The Word Allah, who owns it
– Comments
by Akhter
Some of the biggest misconceptions that many non-Muslims have about Islam have
to do with the word "Allah". For various reasons, many people have
come to believe that Muslims worship a different God than Christians and Jews.
This is totally false, since "Allah" is simply the Arabic word for
"God" - and there is only One God. Let there be no doubt - Muslims
worship the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus - peace be upon them all.
However, it is certainly true that Jews, Christians and Muslims all have
different concepts of Almighty God. For example, Muslims - like Jews - reject
the Christian beliefs of the Trinity and the Divine Incarnation. This, however,
doesn't mean that each of these three religions worships a different God -
because, as we have already said, there is only One True God. Judaism,
Christianity and Islam all claim to be "Abrahamic Faiths", and all of
them are also classified as "monotheistic". However, Islam teaches
that other religions have, in one way or another, distorted and nullified a
pure and proper belief in Almighty God by neglecting His true teachings and
mixing them with man-made ideas. First of all, it is important to note that
"Allah" is the same word that Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use
for God. If you pick up an Arabic Bible, you will see the word
"Allah" being used where "God" is used in English. This is
because "Allah" is the only word in the Arabic language equivalent to
the English word "God" with a capital "G". Additionally,
the word "Allah" cannot be made plural or given gender (i.e.
masculine or feminine), which goes hand-in-hand with the Islamic concept of
God. Because of this, and also because the Qur'an, which is the holy scripture
of Muslims, was revealed in the Arabic language, some Muslims use the word
"Allah" for "God", even when they are speaking other
languages. This is not unique to the word "Allah", since many Muslims
tend to use Arabic words when discussing Islamic issues, regardless of the language
which they speak. This is because the universal teachings of Islam - even
though they have been translated iin every major language - have been preserved
in the Arabic language.It is interesting to note that the Aramaic word
"El", which is the word for God in the language that Jesus spoke, is
certainly more similar in sound to the word "Allah" than the English
word "God". This also holds true for the various Hebrew words for
God, which are "El" and "Elah", and the plural form
"Elohim". The reason for these similarities is that Aramaic, Hebrew
and Arabic are all Semitic languages with common origins. It should also be
noted that in translating the Bible into English, the Hebrew word
"El" is translated variously as "God", "god" and
"angel"! This imprecise language allows different translators, based
on their preconceived notions, to translate the word to fit their own views.
The Arabic word "Allah" presents no such difficulty or ambiguity,
since it is only used for Almighty God alone. Additionally, in English, the
only difference between "god", meaning a false god, and
"God", meaning the One True God, is the capital "G". In the
Arabic alphabet, since it does not have capital letters, the word for God (i.e.
Allah) is formed by adding the equivalent to the English word "the"
(Al-) to the Arabic word for "god/God" (ilah). So the Arabic word
"Allah" literally it means "The God" - the "Al-"
in Arabic basically serving the same function as the capital "G" in
English. Due to the above mentioned facts, a more accurate translation of the
word "Allah" into English might be "The One -and-Only God"
or "The One Truee God".
More importantly, it should also be noted that the Arabic word
"Allah" contains a deep religious message due to its root meaning and
origin. This is because it stems from the Arabic verb ta'allaha (or alaha),
which means "to be worshipped". Thus in Arabic, the word
"Allah" means "The One who deserves all worship". This, in
a nutshell, is the Pure Monotheistic message of Islam. You see, according to
Islam, "monotheism" is much more than simply believing in the
existence of "only One God" - as seemingly opposed to two, three or
more. If one understands the root meaning of the word "Allah", this
point should become clear. One should understand that Islam's criticism of the
other religions that claim to be "monotheistic" is not because they
are "polytheistic" in the classic sense, but because they direct
various forms of worship to other than Almighty God. We will discuss the
meaning of worship in Islam below, however, before moving on it should be noted
that many non-Muslims are unaware of the distinction between simply believing
in the existence of only One God and reserving all worship for Him alone. Many
Christians are painfully unaware of this point, and thus you often find them
asking how Muslims can accuse the followers of Jesus, peace be upon him, of
being "polytheists" when they were all "monotheistic Jews".
First of all, it should be clarified that the word "polytheist"
doesn't really sound right in this context, since to many it implies simply
believing in the existence of more than one God. So in an Islamic context,
"associators", "man-worshippers" or "creature
worshippers" might be more accurate and appropriate terms - especially
since Christians believe Jesus to be both "100% God and 100% man",
while still paying lip-service to God's "Oneness". However, as we're
previously touched upon, what is really at the root of this problem is the fact
that Christians - as well as the members of other religions - don't really know
what "monotheism" means - especially in the Islamic sense. All of the
books, articles and papers that I've read which were written by Christians
invariably limit "monotheism" to believing in the existence of "One
Sovereign and Creator God". Islam, however, teaches much more than this.
Suffice it to say that just because someone claims to be a
"monotheistic" Jew, Christian or Muslim, that doesn't keep them from
falling into corrupt beliefs and idolatrous practices. Many people, including
some Muslims, claim belief in "One God" even though they've fallen
into acts of idolatry. Certainly, many Protestants accuse Roman Catholics of
idolatrous practices in regards to the saints and the Virgin Mary. Likewise,
the Greek Orthodox Church is considered "idolatrous" by many other
Christians because in much of their worship they use icons. However, if you ask
a Roman Catholic or a Greek Orthodox person if God is "One", they
will invariably answer: "Yes!". This lip-service, however, does not
stop them from being "creature worshipping" idolaters. The same goes
for Hindus, who just consider their gods to be "manifestations" or
"incarnations" of the One Supreme God.
Everyone should be aware of the fact that throughout the long history of the
"Abrahamic Faiths", there have people who, while believing in
"One God", have adopted beliefs and practices that completely nullify
their claim to "monotheism". This is the Muslim view of Christians.
We're well aware of the fact that they claim belief in "One God" with
their lips, but this doesn't mean that they don't nullify their claim in other
ways. This is because many people simply haven't been taught everything that
Pure Monotheism entails. From an Islamic point of view, "monotheism"
can be nullified in many ways. For example, simply believing that it is
permissible to rule by Western "liberal" and "democratic"
laws in lieu of the Divinely Revealed Law of Almighty God makes one a
"polytheist". Certainly, a person who does such a thing, whether
Jewish, Christian or Muslim, doesn't ever believe that there is another
Almighty Creator and Sovereign Lord. However, for all practical purposes, such
a person has take another "god", whether they choose to admit it or
not. In this way they are associating partners with Almighty God (Arabic:
shirk), and thus become a "polytheist" in a practical sense,
regardless of their lip-service to "monotheism". This holds true even
if the person doesn't believe what they are doing is "worship". For
example, Roman Catholics who pray to the Virgin Mary will staunchly deny that
they are "worshipping" her. They instead call it
"adoration" or some other watered-down term. However, from an Islamic
point of view, what is worship if not this? Islam teaches that prayer and supplication
are the marrow of worship, so if one directs their prayers to an intermediary
(even if the pray is "ultimately" meant for God), then what is left
of worship? Additionally, how can someone who believes in Almighty God follow
man-made laws instead of God's Law, without admitting that they've begun
worshipping other than God? Do they know better than God?
Additionally, the Old Testament makes it perfectly clear that making a
"graven image" of any created thing (not to mention ones which are
supposed to "represent" Almighty God) is prohibited. Please see
Exodus 20:4-6, Leviticus 26:1 and Deuteronomy 4:16, 23, 25, 5:8 and Nehemiah
9:6 for some statements in regards to this point. Without addressing the issue
that Christians commonly violate the unambiguous commandment not to even
"make" representations of anything that is in the "heavens above
or on the earth beneath", these verses not only teach that worshipping
idols is prohibited, but also that Almighty God is eternally distinct from His
creation and thus nothing in His creation can represent Him. To believe
otherwise is to be a de facto idol worshipper - even if one claims belief in
one, and only one, "True God". In Exodus 20:4-6 and Deuteronomy 4:16,
Almighty God - who is a "Jealous God" - makes it perfectly clear that
He is distinct from His creation.
By giving such clear and merciful guidance to human beings, God is establishing
a universal and eternal Truth for the benefit of mankind. This eternal Truth is
the bedrock of religious guidance, since once people begin to believe that
Almighty God mixes with or can be represented by His creation, they can be
duped into believing almost anything. Once someone accepts that God has become
"incarnate" in His creation, or that someone or something is a
"manifestation" - and thus representation - of Him, the floodgates
are open and "Truth" becomes a matter of subjective guesswork. Once
the first and most basic concept is violated - regardless of how complicated
and sophisticated the rationale for it might be - it is very easy to fall
further and further away from the Eternal Truth of Pure Monotheism. In the
final analysis, it is not a question of whether God is capable of becoming a
man, but rather a question of whether one bases their beliefs about God on
clear, unambiguous and authentic guidance. Once it is left up to the human mind
to decide what Almighty God can and cannot do, the stage is set for misguidance
to take root. Human speculation about God only ends up leading to misguidance
and despair, since no clear conclusions can ever be reached. For example, is
God capable of creating an object so heavy that He is incapable of moving it?
If not, does that mean that He is incapable? It is because of misguided
questions like this that Islam clearly teaches that mankind should only say
about God what He has said about Himself. This means all of our ideas about God
must be based on Revelation - not human speculation. In short, the final
prophet of Islam - Muhammad - was sent by Almighty God to preach the same Pure
Monotheism that was practiced by Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus - peace
be upon them all. This Pure Monotheism means not only believing that there is
only One God in existence, but realizing that He is transcedent above His
creation and that all worship is due to Him alone.
Before concluding, we should probably address the practice of those Muslims who
insist on using the Arabic word "Allah" even when speaking English.
Even though this practice certainly is not to be condemned when it is done
around those who understand the meaning of the Arabic word "Allah",
it is my experience - both during my years as a non-Muslim and my years as a
Muslim - that such a practice can (and usually ddoes) breed misunderstanding.
It seems that often times, many of the Muslims who use the word
"Allah" in lieu of the word "God", even when trying to
attract people to Islam, are unaware of the severe misunderstandings that many
non-Muslims have about Islam (and the distorted way which Islam has been
portrayed in the West). Insisting on using the word "Allah" only
fuels the flames of misunderstanding - so there's no good reason to do it. I've
often wondered what value some Muslims think that using the word
"Allah" adds to the Pure Message that they are trying to convey. ( .
. . and I'm still waiting for an answer!) Unfortunately, those Muslims who
insist on using the word "Allah" even when addressing non-Muslims who
are unfamiliar with Islam and the Arabic language, do both a disservice to
themselves and their religion. Unfortunately, this practice is usually based on
the false assumption - by a non-native speaker of English - that the word
"God" in English is incapable of expressing a pure and proper belief
in Almighty God. This is certainly false. If someone says that the English word
"God" cannot be used to express the Pure Islamic Belief in Tawhid,
they are wrong not because they don't understand Tawhid, but simply because
they don't understand the English language. Many people who insist on using the
Arabic word "Allah" usually don't realize this, because in reality,
they are not so much affirming the word "Allah" as they are rejecting
the word "God" as unsuitable - based on incorrect assumptions. For
someone to assume that the word "God" presupposes a certain theological
point-of-view (such as the Trinity) is simply Wrong - and that's Wrong with a
capital "W". To say the word "God" should be rejected
because it can be changed into "god", "gods" or
"goddess" is illogical because each of these words has a distinctive
meaning and a distinctive spelling - at least to someone who knows how to speak
English correctly. Using the same logic, I can demonstrate that the root
letters "ktb" can be used to form the Arabic words "kitab"
(book), "maktabah" (library), "maktab" (office) and
"kaatib" (writer), but does that mean that these words have the same
meaning? Do Arabic-speaking people go through life confusing libraries with
writers and offices with books (both in conversation and in reality)? I think
not! This is not to mention the fact that if the Arabic "Al-" was put
in front of these words in order to make them definite, confusion would be even
less likely! So the logic in both cases is the same, and this is because even
though the same letters are used in "God" and "god", these
two words have two different meanings in the English language. The capital
"G" implies something different than the small "g" - and
anyone who denies this simply doesn't know how to speak the English language.
In concluding this point, it should be mentioned that Arabic-speaking Muslims
who believe in Pure Tawhid, Arabic-speaking Christians, the idol worshippers of
Mecca and (so-called) Muslims who believe in "Wahdat al-Wujud" all
use the word "Allah". However, does this guarantee all of them proper
belief in "Allah"? Certainly not, because if they have a corrupt
concept of "Allah" it doesn't matter what word they use!
This brings us to a more important point: It should be clearly understood that
what Islam is primarily concerned with is correcting mankind's concept of
Almighty God. What we are ultimately going to be held accountable at the end of
our life is not whether we prefer the word "Allah" over the word
"God", but what our concept of God is. Language is only a side issue.
A person can have an incorrect concept of God while using the word
"Allah", and likewise a person can have a correct concept of God
while using the word "God". This is because both of these words are
equally capable of being misused and being improperly defined. As we've already
mentioned, using the word "Allah" no more insinuates belief in the
Unity of God than the use of the word "God" insinuates belief in the
Trinity - or any other theological opinion. Naturally, when God sends a
revelation to mankind through a prophet, He is going to send it in a language
that the people who receive it can understand and relate to. Almighty God makes
this clear in the Qur'an, when He states:
"Never did We send a Messenger except (to teach) in the language of his
(own) people in order to make (things) clear to them."
(Qur'an, Chapter 14 - "Abraham", Verse 4)
As Muslims, we think that it is unfortunate that we have to go into details on
such seemingly minor issues, but so many falsehoods have been heaped upon our
religion, that we feel that it is our duty to try to break down the barriers of
falsehood. This isn't always easy, since there is a lot of anti-Islamic
literature in existence which tries to make Islam look like something strange
and foreign to Westerners. There are some people out there, who are obviously
not on the side of truth, that want to get people to believe that
"Allah" is just some Arabian "god", and that Islam is
completely "other" - meaning that it has no common roots with the
other Abrahamic religions (i.e. Christianity and Judaism). To say that Muslims
worship a different "God" because they say "Allah" is just
as illogical as saying that French people worship another God because they use
the word "Dieu", that Spanish-speaking people worship a different God
because they say "Dios" or that the Hebrews worshipped a different
God because they sometimes call Him "Yahweh". Certainly, reasoning
like this is quite ridiculous! It should also be mentioned, that claiming that
any one language uses the only the correct word for God is tantamount to denying
the universality of God's message to mankind, which was to all nations, tribes
and people through various prophets who spoke different languages.
Before closing, we would like everyone to be aware of the fact that some
Christian missionary organizations print English literature intended to teach
Christians about Islam which say such things as: "Allah is the god of the
Muslims" and that "Muhammad came to get people to believe in the god
Allah" - implying that "Allah" is some sort of false
"god". However, when these same organizations print literature in the
Arabic language, hoping to lead Arabic-speaking Muslims "to Christ",
they use the word "Allah" for God. It seems that if they were on the
side of truth, they would not have to resort to such inconsistencies. And on an
even more ridiculous note . . . there are also missionary organizations that
exceed this in ignorance (or deceit) by writing books that call on Muslims to
give up their belief in "Allah", and instead worship the
"Lord" Jesus, "the Son of God". Besides making it
abundantly clear that they are outside the community of Pure Monotheism, the
people who write such material don't even realize that if they wrote such a
pamphlet in Arabic, it would be self-contradictory. This is because in an
Arabic Bible Jesus is the "Son of Allah"! If an Arabic-speaking
person gave up the worship of "Allah", they would have no God to
worship, since "Allah" is simply the Arabic word for God!
Before we conclude, however, we would like to ask our readers to ask themselves
what they think the reasons are behind all of these lies? If Islam was just
some false religion that didn't make any sense, would so many people, from
Western scholars to Christian missionaries, have to tell so many lies about it?
The reason is that the Ultimate Truth of Islam stands on solid ground and its
unshakable belief in the Unity of God is above reproach. Due to this,
Christians can't criticize its doctrines directly, but instead make up things
about Islam that aren't true so that people lose the desire to learn more. If
Muslims were able to present Islam in the proper way to people in the West, it
surely might make many people reconsider and re-evaluate their own beliefs. It
is quite likely that Christians, when they find out that there is a universal
religion in the world that teaches people to worship and love God, while also
practicing Pure Monotheism, would at least feel that they should re-examine the
basis for their own beliefs and doctrines
Moderator –
Dear Akhtar, it is a full article and you have made some valid points.
www.WorldMuslimCongress.com
