Allah, is the name Muslims use for God

Submitted by Amienoellah (United Arab Emirates), Oct 20, 2005 at 18:48

Muslims, Christians and Jews all believe in the existence of a Divine Being which has variously been refered to as God, Allah, etc. However, they differ in their idea and conception of this Divine Being.

Muslims believe Him to be One, Possessing all the Qualities and Attributes of Perfection and Beauty, He does not give birth nor was He given birth to and nothing of His creation resembles Him. To Him belongs the Most Beautiful of Names. Muslims belive that Chistians in particular have changed this concept of God or Allah. The whole idea of God or Allah being three in one is not alien to the Old Testament. Where in the Old Testament do we find someone worshipping God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Not even the Jews believe in this concept of God yet they follow the Old Testament.

For Muslims God is God and He does not change over time i.e. from a Single God (in the Old Testament) to a Plural, Triune in the New Testament. Muhammad only came to continue an established tradition amongst a long chain of Prophets which is to preach worship to a Single God. If our salvation depends on believing Jesus to be the Son of God then what about the salvation of the people before Christ. Don't they also carry the original sin, so it means that they will forever be doomed because they came before the time of Christ? Lastly, how do we know that the word "God" is the actual name of God used by God Himself. Is not "God" just an English word for the Name of the Deity which originally existed in another language (Greek, Hebrew, etc.). I have used the word "God" simply because we are a speaking English and in English they refer to this Deity as God and other languages by different sounding names. I agree that the concept of Allah is not the Chistian concept of God. Thus, God or Allah could have different conceptions or ideations in different religions or cultures and that is the crux of the matter not so much the names. Though I prefer to call God Allah because He uses that Name in the Qur'an which I believe to be His Word.

On the other hand, as Muslims we can refer to Him by almost any Beautful Name as long as His Divine Unity, Perfection, and Total Uniqueness are not compromised in the process. As for those here who talk about Islam on the basis of ignorance I suggest that you do sincere research for otherwise it would amount to obstructing the Truth and accusing people of other religions falsely which is a very unchristian thing to do if we talk about love for where is the love in false maligning? If God is Love then where is the love in not wanting to understand people and their beliefs properly. In the Quran it is stated: if an untruthful slandering sinner comes to you with information then VERIFY because it might be that you might accuse someone on the basis of ignorance and thereafter regret (what you have done) (chapter 49 verse 6). So let us be honest with ourselves and not wield baseless and ungrounded statements around as if they are the gospel truth for that is unethical. Good religion does not teach such qualities.

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