For Catholics who seem to hate the word "Allah"...

[Judas_Thaddeus]

At my request, the thread regarding my picking up the Tasbih and Dhikr was deleted, as it took a rather ugly turn. Many issues arose, but I think I will only tackle one at the moment. How could I have known that word “Allah” bothered so many Catholics, as I thought Catholics (such as myself) were smarter than that. The problem is clearly a linguistic issue, causing so much unnecessary and unreasonable anger in ENGLISH speaking Catholics.

“Allah” is NOT A NAME, but a compound word, using the definite article “al” and the word “ilah”, which is god with a lowercase “g”, thus together as “Al-Lah” signifying THE God. What? The Qur’an says Allah? Muslims say “Allah”? SO WHAT?! Arabic speaking Jews and Christians do it also. What did they say right before Islam instead for God? Answer me that. “Allah” is not exclusively the sole property of Islam, and for Catholics to say otherwise as though to tell Islam “Here, take it, it’s yours, we want nothing to do with it” is very counterproductive of evangelizing and further more, I find it somewhat sickening.

allahalegg on Youtube speaks well…
Why Arab Christians Say Allah
(Bytheway, the link to Amazon is
not about Allah, it’s about Islam).

Another good link:
sodahead.com/united-states/why-do-arab-christians-and-jews-say-allah/question-643925/?link=ibaf&q=&esrc=s
Read also Lela’s Opinion below the Article

It appears many Muslims in Malaysia may
be converting to Christianity because Arab-
ic speaking Catholics use “Allah”…
religionnews.com/2013/07/22/malaysian-muslims-ask-vatican-to-recall-envoy-over-use-of-allah/
freerepublic.com/focus/news/2238678/posts

So with that I hope we can all be mature adults and understand that Allah is not the God of Islam, but is The God, The only God, and that even though “Allah” is used in Islam, Islam doesn’t have the correct beliefs about The God, and we should go no further than that.

 

[bsroufek]

I’m pretty sure that if you were talking to a Catholic priest and referred to God as “Allah”, he would not be pleased.

Does the Church lead you to refer to God as “Allah”? No.

You should follow the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church.

 

[Filioque]

My two cents.

I sometimes assist at the Divine Liturgy in Melkite, Chalean and Maronite Catholic parishes. There they use the term Allah, as it is the Arabic word for God. Not exclusivly a term for God in Islam. The use does predate Islam and was as well as continues to be used by Catholic and Orthodox Christians from the Middle East.

Now some who are speaking english and use the term Allah, are mistaken in believing that it is the sole property of Islam, or it refers only to the heretical teachings about God that Muslim theology teaches. While it is and can be misunderstood in English and other languages, one can’t jump to judgement when someone uses the term, one can ask about the context it is spoken in, ie Christian or Muslim.

 

[VanSensei]

My two cents.

I sometimes assist at the Divine Liturgy in Melkite, Chalean and Maronite Catholic parishes. There they use the term Allah, as it is the Arabic word for God. Not exclusivly a term for God in Islam. The use does predate Islam and was as well as continues to be used by Catholic and Orthodox Christians from the Middle East.

Now some who are speaking english and use the term Allah, are mistaken in believing that it is the sole property of Islam, or it refers only to the heretical teachings about God that Muslim theology teaches. While it is and can be misunderstood in English and other languages, one can’t jump to judgement when someone uses the term, one can ask about the context it is spoken in, ie Christian or Muslim.

Thank you!

 

[Judas_Thaddeus]

I’m pretty sure that if you were talking to a Catholic priest and referred to God as “Allah”, he would not be pleased.
Does the Church lead you to refer to God as “Allah”? No.
You should follow the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church.

“Pretty sure” isn’t absolute, I’m gonna need more of a commitment than that. I need you to say that you absolutely know beyond a doubt. Dare you.

The Catholic Church I don’t believe has an opinion on the word “Allah”.

And as for “teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church”, we are again slamming into the language barrier issue. Should we avoid “God” deriving from the Proto-Germanic ǥuđan deriving from the Proto-Indo-European * ǵhu-tó-m based on the root * ǵhau(ə)-, which meant either “to call” or “to invoke”? Why did we abandon the Hebrew “El”? Do we shun Jesus who in his earthly ministry likely used the Aramaic “Elah”?

Why do you shun Arab Christians today for using terms such as Allāh al-Ab (الله الأب, ‘God the Father’), Allāh al-ibn (الله الابن, God the Son), and Allāh al-rūḥ al-quds (الله الروح القدس, God the Holy Spirit)? Why couldn’t we Catholics just stick with the original Greek, as seen in John for example: “En archē ēn ho Lógos, kai ho Lógos ēn pros ton Theón, kai Theós ēn ho Lógos”?

You are making out my use of “Allah” as antiCatholic, when you are in fact barring Catholics from Muslims based on such a pitiful matter as language.

 

[ericc]

I’m pretty sure that if you were talking to a Catholic priest and referred to God as “Allah”, he would not be pleased.

Does the Church lead you to refer to God as “Allah”? No.

You should follow the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church.

The word Allah pre-dates Islam. It is used in the Arabic version of the Bible as well as Malay/Indonesian language of the Bible. In Malaysia, we have to fight to retain the use of Allah in our local language Bible. Protestants and Catholics are united in this. Some muslims tried to deny our constitutional right to worship in our own manner and in fact tried to “copyright” Allah exclusively for muslims usage. Pretty nasty for a while but they backed off for the time being.

thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/01/09/NonMuslims-cant-use-Allah.aspx
thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/01/10/Churches-to-continue-with-Allah-in-Malay-Bible.aspx
thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/01/14/NonMuslims-cant-use-Allah.aspx

 

[bsroufek]

If Arab Catholics among themselves use the term “Allah”, I don’t see an offense.

But to Western Catholics, God is not referred to as “Allah”.

You know this, or you would not bring up the topic about why [Western] Catholics don’t refer to God as “Allah”.

Thus, it seems, you’re being nationalistic in your faith.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

The word is not a problem in Arabic, and apparently also in some languages of cultures that have been heavily influenced by the Arabs. In the English-speaking world, however, the name (or “word”, if you prefer) is so heavily associated with Islam that it is, in my opinion, impossible for Christians to casually use it without implying some kind of syncretism, unless they are specifically speaking about Muslim conceptions of God.

 

[Prodigal_Son1]

If Arab Catholics among themselves use the term “Allah”, I don’t see an offense.

But to Western Catholics, God is not referred to as “Allah”.

You know this, or you would not bring up the topic about why [Western] Catholics don’t refer to God as “Allah”.

Thus, it seems, you’re being nationalistic in your faith.

It seems it’s ‘nationalistic’ to require a specific term, or to exclude other accepted terms, because of a location, in my opinion.

 

[7armyrugrats]

I don’t understand why Allah is offensive to anyone. Does it offend anyone when they hear Dios? It is the same word, different language. Are all words in Arabic offensive?

 

[Judas_Thaddeus]

If Arab Catholics among themselves use the term “Allah”, I don’t see an offense.
But to Western Catholics, God is not referred to as “Allah”.
You know this, or you would not bring up the topic about why [Western] Catholics don’t refer to God as “Allah”.
Thus, it seems, you’re being nationalistic in your faith.

Yes, I know it is not typically in the Western Catholic mental lexicon to use the word Allah, but the reason I brought it up was because as I said at the beginning of the thread, there was a previous thread on my enthusiasm in beginning Tasbih, and was met by many angry Catholics.

I don’t care if “Allah” is used or not, but I can’t stand the idea
of such bad attitude towards the word, especially in Catholics.

And you said something that this was rather nationalistic of me? I’m actually American, Polish by blood, never was of the Islamic faith… How am I being nationalistic?

 

[bsroufek]

It seems it’s ‘nationalistic’ to require a specific term, or to exclude other accepted terms, because of a location, in my opinion.

You don’t go into a Byzantine Church, Melkite Church or other Catholic Church and insist on Roman Rite practices do you?

Different people have different customs and to complain, like the OP, that [Western] Catholics are shunning Arab Christians because they don’t use the word “Allah” is plainly wrong.

 

[Prodigal_Son1]

You don’t go into a Byzantine Church, Melkite Church or other Catholic Church and insist on Roman Rite practices do you?

Different people have different customs and to complain, like the OP, that [Western] Catholics are shunning Arab Christians because they don’t use the word “Allah” is plainly wrong.

It seems you’re changing your argument, or I misunderstood.

I’m pretty sure that if you were talking to a Catholic priest and referred to God as “Allah”, he would not be pleased.

Does the Church lead you to refer to God as “Allah”? No.

You should follow the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church.

 

[BTNYC]

My own ethnic background is Maltese (arguably the most Catholic people on earth). Ours is a semitic language, very closely related to Arabic. The Maltese word for “God” is “Alla.”

I call God “Alla” when speaking Maltese. I call God “God” when speaking English.

Mohammedans use “Allah” when referring to (their false, nontrinitarian concept of) God in English (and other languages) because they believe Arabic to be a divine language (since it is the language their founder “received” his “revelation” in) and therefore no other language has a word as proper for God as “Allah.”

No Christians (not even Arabic speaking Christians) afford Arabic this favored status. We have no reason to. We don’t even afford Hebrew and Greek (the languages of our Scriptures) this status. That’s why you’re not likely to hear an English speaking Christian using “Elohim” or “Theos” to refer to God in everyday speech.

For a Christian to refer to God as “Allah” when speaking any language other than Arabic is pointlessly provocative. It bespeaks a shallow tendency toward exoticism or (much worse) a tacit endorsement of Mohammedan claims. Needless to say, a Christian should avoid this.

 

[bzkoss236]

I’m pretty sure that if you were talking to a Catholic priest and referred to God as “Allah”, he would not be pleased.

Does the Church lead you to refer to God as “Allah”? No.

You should follow the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church.

I have no problem hearing Allah used in reference to God, because that is just the Arab word, just as Gott is the German word.

Besides, the Catholic Church teaches that Muslims worship the same true God, though they have an improper understanding of God.

So, if you follow the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church, using ‘Allah’ is actually allowed.

 

[runningdude]

I’m pretty sure that if you were talking to a Catholic priest and referred to God as “Allah”, he would not be pleased.

Does the Church lead you to refer to God as “Allah”? No.

You should follow the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church in Arab speaking nations uses Allah.

 

[bsroufek]

Yes, I know it is not typically in the Western Catholic mental lexicon to use the word Allah, but the reason I brought it up was because as I said at the beginning of the thread, there was a previous thread on my enthusiasm in beginning Tasbih, and was met by many angry Catholics.

I don’t care if “Allah” is used or not, but I can’t stand the idea
of such bad attitude towards the word, especially in Catholics.

And you said something that this was rather nationalistic of me? I’m actually American, Polish by blood, never was of the Islamic faith… How am I being nationalistic?

To complain that one people (Western Catholics) aren’t accepting or cozy with the word for God used by another people (Arabs basically) is kind of nationalistic, whether you belong to that people or not. By definition.

It seems you are wanting to fight over words and cultural differences, which don’t generally change. There is no profit in this.

 

[Rete]

If it would be outrageous for a Catholic priest to refer to God as Allah in the mass, then it probably would be outrageous for a Catholic to do the same in other contexts.

Allah refers to a completely different idea of God. Allah is not the Trinity. Allah is not Love. It doesn’t make any sense to me for Catholics to refer to God as Allah.

 

[SteveVH]

I agree completely that there is nothing wrong with using the word “Allah”. I would not use it because I am not Arabic. I think the problem people have is that that they associate the term with Muslim violence so prevalent in this day and age and therefore reject it. Many people, as well, believe that since it is associated with a non-Christian religion then it must be referring to a false god. Both positions are born out of ignorance, IMO.

 

[Prodigal_Son1]

If it would be outrageous for a Catholic priest to refer to God as Allah in the mass, then it probably would be outrageous for a Catholic to do the same in other contexts.

Allah refers to a completely different idea of God. Allah is not the Trinity. Allah is not Love. It doesn’t make any sense to me for Catholics to refer to God as Allah.

Then what about Mormons, who refer to God in the same terms as we do?