any religion or sect that presumes to understand exactly how God will fill those rooms presumes too much.
For me the heart of my relationship with Christ is keep God’s command to love my neighbor as myself. I find following that commandment trying enough let alone attempting to discern with certitude how the living God will judge others.
An thought provoking topic and a timely one.
–Andrew
The universalism that is being taught, accepted and spread within the religious community is astounding.
Andrew, what about John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ”
Denominations within a religion is one thing, as the differences between them are often over minutia that don’t matter. The differences that occur between major religions however, such as Islam and Christianity, are too great to come to a conclusion that they both worship the same diety.
The only way that an individual of any faith can believe that the diety they are worshipping is the same or just as acceptable a path as another is by accepting a philosophical foundation of universalism which would state that all are saved. That line of thought says that Christianity works for me, and I believe it, and Islam doesn’t work for me, however that religion may work for someone else, they believe it and I think they’ll get to God just the same as me.
That is contradictory to the major foundational doctrines and tenets of many of the world religions, specifically Christianity.
Islam denies the Trinity, the deity of Christ and the Crucifixion. Three primary and foundational doctrines of Christianity that define the Christian understanding and belief in a monotheistic God.
Is God a mathmatical singularity as Islam points out with unambiguity or is it a mystery, a Trinitarian, single God, God - three in one all the same?
No Christian or Muslim can endorse or fully accept the religion of another without denying its own opposite, distinctive claims and doctrines.
Pluralism doesn’t always work and isn’t always a good thing.
So, what is this? The new trinity - God, Allah and Yahweh? We christians see God as the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We see God as being alive, the entity resposible for the f orce of endeavor. As Khalad mentions, Allah creates. But, Allah (God) through his Son also provides us instruction on how to relate to God, ourselves and each other. This instruction is the endeavor of love. Jesus, the Son of God, taught us to consider God our father. Consequently, there have been many sons and daughters of God who have provided us with further examples of what constitutes a loving relationship with God. So, we see God, not only in Jesus but in every human being. Because love of God requires us to endeavor to be true to Him, ourselves and each other we see the living God as being the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Ghost - John 16:12.
Modern America owes much to this Spirit of Truth. Our endeavors in science and technology comes from recognizing that dogma is the enemy of truth and that progress is impossible without skepticism. Our knowledge is imperfect. Accordingly, to be true to God, ourselves and each other, we must not make religion our God, Allah, Yahweh.
In the New Testament , God has given us a means to test the divinity claims of dieties and spirits. Note there are two tests that I isolated and labelled A and B
1 John 2:21 I have not written to you that you do not know the truth, but that you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but
A - the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
This one is the antichrist:
B - the person who denies the Father and the Son.
Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.
[A] is the denial of the Messiahship of Jesus
[B] is the denial of Divinity of Jesus
And in this context “antichrist” is being used in a general sense.
Islam fails both tests:
[A : Messiahship of Jesus] - Koran 4:157
“(That they said in boast) . . . We killed the Christ, Jesus, son of Mary, who was an apostle
of God; but they neither killed nor crucified him, though it so appeared to them. Those who
disagree in the matter are only lost in doubt. They have no knowledge about it other than
conjecture, for surely they did not kill him.”
By denying that Jesus died as the lamb, that neccessary work of the Messiah is denied by islam
[B : Divinity of Jesus] Koran 5:72-73
“They are surely infidels who say: “God is the Christ, son of Mary.” But the Christ had only
said: “O Children of Israel, worship God who is my Lord and your Lord.” Whoever associates
a compeer with God, will have Paradise denied to him by God, and his abode shall be Hell;
and the sinners will have none to help them. Disbelievers are they surely who say: “God is the
third of the Trinity”
To my Muslim friends… I accept that you view my religion as flawed and I feel similiary about yours; however, I carry no hatred or aminosity towards Muslims and all people of good intentions of any or no faith.
Our concepts of God are necessarily flawed and imperfect: because WE are flawed and imperfect. Here’s where my Calvinist upbringing helps me: The doctrine of election says that God chooses, God calls, God justifies, and God saves. It is not for me to sit on my judgment seat and decide who God should call or choose.
It’s not for me to really worry a lot about whether God prefers the Christian over the Moslem. That’s God’s problem to figure out. I see much to admire in the Moslems that I know and have known. Those who actually try to live up to the standard of the Five Pillars are worthy of respect and honor. Just as the Christian who tries to live up to the standard of the Good Samaritan or the standard suggested in the parable of the sheep and the goats.