Good Sura Quote! (But questions about the linguistic history.)

Submitted by CAPT GWK (United States), Jul 5, 2005 at 16:49

Dr. Pipes -- Excellent!

I really appreciate the point you made with Sura 29:46: "We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you; our God and your God is One, and to Him we do submit" (E.H. Palmer translation).

This thesis is the basis for unifying moderates of all faiths and perhaps crushing the views of the anti-Christian dawaatists. Let's hope it is picked up by the ulema.

One point of difference is related to the linguistic roots. In Hebrew, the word for God is Elohim, but is it really a cognate of Allah? You probably know Aramaic, the language spoken by the Iraqi Catholics and Christians, so we will agree that God was Allaha long before Mohammed came along, but can you be sure? If you read the pre-history of Mecca's religions, one of the leading goddesses of the Pagans in Mecca was "Allah" or "Alla". I believe she was the leading female deity, and the moon goddess of the nights. Again, your knowledge of the region is superior, but if an Allah was the name of a specific goddess (or deity) before Mohammed, how could Elohim and Allah be the same?

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