Does "Allah" and "God" mean the same thing

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By `Isa Adam Naziri

“Allah” is a combination of two words, “Al” (ال) and “ilah” (إله). “Al” is the definite article in Arabic. Semitic linguists believe that the original root definite article of all Semitic languages was “Hal.” With Hebrew it evolved as “Ha” and Arabic as “Al.” The second word is “ilah.” This means “Divinity” or “God.” But “ilah” is not definite. It can be made feminine (إلاهة), it can be made plural (آلهة) and thus does not always convey theabsoluteness of THE ONE GOD. So accordingly, when speaking of THE One God of Monotheism, the Qur’an says “Al-ilah” (الإله) which is conjugated into “Allah” (الله).

Some have propagated a racist myth that the Arabic language calls "God" by the name "Allah" because this was allegedly the name of an Arabic “moon god.” This is a lie based on white racists Christian’s hatred for Semitic peoples. Christians claim that they have among them 14 Million Christian `Arabs. If that is the case, then this means that there are 14 Million Christians calling God by this name of “Allah” as well. The racists who tell you that “Allah is a moon god” are actually slandering the Christian faith of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Ironically however, the name “El” (אל) - one of the Hebrew names for God - is a name of a pagan god of the Canaanites. But this certainly does not mean that the similar linguistics used between the ancient Hebrews and the Canaanite pagans implies that their gods are the same! If there was ever an `Arabian pagan deity named anything sounding similar to “Allah” then certainly it is because “Allah” means “The God.” Thus, someone naming a God would be likely to touch the linguistic root of A-L-L-H. So too is this the case with “El” being a Canaanite pagan deity and also the name of the God of the Children of Israel.

There is no educated belief that “Allah” is a “moon god” or any other god than the God of Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, John the Baptist, and Jesus (Peace be upon them all), that the Qur’an claims sameness with. If it was another god, why would their be any pretending that It is the same as the aforementioned God? The people of Arabia were already pagan. If Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) called them to worship a moon god they would have been overjoyed. He would not have had to sell them on polytheism masquerading as monotheism, he could have simply maintained their existing traditions of worshiping 360 different gods.

All Arabic Bibles refer to “The One God” as “Allah.” This is because any Arabic linguist knows that there is no other way - nor has their ever been - to speak of the One God of monotheism than by saying “The God.” If you say “a god” or “ilah” then you are implying in the Semitic mind that there are other gods and this is “your god.” This Islamic declaration of faith is “La ilaha ill-Allah” (لا إله إلا الله) meaning “There is no god besides the [One and Only] God.”

Arabic Bibles translated by Arabian Christians demonstrate this:

the-good-way.org/pdf/abible/ot/0195gen1.pdf

arabicbible.com/bible/doc_bible.htm

Taking a look at the first sentences of both the Bible and the Qur’an we notice the first line of Genesis in Arabic: “افِي الْبَدْءِ خَلَقَ اللهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ” meaning “In the Beginning GOD Created the Heavens and the Earth.” The term in red is “Allah” and is quite obviously the same as the following term also denoted in red: “بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِِ” meaning “In the Name of GOD, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.” There is no difference between the God of the Bible and the God of the Qur’an - at the very least one must accept that linguistically this is so. One may disagree with the Islamic understanding of the Will and Law of God, but certainly no one knowledgeable of Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew can say that “Allah” linguistically is any different than the Arabic version of the God of the Bible.
 
Furthermore, according to the Aramaic Bible Society and Aramaic dictionaries “Alah” is Aramaic for God. Aramaic was of course the vernacular "street language” of Jesus Christ’s (Peace be upon him) time and region. The Aramaic Bible Society affirms that every time Jesus Christ said “God” and not “The LORD” (which is an indication he was speaking of the Hebrew proper Name of God, “YHWH” יהוה), that he was actually saying “Alah.” This of course is almost identicle with what Hebrew actually is for “God” in the Bible. In Hebrew “God” is “Eloah.” “Elohim” also is used - often to designate grandure - but the term is most commonly used as “Eloah” (God) or “Elohenu” (Your God) in the Tanakh. “Elohim” is also used for the pagan gods of Egypt in the Book of Exodus 12:12 when it is said “Elohim-Mitzrayim” (אלוהי מערים), or in 18:11 where it is written that “YHWH is greater than the Elohim” (יהוה מכל האלוהים). So to simply say “God” the Nevi’im (Prophetic Books of the Tanukh), often said “Eloah.” Thought the English transliteration may make it seem ambiguous through the voweling, “E” is actually the consonental “A” or “Alef” the same as in “Allah.” Eloah is actually spelled “אלוה” or sometimes “אלה.” But all Hebrew dictionaries have “God” as “אלוה” and “Elohim” (אלוהים) as a special term to mean “The Great God” or “God the Greatest” - much like the Arabic “Allahu Akbar” (الله اكبر) meaning “God is the Greatest.”

This is the same as in Shir Ha’Shirim (Song of Songs), 5:16 in the Hebrew Tanakh: “His mouth is most sweet: he is MUHAMAD the Great (מחמדים). This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughters of Yerushalayim.”

חִכּוֹ, מַמְתַקִּים, וְכֻלּוֹ, מַחֲמַדִּים; זֶה דוֹדִי וְזֶה רֵעִי, בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִָם

Here “Muhammad” is called “Muhamadim” (מחמדים). As one can tell from the verse, we are told “He” not “they” so we know that this plural suffix is actually an indication of grandure, rather than plurality. Similarly, there is no Hebrew word for “Muhamadim” which would essentially be translated here as “He is altogether LOVELIES.” So we know that it must be plural of the Hebrew “Mahamad” (מַחְמָד). Likewise, no Bible says “In the Beginning GODS created the Heavens and the Earth,” (בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ), dispite the fact that the plural suffix is at the end of Eloah, thus making “Elohim.”

With that understanding “Eloah” is actually only one letter short of being “Allah” since Semitic languages only have consonental letters (Alef is considered a consonent in both Arabic and Hebrew). If “Allah” were spelled in Hebrew it would be “אללה” yet “Eloah” is simply “אלה,” or “אלוה.” To say “Allah” is the same as saying “God” just the same as if one said “Gott” in German, or in French “dieu,” in Italian “dio,” in Spanish “Dios,” in Portuguese “Deus,” in Farsi “Khuda,” in Hebrew “Eloah,” in Aramaic “Alah,” and yes in Arabic "Allah.” The myth that “Allah” is some “other” god, is a myth of the Catholic crusaders dating back to the middle ages. This myth is based in religious and ethnic hatred, and not one iota of fact.
 
God is worshipped by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam differently.

In Judaism, God is the Father and His Name is YHWH.
Two of His attributes are the Word of God (Verbitum) and the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit).

In Christianity, God is the Father, the Son (Word of God), and the Holy Spirit (Spirit of God) and His Name is YHWH.

In Islam, God is God and His Name is Allah.
He has an eternal, uncreated Word and the Holy Spirit is the angel Gabriel.

Here is chart to illustrate this: farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/3488994025_53a210932c_o.jpg

You can debate about the similarities betwen Islam and Judaism, or debate about the Blessed Trinity, for as long as you like, but, it won’t do a dang thing. Catholics are just as sure God is Triune as Jews are sure God is One and Unity as Muslims are sure God is Allah. We just gotta respect each other’s beliefs, no matter how different they may be.
 
Did you know that before the start of Islam the Arab Christians used to call God “Allah”? So it’s not anything just Islamic…
 
Abdullah bin salam (عبدالله بن سلام) was a Jewish rabbi and was born before Islam …this tells us the Jews have used the name Abdullllah (Servant of Allah) before Islam…

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_ibn_Sailam

One of the greatest Jewish scholar of all time ,Maimonides, his full name is:

Abu Imran Mussa bin Maimun ibn Abdallah al-Qurtubi al-Israili
أبو عمران موسى بن ميمون بن عبد الله القرطبي الإسرائيلي

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maimonides
 
‘Allah’ and ‘God’ may be the same word. But how Muslims, Jews, and Christians understand the word certainly differs. The one thing we agree on is that God is one; there aren’t many gods. We all praise God for his acts of creation, his mercy, and his justice. We can all thank Him for all the good we see in creation and in our own lives. We all agree that God is good.
 
Yes, Allah and God means the same thing BUT “Allah” is not God’s personal Name as “God” is not God’s personal Name. Mohammad added an extra 99 names which is an outright LIE.

Will some-one pls translate YHWH into Arabic.
 
Don’t we also call God by many names: "The Almighty’, “The All-Loving”, “The Merciful”, “Our Creator”, “Heavenly Father” “The Omniscient”, etc.? Are we liars for doing it?
 
problematic lines that r not true in this post:
  1. “There is no difference between the God of the Bible and the God of the Qur’an”
    Not true, giant difference. Not the same God.
    “One may disagree with the Islamic understanding of the Will and Law of God, but certainly no one knowledgeable of Arabic,”
    –The true God of Christianity is infinity different than the
    distant, unknowable, unloving God of Islam…they cannot be reconciled.
  2. “Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, John the Baptist, and Jesus (Peace be upon them all), that the Qur’an claims sameness with. If it was another god, why would their be any pretending that It is the same as the aforementioned God?”
    Not true. Jesus is only a prophet in Islam and not the third person of the Trinity so the Bible is NOT the same as the Quoran, nor are the religions the same, nor are our Gods the same.
    Simply because one claims to be the God of Abraham, does not mean that one IS.
  3. "This Islamic declaration of faith is “La ilaha ill-Allah” (لا إله إلا الله) meaning “There is no god besides the [One and Only] God.”
    Islam does NOT recognize the trinitarian God.
  4. the poster’s last line says it all:
    “God, bless Muhammad and Muhammad’s Household, give me to enjoy a sound guidance which I seek not to replace, a path of truth from which I swerve not, and an intention of right conduct in which I have no doubts”
    This person is spreading lies to spread Islam, beware
 
Why do Muslims defend the notion that Mohammed is in the song of songs? The poet is describing the mouth of her lover why WHY would anyone want to insert their prophet into this context?
 
Claire_from_DE said:
‘Allah’ and ‘God’ may be the same word. But how Muslims, Jews, and Christians understand the word certainly differs. The one thing we agree on is that God is one; there aren’t many gods. We all praise God for his acts of creation, his mercy, and his justice. We can all thank Him for all the good we see in creation and in our own lives. We all agree that God is good.
Click to expand...
And this in my view is what we should keep in mind first and foremost.
 
Some people could tell you that some Fathers of the Church actually said that God is unknowable, which is a fact. What we know of God is what He chose to reveal through Jesus Christ His Only Son (who is the second, not the third, Person of the Holy Trinity) and through His Church… but other than that, what do we KNOW about God Himself?
 
I rather prefer Scott Hahn’s view that the Muslims, for some reason, seem to be unable to view God as a Father. He said that they seem to view God as slaves would see a master. One may be a slave in a very good master’s house, but still, it’s not quite like being a son to a loving father…
 
I believe Sura 29:46,47 pretty much sums it up.

But what do I know:shrug:
 
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