Is Allah of Islam the same as Yahweh of Christianity?

This is similar to the word “Allah.” For most Muslims, Allah is the only God and therefore must be the same God as the one that the Jews and Christians worship. 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CampusSecurity(803)807-5555 MyCIU Search Search xRequestInfox IsAllahofIslamthesameasYahwehofChristianity?       AsIwaspassingtheStateHouseinColumbia,SC,InoticedtheConfederateflagwavinginthebreezebehindalarge,decoratedChristmastree.  Thecontrastofsymbolscaughtmyattention.Tomostpeople,thetreenominallysymbolizestheseasonofChristmasandthefocusonthefirstcomingofJesusChrist.Forsomepeopleanyrepresentationofaspiritualrealityonpublicpropertyisatravestyagainsttheirrights.Theflag,however,hasbecomemorecontroversial.Forsome,theConfederateflagmerelysymbolizesapastconflict,forothersitrepresentsaspiritofindependenceandstate’srights,andforstillothersitisanuglyreminderofwhenonepeoplegroupenslavedanother.Thus,wehaveonesymbolwithseveraldifferentmeanings.             Thisissimilartotheword“Allah.”FormostMuslims,AllahistheonlyGodandthereforemustbethesameGodastheonethattheJewsandChristiansworship.Similarly,forsomeChristians,AllahisjustanothernamefortheoneGodoftheuniverse.Forothers,however,theMuslimAllahandthebiblicalYahweharecontradictoryandcannotrefertothesamebeing,for,theysay,“howcantheGodofMuhammadbetheFatherofJesusChrist?”Thequestionbeforeus,then,iswhethertheterms“Allah”and“Yahweh”arejusttwonamesforthesameGod,oraretheyreferringtodifferentGods?(AndsincetherecanonlybeonetrueGod,theultimatequestionis,“iftheyaredifferent,whichoneisthetrueGod?”)             Let’sfirstlookattheoriginandmeaningfortheterm“Allah.”AllahprobablycomesfromtheAramaiccompoundterm“al-ilah,”whichmeans“thegod.”Itisagenerictermforthehighestgodofthepeople,andinArabiaitwasinuseforcenturiesbeforeMuhammadcameonthescene.Apparentlyitwasoneofthe360godsworshippedintheka’abainMecca,andwasthechiefgodfortheQurayshtribe,whichwasthetribeMuhammadbelongedto.Inthepre-Islamictime,Allahhadthreedaughters,Al-At,Al-Uzza,andAl-Manat.InMuhammad’scampaignagainstpolytheismhechoseAllahastheonetrueGodandrejectedthenotionthatAllahcouldhaveanydaughtersorsons.TheAllahfromtheQur’an,however,isverydifferentfromtheYahwehoftheBible.Foronething,Allahisadistant,remotebeingwhorevealshiswillbutnothimself.Itisimpossibletoknowhiminapersonalway.Inhisabsoluteonenessthereisunitybutnottrinity,andbecauseofthislackofrelationship,loveisnotemphasized.Indeed,fortheMuslim,Allahcannothaveanyassociates.Infact,toclaimthatJesusisGod’ssonisthegreatestofallsinsinIslamandisknownas“shirk.”AllahisalsoanarbitraryGodandissaidtodeceivepeople,especiallyunbelievers.Intheend,evenforthedevoutMuslimthereisnoguaranteeofsalvationbecauseinhisarbitrarinessAllahmayrejectthebeliever’sgoodworksandsendhimtohell.Thus,evenifone’sgoodworksoutweighedhisbadworkssalvationisultimatelyuptotheWillofAllah,whichisarbitraryatbest.             WhenwelookatYahweh,however,whoistheGodoftheBible,weseeadifferentkindofdeity.Firstofall,thename“Yahweh”comesfromthetimethatGodappearedtoMosesintheburningbush.AtthattimeGodtoldMosestocallhim“IamthatIam,”orinHebrew,“Yahweh.”ItissignificantthatJesusreferredtohimselfasthe“Iam”inJohn8:58.TheJewsrealizedthatJesuswasreferringtohimselfasGodandtookupstonestostonehimforwhattheybelievedwasblasphemy.ThislinkbetweenJesusintheNewTestamentandtheburningbushintheOldTestamentdemonstratestheunityoftheoneGodmanifestedtoboththeJewsandtheChristians.ThiscannotbesaidoftheMuslimGodbecauseMuslimsrejectthedeityofJesusandthereforerejectmuchofwhattheNewTestamentsaysaboutJesus.WealsofindthattheBibleportraysYahwehincontrasttoAllah.Forexample,Allahisconsideredtobetooholytohavepersonalrelationshipswithman,butYahwehisoftendescribedasalovingGodinterestedinourpersonalstruggles.YahwehisalsodepictedasunchangingandOnewhoassuresthesalvationofthefaithful.Finally,becausethereisunityintheTrinitywiththeoneGodalsobeingthreepersons,GodcanbedescribedastheFatherofJesus.             SomescholarswanttoemphasizethesimilaritiesbetweenYahwehandAllah,andpointtoacommonbeliefinamonotheisticGodwhoisCreatorofallthings,omnipotentandmerciful.BothreligionsalsoclaimthatGodhassentprophetstorevealHiswillandproducescripturestoguideourlives.However,AllahandYahwehcannotrefertothesamepersonforthefollowingreasons.Firstofall,theirattributesaredifferent.InAllah’smonadiconenesshisattributesstemfromhispowerfulWillwhich,becauseitprovidesnobasisforrelationship,oftenpromotescapriciousness.Also,sincehispowerismoreimportantthanhisotherattributes,thereisanunequalemphasisonpoweroverhisotherattributes.Intheend,afollowercannotknowGodorevenbesureoftheconsistencyofhisattributes.Ontheotherhand,becauseYahwehisbynatureatriuneunityhisattributesstemfromhisnature.TheeternalrelationshipwithintheTrinitypromoteslovewithintheGodheadandextendstohiscreation.Also,sincehisattributesarebasedonhisunchangingnatureratherthanhispowerfulwill,allhisattributesareequalandpromotetrustworthinessratherthancapriciousness.ThismeansthatbelieverscanknowGodandbesureofhisattributes.Second,ChristiansunderstandthenatureofGodtobetriune(Father,SonandHolySpirit),whichistheonlywaythatJesusChrist,asthesecondpersonoftheTrinity,coulddieonthecrosstopayforoursins.IfJesuswerenotGodhimself,thenhisdeathonthecrosswouldbemeaningless.However,MuslimsdenythatJesusdiedonthecrossandtheyrejectthebeliefinhisresurrectionfromthedead.OnlyatriuneGod,definedasoneessenceandthreepersons,couldbecomeincarnateandstillremainGodoftheuniverse,andyetthisistheGodthatMuslimsreject.Forthem,JesuscannotbeGodnorcanGodbeaFather,forhecannothaveason.Therefore,ifMuslimsrejectGodastheFatherofJesus,thenAllahcannotbethesameastheGodoftheBible.             Butwaitaminute,somewillsay.WhatabouttheArabicChristianswhocalltheGodoftheBible“Allah”?Doesn’tthisillustratethefactthatAllahandYahweharereferringtothesameGod?Actually,whentheArabicChristiansreferto“Allah”intheirtranslationoftheBible,theybelievethat“Allah”isthefatherofJesusandtheybelievethat“Allah”istriune.Therefore,theAllahoftheArabicChristianscannotbethesameAllahoftheMuslims!Thissemantic[shibboleth]strangulationcanbeclearedupifwerememberthatwordshavebothadenotativeandaconnotativemeaning.Denotationreferstoadictionarydefinition,soitwouldbecorrecttosaythatYahwehandAllahbothrefertotheconceptofGod,especiallyfortheirrespectivelanguagegroups.However,theconnotationisdeterminedbywhatapersonconceivesabouttheobjectofthatword.Forexample,anArabChristianmaystillusetheword“Allah”todenoteGod,buthisunderstandingofthattermwouldbestarklydifferentfromaMuslim,fortheChristianwouldrecognizethatJesusChristisGod(Allah)whereastheMuslimwouldneverconsiderthatconnotation.Thus,denotativelytheword“allah”merelyrefersto“god,deity,etc.”However,weunderstandthedenotativeusebyourconnotativepresuppositions.Therefore,“Allah”fortheMuslimcannotbereconciledwiththe“JesusisAllah”oftheArabicChristians.Thereisstillaworldofdifferencebetweenthecontentoftheword(connotation),evenifthedenotationisthesame.Withoutthisveryimportantdistinctionmadewhenwereferto“Allah”and“God”(Yahweh),alotofChristianswillbeconfused.             AftercomparingtheAllahoftheQur’anandtheYahwehoftheBible,itshouldbeapparentthattheycouldnotbereferringtothesameGod.EithertheMuslimAllahisthetrueGodortheChristianYahwehisthetrueGod,orneitheristrue.AstheLawofnon-Contradictionteaches,theybothcannotbetrue.Onethingshouldbesure,though,theGodofMuhammadcannotbetheFatherofJesus.   Mr.DanielJanosik AdjunctFaculty(Apologetics),ColumbiaInternationalUniversity   Permalink|Leaveacomment  » Description   RelatedContent InterculturalStudies Muslim-ChristianRelations AllahorYahweh-AConversationAboutTheNameandNatureofGod