sch2q@palm.cs.Virginia.EDU (Saad C. Himmich) (05/08/91)
I really don't understand why people keep on calling God as Allah. Allah is just the arabic word for God. Keeping on saying Allah lead to a situation where non-muslims think that Muslims have a different God. Many christians I have been talking to have so many wrong ideas about Islam! Allah is the same god that sent Jesus as a prophet. So why not say God or Dieu (in French) or Dio (in Spanish) or ... If I missed something, please tell me. I thought that we (as Muslims) were trying to make people know better about Islam. One of the basic things to know is that Islam is a continuity of the two other religions, in the sense that it does not refute the existence of the previous prophets, Mohammed being another prophet (the last one). The very fact that when you say Allah people look at you as if you were invoking Manitu is very enraging. After so many centuries, people still don't know anything about Islam. How can it be? --Saad.
soufi@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Khaled Soufi) (05/08/91)
I think you've made some very good points. We should use the word God when we speak English so that people who don't know the fact that Allah is really the Arabic word for God don't get confused as they normally do!! It is sad, however, that so many people don't know such a basic fact. Actually, some abhoring jerks (that I have seen on TV) maliciously take advantage of the ignorance and use the word "Allah" (despite the fact that it might be the only arabic word they know!!!!) when they refer to God, so as to insinuate that "Allah of the muslims" is different from God. --khaled -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Khaled Soufi phone: (217)244-2274 room 2327 Department of Computer Science
sinnott@iastate.edu (Sinnott Susan Buthaina) (05/08/91)
EXACTLY! I have been wanting to ask the say question for a long time. Allah is the Arabic word for God, Dieu is the French word for God, etc. Many people think that Allah is the name of a "god", which is not correct. And while we are at it, since we are writing in English on this board, let us try to stick to English as much as possible. I get really tired to trying to decipher all the Arabic. Susan
christy@CRVAX.Sri.Com (Christy Chase) (05/09/91)
In article <1991May7.223211.31482@wpi.WPI.EDU>, sch2q@palm.cs.Virginia.EDU (Saad C. Himmich) writes... > >I really don't understand why people keep on calling God as Allah. >Allah is just the arabic word for God. Keeping on saying Allah lead to a >situation where non-muslims think that Muslims have a different God. >Many christians I have been talking to have so many wrong ideas about Islam! >Allah is the same god that sent Jesus as a prophet. So why not say God >or Dieu (in French) or Dio (in Spanish) or ... > While I can understand this idea, and I do often use the word God when speaking with Christians, I must say that I also disagree. What I understand is that although God and Allah are alike, both refer to the One and Only Creator, they are also different. God may become gods, godess, or goddesses. Allah is not male or female and it cannot be made plural. In this sense, it is much more specific. Also, this is the way Allah refers to Himself in the Holy Quran. We should try to translate as little as possible, as in every translation there is a loss or change of meaning. Christy
lateef@eemips.tamu.edu (Afroz Lateef) (05/09/91)
In article <1991May8.200343.490@wpi.WPI.EDU> christy@CRVAX.Sri.Com (Christy Chase) writes: > >In article <1991May7.223211.31482@wpi.WPI.EDU>, sch2q@palm.cs.Virginia.EDU (Saad C. Himmich) writes... >> >>I really don't understand why people keep on calling God as Allah. >>Allah is just the arabic word for God. Keeping on saying Allah lead to a >>situation where non-muslims think that Muslims have a different God. >>Allah is the same god that sent Jesus as a prophet. So why not say God >>or Dieu (in French) or Dio (in Spanish) or ... >> >While I can understand this idea, and I do often use the word God when speaking >with Christians, I must say that I also disagree. What I understand is that >although God and Allah are alike, both refer to the One and Only Creator, they >are also different. God may become gods, godess, or goddesses. Allah is not >male or female and it cannot be made plural. In this sense, it is much more >specific. Also, this is the way Allah refers to Himself in the Holy Quran. >We should try to translate as little as possible, as in every translation there >is a loss or change of meaning. I will have to agree with christy over here in this respect. I come from India, and over there if one says God, then the question will be : which God. Hindus beleive in numerous Gods, god of fire, god of light, god of destruction, death, wind, rain etc. etc. If God in Arabic is Allah, then (not that i disagree) how about the tr translation "La- Ilaha ill-allah" There is no god but Allah. Being a muslim we should stick to Arabic as much as possible. We should say Bismillah, but not in the name of God. Better is to write whenever one writes Allah, then in brackets write god. Afroz Lateef
suheil@athena.mit.edu (Suheil I Laher) (05/09/91)
Assalaam `alaa man ittaba`a alhudaa In article <1991May8.200343.490@wpi.WPI.EDU>, christy@CRVAX.Sri.Com (Christy Chase) writes: |> |> |> In article <1991May7.223211.31482@wpi.WPI.EDU>, sch2q@palm.cs.Virginia.EDU (Saad C. Himmich) writes... |> > |> >I really don't understand why people keep on calling God as Allah. |> >Allah is just the arabic word for God. Keeping on saying Allah lead to a |> >situation where non-muslims think that Muslims have a different God. |> >Many christians I have been talking to have so many wrong ideas about Islam! |> >Allah is the same god that sent Jesus as a prophet. So why not say God |> >or Dieu (in French) or Dio (in Spanish) or ... |> > |> While I can understand this idea, and I do often use the word God when speaking |> with Christians, I must say that I also disagree. What I understand is that |> although God and Allah are alike, both refer to the One and Only Creator, they |> are also different. God may become gods, godess, or goddesses. Allah is not |> male or female and it cannot be made plural. In this sense, it is much more |> specific. Also, this is the way Allah refers to Himself in the Holy Quran. |> We should try to translate as little as possible, as in every translation there |> is a loss or change of meaning. |> |> Christy Allow me to add to the above: The first pillar of Islamic belief is the existence of one god, ALLAH and that Mohamed is His prophet and messenger. Allah is the personal name of the One true God . The term has no plural or gender, thus showing its uniqueness. The one true God is a reflection of the unique concept that Islam associates with God. To a Muslim, Allah is Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, who is similar to nothing and nothing is comparable to Him. Actually, 'god' is translated in Arabic as 'ilah'. Thus, 'La ilaha illa Allah' - there is no god but The God. However, the word 'God' has many undesirable connotations in the English language, besides those already mentioned. For example, a friend of mine told me that he was talking to his neighbour, a Belgian lady who does not believe in God, but who insists on calling Jesus (PBUH) god! Suheil
afifi@wpi.WPI.EDU (Emad Abdel Afifi) (05/09/91)
Allah is not the same thing as God in Arabic may be you refer to Elah or RAB but Allah has a specific meaning and it is the name that mentioned in Quran . For example an arab christian does not say that Jesus is Allah. That is only for clarification although I don`t see a problem in using the word God whe I talk to a nonarab. Emad Afifi
zama@midway.uchicago.edu (iftikhar uz zaman) (05/09/91)
Translation is never straightforward--one has to make choices.
The question with the God <-> Allah translation is also one in which
choices have to be made.
The source for most indo-pak muslims' insisting on the word
Allah is probably Iqbal who said that Allah is not equal to God, since,
as pointed out, "God" can be "gods", but there IS no plural for "Allah."
(Probably others in various parts of the world have also made this
observation...)
On the other hand, most Arab lexicographers consider "Allah" to
be a contraction of "al-ilah". "Ilah" does have a plural ("aaliha")
and thus corresponds almost directly to "god/gods". Now the "al" in
"al-ilah" turns the indefinite "ilah" into the definite Allah--and,
simultaneously, there can be no plural. Capitalizing the "G" in god,
achieves the same syntactic effect--God is used to indicate that the
noun is definite. I wonder, is it permissable to say "Gods," with
a capitalized plural?
So it seems to me that sticking to the word Allah *because*
it does not allow for a plural *could* be a reason, on the other hand,
upon examination, it might not be as strong as it seems at first glance.
Nevertheless, it *could* be the benefit of sticking to this word.
On the other hand, it seems to me that the harm in sticking to
this word to describe the deity as explained to us in the Muslim tradition,
*does* carry the negative aspect which those who started this thread
were suggesting. And, in my own opinion, this harm is far more than
the benefit of sticking to the word Allah--you are rarely able to convey
the fine points which you are observing in using this word instead of
God to an audience which knows little about Islam. On the other hand,
it is quite probably that you *do* end up confirming their prejudices
regarding the deity of Muslims being something "new" ...
If instead you use "God" and then, when you get a chance,
explains how there are problems with this translation, I think you get
the best of both worlds. (and now, on to a more relevant and
practical question: "how many angels can dance on the pin of a
head?"...)
Wassalamaj3u@opal.cs.virginia.edu (Asim Jalis) (05/09/91)
In article <1991May8.200343.490@wpi.WPI.EDU> christy@CRVAX.Sri.Com (Christy Chase) writes: > > While I can understand this idea, and I do often use the word God when > speaking with Christians, I must say that I also disagree. What I > understand is that although God and Allah are alike, both refer to the > One and Only Creator, they are also different. God may become gods, > godess, or goddesses. Allah is not male or female and it cannot be > made plural. In this sense, it is much more specific. Also, this is > the way Allah refers to Himself in the Holy Quran. We should try to > translate as little as possible, as in every translation there is a > loss or change of meaning. > While I understand your argument about "allah" being a more specific term than just "god", I don't follow your last point. "Allah" is simply "ilah" the Arabic word for "god" prefixed with "al" the Arabic definite article. So how was "God" supposed to refer to himself in the Arabic Quran? Also "God" does use the word "ilah", "rab", etc to refer to himself at several places in the Quran.
basil@thyme.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Basil Hashem) (05/09/91)
Saad C. Himmich writes:
=
= I really don't understand why people keep on calling God as Allah.
= Allah is just the arabic word for God. Keeping on saying Allah lead to a
= situation where non-muslims think that Muslims have a different God.
= Many christians I have been talking to have so many wrong ideas about Islam!
= Allah is the same god that sent Jesus as a prophet. So why not say God
= or Dieu (in French) or Dio (in Spanish) or ...
Good points. I tend to use the word "God" when speaking English and "Allah"
when speaking Arabic, but I must admit that amongst many of us Muslims here,
we use "Allah" in English simply to distinguish ourselves. We realize that
Allah is God, one and the same, yet we like to emphasis the unqiueness of our
concept of diety (the Oneness). For example, I'm sure that when many
Catholics hear the word "God", the image of the The Father, The Son, and
Holy Spirit come to mind. To them, this is their immediate reaction to the
word of "God".
As Muslims, we should be accomodating, yet at the same time not lose sight of
the fact that we are different in key respects. Is suppose it is an individual
thing, that tricky, and really depends of the situation.
Salam,
--
Basil Hashem
basil@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov
Jet Propulsion Laboratory La Canada Flintridge, CAjnawaz@skat.usc.edu (Jemshed Nawaz) (05/09/91)
In article <1991May8.161725.21798@wpi.WPI.EDU> sinnott@iastate.edu (Sinnott Susan Buthaina) writes: > > EXACTLY! I have been wanting to ask the say question for a long time. >Allah is the Arabic word for God, Dieu is the French word for God, etc. >Many people think that Allah is the name of a "god", which is not correct. > And while we are at it, since we are writing in English on this >board, let us try to stick to English as much as possible. I get really >tired to trying to decipher all the Arabic. > >Susan NO NO NO!! I disagree with what you are trying to do. First you cast doubt on the requirements of Hijab (which are very explicit) .... Insha-Allah I'll try to respond to that post of yours in the near future. ALLAH is the personal name of God, the Creator, the Sustainer,... ALLAH cannot be translated to God, Dieu, or whatever. The Arabic word for God is Ilah. ALLAH has no roots from which it has been derived. If non-Muslims get confused then it is your duty to inform them what the word means. The word God has connotaions that the word ALLAH doesn't, such as God having a son or a human being a God, etc ... ALLAH is free of such association. If non-Muslims object to the usage, tell them we refer to God as ALLAH because ALLAH means the One and Universal God, the Self-Sufficient who has no need of a partner or a son. As to your second objection, I think we should stick to Arabic, but as suggested before we can include the meaning of the Arabic words. Translating all the Arabic words just because the English-speaking people object is impractical; consider writing "Surrender/Submission" instead of "Islam", or "those who submit" instead of "Muslims" ... and soon you'll be suggesting writing "the praised one" instead of "Muhammad". Jemshed Nawaz
sinnott@iastate.edu (Sinnott Susan Buthaina) (05/10/91)
I couldn't disagree more with Jemshed Nawaz's recent post on this topic. Look up what God means in the dictionary some time. It means One True God. The English word for Ilyhe is gods. Big G means the One True God. Little g means pagon gods. What you are saying is that our God is different than the Christian and Jewish God. Look in your Qu'ran and you will see that this is not so. The reason that the Arabic version of the Qu'ran has Allah is that it is written in Arabic!!! My translation by A. Ali Yusif translates Allah as God throughout. Allah is not the NAME of our "god" as Buddah is the name of Buddist's "god". Finally, Islam is not just a religion for those that can speak Arabic. If you want to write on a bullitan board where the language is Arabic, you will write in that language. I know how to speak and read Arabic and I STILL don't know what people are trying to say when they write Arabic words in English!! I have to sound it out and it takes a long time. Finally, stick to the topic. If you don't like my posts on other topics, feel free to write me or post on this topic. But don't confuse the two. Let's handle one thing at a time. Peace be with you. Susan Sinnott
hanif@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Hanif G Khalak) (05/10/91)
Assalamu alaikum!
In Jahali'a (pre-Islamic), they worshipped various gods and goddesses,
and there were even monotheists. It would seem that since the Seal of the
prophets, Muhammad SAW, received the Qur'an in Arabic, the most relevant Names
for Allah were in the language of the Scripture (99 in all?).
Though it would seem to behoove every Muslim to be lingual in Qur'anic
Arabic, I don't think it is Far'd (required). This would seem make the USE of
'God' acceptable. But when you're in conversation with someone, how often
do you say "God -- capital 'G'"? I would think that using Allah and explain-
ing the significance of this unique Name, would be more appropriate than
resorting to a comfort in a colloquialism. As someone mentioned here, many
times you will hear an atheist or agnostic say something like 'Oh my God'
and other assorted phrases which can get really irritating. Muslims, on
the other hand, say Astaqfur Allah, or Subhan Allah, or Insha' Allah
Kubata ... ("May Allah Forgive me", "Glory to Allah", "By the Grace of Allah")
and so on. NO ONE else says these! And it's NOT because we 'believe in a
different God'.
Suratul Kafirun enjoins Muslims to say to disbelievers, "Say, we do not
worship that which you worship, and you do not worship that which we worship"
This does not engage one in thoughts of polytheistical wars, but more pro-
foundly, a declaration of disparity in BELIEF. The validity OF that belief.
The Qiblah was changed from Jersulam to Bicca (Mecca), why? I
don't remember the exact reference, but it had to do with the Jews thinking
that the Muslims were trying to be like them and so to differentiate between
Muslim and Jewish tradition, it was done. La ilaha Il Allah.
My meandering point was something like: 'God' as an English word
is not inappropriate, I don't think, when it is an issue of talking to non-
Muslims (esp. those who are not informed). But Allah is a word which gives
Muslims their due identity apart from kufar. May Allah Reward the honest,
and Aid those in need.
Fi amman Allah,
hanif
P.S. Strange, but in English, the nomination (capitalization) of
common nouns is used even with transliteration. why capitalize
Allah? I think that in a sense, the fact that we think (we =
those who have English as primary language) in a language system
which is different from all of the Scriptural texts, makes it
difficult sometimes. :)
--
/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\
| Hanif G. Khalak | hanif@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu |
| 308D WRW, UT/Austin | hanif@ticom.ae.utexas.edu |
| Austin, TX 78712 | phone: (512) 471-4704 |
\__________________________________________________________________/reddy@mips.com (T.S. Reddy) (05/10/91)
In article <1991May9.114157.21740@wpi.WPI.EDU> lateef@eemips.tamu.edu (Afroz Lateef) writes: > > I will have to agree with christy over here in this respect. >I come from India, and over there if one says God, then the question > will be : which God. Hindus beleive in numerous Gods, god of fire, >god of light, god of destruction, death, wind, rain etc. etc. > As a Hindu, when somebody says God, I don't get that nitpicky :-). If you say you believe in Allah or God, I would respect your belief and not judge whether it is right or wrong. I would be happy that you have found your path to God. Hence you are wrong in your statement about what Hindus believe in. Very simply put, while Hindus worship God in different manifestations, at the core of Hindu philosophy, there is belief in the oneness of God. To make a blanket statement as you have is to display ignorance about the subject. Just like many Muslims like to point out the mistakes that non-Muslims make about Islam, I would like readers of this newsgroup to be more careful when making statements like the one above. >Afroz Lateef -- T.S.Reddy (e-mail: reddy@mips.com)
mos@hotlg.att.com (Mostafa Hashem Sherif) (05/10/91)
>From article <1991May9.115216.20409@wpi.WPI.EDU>, by basil@thyme.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Basil Hashem): > > As Muslims, we should be accomodating, yet at the same time not lose sight of > the fact that we are different in key respects. Is suppose it is an individual > thing, that tricky, and really depends of the situation. Well stated Basil Hashem Sherif
sinnott@iastate.edu (Sinnott Susan Buthaina) (05/10/91)
I disagree with Christy's post on the translation of the word Allah to God when switching from Arabic to English. She stated that we should translate as little as possible and that God refers to himself as Allah in the Qu'ran, and therefore we should refer to Him by that word. The reson He refers to Himself as Allah in the Qu'ran, is because the Qu'ran is in ARABIC! In that language, Allah means the One True God. In English, if you which to refer to a pagan god, you use the word with the little "g". When you are referring to the One True God, you use the big "G". God cannot mean many "gods and goddesses", by definition. The Muslim God is the same as the Jewish God of Moses and the God of Jesus. Allah is the Arabic word for God, not a NAME. Susan Sinnott
jnawaz@skat.usc.edu (Jemshed Nawaz) (05/13/91)
In article <1991May9.134847.4629@nntp-server.caltech.edu> jnawaz@skat.usc.edu (Jemshed Nawaz) writes: > > NO NO NO!! > I disagree with what you are trying to do. I apologize for my outburst .... what triggered the outburst was the fact that everyday, all round me I'm seeing Muslims who are all too ready to compromise their religion and make unwarranted changes just so that they don't offend non-Muslims who don't like the way Muslims practise their religion. So forgive me if I came on too strong... Jemshed Nawaz
jgreat@convex.com (J L Greathouse) (05/13/91)
Salaam Alaikum Surely the reason for the original person's concern about the use of the word "God" rather than "Allah" was not that either word is more "grammatically correct" that the other. I missed the original post, but believe from reading the responses that the concern was this: non-Muslims who read this newsgroup might not realize that the word Allah does indeed mean "The Creator of the Universe." While this newsgroup serves as a means of distributing information about Muslims and Islam, the information is seen not only by Muslims but also by non-Muslims, for whom this source of information may be the only source to which they are exposed. If our goal is to spread Islam and to dispell myths about it, we should keep in mind those unseen readers who know very little about Islam. While the use of the word Allah is indeed superior to any translation of that word, perhaps we can regularly define it for those who may not realize we are talking about The Only God, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. Just my humble opinion. J L Greathouse
jnawaz@skat.usc.edu (Jemshed Nawaz) (05/14/91)
Taken from "Khalif'ornia" publication: ALLAH: The supreme name of the Almighty Creator of the universe. Praise be to Allah(SWT), The Creator, Who is All-Powerful and Who rules alone; The Everlasting and Eternal. Allah(SWT) transcends everything. Allah(SWT) is the Worshipped One in Whom all things take refuge. He is above our comprehension and imagination, He is known to us by His attributes and signs. The word ALLAH(SWT) is a proper and true name of God, through which man calls upon Him. According to some of the Great scholars of Islam, like Imam Shaf'aii and Imam Ghazali, the word Allah(SWT) has no root word, and cannot be reduced to the theoretical grammatical components. In Arabic "ALLAH(SWT)" is an unalterable proper noun. It is not masculine, feminine, or plural. Other scholars believe that the word Allah(SWT) is derived from "Aleha/Walaha". This means to worship, to obey, to submit, and something that astonishes and amazes you. Something undescribable, tranquil, fearing from, protected by, attached to, raised up, and elevated.
bro@eunomia.rice.edu (Douglas Monk) (05/16/91)
In article <1991May10.134337.7563@wpi.WPI.EDU> sinnott@iastate.edu (Sinnott Susan Buthaina) writes: >Allah is the Arabic word for God, not a NAME. Hmm. "Allah" is more properly the Arabic name for "YHVH" (often transliterated Jehovah or Yahweh), which is frequently translated "God" in English. "God" is *not* the original Christian or Jewish name or word for the One Creator of the Universe, since *English* is not the original language of their revelations. By consensus, "God" is the word that some Christians and Jews use to refer to the Creator they consider they hold in common. When stressing that that commonality holds for Muslims as well, I see nothing wrong in using "God". When talking to Muslims only, I have no problem with using "Allah": it is unambiguous and keeps closer to the original language which I consider valuable. For example, using the word "prayer" in English instead of transliterating "salah" [prayer-worship] is not as good, since then you have the ambiguity of what to do with "du`a" [prayer-supplication]. But then, I believe the point is really not worth arguing about: no one is suggesting that Muslims should start saying "La ilaha ila God" or "Bismi God", but that there are times when communicating in English when using "God" is useful, with which most da`is [people who teach Islam to non-Muslims] would agree. This whole argument is (apparently) only about how frequently and where those times occur, and some of the responses are getting very inappropriately heated. Is this how Muslims who disagree on *very* minor points should behave toward each other? On a related subject: someone suggested that most Arabic philologists believe that "Allah" is derived from "al-ilah" [the-god]. That is an exaggeration. As has been pointed out, some do, while there are several other points of view. As with other proper names in Arabic, there may or may not be a relationship to roots. The theory has drawbacks. (Contractions? Where does the dagger alif come from? etc.) Doug Monk (bro@rice.edu) Disclaimer: These views are mine, not necessarily my organization's.
christy@CRVAX.Sri.Com (Christy Chase) (05/17/91)
In article <1991May10.134337.7563@wpi.WPI.EDU>, sinnott@iastate.edu (Sinnott Susan Buthaina) writes... > > > I disagree with Christy's post on the translation of the word >Allah to God when switching from Arabic to English. She stated that we >should translate as little as possible and that God refers to himself as >Allah in the Qu'ran, and therefore we should refer to Him by that word. >The reson He refers to Himself as Allah in the Qu'ran, is because the >Qu'ran is in ARABIC! In that language, Allah means the One True God. >In English, if you which to refer to a pagan god, you use the word with >the little "g". When you are referring to the One True God, you use the >big "G". God cannot mean many "gods and goddesses", by definition. The >Muslim God is the same as the Jewish God of Moses and the God of Jesus. >Allah is the Arabic word for God, not a NAME. > > >Susan Sinnott First off, we have different issues going. I believe this thread started with being specific about when talking to non-muslims. In this case I stated I do not think it is 'wrong', but never preferred. Anyways, let's leave that scenario and move on to more generally speaking amongst Muslims. All of us should feel compelled to be able to read the Quran in arabic and not need the translation (I myself cannot do this, but do feel it is very important). Next, if the word Allah means 'the One True God', then use this. This is exactly my point. Allah does not translate to God, it means more than that. Your next point that God cannot mean many "gods and goddesses" I believe would be incorrect. What I mean is (of course I believe your statement to be true in one sense) to whoever worships these "gods and goddesses would consider them to be worthy of being called 'Gods and Goddesses'. No one is disputing that 'our God' is any different than the 'Jewish God of Moses or the God of Jesus'. We are disputing the terms used to refer to Him. And last, the statement that Allah is the arabic word for God and not a name; I would love to dispute, but since I don't know arabic, I'll leave that to those that do. Christy
christy@CRVAX.Sri.Com (Christy Chase) (05/17/91)
In article <1991May10.133833.17086@wpi.WPI.EDU>, sinnott@iastate.edu (Sinnott Susan Buthaina) writes... > >My translation by A. Ali Yusif translates >Allah as God throughout. Just wanted to comment that it depends on which 'A. Yusif Ali' translation you have, mine has the word Allah.
fade@midway.uchicago.edu (mohammad h fadel) (05/21/91)
As a matter of philology, the word "Allah" is simply "Ilah" (god) plus the definite article "al", which produces "al-Ilah." Hence, in Arabic we have the two names "'Abd Allah," and "'Abd al-Ilah," which are synonomous. As for Allah not having any linguistic roots, this is entirely spurious. The root of Allah is hamza (alif), lam, and ha. From this root other verbs and other nouns are derived. Moreover, if "Allah" is taken to be the special name of God, how do we under- stand "Ilah an-nas," in Surat al-Nas? Is it a different Ilah? (Astaghfir Allah!) Was-salam, Mohammad Fadel
mmdh@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (Mamdouh Maher) (05/22/91)
Assalamu 'alaykum, brother Mohammad Fadel writes: >As a matter of philology, the word "Allah" is simply "Ilah" (god) plus the >definite article "al", which produces "al-Ilah." Hence, in Arabic we have >the two names "'Abd Allah," and "'Abd al-Ilah," which are synonomous. As >for Allah not having any linguistic roots, this is entirely spurious. The >root of Allah is hamza (alif), lam, and ha. From this root other verbs and >other nouns are derived. > >Moreover, if "Allah" is taken to be the special name of God, how do we under- >stand "Ilah an-nas," in Surat al-Nas? Is it a different Ilah? (Astaghfir >Allah!) Using the root hamza-lam-ha, one derives ilah (deity), and other related words, but not Allah. For instance, Allah includes the heavy L, (L as in mall, otherwise, Arabic uses the light L as in black) which is not in the root. Al-ilah (the god, ie: the one god - God) and Ilah-al-nas (the god of people) refer to Allah, same way Al-Rahman (the Merciful) does. Each means something different, yet they all refer to Allah. Assalamu 'alaykum, Mamdouh Maher
mmdh@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (Mamdouh Maher) (05/22/91)
Christy Chase writes: >In article <1991May10.133833.17086@wpi.WPI.EDU>, sinnott@iastate.edu (Sinnott Susan Buthaina) writes... >> >>My translation by A. Ali Yusif translates >>Allah as God throughout. > >Just wanted to comment that it depends on which 'A. Yusif Ali' translation >you have, mine has the word Allah. Actually, Yusuf `Ali only used the word God in his translation. The new revised edition is his translation modified by a "panel of scholars". It was done long after his death. May Allah be pleased with his work, with theirs and with ours. I am not here taking a position on the Allah/God debate, just stating a fact. Mamdouh Maher
ahmed@ecs.umass.edu (05/22/91)
In article <1991May10.134212.27802@wpi.WPI.EDU>, reddy@mips.com (T.S. Reddy) writes: > In article <1991May9.114157.21740@wpi.WPI.EDU> lateef@eemips.tamu.edu (Afroz Lateef) writes: >> >> I will have to agree with christy over here in this respect. >>I come from India, and over there if one says God, then the question >> will be : which God. Hindus beleive in numerous Gods, god of fire, >>god of light, god of destruction, death, wind, rain etc. etc. >> > > As a Hindu, when somebody says God, I don't get that nitpicky :-). > If you say you believe in Allah or God, I would respect your belief and > not judge whether it is right or wrong. I would be happy that you have > found your path to God. Hence you are wrong in your statement about what > Hindus believe in. Very simply put, while Hindus worship God in different > manifestations, at the core of Hindu philosophy, there is belief in the > oneness of God. To make a blanket statement as you have is to display > ignorance about the subject. > > Just like many Muslims like to point out the mistakes that > non-Muslims make about Islam, I would like readers of this newsgroup > to be more careful when making statements like the one above. > >>Afroz Lateef > > > -- > T.S.Reddy (e-mail: reddy@mips.com) The concept of God in islam is the oneness of God. But, in Hinduism I have heard and read about 3 main Gods. Is Mr.Reddy suggesting that Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma are manifestations of (in Hindu philosophy) the same God ? take care ... khaleel