I am new to the boards and a newly converted Muslim!

Alhamdulillah.

may Allah grants what is best for u . Ameen.

Peace be to those who follow the guidance,

you made my day,

when i see so many things happening around the world at such a fast pace, it makes every second struggling worthwhile as if a farmer is watching his seeds grow into fruit bearing trees.

and guess what?
a double reward awaits - especially seeing that you'll bring a wealth of previous striving along with you:

51. Now have We caused the Word to reach them themselves, in order that they may receive admonition.
52. Those to whom We sent the Book before this,- they do believe in this (revelation):
53. And when it is recited to them, they say: "We believe therein, for it is the Truth from our Lord: indeed we have been Muslims (bowing to Allah.s Will) from before this.
54. Twice will they be given their reward, for that they have persevered, that they avert Evil with Good, and that they spend (in charity) out of what We have given them.
55. And when they hear vain talk, they turn away therefrom and say: "To us our deeds, and to you yours; peace be to you: we seek not the ignorant."
56. It is true thou wilt not be able to guide every one, whom thou lovest; but Allah guides those whom He will and He knows best those who receive guidance.
Quran 28

format_quote Originally Posted by MustafaMc

Brother, you have a right to your opinion. I tend to agree with your point about the Gracious Quran using 'God' instead of 'Allah'; however, another way of looking at it is that this is an English translation of Arabic to convey a meaning to a person who knows English but not Arabic. You may disagree with me but my understanding is of the word 'Allah' is the same as found in Wikipedia, "The term Allāh is derived from a contraction of the Arabic definite article al- "the" and 'ilah "deity, god" to al-lāh meaning "the [sole] deity, God". When I am talking to Christians I most often use the word 'God' to convey the meaning of the same Deity or Divine Being that they worship. If I were to use 'Allah' this word conveys the meaning of a different God that Muslims worship. This gets back to the argument of 'my God is bigger or more powerful than yours'. We worship the same God as the Jews (YHWH) and the Christians (the Father), except that Christians also worship Jesus.

I don't speak Arabic so I am not in a position to debate, but even the Hilali-Khan translation has, Say (O Muhammad): "He is Allah, (the) One." This is in agreement with the Gracious Quran because what is in parenthesis is not translation of an Arabic term, but merely stuck in by the translator to clarify meaning. I disagree that 'Rabb' (the ba has the shadah & no double alif) is translated as Allah because 'Allah' and 'Rabb' are two different Arabic words with different Arabic letters. The Hilali/Khan translates 'Rabbil 'alameen' as "Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinn, and all that exists)." This ayat illustrates why I don't like Hilali/Khan with too many Arabic words explained in parenthesis.

In summary, the use of 'God' was a legitimate choice, but he should have include 'the' with it. The translation of 'ahad' as 'One' is also legitimate. To convey meaning of the Arabic text to an English speaker, I still believe that the Gracious Quran is the best one available among the ones that I have. I prefer the Majestic Quran published by the Nawawi Foundation, but it is no longer available.

Assalam Alaikom brother Mustafa, ramadhan mubarak inshallah...
I respect your kind opinion but inshallah you will change it and you will agree with me

You remind me with an argument on a Christian-Muslim debate from Canada, where the Christian man said: does it make sense that I should disagree with the Bible about what it says about Jesus (and all the other issues) and agree with the Quran which had been sent around 600 years after it ? (In another words, he was saying should I believe the new or the old book if I need to believe one of them).
My answer for this man is Yes, you should do so. Why?! because the Quran from Allah, but the Bible is a mixed book and a man chosen. Allah is the first not the man.

The same about your argument, who was first, Wikipedia or Allah ? Allah He is the One who told His all creations that His name is Allah, so they will not worship any one/god else but Him, this issue is very very vital and very very critical in Islam because it is the core of the religion.

Allah is not a man made name, it is what we have told from Allah Sobhanaho Wataala through His prophets and messengers( PBUT all).

Thats why Mohammed PBUH spocke Arabic but he told his followers that our god's name is Allah. Jesus (Isa) PBUH spoke ancient Syriac or Aramaic and he told his followers that our god's name is Allah. I read some of the Sabieen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandaeism) book (who believe in prophet John the baptist, Yahya PBUH) which available only in Arabic, and the name of god is also Allah. I am very sure it is the same for the rest of the prophets and messengers PBUT.

Do you change/translate your name if you travel outside your country? The answer is NO, so why you accept to translate Allah's name ?

Translation of Allah's name caused a big problem for the Jew and the Christian. All the Bible does not contain the name of god (or God).

Thats why we say: Allah Sobhanaho Wataala but we don't say Al-Rabb Sobhanaho Wataala.

At the day of Judgment we will all be asked: who is your god ? We will say: Allah or we will say: god (but with a big g) ?

Through my research and comparison of different translations, I found Dr. Muhammad Mahmud Ghali's translation is the most accurate one, not with the meanings but with the structures of the translated sentences also, to the Arabic Quran. Allah will reword him inshallah the Janna for his work, he spent around 15 years to finish it.

For sure, there are many translations that I don't know or read before.

Inshallah that was useful.


Wasalaam

BRMM

Allahu Akbar!

I'm happy to hear this beautiful news, May Allah Allah swt keep you on the straight path and grant you Jannah ameeen.=)

2And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
3And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty,
but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

the name "GOD" is also not a semetic name, it is just a translation into english,
i tend to agree with brother Mustafa MC somewhat, in that the word Allah has a meaning, and when you are talking in a different language, it can be useful to use terms that explain the meaning rather than give them arabic words which take on a whole different meaning in their minds - they tend to think of it as an arabic word therefore foreign - and forget that the word God is an english word and can be found nowhere in the original texts, i can also give you Quranic verses to support my argument:

110. Say: "Call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call upon Him, (it is well):
for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names.
Neither speak thy Prayer aloud, nor speak it in a low tone, but seek a middle course between."
Quran 17:110

Yes - the Quran uses the word Allah, and the Quran was revealed in the Arabic language, and the term Allah was used by arabs before Islam, so in order to translate - it can be rendered into different languages - though the term Allah is quite unique and without ambiguity in meaning. it can become clouded to some who see it as alien to what they know, and imagine all these stereotypical ideas rather than simply imagine the creator when you speak of Him, so the term Almighty God imho is a valid one, when speaking in English.
i remember debating with someone once and he was telling me that he believed in God and i was telling him about Allah or something, despite the fact that i wasn't, i had explained to him that it was an Arabic term which had the same meaning of Almighty God, he didn't believe me and i had to pull out the verse from exodus 6:3 to prove that the prophets before Moses had used the term Almighty God in their respective languages, and Jehovah was new to Moses, and that even the word "God" was not a Hebrew or Aramaic word - but a meaning which described something.

however, the person on the cross (mistaken to be Prophet Jesus (pbuh) ) is recorded to have said: Eli, Eli, Lamasabachthani? meaning: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
the term Eli is of importance here, as the Arabs would use the term Ilahi, to mean "my God", ilah meaning god, "i" at the end refers to oneself, and the term "EL" describes divinity in the Hebrew tongue, so it was a term used :
here's a breakdown:

ʾĒl (written aleph-lamed, e.g. ����, ����, ܐܠ, אל, إل or إله etc.) is a Northwest Semitic word meaning "deity", cognate to Akkadian ‘ilu and then to Hebrew עֵלִי:Eli and Arabic الله: Allah).
In the Canaanite religion, or Levantine religion as a whole, Eli or Il was the supreme god,^[2] the father of humankind and all creatures and the husband of the goddess Asherah as recorded in the clay tablets of Ugarit (modern Rās Shamrā- Arabic: رأس شمرا‎, Syria).^[2]
The noun ʾēl was found at the top of a list of gods as the Ancient of gods or the Father of all gods, in the ruins of the royal archive of the Ebla civilization, in the archaeological site of Tell Mardikh in Syria dated to 2300 BC.

so again, it comes down to the fact that Almighty God used human terms to communicate with humans, and the term itself has a meaning, and is not just a name without meaning,
the reason why many names are not translated is because many names don't have any meaning whatsoever. the term barrington, i don't think can be translated into any language, but the term Allah can, and if the meaning is more clear to the listener than the word, then i'd say it's useful to use the meaning.
and finally:
We sent not a messenger except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people, in order to make (things) clear to them.
Now Allah leaves straying those whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases: and He is Exalted in power, full of Wisdom.
Quran 14:4

i won't argue against the fact that Allah is a unique term, but then the whole Quran is unique and can be lost in translation, as the words have many meanings.

peace

format_quote Originally Posted by MustafaMc

"What ayah or hadith can you quote to support this statement?Insh'Allah

Assalamo alaikom brother Mustafa warahmato Allah,
I think the most clear example is the first and the most important peace of information in Islam which is "La Ilaha Illa Allah, There is no god but Allah" which is the head of the Islam.
From the Holy Quran I can quote some clear ayas like:
20:14 "Surely I, Ever I, am Allah; there is no god except I; so worship Me, and keep up the prayer for My Remembrance."
27:09"O Musa, surely I, Ever I, am Allah, The Ever-Mighty, The Ever-Wise."
28:30"Then, as soon as he came up to it, he was called out from the right bank of the valley in the blessed spot, from the Tree, (that), "O Musa, surely I, Ever I, am Allah, The Lord of the worlds."

As you can read brother, Allah Sobhanaho Wataala Himself calling Himself Allah, can any man argue after this ?

Jazaka Allah Khair for your patience and understanding.

format_quote Originally Posted by abz2000

2And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
3And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty,
but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

the name "GOD" is also not a semetic name, it is just a translation into english,
i tend to agree with brother Mustafa MC somewhat, in that the word Allah has a meaning, and when you are talking in a different language, it can be useful to use terms that explain the meaning rather than give them arabic words which take on a whole different meaning in their minds - they tend to think of it as an arabic word therefore foreign - and forget that the word God is an english word and can be found nowhere in the original texts, i can also give you Quranic verses to support my argument:

110. Say: "Call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call upon Him, (it is well):
for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names.
Neither speak thy Prayer aloud, nor speak it in a low tone, but seek a middle course between."
Quran 17:110

Yes - the Quran uses the word Allah, and the Quran was revealed in the Arabic language, and the term Allah was used by arabs before Islam, so in order to translate - it can be rendered into different languages - though the term Allah is quite unique and without ambiguity in meaning. it can become clouded to some who see it as alien to what they know, and imagine all these stereotypical ideas rather than simply imagine the creator when you speak of Him, so the term Almighty God imho is a valid one, when speaking in English.
i remember debating with someone once and he was telling me that he believed in God and i was telling him about Allah or something, despite the fact that i wasn't, i had explained to him that it was an Arabic term which had the same meaning of Almighty God, he didn't believe me and i had to pull out the verse from exodus 6:3 to prove that the prophets before Moses had used the term Almighty God in their respective languages, and Jehovah was new to Moses, and that even the word "God" was not a Hebrew or Aramaic word - but a meaning which described something.

however, the person on the cross (mistaken to be Prophet Jesus (pbuh) ) is recorded to have said: Eli, Eli, Lamasabachthani? meaning: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
the term Eli is of importance here, as the Arabs would use the term Ilahi, to mean "my God", ilah meaning god, "i" at the end refers to oneself, and the term "EL" describes divinity in the Hebrew tongue, so it was a term used :
here's a breakdown:

ʾĒl (written aleph-lamed, e.g. Λ΍, ऀऋ, ܐܠ, אל, إل or إله etc.) is a Northwest Semitic word meaning "deity", cognate to Akkadian ‘ilu and then to Hebrew עֵלִי:Eli and Arabic الله: Allah).
In the Canaanite religion, or Levantine religion as a whole, Eli or Il was the supreme god,^[2] the father of humankind and all creatures and the husband of the goddess Asherah as recorded in the clay tablets of Ugarit (modern Rās Shamrā- Arabic: رأس شمرا‎, Syria).^[2]
The noun ʾēl was found at the top of a list of gods as the Ancient of gods or the Father of all gods, in the ruins of the royal archive of the Ebla civilization, in the archaeological site of Tell Mardikh in Syria dated to 2300 BC.

so again, it comes down to the fact that Almighty God used human terms to communicate with humans, and the term itself has a meaning, and is not just a name without meaning,
the reason why many names are not translated is because many names don't have any meaning whatsoever. the term barrington, i don't think can be translated into any language, but the term Allah can, and if the meaning is more clear to the listener than the word, then i'd say it's useful to use the meaning.
and finally:
We sent not a messenger except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people, in order to make (things) clear to them.
Now Allah leaves straying those whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases: and He is Exalted in power, full of Wisdom.
Quran 14:4

i won't argue against the fact that Allah is a unique term, but then the whole Quran is unique and can be lost in translation, as the words have many meanings.

peace

Assalamu Alaikom my dear brother,
Thank you for your kind opinion.
I don't agree with many ideas you have said.
Pls take it easy and it will be more clear.

1)You said Allah is an Arabic term. I don't agree. Allah is The First before everything else, so when you say Allah is an Arabic term it means even 1. The Arab new Allah Sobhanaho or His name after using the Arabic language, or 2. Allah Sobhanaho have said to each prophet a different name depending on his people local language. Both options are wrong.
Allah is not an Arabic term, it is the Holy name of Allah Sobhanaho, which Allah Sobhanaho have decided to call Himself and as Allah told us in the Quran.
20:14

إِنَّنِي أَنَا اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدْنِي وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِي

2) Yes we can call Allah Sobhanaho by Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim, ...etc any of His 99 names, but the word (god or rabb) is not one of them.

3) The Christian have a completely different view about the god that they worship than Muslims, so I don't think it is a good idea to say: That Muslims and Christian are worshiping the same god. Their god is 3 in 1, which is not the same that we worship.
Jesus (Isa) PBUH didn't speak Arabic, but He told His people that My and your god is Allah.
You can use the Syriac/Aramiac (Isa's pbuh language) dictionary online, right the word "god" and read the result -----> " Allah"

http://www.atour.com/cgi-bin/diction...ng&VTI-GROUP=0

Allah is The First before any language or any thing.

Baraka Allah Feek.

BRMM

Thank you for the differing view brother, as it keeps the concept of the forum alive for people to learn different opinions ad decide from, however, the fact remains that the word Allah was used in Arabia long before the Glorious Quran was revealed to the prophet pbuh in his mother tongue, the Jews AND Christians of Arabia referred to the Almighty as Allah and so did the pagans (despite them having confusing opinions of Him) , the prophet's father's name was Abdullah and so where many of the pagans, some of the Jews also had the name, the word may have existed from Adam pbuh and I'm not disputing that, however I am saying that the word Allah in it's current form was used almost exclusively by people in and around the Arabian peninsula, the Hebrews used "El", it may have been Allah in pure Aramaic,

Secondly you asserted that Allah said: inni Ana Allahu la-ilaaha illa Ana,
From that you concluded that Allah was saying the word Allah in it's exact form - which is not in any way an evidence, as He would have been speaking to Moses in his mother Tongue, and it is highly unlikely that he would have used the words inni, Ana, la, ilaha, illa, and Ana, these are all Arabic words, so although Allah swt is saying that's what he said, he's rendering it into Arabic for the prophet pbuh, although Allah says in the Quran that pharaoh said this and pharaoh said that, I can assure you that pharaoh did not utter those exact words as he wasn't speaking in Arabic, Allah was explaining it in the Quranic language.

A nice example, something I found amazing in the previous scripture (despite its edits) was when Moses pbuh asks? Who shall I say sent me? And Allah swt says: I am what I am.
This is a profound statement as it fills in every description and quality of Almighty God into three words, ehye Asher ehye, ie the creator of the heavens and the earth, your creator, my creator, the sustainer, the forgiver, the punisher..... You could go on for ever,

31.27. If all the trees on the earth were pens, and all the sea (were ink), with seven more seas added thereto, the words of God (Hic decrees, the acts of all His Names and Attributes manifested as His commandments, and the events and creatures He creates) would not be exhausted in the writing. Surely God is the All-Glorious with irresistible might (Whom none can frustrate, and Whom nothing can tire), the All-Wise.
وَلَوْ أَنَّمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ مِن شَجَرَةٍ أَقْلَامٌ وَالْبَحْرُ يَمُدُّهُ مِن بَعْدِهِ سَبْعَةُ أَبْحُرٍ مَّا نَفِدَتْ كَلِمَاتُ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ

I am sure you would disagree if someone chastised another because he decided to call Allah, the creator of All, or The Almighty, since these are His attributes, and can be called by them,
Similarly, if you check for the word "God" in the dictionary, you will find that it describes His qualities, and when you add the word "Almighty" to that, there's not much ambiguity remaining, so it can be considered a perfectly valid description of the Supreme Being. And it is sometimes more useful to describe him through these attributes than to use a word which may cause a "slide" in the listener's head,
The intelligence community have studied "slides" through various means and have found that a single word or gesture can cause a breakdown in the receptiveness of a subject and cause them to become unreceptive,
For example, if you are having a conversation with a normal person who doesn't know you, they may listen attentively, as soon as you use the words "conspiracy" or "aliens" or "flying saucers" or "massive plot" they can lose focus and their brain will lose reception as they have been conditioned to see these words as bizarre, you could say "Muslim" before 9/11 and "Muslim" after 9/11 and you would find different images pop up in their head due to social conditioning - from hats and prayer rugs to turbans and rpgs and suicide belts and what not, the advertising industry is also well versed in propaganda techniques, this is simple human psychology, if you say "fatwa" they think of something evil and foreign, however, if you simply used the term "ruling" they would continue to listen with neutrality, it is not wrong to use the word Allah, and it should be used, but it is also not wrong to give a clearer word which they can receive with neutrality, and then go on to explain that Allah is the Arabic word to describe Almighty God and it is this word that is used in the Quran, so is now exclusively used by Muslims as the name of Almighty God/the creator/the sustainer etc.

It was a test done by an American scientist, he would get a rabbit and put it near the baby, baby's fine, he makes scary noises behind the rabbit, baby starts getting scared and crying, he moves the rabbit, gets anything furry, baby starts crying - the baby had mentally associated the rat -and in extension, anything furry- with a scary experience, in psychology it's called generalisation. I say freedom fighters, you say extremist fundamentalist terrorists, the people will see the same group in two different lights, despite the subjects of the topic being exactly the same. Why? The different words stir different emotions, and some actions are better explained than labelled to avoid confusion.
A man grows up having heard somewhere that Allah is an intolerant imagined being who lives in a big black box which people encircle in the desert in Saudi arabia, and He requires that they blow themselves up in order to kill as many infidels as possible - no matter how much you try to invite him to Allah, he thinks, I don't want to worship a god who lives in a box in he desert in Saudi Arabia no matter how many nice things you say about him to me! And I definitely don't want to blow myself up! You simply use the accurate description of that God and you see minds wide open - simply because there's no prejudice involved in their judgement and they are receiving it with neutrality, when propagandists want to revile someone, they say a few nice things about them first - simply to give the impression of neutrality....... I hope you get my gist, this video should explain it all:





Peace

It is interesting to see that in some places in the Qur'an, Allah has described/referred to Himself as Ilaah (God).



Dr. Ghali
"And He is (The One) Who in the heaven is God, and in the earth is God; and He is The Ever-Wise, the Ever-Knowing."(43:84)

I take note of brother brmm's point about the importance of accuracy of translations; jazaakallah khayr for bringing up the issue. It is interesting that most here have translated Ilaah as Allah, apart from Ghali and Muhsin Khan, who have either retained the word ilaah (Muhsin Khan), or have translated as God (Dr Ghali).

Also, when preaching to people, Allah did sometimes instruct the Prophet to tell people that they had only One God, using the word ilaah (God).



Dr. Ghali
Say, "Surely I am only a mortal like you. To me it is revealed that your God is only One God; so go straight to Him, and ask for His forgiveness; and woe to the associators. (41:6)

In fact Rasoolullah is instructed by Allah to say (using the command 'Qul', meaning 'Say'), "ilaahukum ilaahun waahid" (Your God is One God), at least three times in the Qur'an.

And sometimes Allah says it Himself :



Dr. Ghali
"Your God is One God. So, the ones who do not believe in the Hereafter, their hearts (are) denying and they are waxing proud." (16:22)

So when we are preaching/giving da'wah, we can also use the word God, providing we clarify without a shred of doubt, as the Qur'an does, what the concept of God is in Islam, and how it differs from any other faith.

And Allah knows best in all matters.

Also, welcome to brother Dwayne and apologies for side-tracking this thread.

format_quote Originally Posted by demmaster

I want to learn all I can about Islam and I've come here for help and guidance.

We'll all do our best to help inshaa'Allah, so please do ask away.

May Allah keep you steadfast, ameen.

Assalaamu alaikum.