Non muslims referring to God as Allah

[S.Belle]

But I have heard from some Muslims who have a problem with non-Muslims using the term Allah to describe God. What are your thoughts on that?

Ive heard that as well but personally it doesnt bother me bc well at least they know that Allah is God. Some non muslims think Allah is a sun/moon god that muslims worship or for instance my mom got asked by this lady ''So Muhammad (pbuh) is your God and Allah is ur prophet?''.
It may get a bit confusing when a non muslim refers to God as Allah bc u may think they're muslims when they are not but i see it more of respect/understanding for Islam.

Thought this was a really GREAT question and didnt want another thread to be thrown off topic
what are your thoughts?

Remember be respectful

[Woodrow]

I feel that all people, Muslim or non-Muslims who pray to the One Monotheistic God(swt) revealed through Adam (as), Musa(as) Ibrahim(as) Isa(as) and all of the True Prophets(PBUT) should use the true name of Allaah(swt). It was the name used by the early Jews, Christians and Sabeeans and is the name they should have always kept.

As a side note I am personally upset at the use of the name god after finding it's origin and what it actually means. Allaah(swt) is not god and should not be called god by any people, just my opinion. I can understand many non-Muslims will disagree with me on this, but I will stick to my opinion.

[Musalman]

God is one. And is the only Creator called Allah. So if the non-muslims refer to God as Allah, I don`t see that how they are wrong?

[S.Belle]

Salams bro Woodrow
if you dont mind could you please explain what you mean
what is origin of the name God?
what about shahada
I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger
To be muslim you must believe this but doesnt that contradict what you just said

Allaah(swt) is not god and should not be called god by any people

im not trying to argue im just confused at your post so please explain to me your thoughts.

[YusufNoor]

I feel that all people, Muslim or non-Muslims who pray to the One Monotheistic God(swt) revealed through Adam (as), Musa(as) Ibrahim(as) Isa(as) and all of the True Prophets(PBUT) should use the true name of Allaah(swt). It was the name used by the early Jews, Christians and Sabeeans and is the name they should have always kept.

As a side note I am personally upset at the use of the name god after finding it's origin and what it actually means. Allaah(swt) is not god and should not be called god by any people, just my opinion. I can understand many non-Muslims will disagree with me on this, but I will stick to my opinion.

i'm thinking me and Uncle are in agreement.

let's look at the thread title:

Non muslims referring to God as Allah

it seems to imply that Allah's name in really God and that we are the only ones with this [seemingly foolish] name.

the question, as i see it:

what do you think of non-Muslims who call Allah Allah? the answer? well, it IS HIS Name!!

now if you ask, "what do you think of non-Muslims who call Allah God?" it seems to be a bit of an insult, as they have other gods. i prefer the special name.

Uncle, if you have info on "the name god after finding it's origin and what it actually means," please post it!

[IAmZamzam]

Uh, doesn't the name "Allah" long predate the time of our religion?

[Woodrow]

Salams bro Woodrow
if you dont mind could you please explain what you mean
what is origin of the name God?
what about shahada
I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger
To be muslim you must believe this but doesnt that contradict what you just said

im not trying to argue im just confused at your post so please explain to me your thoughts.

Well to understand the English word god you need to understand it's origin. It comes from the Germanic word Gott (Originally Gad) and originally did not refer to Allaah(swt). The German people were pagans and of Indo-European heritage the language is of considerable Hindu influence. One of the manifestations of the Hindu deity Vishnu was called Gad and this was one of the pagan gods worshiped by the early Teutonic tribes of Germany. God eventually came to mean deity in English the name God as applied as a name for the God of the Christians came about in about the year 800 but did not show in print in the English language bible until the year 1611. Through the works of Shakespeare and the 1611 version of the KJV the word God(swt) became popularized as the name for the one god. Although in a few of his plays Shakespeare did use the term Gadzooks (in old English "Gad's Zuks" meaning God's Hooks), Medieval slang and somewhat blasphemous reference to the nails of the crucifixion. But there you can fully see the use of the old Hindu Pagan name Gad

In the shahadah La'ilah translates more closely to "There is no diety" The lower case, not capitalized word god, in common English

what about shahada
I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger

The word God should not be capitalized. It is god(generally accepted as meaning deity) so when the Shahadah is written in English it should be written as : I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. In which case there is no mistaking of God as being the name of the god.

[gohar98]

Well to understand the English word god you need to understand it's origin. It comes from the Germanic word Gott (Originally Gad) and originally did not refer to Allaah(swt). The German people were pagans and of Indo-European heritage the language is of considerable Hindu influence. One of the manifestations of the Hindu deity Vishnu was called Gad and this was one of the pagan gods worshiped by the early Teutonic tribes of Germany. God eventually came to mean deity in English the name God as applied as a name for the God of the Christians came about in about the year 800 but did not show in print in the English language bible until the year 1611. Through the works of Shakespeare and the 1611 version of the KJV the word God(swt) became popularized as the name for the one god. Although in a few of his plays Shakespeare did use the term Gadzooks (in old English "Gad's Zuks" meaning God's Hooks), Medieval slang and somewhat blasphemous reference to the nails of the crucifixion. But there you can fully see the use of the old Hindu Pagan name Gad

In the shahadah La'ilah translates more closely to "There is no diety" The lower case, not capitalized word god, in common English

what about shahada
I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger

The word God should not be capitalized. It is god(generally accepted as meaning deity) so when the Shahadah is written in English it should be written as : I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. In which case there is no mistaking of God as being the name of the god.

Thanks for informing. I really didn`t know about the greek word and it`s origin.

[S.Belle]

Well to understand the English word god you need to understand it's origin. It comes from the Germanic word Gott (Originally Gad) and originally did not refer to Allaah(swt). The German people were pagans and of Indo-European heritage the language is of considerable Hindu influence. One of the manifestations of the Hindu deity Vishnu was called Gad and this was one of the pagan gods worshiped by the early Teutonic tribes of Germany. God eventually came to mean deity in English the name God as applied as a name for the God of the Christians came about in about the year 800 but did not show in print in the English language bible until the year 1611. Through the works of Shakespeare and the 1611 version of the KJV the word God(swt) became popularized as the name for the one god. Although in a few of his plays Shakespeare did use the term Gadzooks (in old English "Gad's Zuks" meaning God's Hooks), Medieval slang and somewhat blasphemous reference to the nails of the crucifixion. But there you can fully see the use of the old Hindu Pagan name Gad

In the shahadah La'ilah translates more closely to "There is no diety" The lower case, not capitalized word god, in common English

what about shahada
I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger

The word God should not be capitalized. It is god(generally accepted as meaning deity) so when the Shahadah is written in English it should be written as : I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. In which case there is no mistaking of God as being the name of the god.

Oh ok I understand now Jazakallah Khair

[Perseveranze]

Asalaamu Alaikum,

It's fine if Non-Muslims want to use the word Allah, just hope they understand what it means, thats all.

[glo]

Woodrow, going with your definition that god means deity, would you say that 'Allah' is the name of the one true god? Or his title/role? Or how else would you describe it?

I am trying to get my head round how 'Allah' is different from 'God' ...

My personal view would be that god = deity, which might mean all sorts of different things for different people from different faiths.
'God' in Christianity (in my opinion) means the one true God, the God of Abraham, the deity which Jews refer to as 'Yahweh' and Muslims as 'Allah'.

Therefore, in my mind they are the same.
When I pray I could use the term God or Yahweh or indeed Allah, and still address the same deity.

[Amat Allah]

"Allah" is the same word used by Christian Arabs and Jewish Arabs in their Bible, centuries before Islam came

[Woodrow]

Woodrow, going with your definition that god means deity, would you say that 'Allah' is the name of the one true god? Or his title/role? Or how else would you describe it?

I am trying to get my head round how 'Allah' is different from 'God' ...

My personal view would be that god = deity, which might mean all sorts of different things for different people from different faiths.
'God' in Christianity (in my opinion) means the one true God, the God of Abraham, the deity which Jews refer to as 'Yahweh' and Muslims as 'Allah'.

Therefore, in my mind they are the same.
When I pray I could use the term God or Yahweh or indeed Allah, and still address the same deity.

Peace Glo,

As a title it means "The one true Diety with no partners, offspring or equals". It is also a Proper name as a name it contains at a minimum all of the 99 names mentioned in the Qur'an. if you ever see a written calligraphy of the Asma ul Hamsa ((99 Names of Allaah)

100 names

99 names plus ONE Allaah

[YusufNoor]

Woodrow, going with your definition that god means deity, would you say that 'Allah' is the name of the one true god? Or his title/role? Or how else would you describe it?

I am trying to get my head round how 'Allah' is different from 'God' ...

My personal view would be that god = deity, which might mean all sorts of different things for different people from different faiths.
'God' in Christianity (in my opinion) means the one true God, the God of Abraham, the deity which Jews refer to as 'Yahweh' and Muslims as 'Allah'.

Therefore, in my mind they are the same.
When I pray I could use the term God or Yahweh or indeed Allah, and still address the same deity.

the term "god" in Arabic is ilah. ilah also denotes something that you worship, whether deservedly or not, only that you imagine it so.

Allah is a contraction of Al ilah, according to some scholars, which means THE ONLY ONE WORTHY OF ALL WORSHIP

thus la ilaha illallah means:

there is nothing worthy of worship along with nothing that you imagine of being worthy of worship is actually worthy of worship EXCEPT for the ONE AND ONLY ONE Who is Worthy Of ALL Worship.

thus Allah is closer in meaning to "The One True God" as opposed to just god.

[Pygoscelis]

What else would we call your God? Why would anybody be upset about us calling your God by the name you assign your God? It distinguishes your conception of God from those of other religions. If I speak of Allah you know I am speaking of Islam. That anybody would object to that just seems peculiar.

[Perseveranze]

What else would we call your God? Why would anybody be upset about us calling your God by the name you assign your God? It distinguishes your conception of God from those of other religions. If I speak of Allah you know I am speaking of Islam. That anybody would object to that just seems peculiar.

Peace,

If we got upset, then so would the Jews/Christians and thiests that refer to "God" as "Allah". Don't know where you come with the "your God" conclusion from.

[Hamza Asadullah]

Asalaamu alaikum, When i was in Egypt recently we visited an old coptic church in Cairo with our tour guide called the "hanging church" which has some significance to Christians and is sacred to them.

When i came towards the entrance i saw written on top of the entrance "La ilaha ilallah" and was quite surprised. Christians in Egypt also call god "Allah" and repeat the first part of our kalima but not the second part referring to our Prophet ( Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam).

In the past after the ascension of Isa (AlaihiSalaam) the true Christians believed in the kalima "La ilaha ilallah" until Constantine who was only ever concerned with power, wiped out true Christianity and from the huge influence of paganism from the greeks he along with others integrated paganism into Christianity and this is the Christianity we have today. A christianity which is now so far from the true message of monothiesm which was propogated by all Prophets including Isa (AlaihiSalaam).

May all of mankind have the FULL kalima on their lips and hearts. Ameen

[K.Venugopal]

Allah is an Arabic word for God. So when anyone speaks of God in Arabic, he would naturally use the word Allah. Thus, the word God and Allah are generic in English and Arabic respectively. What precise concepts we have of these words would depend on the religion we follow.

[Ami]

I think it is really important that non Muslims talk about Allah because as I realised more and more people are foreign to the idea that Allah is God. I was talking to my friend who is Christian who thought that Allah was a separate god that only Muslims believe in. I was really shocked as I thought everyone just presumed that the arabic word for God is Allah.

[Fivesolas]

I think it is really important that non Muslims talk about Allah because as I realised more and more people are foreign to the idea that Allah is God. I was talking to my friend who is Christian who thought that Allah was a separate god that only Muslims believe in. I was really shocked as I thought everyone just presumed that the arabic word for God is Allah.

I am responding in general here, but your response sheds some light on mine...so that is why I am quoting you. If I take the idea that the term Allah is simply the generic Arabic word for God, then your statement could read, "..I realised more adn more people are foreign to the idea that God is God."

I think the most judicious assessment of the situation is to recognize that words have denotative and connotative meanings. We must also recognize that the meaning of words change over time and come to have a variety of meanings. How many remember that the word law denotes that which is laid, or that the terms "right" and "wrong," which are now completely moral in their nature, originally signified crooked and straight.

Denotatively (definitional), the term Allah is the generic word for God, with no specific reference to any particular God. Connotatively (implied), it seems clear that the word Allah has come to reference the God of Islam specifically. Let me illustrated this by a question. Would the Shahadah be acceptable if an English confessor said, "There is no God but God..." I would think not.

It appears to me that the term Allah has taken the meaning of a proper noun, rather than just a noun. Allah has become the proper name of God.

For this reason as an English speaking Christian I do not use the word Allah to reference the true God. Used anywhere in my country, it would always invoke the idea of the Islamic God, not the God of the Bible. If this situation isn't the case in other nations/cultures, then I could understand their use of the word Allah. But in English, the generic word for God is God, and should be translated as such as to avoid confusion.