The Sunday Mail
Umari Stambuli Holy Qur’aan speaks
The name “Allah” is Unique!
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.
“Allah” is the only word in the Arabic language equivalent to the English word “God” with a capital “G”.
It should be noted that in Arabic, “Allah” is a somewhat unique word grammatically, since it cannot be made plural or given gender (that is masculine or feminine), which goes hand-in-hand with the Islamic concept of the absolute Oneness of God.
The root word “god” in English, for instance, can be used in similar forms, such as “gods”, “God” or “goddess”, all with different connotations and meanings.
Because of this, and also because the Qur’aan, 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.
In English, the only difference between “god”, meaning any false god, and “God”, meaning the One True God, is the capital “G”. Thus, a more accurate translation of the word “Allah” into English might be “The One-and-Only God” or “The One True God”.
Universal concept of God
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 for 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” or vice-versa. 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 Messenger/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 Holy Qur’aan, 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”. (Ch 14:4)
Straight forward reasoning
Muslims think that it is unfortunate to have to go into details on such seemingly minor issues, but so many falsehoods have been heaped upon the religion, that it is now a 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.
There are some people out there, who are obviously not on the side of truth, who would want to get people to believe that “Allah” is just some Arabian “god”, and that Islam is completely “foreign” or of some “other” origin – meaning that it has no common roots with the other Abrahamic religions (ie 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 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 the various Messengers/Prophets who spoke different languages.
For further information on Islam or a free copy of the Holy Qur’aan, please contact:
Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe, Council of Islamic Scholars
Publications Department
PO Box W93, Waterfalls, Harare
Tel: 04-614078/614004, Fax: 04-614003
e-mail: [email protected]
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.
