Catholics in Malaysia refer to God as Allah

[Basil the Great]

According to an article on today's CNN homepage, not only do Catholics in Malaysia call God Allah, but even some of their Bibles use the term Allah for God. This would seem to lend credence to the thesis that Muslims and Christians (and Jews for that matter) all worship the God of Abraham.

 

[RileyG]

Yes, several Arabic Christians do call God 'Allah', I don't think it is meant to mean that Christians & Muslims worship the same God though....

 

[ebia]

According to an article on today's CNN homepage, not only do Catholics in Malaysia call God Allah, but even some of their Bibles use the term Allah for God. This would seem to lend credence to the thesis that Muslims and Christians (and Jews for that matter) all worship the God of Abraham.

That's correct, yes.

 

[Chrystal-J]

According to an article on today's CNN homepage, not only do Catholics in Malaysia call God Allah, but even some of their Bibles use the term Allah for God. This would seem to lend credence to the thesis that Muslims and Christians (and Jews for that matter) all worship the God of Abraham.

It is now against the law in Malaysia for anyone but a Muslim to say the word Allah.

See my thread in the politics forum:

http://www.christianforums.com/t7829120/

 

[LivingWordUnity]

According to an article on today's CNN homepage, not only do Catholics in Malaysia call God Allah, but even some of their Bibles use the term Allah for God. This would seem to lend credence to the thesis that Muslims and Christians (and Jews for that matter) all worship the God of Abraham.

Except that a Muslim would refuse to accept the Old Testament name of God. And Muslims also strongly reject calling God our Father. Instead, they view God as an all-powerful slave master. Jews, on the other hand, do call God Father. It's interesting how it's always Christians trying to compromise for Muslims while Muslims won't compromise one iota of their beliefs for us.

 

[ebia]

It is now against the law in Malaysia for anyone but a Muslim to say the word Allah. See my thread in the politics forum: http://www.christianforums.com/t7829120/

Note that the argument is not that the Christian God is not Allah, but that Christian use of the word Allah could confuse Muslims and lead to their conversion.

 

[LivingWordUnity]

Note that the argument is not that the Christian God is not Allah, but that Christian use of the word Allah could confuse Muslims and lead to their conversion.

And converting to Christianity can get a Muslim the death penalty in a Sharia court. That's why they take it so seriously.

 

[ebia]

And converting to Christianity can get a Muslim the death penalty in a Sharia court. That's why they take it so seriously.

You seem to only have one conversation

 

[GoingByzantine]

As far as I know, God in Arabic is "Allah"...its just a linguistic difference. This means that Catholics in Arabic, or Arabic influenced regions would call God Allah. It is not just done amongst Malaysian Roman Catholics, but also among many Melkites, Copts, Syriacs and other Oriental and Eastern Catholics in communion with Rome.

You can hear "Allah" at around 1:40 In this Eastern Catholic chanting of Acts:

Epistle Acts 1:1-8 in Arabic - YouTube

 

[High Fidelity]

I'm pretty sure "God" = "Allah" in Arabic, but I may be wrong.

Considering how many Malaysians are Muslim, it wouldn't be that surprising for the majority of people that to speak Arabic as well as Malaysian and their first introduction to religion likely Islam. So "Allah" probably stuck.

 

[Fantine]

I am astonished that you even believed that Muslims worship a different God than Christians or Jews.

Christians believe in the Trinity--but all three religions believe in the God of the Old Testament.

 

[DiligentlySeekingGod]

It's my understanding that Muslims do not believe in the deity of Christ, in fact, they deny it (1 John 2:22; 2 John 1:7). And if they deny that Jesus is the Son of God, I seriously doubt that they believe or even acknowledge the Holy Spirit. Therefore, how can Muslims worship the same God as we do, as Christians, if they deny His triune nature? And it's to my understanding, as it is written in Scripture, anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is a liar (1 John 2:22).

 

[Chrystal-J]

It's my understanding that Muslims do not believe in the deity of Christ, in fact, they deny it (1 John 2:22; 2 John 1:7). And if they deny that Jesus is the Son of God, I seriously doubt that they believe or even acknowledge the Holy Spirit. Therefore, how can Muslims worship the same God as we do, as Christians, if they deny His triune nature? And it's to my understanding, as it is written in Scripture, anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is a liar (1 John 2:22).

True.

 

[LivingWordUnity]

It's my understanding that Muslims do not believe in the deity of Christ, in fact, they deny it (1 John 2:22; 2 John 1:7). And if they deny that Jesus is the Son of God, I seriously doubt that they believe or even acknowledge the Holy Spirit. Therefore, how can Muslims worship the same God as we do, as Christians, if they deny His triune nature? And it's to my understanding, as it is written in Scripture, anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is a liar (1 John 2:22).

Someone is going to answer with the point that the Jews don't believe in the Holy Trinity. But the reason Jews don't believe in the Trinity is because they are going only by what was revealed in the Old Testament. The Muslims, however, reject even the way that God revealed Himself in the Old Testament in favor of the Koran's rewriting of it. The Old Testament is a story about the relationship between God and His chosen people the Jews. In Islam, they even deny that Isaac and all the other Jews who came after him were Jews. They claim that all of these were secretly Muslim. Their belief in a secretly kept knowledge and hidden history is similar to the heresy of Gnosticism.

 

[High Fidelity]

It's my understanding that Muslims do not believe in the deity of Christ, in fact, they deny it (1 John 2:22; 2 John 1:7). And if they deny that Jesus is the Son of God, I seriously doubt that they believe or even acknowledge the Holy Spirit. Therefore, how can Muslims worship the same God as we do, as Christians, if they deny His triune nature? And it's to my understanding, as it is written in Scripture, anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is a liar (1 John 2:22).

I suppose it's down to perspective.

Think of it as a series of book. The main character might be the same even if the stories are different in each instance.

 

[DiligentlySeekingGod]

Someone is going to answer with the point that the Jews don't believe in the Holy Trinity. But the difference is that reason they don't believe in the Trinity is because they are going only by what was revealed in the Old Testament. The Muslims, however, reject even the way that God revealed Himself in the Old Testament in favor of the Koran's rewriting of it. The Old Testament is a story about the relationship between God and His chosen people the Jews. In Islam, they even deny Isaac and all the other Jews who came after him were Jews. They claim that all of these were secretly Muslim. And that aspect of their belief of a secret knowledge is kind of like the heresy of Gnosticism.

Duly noted. I honestly didn't know how to address the Jewish people who do not believe in Jesus as the Son of God. If they deny Jesus as the Son of God, it only stands to reason that they would also deny the Holy Spirit. Thank you for addressing this issue for me. I truly appreciate it very much. God bless you.

 

[DiligentlySeekingGod]

I suppose it's down to perspective.

Think of it as a series of book. The main character might be the same even if the stories are different in each instance.

I understand your analogy, however, I humbly disagree with you. And with all due respect, it's my personal belief that the Bible is the sole and final authority for anything and everything that has to do with the Christian faith. Therefore, I believe that Scripture is quite clear about those who deny Jesus as the Son of God. I know there are other Christians who would disagree with me, but that's fine with me. I respect their opinions, even if I disagree with them.

 

[LivingWordUnity]

Duly noted. I honestly didn't know how to address the Jewish people who do not believe in Jesus as the Son of God. If they deny Jesus as the Son of God, it only stands to reason that they would also deny the Holy Spirit. Thank you for addressing this issue for me. I truly appreciate it very much. God bless you.

Think of the Jewish beliefs as being frozen in the Old Testament times. They worship the same God. The only difference is that Christians came to know Him better. The Old Testament God and the New Testament God are the same God. The Jewish faith is at the root of the Christian faith. Judaism and Christianity have the same Old Testament and the same salvation history. So we are part of the same tree, and Christianity is blood-related to Judaism. But Islam is a different tree. They have a book which teaches a totally different salvation history. The difference is like if someone rewrote the story of the civil war so that the South wins and the North loses. Muhammad was never a Christian, and he was never a Jew. So, saying that Muslims worship our God is a far stretch. I'm not saying that it isn't possible to imagine, it's just a lot harder to do.

 

[Dylan Michael]

According to an article on today's CNN homepage, not only do Catholics in Malaysia call God Allah, but even some of their Bibles use the term Allah for God. This would seem to lend credence to the thesis that Muslims and Christians (and Jews for that matter) all worship the God of Abraham.

Allah is just a contraction of Al meaning 'the' and ilah meaning 'god'. It's not a name, just a word.

 

[LivingWordUnity]

I want to go to some Islamic websites to see what Muslims are saying about it among each other. That's the only way we can find out for sure what they believe. But I'm afraid that I might stumble on an Islamic terrorist website. There is a real risk of this.