Is God the same as Allah?

[dzheremi]

I’m not sure if you actually listened to the podcast or not, Josie, but Fr. Reardon does mention that Muslims’ identification of their God with the God of Abraham is something shared in common with Christians and Jews, but that doesn’t mean that they’re right in identifying him so. In fact, they are wrong. That’s the whole problem with the idea of “popular monotheism” as Fr. Reardon has called it (and as apparently endorsed by the RC): Merely identifying there being only one God and identifying everything worshiped as “God” in every religion as being that one God are radically different claims. Of course there is only one God, but that does not mean that all gods are that one God. In both the Old and New Testaments, the Holy Bible teaches us that there are indeed other things which are not God that are worshiped by other people (Ps. 96:5 “The gods of the nations are demons”, 1 Corinthians 10:20 “The things which the pagans sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God”). How is this possible if all gods are God by virtue of there being only one?

Certainly somebody here is wrong, but it is not the traditional Christian who affirms the Holy Trinity of three Persons who are one God. Of course, the Muslims say we are wrong by virtue of their fidelity to their own theology…

 

[Thorns]

The God of the Old Testament is not wrathful, He is slow to anger, i.e., the evils that were perpetrated in those days were so grotesque I’m surprised humanity survived. Moreover, it was not so much that God commanded killings as He was seeking to protect His people from being killed. I must add that God is not just a God of mercy but of justice, i.e., He has the power (knowledge) to judge the living and the dead.

God bless!

The same evils that took place in those ancient days are still here. In fact, they never went away. Also, God’s people are being killed by the thousands still today. He hasnt issued any Old Testament commands to kill in order to stop these abominations, as He did in the ancient days of the Old Testament.

Like I said, seems like a different God.

 

[josie_L]

I’m not sure if you actually listened to the podcast or not, Josie

No, I haven’t, but I will. Thanks for posting it.

but Fr. Reardon does mention that Muslims’ identification of their God with the God of Abraham is something shared in common with Christians and Jews, but that doesn’t mean that they’re right in identifying him so. In fact, they are wrong.

I haven’t read the podcast but it seems they at least recognize that the God of Abraham is the one true God, and that in itself should say something, i.e., this part of what they profess to believe is true.

That’s the whole problem with the idea of “popular monotheism” as Fr. Reardon has called it (and as apparently endorsed by the RC): Merely identifying there being only one God and identifying everything worshiped as “God” in every religion as being that one God are radically different claims. Of course there is only one God, but that does not mean that all gods are that one God.

But that’s not the argument being made, i.e., it’s not just about there being ONE God, i.e., it’s about recognizing the fact that the God of Abraham (we’re being specific about which God) is the true God (all others are false gods/deities), as such, when Muslims profess to say they believe in the God of Abraham, they are indeed worshiping the “correct” God.

In both the Old and New Testaments, the Holy Bible teaches us that there are indeed other things which are not God that are worshiped by other people (Ps. 96:5 “The gods of the nations are demons”, 1 Corinthians 10:20 “The things which the pagans sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God”). How is this possible if all gods are God by virtue of there being only one?

No one (Catholic) on this thread is saying that, so I’m not sure why you’re stating this.

Certainly somebody here is wrong, but it is not the traditional Christian who affirms the Holy Trinity of three Persons who are one God. Of course, the Muslims say we are wrong by virtue of their fidelity to their own theology…

Yes, their theology is wrong, but their belief or recognition of the one true God as the God of Abraham is not.

 

[dzheremi]

If the God of Abraham has no content, sure…but ‘the true God’ is not a label to be affixed upon any idea or set of attributes received or affirmed anywhere and by any people. I would certainly recognize Islam as a type of monotheism (though it is of a strange sort and not recognizable to me as true; see, for instance, the apparently mainstream Sunni belief that the Qur’an is eternal and uncreated and yet not God, somehow), and would likewise recognize that they claim to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they are wrong in that claim, and insofar as we do not worship monotheism itself, it doesn’t really matter that they worship one god or that they identify the one god that they worship as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. My religion, Orthodox Christianity, demands from me that I insist that they are wrong on both of these counts. As you follow something else, I would not demand the same from you or any other Catholic (though I have to be honest and say, for certainly the millionth time by now, that I do not believe the CCC or the RC itself would be in any way impoverished by removal of the mention of any other religion in it…nay, vastly improved, in fact!), but on the broad topic of “Is (Islam’s) Allah God?”, there is really only one answer that I can give.

 

[josie_L]

The same evils that took place in those ancient days are still here. In fact, they never went away. Also, God’s people are being killed by the thousands still today. He hasnt issued any Old Testament commands to kill in order to stop these abominations, as He did in the ancient days of the Old Testament.

Like I said, seems like a different God.

Yes, the evils of the past are in some shape or form with us today (people are still killing, raping, torturing . . .etc.), but it was far more systemic back then (and there were many more evils that were tolerated, i.e., cannibalism, public orgies, human sacrifice . . . etc.), moreover, there were no means for legal prosecution or restitution other than through death/war and/or payment of some kind.

God had to protect the Israelites because it was through them that Mankind would find it’s salvation (Jesus), thus it was by necessity that God commanded the Jews to kill those who wanted to kill them, i.e., salvation is from the Jews.

 

[josie_L]

If the God of Abraham has no content, sure…but ‘the true God’ is not a label to be affixed upon any idea or set of attributes received or affirmed anywhere and by any people. I would certainly recognize Islam as a type of monotheism (though it is of a strange sort and not recognizable to me as true; see, for instance, the apparently mainstream Sunni belief that the Qur’an is eternal and uncreated and yet not God, somehow), and would likewise recognize that they claim to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they are wrong in that claim, and insofar as we do not worship monotheism itself, it doesn’t really matter that they worship one god or that they identify the one god that they worship as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. My religion, Orthodox Christianity, demands from me that I insist that they are wrong on both of these counts. As you follow something else, I would not demand the same from you or any other Catholic (though I have to be honest and say, for certainly the millionth time by now, that I do not believe the CCC or the RC itself would be in any way impoverished by removal of the mention of any other religion in it…nay, vastly improved, in fact!), but on the broad topic of “Is (Islam’s) Allah God?”, there is really only one answer that I can give.

Alright, I respect that. God bless!!

 

[ready]

If this is the Eastern Catholic sub forums, i was kind of dared to post this here by (name removed by moderator). My take is no they are not the same. What says youse?

God is a Trinity of Persons, Allah is not. God bless you.

 

[babochka]

God is a Trinity of Persons, Allah is not. God bless you.

God, by any name, is a trinity. The Jews do not understand that the God they worship, the God of their Fathers, is a trinity. Does that make the God of Abraham a different God than the God of Christians? God remains who he is, though human understanding of his nature may be flawed.

 

[ready]

God, by any name, is a trinity. The Jews do not understand that the God they worship, the God of their Fathers, is a trinity. Does that make the God of Abraham a different God than the God of Christians? God remains who he is, though human understanding of his nature may be flawed.

The Jewish God is different from the Christian God – they do not worship Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Muslims do not worship the same God as Christians either --they do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as God. Jews and Muslims both believe in one God, but not in one and THE SAME God as we do, otherwise, they’d acknowledge Jesus Christ as divine, and as the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. I will not argue with you any further on this point. We will just have to agree to disagree. I’m leaving this thread now that I have contributed to it. God bless you.

 

[phil19034]

Arab speaking Catholic call God Allah.

Allah is God in Arabic. The Muslims worship the same God as us, however, they misunderstand Him, The Trinity, and His Word.

In some ways, they totally mis-understand.

Both the Jews and Muslims worship the same God as Christians. It’s just that only the Christians understand the true nature of God (Trinity) and only the Christians have the full Revelation of God.

God Bless.

 

[SuS33]

Here is the thing:

Christianity existed before Islam, there were Arab Christians and Jews using the word Allah before even Islam came to be. You know what Mohammed’s father was named? Abdu Allah. Which means the servant of God. And “Allah” is specified only for the one true God. The God of Ibrahim. But since the only two religions that worshiped the one true God at that time were Judaism and Christianity; he couldn’t have been anything other than one of these two.
Mohammed first wife was a Christian, therefore it is understood that his father might have been a Christian.

Thats why WE (CHRISTIAN ARABS) are called “NATIVES”. WE knew Allah before Islam a
and the Arabic language was OURS before they took over 400 years later and made it “their’s”. In Arab Christianity faith and believes, Allah means Love.

Allah (English pronunciation: /ˈælə/ or /ˈɑːlə/; Arabic: الله‎ Allāh, IPA: ʔalˤˈlˤɑːh] ( )) is the Arabic word for God (al ilāh, iliterally “the God”).[1][2][3] The word has cognates in other Semitic languages, including Alah in Aramaic, ʾĒl in Canaanite and Elohim in Hebrew.[4]

Check this link. And please share, don’t be ignorant people, for Allah is God in the Holy Trenity.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allah

 

[SuS33]

The same evils that took place in those ancient days are still here. In fact, they never went away. Also, God’s people are being killed by the thousands still today. He hasnt issued any Old Testament commands to kill in order to stop these abominations, as He did in the ancient days of the Old Testament.

Like I said, seems like a different God.

Allah is the same God of the Catholics. Muslims just have a serious misunderstanding of him. They worship him yet they know nothing about him. He is the same God but Satan had a way to bring a fauls religioun wrongly worshipping God. Which is the most devilish lie he had told to humanity, makeing them blasphem everytime they kill, or perscute others in his name.

 

[Zachary]

Without the right context, how can you answer this? It’s purely subjective.

My take is that “Allah” is now the pop-culturally accepted god of Islam. And that god is not what we know of Chritianity’s God. As such, no, Allah is not same as God.

Some have brought up the language aspect, that Allah literally translates to God. I speak French and we call God “Dieu”. However, if the French had their own brand of theology where Dieu was identified with something other than Christianity’s God, then, when speaking English, I would not refer to Him as Dieu.

In fact, with the bastardization of so many christian theologies, I’m reluctant to call the god of such-and-such a denomonation the same God we worship. You don’t believe in the Eucharist, preach that God accepts homosexuality, is not a Trinity and that abortion is okay? Sorry, in this case, god is not God.

This questions, “Is God the same as Allah” is too subjective and seems to boil down to a collequal debate or a linguistics/grammatical discussion. But don’t fool yourselves, the god of Islam is nothing if not a pale shadow of God. And saying they are one in the same is dangerous when in the wrong context and if the audience doesn’t have a pretty good theological footing.

 

[Zachary]

Without the right context, how can you answer this? It’s purely subjective.

My take is that “Allah” is now the pop-culturally accepted god of Islam. And that god is not what we know of Chritianity’s God. As such, no, Allah is not same as God.

Some have brought up the language aspect, that Allah literally translates to God. I speak French and we call God “Dieu”. However, if the French had their own brand of theology where Dieu was identified with something other than Christianity’s God, then, when speaking English, I would not refer to Him as Dieu.

In fact, with the bastardization of so many christian theologies, I’m reluctant to call the god of such-and-such a denomonation the same God we worship. You don’t believe in the Eucharist, preach that God accepts homosexuality, is not a Trinity and that abortion is okay? Sorry, in this case, god is not God.

This questions, “Is God the same as Allah” is too subjective and seems to boil down to a collequal debate or a linguistics/grammatical discussion. But don’t fool yourselves, the god of Islam is nothing if not a pale shadow of God. And saying they are one in the same is dangerous when in the wrong context and if the audience doesn’t have a pretty good theological footing.

Let me add this as I hope to be clear. I do believe that Muslims worship the same God we do, however, they are severely wrong on Him. A good reply to this can be found here, much more eloquant than I could be:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=767156&highlight=muslim+same+god

That said, I don’t think it would be prudent for Catholics to adopt “Allah” as this would clearly send out the wrong signals. Nor should we carelessly adopt an approach that “we all worship the same god, so let all just get along.” Jesus taught to correct our brothers and sister who are in error.

 

[SuS33]

Thats is pure stereotyping out of stubbornness, nothing more. Now you are insinuating that because none catholics don’t believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, don’t worship the same God? Yup, thats racist. They do worship Jesus they are just lost and don’t know how much they are missing, another huge lie from Satan causing God’s children to turn against each other. But that doesn’t deny the fact that they are still His children. They are just lost. Like Muslims. Thinking that this is what God is really about, Jihad and all that … They are lost.

 

[GaryTaylor]

I think also that when followers of the Church are focusing on Christ, then to quantify the history and current events is difficult, so then to morally digest what the conscience conflicts with or rejects is then the issue. Its a bit deeper as mentioned above.

 

[Mirkwood]

Scott Hahn has a wonderful talk on this called Abba or Allah. Just google it. I listened to the Lighthouse Catholic Media version and it’s fantastic. Although traditionally they are the same, the view of a Christian or Jewish relationship with Abba is completely different from a Muslim relationship with Allah.

 

[dzheremi]

Now you are insinuating that because none catholics don’t believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, don’t worship the same God? Yup, thats racist.

Non-Catholics are a race?

 

[Mdxxx]

Yes. There is only one God. Their understanding is still wrong, though.

 

[thinkandmull]

Everybody who honestly prays prays to the one true Triune God. What they believe about Him may differ however. How far can one fall from the Trinity and Catholic understanding before one no longer believes in the same God? I would say any amount. But it is belief combined with pray which the Church is talking about, although in an unfortunate and confusing way,