Word Derivations don't tell the whole story

Submitted by Brian (United States), Jun 29, 2005 at 14:25

I am marginally skeptical of your case. But even allowing--for the sake of additional discussion--that it _IS_ true, that by no means settles the case.

In looking at the traits that Muslims and the Koran (what _IS_ the right spelling for this book?!?) attribute to Allah, and the traits that the Bible (and those who follow it in whole or in part) attribute to God, there is no way to equate the two.

For instance:
Muslims assert that Allah cannot have a son.
The Old Testament disagrees with that, and the New Testament asserts that Jesus is that Son.

The Bible holds out forgiveness through substitutionary sacrifice--as established by God.
But Islam holds out forgiveness through the 5 pillars of Islam, in concert with mercy which Allah might choose to extend to you. (Unless, of course, you sacrifice yourself through death in jihad).


The disparity continues in category after category, nullifying the case that God (as intended when Judaism or Christianity use the term) and Allah (when Muslims use the term) are one and the same individual, despite the origin of these two utterances.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".