# Should Jews pray to Allah? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2001, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-jews-pray-to-allah/86716 "2001-10-11T02:43:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-jews-pray-to-allah/86716/21 "2001-10-13T05:12:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > Muslims refer to themselves, Jews and Christians as “people of the book”–the “book” referring to the bible as the original source of information about God, prior to the revelations that Mohammed received. This is one of the main ways Osama has perverted Islam, since he refers to us as “infidels”, which are not “people of the book.” Of course here on SDMB, we might be in trouble with all our avowed atheists. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Fromesiter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Fromesiter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Fromesiter)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-jews-pray-to-allah/86716/22 "2001-11-11T21:39:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lurker b \* > \*\*And BTW, Jews do not refer to G-d as Yahweh. \*\* I looked up “Yahweh” this is what I found: "And God spake unto Moses and said unto him, 'I am the LORD (literarly, JEHOVAH);and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almightly (literally, El Shaddai), but by my name JEHOVAH (literaly, YHWH)was I not known to them. -Exodus 6:2-3, King James Version of Old Testament Of course, you must know that the ancient Hebrew language did not use vowels, but the early translators (Greeks) did, thus the word, “Yahweh.” (Jehovah must be the Elizabethan English version.) From this passage, the “Father of the Jews” also was unaware of the literal Name, even though Abraham believed in the one true God. The ancient Israelites used the term Adonay, that is the Hebrew name for God, literally translated LORD. I don’t know what contenporay Jews refer to Him as today. ---
**Author:** ![kgriffey79](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@kgriffey79](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kgriffey79)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-jews-pray-to-allah/86716/23 "2001-11-11T22:52:29Z")
I thought Jews don’t use the name of God because when he said it, he said “I am” meaning, He is everything. And for someone to say the name of God, he or she, would be blaspheamy. This is a Catholic speaking, so don’t hold me to it, just trying to clarify. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-jews-pray-to-allah/86716/24 "2001-11-12T03:09:13Z")
I think that what Chaim is referring to is whether or not certain religions are considered to be idolatrous _for non-Jews_ under the Noahide laws. Islam is definitely not idolatrous for such purposes, but Christianity is…iffy. There’s a major debate between Maimonedes and Nachmanedes on the subject. Not that this comes up much; it’s more of a theoretical discussion than anything else. Jews don’t use the Y-name today. It was traditionally pronounced only by the high priest on Yom Kippur, and isn’t pronounced at all now because of extreme holiness. Orthodox Jews will only say one of the other names of God (that I will type as E-l or A-donai or E-lokim or Y-a for reasons explained above, (and even typing them that way makes me uncomfortable)) when praying or publically reading from the Torah, and will use “Hashem” (literally, “The Name”) when referring to God in conversation or in a class setting. ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-jews-pray-to-allah/86716/25 "2001-11-12T06:27:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Captain Amazing \* > \*\*Allah is an Arabic contraction for (correct my misspelling, please) al illah, which means “the G-d” It’s not intended to be a proper name, exactly. \*\* That claim is disputed by [this](http://www.islaminfo.com/comparative/moon-myth-god.htm) somewhat partisan page. Christians refer to God as Allah, in Arabic-speaking communities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-jews-pray-to-allah/86716.md?page=1)