# God, not "Allah" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965 "2004-03-18T02:47:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/21 "2004-03-18T15:46:08Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > I think Christians should call God “Allah”. It’s only a word difference, and “Allah” has been around longer than the Middle English word “God”, hasn’t it? Middle English dates from … 16th century? 15th? “Allah” was certainly around before then. No. You’re off for English by nearly 1,000 years. It’s one of the few words that has survived unchanged from earliest records of Old English. In any case, the Muslims must abandon “Allah” and adopt the Christian Greek “Ho Theos”, since it’s older than Muslim use by centuries. ---
**Author:** ![1kBR\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/dc4da7/32.png) [@1kBR\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1kBR_Kid)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/22 "2004-03-18T19:16:42Z")
Well, FWIW, **I** think the world would be a better place if people like the OP didn’t get so hung up on other people’s beliefs. But hey- I also think the world would be a better place if religion had never been invented… ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/23 "2004-03-18T20:14:38Z")
Actually, what if we did it the other way, and tell the Christians to start using “Allah” instead of “God”? That’d throw a bit of a wrench into the Islamic fundamentalists’ claims that there’s this whoe anti-Islam crusade from the Christians, at least. Or, hell, just have everyone call Him “YHWH,” like they’re supposed to. Us atheists will get our jollies watching y’all wrap your mouths around a name with no vowels. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/24 "2004-03-18T22:42:00Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Actually, what if we did it the other way, and tell the Christians to start using “Allah” instead of “God”? That’d throw a bit of a wrench into the Islamic fundamentalists’ claims that there’s this whoe anti-Islam crusade from the Christians, at least. > > Or, hell, just have everyone call Him “YHWH,” like they’re supposed to. Us atheists will get our jollies watching y’all wrap your mouths around a name with no vowels. 😃 There are Cymru words that are much more difficult to pronounce than that… ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/25 "2004-03-18T23:50:08Z")
> [@1kBR Kid](#): > > Well, FWIW, **I** think the world would be a better place if people like the OP didn’t get so hung up on other people’s beliefs. But hey- I also think the world would be a better place if religion had never been invented… It may just be the way I read the OP, but I didn’t get the feeling that the OP had a problem with what anyone calls god–what I got from it was that since there’s a group of folks who think that Islam does, indeed, worship a different god, it might help get the point across if Moslems use the same name. I think most of us here in this thread realize that Allah=God, but there are lots of folks who don’t. I’m not sure that a name change would help the situation, partly because it doesn’t really address the reasons those folks think what they do, and partly because every Moslem I’ve ever met called god “God” when speaking English. But I really don’t think the OP is freaked out about the use of a different name, or insisting that everyone change to suit his/her taste in divine naming conventions. ---
**Author:** ![geewhiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@geewhiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geewhiz)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/26 "2004-03-19T03:16:41Z")
Well I am a Christian and I never thought about it. I worship the Trinity of God: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. One in three. The Muslim Allah is not my God. And that is the reason I never have thought about is for that reason. In this country, they have the freedom to call their supreme being whatever they want to call him. No, I don’t think they should stop so that relations might be better. I have lots of Muslim friends and I would probably choke if they referred to God istead of allah. The reason being it would be very odd and I would be caught so off guard. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/27 "2004-03-19T03:31:39Z")
I read an op-ed article in the NY Times a few weeks ago that was arguing for pretty much the same thing, but from a different point of view. The author’s point was that Westerners, especially the media, should say/write “God” instead of “Allah.” His point was that he thought it seemed to further anti-Muslim sentiments, such as when someone (Jerry Falwell) was quoted as saying “Allah is not God” (which translated into Arabic would mean “God is not God”). He made the point that the word for God in Aramaic (also a Semetic language) was Allah-ha (pardon if I did not transliterate that write) and that Christians who speak Arabic call God “Allah.” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/28 "2004-03-19T04:09:40Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Does it also bother the OP if someone refers to something as being “chocolate colored” instead of “brown”, or using the word “yams” instead of “sweet potatoes”? 😕 Maybe not him, but it does bother me. For f\*ck’s sake, it’s a frappe, not a “thick milkshake!” Um… what were we talking about? Oh yeah. Bob. Everyone knows that Bob sent down his only begotten sandwich maker… show a little respect, people. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/29 "2004-03-19T06:45:04Z")
> [@Dogface](#): > > There are Cymru words that are much more difficult to pronounce than that… You ain’t pulling the other one with bells on it, either. “I’ll learn Welsh,” I vowed to myself back in high school. Welsh kicked my ass. And, for heaven’s sake, I was trying to pick it up from a _children’s_ language primer. It might have helped had I actually known anyone who spoke Welsh, but that just might be wishful thinking. Yn gywir, **SkipMagic** ---
**Author:** ![1kBR\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/dc4da7/32.png) [@1kBR\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1kBR_Kid)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/30 "2004-03-19T07:15:36Z")
[QUOTE=geewhiz] Well I am a Christian and I never thought about it. I worship the Trinity of God: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. One in three… … The Muslim Allah is not my God. QUOTE] Well, OK. Maybe the OP didn’t mean it, but this guy demonstrates what I’m talking about. Geewhiz- :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/31 "2004-03-19T07:52:04Z")
> [@Dogface](#): > > No. You’re off for English by nearly 1,000 years. It’s one of the few words that has survived unchanged from earliest records of Old English. Happen to have a cite? ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/32 "2004-03-19T13:12:52Z")
[QUOTE=1kBR Kid] > [@geewhiz](#): > > Well I am a Christian and I never thought about it. I worship the Trinity of God: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. One in three… > > … The Muslim Allah is not my God. > > QUOTE] > > Well, OK. Maybe the OP didn’t mean it, but this guy demonstrates what I’m talking about. > > Geewhiz- :rolleyes: Yep–that’s the sort of thing the OP is hoping might be prevented, by a little different word usage. It’s just that I don’t think word usage is going to make much of a dent in that sort of ignorance. It might be a start, though, however small. I wonder if Christians who aren’t Trinitarians worship the same god as geewhiz, or Jews. If a difference in doctrine means a whole other god, just think how many Christian gods there must be–hundreds! Every Christian sect worshipping a different one. And all of them but geewhiz’s denomination unbelieving, unsaved heathens. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/33 "2004-03-19T13:55:16Z")
Well, according to Jack Chick, Allah is just a moon god. And we all know he never oversimplifies anything. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/34 "2004-03-19T15:17:26Z")
How about everybody agree on a neutral, single name for God, such as the “Global Standard Deity” used in Jasper fforde’s Thursday Next books? I know most of the ironic posts have intimated this, but this is really an inane topic. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/35 "2004-03-19T16:22:01Z")
> [@geewhiz](#): > > Well I am a Christian and I never thought about it. I worship the Trinity of God: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. One in three. The Muslim Allah is not my God. And that is the reason I never have thought about is for that reason. So, then, the “Jewish YHWH” is not your God, either, for the exact same reason. So, do tell, how can it be that the God of Abraham is not your God? ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/36 "2004-03-19T16:27:56Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > Happen to have a cite? It’s a little book known as the “Oxford English Dictionary”–I use the online version, since it’s the most up-to-date. I was not at all surprised to find that “God” is a very old word in English. Most such words in most languages that I’ve encountered are quite old. In general, we don’t diddle with our terms of religion. ---
**Author:** ![trudi\_fermelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@trudi\_fermelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trudi_fermelli)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/37 "2004-03-19T20:07:20Z")
while mr. trudi is arabic and i am american, i have oft been known to utter “Allah” in exasperation of the state of ignorance in the world and he has oft been known to utter “Thanks God” when some light of intelligence begins to shine through. good thing we have more meaningful conflicts between us, like who takes the garbage out and we focus more on topics like how to demonstrate that the word love is a verb…to remind us of what is real between two humans in life. Obladee Obladah life goes on…la la la la life goes on. ---
**Author:** ![geewhiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@geewhiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geewhiz)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/38 "2004-03-19T21:24:38Z")
I didn’t explain it all that great the first time around… I woship God in three form (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). That is called the Trinity. One in three. Well then I guess all religions that worship God worship the three because all three have always exsisted. At least that is the argument that others have presented…BUT… Muslims don’t believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. They believe that he was a prophet and an all around good guy. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and Son of Man. He was God in human form on earth. He died on the cross and was resurrected in bodily form (this is a core belief of Christianity) Many Muslims tend to think that is polytheistic. Which is the worship of many god (such as Hindu). The Trinity is a tough thing to explain on a message board mainly because of the time aspect and that questions really need to be addressed in conversation form. This thread didn’t address the Jews. But they do worship the God I do. They don’t believe that Messiah (Son of God, Jesus) has returned to earth yet. The Jews are God’s people also. I could care less if anyone believes me or not. Most people have a set viewpoint and no matter what anyone says you can’t change it. And it is not up to me anway. I really do respect opinions on this board whether they agree with mine or not. That to me is part of the responsibility of free speech. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/39 "2004-03-19T21:50:51Z")
> [@geewhiz](#): > > This thread didn’t address the Jews. But they do worship the God I do. Jews worship the God of Abraham, the God of Moses. Muslims worship the God of Abraham, the God of Moses. Are you saying that Moses and Abraham worshipped two gods? ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965/40 "2004-03-20T05:16:08Z")
Well, depends. There are some Muslims who reject the notion that “Allah” is a contraction of “al-ilah”. They believe that “Allah” is the personal name of the Supreme Being, not another sort of noun. So “Allah” is the name of God, rather than being the word “God” in Arabic. Furthermore, some Muslims believe that being in Arabic and, thus, having a certain unique definition, “Allah” cannot be translated. > [@](#): > > Allah, according to the most correct of the opinions respecting it, is a proper name applied to _the Being Who exists necessarily by Himself, comprising all the attributes od perfection_ (T-LL), the _al being inseparable from it, not derived_ (MSb-LL). _Al-ilah_ is a different word, and _Allah_ is not a contraction of _al-ilah_. The word Allah is not applied to any being except the only true God, and comprises all the excellent names, and the Arabs never gave the name Allah to any of their numerous idols. Hence, as being the proper name if the Divine Being and not having any equivalent in any other language, I have adopted the original word in this translation. Maulana Muhammad Ali. _The Holy Qur’an_. Columbus, OH: Ahmadiyyah Anjuman Isha’at Islam, 1999; p. 3, footnote 2. Parentheticals and italics in original. “T-LL” refers to the entry under the root letter “T” in the _Arabic English Lexicon_ by Edward William Lane. “MSb-LL” refers to the entry under the root letters “MSb” in the _Arabic English Lexicon_ by Edward William Lane. And to quote another well-known commentator: > [@](#): > > The word Allah is incapable of translation. It is not a common noun meaning a god or even God. It is a proper noun _par excellence_. No plural can be formed from it, and it is, according to the best authorities on the Arabic language, without derivation. The word connotes all the attributes of perfection and beauty in their infinitude, and denotes none but the One True and Unique God, the Absolute, Supreme, Perfect, Tender, Mighty, Gracious, Benign and Commpassionate. The English word God, which is ‘the common Teutonic word for a personal object of religious worship. [_sic_] applied to all superhuman beings of heathen mythologies who exercise power over nature and man’ (_EBr_. X. p. 460), and which primarily meant only ‘what is invoked’ and ‘what is worshipped by sacrifice’ (_SOED_. I. p. 808), is hardly an approximate substitute. Abdul Majid Daryabadi, ed. Shaykh Abdul Hasan Ali Nadwi. _The Glorious Qur’an_. Leicester, UK: The Islamic Foundation, 2001; p. 1, footnote 3. Parenthetical and italics in original. “_EBr_. X. p.460” refers to page 460 of the tenth volume of the 14th edition of the _Encyclopedia Britannica_. “_SOED_. I. p. 808.” refers to page 808 of the first colume of the _Shorter Oxford English Dictionary_. I do not agree with the above commentators: I quote them to show why Muslims would be averse to replacing “Allah” with “God” in discourse, public or private. Now, being monotheists, I would conjecture that Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc., worship the same God, since prayers cannot ascend to a Being that does not exist. Hence, everyone worships the same God. From the Muslim perspective, Islam knows God truly, compared to the corrupted knowledge of the other religions - but this does not mean that others worship other Gods. Same with Christianity, Judaism, etc. - there is one God and all voices are heard by Him. Whether He answers them all is another issue. WRS - a rose by any other name is still a rose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-not-allah/234965.md?page=3)