Let's call God Allah

The Bishop of Breda, Tiny Muskens, wants people to start calling God Allah. He says the Netherlands should look to Indonesia, where the Christian churches already pray to Allah. It is also common in the Arab world: Christian and Muslim Arabs use the words God and Allah interchangeably.Speaking on the Dutch TV programme Network on Monday evening, Bishop Muskens (pictured) says it could take another 100 years but eventually the name Allah will be used by Dutch churches. And that will promote rapprochement between the two religions.

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Full article here

What are your thoughts on this?

Peace

Great Article glo.. here are the 99 names of Allah... Though Allah SWT has 100 names, most if not all don't know what the one hundredth name is, but we may certainly invoke him using any of the ones we do know---
peace!
Ninty Nine Names Of Allah

al-Rehman The Gracious
al-Raheem The Merciful
al-Malik The Sovereign
al-Quddus The Holy
as-Salam The Source of Peace
al-Mumin The Gaurdian of the Faith
al-Mohaymin The Protector
al-Azeez The Mighty
al-Jabbar The Compeller
al-Mutakabbir The Majestic
al-Khaliq The Creator
al-Bari The Originator
al-Musawwir The Fashioner
al-Ghaffar The Forgiver
al-Qahhar The Subduer
al-Wahhab The Bestower
al-Razzaq The Provider
al-Fattah The Opener
al-Aleem The Knowing
al-Qabidh The Constrictor
al-Basit The Expander
al-Khafidh The Abaser
ar-Rafay The Exalter
al-Mu'izz The Honourer
al-Muzill The Abaser
as-Samee The All-Hearing
al-Baseer The All-Seeing
al-Hakam The Judge
al-Adl The Just
al-Lateef The Subtle One
al-Khabeer The Knowing
al-Haleem The Forbearing
al-Azeem TheGreat
al-Ghafur The All-Forgiving
ash-Shakur The Appreciator
al-Ali The High
al-Kabeer The Great
al-Hafeez Preserver
al-Muqeet The Sustainer
al-Haseeb The Reckoner
al-Jaleel The Sublime
al-Kareem Generous
ar-Raqeeb The Watchful
al-Mujeeb The Responser
al-Wassay The All-Embracing
al-Hakeem The Wise
al-Wadud The Loving
al-Mujeed The Glorious
al-Baaith The Resurrector
ash-Shaheed The Witness
Names Meanings


al-Haqq The True
al-Wakeel The Trustee
al-Qawi The Strong
al-Mateen The Firm
al-Walee The Friend
al-Hameed Praisworthy
al-Muhsi The Reckoner
al-Mubdi The Originator
al-Mu'id The Restorer
al-Muhyi The Giver of Life
al-Mumeet The Giver of Death
al-Hayee The Living
al-Qayyum The Self Subsisting
al-Wajid Finder
al-Majid The Noble
al-Wahid The Unique
as-Samad The Eternal
al-Qadir The Powerful
al-Muqtadir The Powerful
al-Muqaddim The Expediter
al-Mu'akhir The Postponer
al-Awwal The First
al-Akhir The Last
al-Zahir The Manifest
al-Batin The Hidden
al-Waalee The Governor
al-Muta'li The Most Exalted
al-Barr The Benign
al-Tawwab The Oft Returning
al-Muntaqim The Avenger
al-Afu Pardoner
ar-Rauf The Compassionate
Malikul-Mulk The Owner of Sovereignty
Dhul-Jalal-wal-Ikram The Lord of Majisty and Bounty
al-Jame The Gatherer
s
al-Ghanee The Self Sufficient
al-Mughani The Enricher
al-Mani The Preventer
al-Nafi The Propitious
an-Noor The Light
al-Hadi The Guide
al-Badi' The Incomparable
al-Muqsit The Just
al-Dhar The Distresser
al-Baqi The Everlasting
al-Warith Inheritor
ar-Rasheed The Guide to the Right Path
as-Sabur The Patient

glo said:

Full article here

What are your thoughts on this?

Peace

Click to expand...

Our thoughts of no importance, we muslims welcome any effort to get all humanity as a unity based on mutual respect and justice....

but that is a far-fetched wish in light of the brain-washed,black-hearted people such as those christians who commented on the link you provided such as:

Koolaid Killsus, 17-08-2007 - USA
I never thought I'd have to use this term for a member of the clergy, but this guy is a total dumb ass. Why doesn't he just convert and get it over with. There are always cowardly traitors ready to hand the rest of us over to the enemy in every society.

according to such brain-washed guy and millions alike, those who try to show good intentions,respect to Islam and muslims are cowardly traitors, blasphemous men ,who ready to hand the rest of them over to the enemy (Islam&muslims)in every society.!!!!!

Thanks for the link......though such link contains offensive language to Islam.

peace

Greetings, back_to_faith

To be honest, it hadn't even occured to me to read the comments below the article. My intention was just to post the article itself.

Apologies, if I have caused offence.
I guess as followers of our religions we have to grow a tough skin, and learn to ignore those voices who try to attack or discredit our beliefs.

Personally, I find the view that all Christians should refer to God as Allah strange, to say the least ...
As far as I understand, 'Allah' is the Arabic term for 'God'. Am I correct?
So, of course, if I was living as a Christian in an Arabic-speaking country I would refer to God as Allah. Not, because I was compromising my Christian beliefs, but because that is the Arabic term for God.
If I was living in Germany, I would call him Gott, in France Dieu, and so on and so forth.
Since I live in an English-speaking country, I am most likely to call him God ...

But I agree with Ambro, that there are many names which refer to God.
Here are several Biblical names in Hebrew (although I believe there are more):

Adir — "Strong One".
Adon Olam — "Master of the World".
Avinu Malkeinu — "Our Father, our King".
Boreh — "the Creator".
Ehiyeh sh'Ehiyeh — "I Am That I Am": a modern Hebrew version of "Ehyeh asher Ehyeh".
Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzchak ve Elohei Ya`aqov — "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob".
El ha-Gibbor — "God the hero" or "God the strong one".
Emet — "Truth".
E'in Sof — "endless, infinite", Kabbalistic name of God.
Ro'eh Yisra'el — "Shepherd of Israel".
Ha-Kaddosh, Baruch Hu — "The Holy One, Blessed be He".
Kaddosh Israel — "Holy One of Israel".
Melech ha-Melachim — "The King of Kings" or Melech Malchei ha-Melachim "King of Kings of Kings", to express superiority to the earthly rulers title.
Makom or Hamakom — literally "the place", meaning "The Omnipresent"; see Tzimtzum.
Magen Avraham — "Shield of Abraham".
Ribbono shel `Olam — "Master of the World".
YHWH-Yireh (Jehovah-jireh) — "The Lord will provide" (Genesis 22:13-14).
YHWH-Rapha — "The Lord that healeth" (Exodus 15:26).
YHWH-Niss"i (Yahweh-Nissi) — "The Lord our Banner" (Exodus 17:8-15).
YHWH-Shalom — "The Lord our Peace" (Judges 6:24).
YHWH-Ra-ah — "The Lord my Shepherd" (Psalm 23:1).
YHWH-Tsidkenu — "The Lord our Righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6).
YHWH-Shammah (Jehovah-shammah) — "The Lord is present" (Ezekiel 48:35).
Tzur Israel — "Rock of Israel".

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My personal choices for addressing God tend to be 'Father' or 'Lord'.

Peace

The problem is that not all chriatians call God- "God". Poles doesnt say "God" , but Bóg since more than 1 thousands year (baptism of Poland was in 966 A.D). Germans say Gott. So i think that its bad idea... What else, should we say Isa maybe to please muslims ?

glo said:

Greetings,

Personally, I find the view that all Christians should refer to God as Allah strange, to say the least ...
Peace

Click to expand...

Greetings,glo

yes it is strange,and not expected to happen till day of judgment.....

christians don't have to use the word Allah to be friendly with muslims...
many other things they should do in order to satisfy muslims....and attain their appreciation and respect....but alas

such dream is far-fetched in light of the consnant attack on Islam,muslims ,in their homes,the mass-media etc....

you and those alike,glo, are the exception.....but your voices not strong enough, you are just a minority in an ocean of hatred,intolerence towards Islam....

If some christians invade muslims'countries,causing the death of innocents,civil wars,hunger,agony...
if they offend Allah and his messeneger in media day and night...
and after all that they claim ,that all what they do is because they love muslims and want to help them !!,then muslims have to believe in the saying,

(There is no hatred equal to Christian love)


thank you very much my friend,and may God bless your efforts,increase those who similar to you.
peace

this is my thought:
"God doesn't mind what he is called. God is above such "discussion and bickering".
i agree with this statement.

maybe it's because i haven't had my coffee yet, but i can't help but wonder if he isn't just trying to arouse more anti-muslim sentiment. and when i got to the last paragraph that sort of confirmed my suspicion.
personally, i find it natural to use the word "god" just because it's my language, but i would be just as happy to use "allah". but words like "god", "gott" etc. are only foreign words. neither the jews nor the muslims knew those words, so there is no reason to be attached to them particularly.
i think people should call god whatever they feel comfortable with.
call god whatever you will - but call him! :giggling:

To Allah(SWT) belongs all the beautiful names, names that befit Allah(SWT).

I think this makes sense, as 2000 years ago the word "God" was not used by Jesus(AS). The English language did not even exist duing those times. I believe it was after the Romans fought the Saxons the english language was in use.

This site may help answer some questions:

Names Of God

[PIE]Thus the name of God in the Arabic Bible is Allah, as Arab Christians have called God since the time of Jesus. This is short for al-illah, which means simply The God. Arabic-speaking Christians use the same word for the God revealed in the Bible that Arabic-speaking Muslims use for the One God who they believe sent Muhammad as a prophet.[/PIE]

I thought "Allah" was simply arabic for "God". Is that false?

Technically its not just God. The proper definition would be "No One/diety worthy of being worshipped." Cuz Allah is neither feminine nor mascular. It's without gender. With God, words like goddess, godson and godfather exist...so it isnt exactly proper.

Peace

Allah doesn't mean God does it? God in Arabic ilah or something like that... Allah is an actual name... someone correctly me if I'm wrong please.

Pygoscelis said:

I thought "Allah" was simply arabic for "God". Is that false?

Click to expand...

If we compare both names we can see why they are not the same:

God - Has a gender appiled to to, as in we can have Goddess to mean she, God means a he, and has many other names attached to it such as Godfather, Godmather etc.

Allah = Has no gender (not male and not female)
* "He" is used only out of respect and dignity - not for gender
Allah = Always singular - Never plural
* "We" is used only as the "Royal WE" just as in English for royalty
Allah Means "The Only One to be Worshipped"

*Just realised Sister Jazzy said more or less the same thing :/

As I understand it, the word 'Allah' comes from the Arabic articles 'Al' and 'Ilah' (Al-Ilah means 'the deity')

A contraction occurs, thus shortening 'Al-Ilah' to 'Allah'.

So 'Allah' means 'the deity'.

Yes? No? Maybe?

Catholic Bishop Favors Beautiful Allah

By Nasreddine Djebbi , IOL Correspondent


Muskens recognizes his suggestion might take a century or two to gain widespread acceptance.

By Nasreddine Djebbi , IOL Correspondent

THE HAGUE — A Roman Catholic Bishop in the Netherlands believes people of all faiths should use Allah, the Arabic word for God, which is already being used by Arab-speaking Christians, to foster interfaith understanding.

"Allah is a very beautiful word for God," Bishop Martinus "Tiny" Muskens, from the southern diocese of Breda, told the "Network" television show earlier this week.

"Shouldn't we all say that from now on we will name God Allah?"
Bishop Muskens, 71, said that Arabic-speaking Christians already use Allah to refer to God.

He added that in Indonesia, where he spent eight years, priests have for decades been using Allah while celebrating Mass.

"In the heart of the Eucharist, God is called Allah over there, so why can't we start doing that together?"

The Catholic bishop said people are needlessly "bickering" over such terminology.

"What does God care what we call him? It is our problem."

Bishop Muskens has broken with Vatican leadership to endorse the use of condoms as a means of preventing the spread of AIDS.

In 2006, he traveled to Uganda to endorse the work of a group called Stop AIDS Now, which emphasized condom distribution.
He has also suggested that those who are hungry may steal bread to eat.
Long-term Gerrit de Fijter, chairman of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, welcomed any attempt to "create more dialogue."
He does not support the suggestion.

"Calling God Allah does no justice to Western identity. I see no benefit in it," he told Netherlands' biggest-selling newspaper De Telegraaf on Wednesday.
A survey in the daily said 92 percent of the more than 4,000 people polled disagreed with Bishop Muskens.

Bishop Muskens, who is retiring soon for health problems, recognizes that his suggestion might take a century or two to gain widespread acceptance.

The word "God" gives the meaning of giving, fairness and capability.
The word's root can be found in the Arabic term jude (generosity), which root is jawada. Its equivalent in English is the word "good".

As for the word "Allah", it recognizes the English word "all", giving one of the best characteristics of Allah’s attributes; The All-Knowing, All-Seeing, All-Hearing, All-Merciful etc.

Every baby born has, as his first utterance, the short "a" sound, which is an expression of the oneness of humanity, in relation to its Creator.
Also, all final deathbed gasps exhale the "h", the last letter of the name of Allah.

This is because He is the First and the Last!

When we scream in pain or cry out in fear, or grunt and groan during strenuous exercise or disgust, or exclaim in joy or surprise, it is the very same… "ahhh" that we all emit.

Almost all the major religious scriptures of the world contain the word "Allah" as one of the names of God.

a. Elohim El, Elah, Alah

In the Bible, God is very often referred to as ‘Elohim’ in the Hebrew language. The ‘im’ in the ending is a plural of honour and God is referred to as ‘El’ or ‘Elah’ in the English Bible with commentary, edited by reverend C. I. Scofield. ‘Elah’ is alternatively spelled as ‘Alah’. The difference in spelling is only of a single ‘L’. Muslims spell Allah as ‘Allah’ while the Reverend has spelled it as Alah and they pronounce it as ‘Elah’. Muslims pronounce it as Allah. Hebrew and Arabic are sister languages therefore we say it should be pronounced as ‘Allah’ and not as ‘Elah’.

When I was in school, I was taught ‘D, O’ is do, ‘T, O’ is to. What is ‘G, O’ It is ‘go’ and not ‘gu’. ‘N, U, T’ is nut, ‘C, U, T’ cut; ‘B, U, T’ is but, what is ‘P, U, T’? Not ‘pat’ but it is ‘put’. If you ask "Why?" The answer is "It is their language". If I have to pass I have to say ‘P, U, T’ is ‘put’ and not ‘pat’. Similarly the right pronunciation for A, L, L, A, H, is Allah.

b. Jesus (pbuh) cried out Allah Allah when he was put on the cross
It is mentioned in the New Testament in the Gospel of Mathew, chapter 27 verse 46 as well as Gospel of Mark, chapter 15 verse 34 when Jesus (pbuh) was put on the cross.

Jesus cried with a loud voice saying "E’-Li, E’-Li la’-ma sa-bach’-tha-ni?" that is to say, ‘My God, My God why hast Thou Forsaken Me?’ Does this sound like Jehovah! Jehovah! why has thou forsaken me? Does it sound like Abba Abba? The answer is ‘No’. Hebrew and Arabic are sister languages and if you translate "E’-Li, E’-Li la’-ma sa-bach’-tha-ni" into Arabic it is ‘Allah Allah lama tarak tani’ does it sound similar?

This statement of Jesus (pbuh), "E’-Li, E’-Li la’-ma sa-bach’-tha-ni" is preserved in its original Hebrew in each and every of its translation which is available in more than 2000 different languages of the world and in each and every of them, "Allah" is present.

2. "Allah" in Sikhism

One of the names by which Gurunanak Sahib referred to God is "Allah".

3a. "Allah" in Rigveda Book 2 Hymn I verse II
Even in the Rigveda which is the most sacred scripture of the Hindus, one of the attributes given to God Almighty in Book no 2 Hymn no I verse II, is ‘Ila’ which if pronounced properly is the same as Allah.
3b. Allo Upanishad:
Amongst the various Upanishads one of the Upanishad is named as ‘Allo’ Upanishad in which God is referred to as "Allah" several times.

Osman said:

As I understand it, the word 'Allah' comes from the Arabic articles 'Al' and 'Ilah' (Al-Ilah means 'the deity')

A contraction occurs, thus shortening 'Al-Ilah' to 'Allah'.

So 'Allah' means 'the deity'.

Click to expand...

from what I have learned that is wrong, and that grammatically shortening al-ilah to Allah doesn't even make sense...

Malaikah said:

from what I have learned that is wrong, and that grammatically shorten al-ilah to Allah doesn't even make sense...

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i agree sis...where in islam have u seen contractions of Allahs names...

ar-rahman doesnt become simply rahman...i dno...sounds wrong...

Perhaps you guys are right.

It's just what I've read.

I've found us a lovely article on the subject

http://thetruereligion.org/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=71

Christians should call God "God" in their language. If they speak Arabic, call Him Allah. If they aren't arabic speakers, then calling God "Allah" is an expression of agreement with the Muslim concept of God, hence an implicit denial of Christian truth. This should not be taken as a slam against Muslims, we just all need to agree that we don't agree and deal with it. As a Catholic, I feel the Bishops comments were a misguided attempt to get along with Muslims, he needs to be reprimanded.