format_quote Originally Posted by
FreedomStands
I arrived and signed up at this website because of this post regarding Odin.
Atheists have a saying these days which has become somewhat popular. They say something like "We just believe in one less God than you" and "Why don't you believe in Odin?"
A Muslim should believe in only the Ultimate Power. The Ultimate is not a particular individual or object which can be pointed at, but is whatever concept or word represents and indicates "whatever is the most supreme, the greatest". Allah should be a term which indicates "The Ultimate" not that a person is saying "So and So is the Ultimate" but "That which is the Utmost Ultimate is what we mean when we say Allah".
People seem to get mixed up and tripped up imagining that Allah refers to some particular person or is somehow distinct from any other word indicating "Utmost Ultimateness" and it shouldn't. Anyone who has an idea of what Allah is that is less than the logically reasoned conceptual Ultimate might be playing with idolatrous and materialistic thoughts regarding what is necessarily the Ultimate.
That being said, any other term can be designated as well, as long as the intended definition and description is the same. That is to say, there are many languages in this world and various language families among humans, but an apple is still an apple when called "pomme" in French. The intended definition is what matters.
One can say "Allah is a man" and then that Allah is by definition different from "Allah is not a man", the same word is being used, but the people are referring to two different concepts and definitions, it doesn't matter what combination of sounds is used, but the intended meaning is what counts.
This is important for a religious person who wants to "make religion pure for Allah only" since one should be right minded about what they are worshiping and praying to. What a good Muslim with right knowledge should be praying to is not an individual called Allah, but rather "whatever is the Ultimate". The Ultimate has certain necessary attributes which make it by definition the Ultimate, but the mind should only be directed to "whatever is the Greatest of All, controller and responsible for everything", and that is the religion of Abraham (Ibrahim) as described in the Qur'an, first he looked to the natural powers, and then to what seemed better and better until realizing the Ultimate beyond all those things, the Ultimate Reality, the Supreme Truth, the Eternal Nature, The Unstoppable Power, that is Allah.
Now, if the term Odin is used to refer to the same, Odin (which means Fury and Inspiration, connected to ideas of the furious forces of nature and weather and the power to inspire furious inspiration and revelation in the mind) is an appropriate term to refer to Allah or the Ultimate or an attribute of Allah, since Allah is the controller of the weather and the forces of nature and is the power behind all Nature and Experience itself, as well as the controller of the mind, the thoughts, and the one that inspires revelation. Thus the essential definition of Odin and the qualities of Allah fit. Allah is the King and Controller of the Natural Forces, Odin is the King and the Controller of the Natural Forces, Amun (the word meaning Hidden from Egypt) is the term that was used for the King and the Controller of the Natural Forces, Vishnu (Pervading), Shiva (Auspicious), Ahura (Lord), are all terms which can and have been used to refer to the same Ultimate Power at the top of the list which all the natural powers are ultimately controlled by.
So do we believe in Odin? Certainly. The term Lucifer and Satan can refer to some things or other things. The term Lucifer means "Light Bearer" and was used to refer to the Morning Star, but we can use it to refer to the true bearer of both natural and spiritual "light" (as in knowledge and information) or "that which makes people see". Satan means "enemy" and can refer to our enemies, or the one that can be the greatest enemy of all, which can only be the most powerful and worthy of fear for those who make themselves enemies to Allah there can be no greater "Satan" for them. It is a matter of language and which linguistic framework one is using.
We believe in Odin if the definition is right. We also believe in Thor (which means Thunder), and the Thunder Praises Allah who created it.
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Snow liked this post
I'm a big fan of vikings, the series about Ragnar (who is semi-mythical, it' said).
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