Created: 21st March 2009

Modified: 06 Jan 2010

Is the term Allah for god a mistake?

 

Mr Anonymous suggest:  Allah means in Arabic "the God," exactly the same as "ho Theos" in Greek (John 1:1). It is how God is referred to and addressed in every Arabic-speaking church in the world, and that has been the case since there were Arabic-speaking churches, which had been in Arabia for over 200 years and which were of course known to Muhammad.

Simon responds: Since Allah was referred to by Arabic Christians or Muslims does that mean we should run after a majority vote?  Let us put it another way, in the world today at least 1/3 people are atheists should we all stop believing in a creator God since almost a third are not even believing in a creator?

Second thing one could posit that ho theos argument for a generic term for "God" but it cannot mean that since ho theos can be applied as a general term to God thus somehow Allah must fit too.  Just because every Arabic speaking church pronounces Allah to the God of Israel it does not make it true.  Perhaps Mr Anonymous should ask the question, why the bible translators called Allah god in the Arabic bibles in the first place.

Could I say that this Mr anonymous is playing on people's ignorance?  This is very careless with his argument since it can allow many people to remain in idolatry when we are told not to bring false deity names on our lips it is pretty evident God does not wish us to use the names of other deities in our daily vocabulary. In a case recently in Malaysia the Muslims objected to the use of Christians to their god Allah and this in fact is correct. They said Allah is not the god of the Christians hence they should not use it.

-- New King James

Exodus 23:13 "And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.

Mr Anonymous:: The Arabic word lah, "god," is closely related to the Hebrew El, plural Elohim, used to refer to the true God in Genesis 1 and elsewhere.

Simon:  A close relation does not mean identity or complete fit.  Arabic Lah and Hebrew El are not the same.  In fact in Arabic there is no such word for God as "lah", which is lamed, alif and heh.  If we apply the closest test to Ilah with the Alef its closest Hebrew match is Elah which is used in the bible for an "oak" tree and I can accept that Allah is nothing but wood.  The other term in the bible which is Alah, which is used for an oath or a curse can be found in Dan 9:11. The nearest term to this is Alaha in Aramaic and still not Allah.

We know Muhammad was the prophet of Allah who did not know the name of Yahuweh and the closest match he used was the name of a Babylonian deity exported in the 600 BC by Nabonidus. Let's put it another way I could say a donkey is closely related to a horse in many ways but can we say a donkey and a horse are equal?  It's an insult to relate Yahuweh with the Islamic god Allah, who is nothing but wood and stone.

Let's analyse this further in the actual Arabic language and what the Qur'an terms God.

Sura 16:51 Allah has proclaimed: “Do not worship two-gods (‘ilaahayni); there is only one-God (‘ilaahun)…” 

Note Allah is doing the speaking and saying there is only one God according to him.  The Arabic term used is ILAH, one lamed for God and not two as Mr Anonmyous tried to imply, which then makes it the proper name of Allah. People can use Ilah as a generic title that would be fine but not use the name.

Let’s look at five translations of the Qur'an to see how the Muslims never translate Allah any other way than Allah.

       Allaah (Q.1:1):

Arabic: bismi allaahi arrahmaani arrahiymi.

Turkish: Rahman ve Rahim olan Allah'in Adiyla

English: In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

French: Au nom d'Allah, le Tout Miséricordieux, le Très Miséricordieux.

German: Im Namen Allahs, des Gnädigen, des Barmherzigen.

Spanish: En el nombre de Alá, el Compasivo, el Misericordioso!

Now let's look at five bible translations for the word Yahuweh the personal name of the God of Israel.

Isaiah 52:4 (KJV) For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

Isaiah 52:4 (NKJV) For thus says the Lord God: "My people went down at first into Egypt to sojourn there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

Isaiah 52:4 (American Standard) For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there: and the Assyrian hath oppressed them without cause.

Isaiah 52:4 Living Bible) My people were tyrannized without cause by Egypt and Assyria, and I delivered them.

Isaiah 52:4 (Revised Standard) For thus says the Lord God: My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.

--Abrahamic-Faith Nazarene Hebraic Study Scriptures

Isaiah 52:4 (AFNHSS) For thus says Master hwhy, My people went down aforetime into Mitzrayim (Egypt) to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

We can see that out of 6 bibles one bible is marginally correct the American standard which used Jehovah but the one that is the most clear winner with the exception with the correct Hebrew name is the AF Bible from Abrahamic-faith publication.  Now we can see that while in the Christian world the NAME of Yahuweh is hidden but in the Muslim world it does not matter which language the Muslims translate the Qur'an into they are insistent and consistent that Allah remains the same because its the personal name of their deity.  While one would think Christians love to keep the magnificent name of Yahuweh hidden but the truth is that they are never taught the sacred name and how to use them.

The generic term for God in Arabic is Ilah that is one Alif and one lam while the name Allah has two Lams.  Let us see what the Muslims themselves believe.

A statement from the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), Riyadh , Saudi Arabia

It is a known fact that every language has one or more terms that are used in reference to God and sometimes to lesser deities. This is not the case with Allah. Allah is the personal name of the One true God. Nothing else can be called Allah. The term has no plural or gender. This shows its uniqueness when compared with the word god, which can be made plural, gods, or feminine, goddesses. It is interesting to notice that Allah is the personal name of god in Arabic. Allah is a reflection of the unique concept that Islam associates with god. To a Muslim, Allah is the almighty, creator and sustainer of the universe, who is similar to nothing and nothing is comparable to Him.

Now that we have heard it from the horse's mouth himself it should be clear to see who is mistaken.  It’s not the Muslims who are mistaken but the Christian translators who have put Allah in the Arabic Bibles and caused confusion for endless people in the Arab world.  This is termed contextualization, which is to use similar words known in a culture to associate with the God of Israel in order to bring people understanding but unfortunately this whole school of thought, which started in the 70s has backfired with many problems.  One must realize the reasons why Allah was inserted in the Arabic Bibles was simply because during the 9th century when the first translations were made many translators were afraid to lose their life because Islam was in dominant force and ruled in those lands.  Therefore by not using the correct term YHWH they went with the status quo to not translate and put Allah instead.  Were these Christians honest?

Some might rightfully think that they were dishonest and deceitful since they feared for their earthly lives but we do not know for certain what was in their minds fifteen centuries down the line, it seems to be at least that they did not have the courage to correctly translate the words from the bible to the correct terminology so they at least appeared to give in to the local prevailing religious thought but one cannot be certain.  In my view they would have done better to translate the words correctly as YHWH in the Hebrew script than Allah and footnote the term. Translating it into Allah has led to much confusion in later centuries.

Its because of these people that many of these terminologies have become stumbling block for both Muslims and Christians., this whole thing has failed miserably to bring Muslims to know who Yahushua (Jesus) of Nazareth is.

Mr Anonymous: Moreover Islam refers to Jesus as the "word of God" and "the Spirit of God."

Simon: It does not make Jesus of Nazareth, the Muslim Isa of the Qur'an because if it did then the Muslims will crush your argument by telling you that Isa is created therefore you have to accept their argument that Isa of the Qur'an is created the same as Adam.  You cannot have it half and half or pick and choose passages in the Qur'an that suit you and leave the ones that are against you.  Muslims have very different theological understanding of what the term “word of God” means. 

Sura 3:59 Surely the likeness of Isa is with Allah as the likeness of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, Be, and he was.

 

Mr Anonymous: Its end-time theology is that the Mahdi (the Twelfth Imam in Twelver Shi'ism) will come and set things right among the Muslims (which means "those who submit"), then the Antichrist will arise, and then Jesus will come from heaven and kill the Antichrist and judge the world. This is why Islam is indeed a variation of Christianity, as John of Damascus stated in the 9th century and why the Christian Ethiopian king who gave refuge to the early Muslims when they were persecuted in Mecca declared when he heard their doctrine that there was no more difference than the width of a stick between it and his own faith.

Simon:  Which Jesus will come, Isa or Jesus of Nazareth? This is why both John of Damascus and the Ethiopian king were mistaken, had they bothered to check with the Muslims they would have told them that Isa of the Qur'an is created and only a prophet.  He will come to defeat the Dajjal (the antichrist) and then get married and die. Does that sound like the Jesus/Yahushua of the bible?

The difference is much greater than a width of a stick, it’s almost like a car and a plane, both can run on fuel, have engines but the dynamics are completely different.  Here Jesus/Yahushua of Nazareth is akin to a plane who will carry us to eternity but Isa is like a car who will never lift off the ground.  The only way for a Muslim is sadly hell without Yahushua (Jesus of Nazareth). Most people are confused about this.

Mr Anonymous: Muslims are doubtless mistaken about a great many things, beginning with Muhammad, who was certainly deceived at various points. Granting that he was a false prophet, which I think probable, it remains that those deceived by false prophets are not necessarily cut off from God themselves. The people believed false prophets in Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah, as indeed they do to this day (Matthew 5:10-12). But they remained God's people, needing tough discipline, but not rejection.

Simon: What twisted logic is this?  Either Muhammad is a prophet of Yahuweh the God of Israel or not! What is him being deceived got to do with this, what about the will and purpose of the man Muhammad?  At least the Jews in Jeremiah's time were Gods people because the covenants were established with their fathers i.e. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob but when did we ever see a covenant established with Ishmael to qualify the Muslims as Yahuweh's chosen people? Muhammad was certainly the prophet of Allah but we know Allah and Yahuweh are not the same. 

God’s people in Israel even with the false prophets had people like Jeremiah to guide them and a standing Temple at various times but there were no prophets of Yahuweh in Arabia and no standing Temple other than the chosen people the Jews who could guide Muhammad and some indeed did. I agree God is just and merciful and can decide on the future of those Muslims who perhaps out of ignorance worshipped Allah but the criteria is not simply ignorance. The same Muslims in Arabia at Muhammad’s time also killed and butchered the Jews of Arabia so then what criteria would God use? Would he allow them into his kingdom or throw them into hell?

After this e-mail Mr Anonymous replies:

Mr Anonymous: I have two points. If this man's perspective should impress me simply because he is a former Muslim (if indeed that is the case), I invite you to go to the Freedom from Religion website and consult the views of former Nazarene minister Dan Barker and tell me whether you think he is a trust worthy witness to the truth about Christianity.

Simon:  Why would we want to hear from a self confessed atheist?  What is he going to tell us that Jesus of Nazareth did not exist? Such foolish statements can only come from ignorant and uneducated people who turn a blind eye to even the historical evidence.  Mr Dan Barker is simply one of those apostate Christians, who became an atheist and fell from grace and lost the plot.  Nobody will remember him in the kingdom to come and feel his pain in hell he has to feel it himself if he does not repent.

After 19 years of evangelical preaching, missionizing, evangelism and Christian song writing, Dan Barker "threw out the bathwater and discovered there is no baby there." Barker describes the intellectual and psychological struggle required to move from fundamentalism to free thought. Sections on biblical morality, the historicity of Jesus, bible contradictions, the unbelievable resurrection, and much more.  

It’s quite clear that Dan Barker's "free thought" was contradicting true faith so something had to give and clearly he had a problem with the historicity of Yahushua (Jesus), what he terms bible contradictions and the unbelievable resurrection are simply things that he could not reconcile to himself.  These do not lead to the conclusion that Yahushua (Jesus) of Nazareth did not exist or that there is no resurrection but only a confused mind can come to such conclusion.  Many historical artifacts attest to the person of Jesus and His existence such as the following.  You would have to deny history to deny Yahushua and this is exactly what Dan did. Many still follow in his footsteps but many today also follow in my footsteps who know God will raise the dead and is living and present in the land of Israel because all Muslims can make the connection that Moses including Jesus walked in Israel and not Arabia.

Let's examine some of the evidence for Yahushua's/Jesus’ existence.

Item No. 1: In 1990, a Jewish burial box called an ossuary was found in Jerusalem. Construction workers using a bulldozer found the ancient burial cave from the 1st century. Inside the cave were 12 ossuaries. Two of the ossuaries had the name "Caiaphas" which supports that the Caiaphas family buried family members at this site. The most ornate ossuary had the words, "Joseph son of Caiaphas" carved on it two times, implicating the importance of the person buried in the ossuary.

This is the High Priest mentioned in Matthew 26:3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas.

Another archaeological find is the discovery of an ossuary referring to "Alexander, son of Simon of Cyrene. In the Gospel of Mark, we read that the Roman soldiers compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander, to carry Jesus’ stake (Mark 15:21).

Accounts of the Crucifixion or people mentioning Yahushua's name

Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, (A.D. 37-100), the Jewish historian)

Mr Anonymous:  Confirming this caution, consider that in the face Simon's assertions about "Allah," every Arabic-speaking Christian church in the world says "Allah" to denote God. I suggest that you go to an Arabic-speaking Baptist church some morning, or an Antiochan Orthodox, Melkite, or Maronite Catholic Church, and check that out for yourself.

Simon:  Unfortunately Anonymous has this typical attitude of following the herd, the majority as we know it are often wrong since they read the name of a false god and try and attribute it to Yahuweh, which is an impossibility.  Mr Anonymous should see how the stock market falls and rises and how the a few astute traders make money when the herd goes bull or bear, how the floor traders know when to activate the stop loss points and a flurry of buys generated can send the market racing up and a flurry of sells likewise can send the market tumbling down, the only ones quietly making the money are the minority in the know and the floor traders. 

To apply the same logic of the herd then let’s assume if I go to say 10,000 Catholic Churches and see them ALL venerating Mary should I do likewise? Or to put it another way if I see a majority of people Buddihsts in China worshipping Buddah then it must be alright perhaps I too should become a Buddhist right?  What if I go to India and on every road practically there is a mandir (temple), a stone of some sort that people stand and bow down to as god. Should I as a visitor to India then decide since a billion people in India are doing it they must be right? Sadly and often the majority are entirely wrong, it is only a small group of people who are right. You want me to give you an example. Then look at the Jews. They are a select few but they are indeed right who know what and who God is and obey Torah. Even in Christian circles many are wrong to ascribe paganism in churches to the bible. 

Contrary to Mr Anonymous' thinking we do not entertain such ideas and these things do not change the fact that Allah is a proper name and so is Yahuweh a proper name and the two are so far apart, to be honest I could say it is like night (Allah) and day (Yahuweh). May the light shine for all those searching for the day which was sent through Yahushua/Jesus of Nazareth for all nations of the world.

Simon Altaf was chosen by God for the special End-Times prophetic calling. A lone voice in the wilderness, one taught by God (Ps 119:120-121), a Messianic Rabbi and a writer. He is an ex-Muslim, called out of Islam to rejoin His people after his long exile. 

 

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