First published on: Allah Or God?
Hend M. Nageeb
Do Christians and Muslims have the same God? Is the name Allah as for the common suggestion by Christians in the West simply is the Arabic meaning of “Satan”?
Thousands of years before prophet Muhammad was born, Arab Christians and Jews were already referring to God as Allah, and millions continue to do so today. Allah of Islam, however, is definitely the God of the Bible and Torah; for while Muslims patently deny God’s trinity and recoil at the notion of God as Father and reject Jesus as His son, they passionately defend the unity of God. In Chapter Al-Iklas Allah says:
Say, “He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent.” Qur’an(112:1-4).
Furthermore, The Bible acknowledged in the Old and New Testaments that God is one, there is no god but He, Here’s some evidence from the Bible: “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.” (Deuteronomy 4:39), “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself” (Isaiah 44:24), and “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?” (Malachi 2:10). Since that God is one and has no son and the Creator and Sustainer both in Islam and Christianity. They both worship the same God.
What does the word Allah mean?
The word Allah is not an individual name, but a compound name. In Arabic “al” is a prefix meaning “the” in English, and “ilah” means God-any God as for “dios” in Spanish. By using the prefix “al”, the word denies God’s plurality and asserts His oneness as The God-the only one. Moreover, the word in its generic meaning could imply any god as for Brahma in Hinduism, The Buddha in Buddhism, or even no God for Atheists. God says in surah Al-Furqan: ”Have you seen the one who takes as his god his own desire? Then would you be responsible for him?” Qur’an(25:43). Thus, God can be one’s own desire and last if they are taken as idols.
The God of Muslims
Allah almighty in Islam has more than 99 names. Muslims acknowledge them and taught to refer to Him by his wonderful names as taught by Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Allah says: ” And to Allah (belong) the Fairest Names, so invoke Him by them, and leave behind the ones who blaspheme His Names; they will soon be recompensed (for) whatever they were doing” Qur’an(7:180) and “Invoke Allah, or invoke The All-Merciful. Whichever you call upon, so to Him (belong) the Fairest Names.” Qur’an(17:110)
Allah also referred to as Rabb “lord” that means the owner-of all and everything. However, Muslims are not allowed to refer to Allah by any name or attribute which is not taught by Prophet Muhammad hence, it is fundamental to the Islamic faith to learn about Allah’s names and attributes.
All in all, the concept is that from the beginning of this creation, Allah the One God, who created this one humanity on this one earth, sent all prophets to guide people to worship Him the One and only and based all religions upon His Oneness. the difference between those religions was never this fact (that He is the One and only to be worshipped), but the difference was in the laws and commands that were suitable to the people by that time.
