Name of the God of the Bible
Muslims claim that Allah is the God of the Bible. Yet "Allah" does not appear once in either the Old or New Testaments. The only time God is referred to by name in the Old Testament is either as "I AM" YAHWEH (meaning "He (who) is") or as a contraction, YAH. [Please note that the name "Jehovah" is not a biblical name of God instead was especially 'created' by Jews afraid to pronounce the Sacred Name by combining the consonants YHWH with the vowels from adonai, meaning "Lord"].
The word allah does exist in Hebrew but it is not a proper name and it never refers to God of the Bible. Neither is the word 'alah' or 'allah' in the Greek New Testament at all. Therefore the claim that 'Allah' was the name of God in the Bible(God of Israel) is without one single shred of evidence. God of the Bible and Israel has always been known as Yahweh, or (much less frequently) by the contraction Yah. Even when translated to Arabic the name of the God is never translated to allah. Rather its translated to Lord (rabi).
Muslims claim that Allah is the God of the Bible. Yet "Allah" does not appear once in either the Old or New Testaments. The only time God is referred to by name in the Old Testament is either as "I AM" YAHWEH (meaning "He (who) is") or as a contraction, YAH. [Please note that the name "Jehovah" is not a biblical name of God instead was especially 'created' by Jews afraid to pronounce the Sacred Name by combining the consonants YHWH with the vowels from adonai, meaning "Lord"].
The word allah does exist in Hebrew but it is not a proper name and it never refers to God of the Bible. Neither is the word 'alah' or 'allah' in the Greek New Testament at all. Therefore the claim that 'Allah' was the name of God in the Bible(God of Israel) is without one single shred of evidence. God of the Bible and Israel has always been known as Yahweh, or (much less frequently) by the contraction Yah. Even when translated to Arabic the name of the God is never translated to allah. Rather its translated to Lord (rabi).
- The Name Yahweh is shows up in the Third Commandment:
- Thou shalt not take the Name of Yahweh thy Elohim [God] in vain" (Ex.20:7)
Even the Egyptian Coptic Church's Arabic Bible does not use "allah" to refer to the God of Israel (Yahweh).
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Allah of the Quran CAN NOT be the YHWH of the Bible
Exodus 4:22 (KJV) 22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: Romans 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” Quran 5:18 [Al-Maaida] But the Jews and the Christians say, "We are the children of Allah and His beloved." Say,... Nay, you are but human beings, of those He has created, Quran 19:88-93 [Maryam] 92) And it is not appropriate for the Most Merciful that He should take a son. 93) There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Beneficent (Allah) as a slave. |
Origin of the Name Allah
So if Allah isn't the name of the God of the Bible, just where did it come from? "Allah" comes from the compound Arabic word, al-ilah. Al is the definite article "the" and ilah is an Arabic word for "god", i.e. the god. We immediately see that (1) this is not a proper name but a generic name like the Hebrew El (which was used of any deity; and (2) that Allah is not a foreign word (as it would have been if it had been borrowed from the Hebrew Bible) but a purely Arabic one. It would also be wrong to compare "Allah" with the Hebrew or Greek for God (El and Theos, respectively), because "Allah" is purely an Arabic term used exclusively in reference to an Arabic deity.
So if Allah isn't the name of the God of the Bible, just where did it come from? "Allah" comes from the compound Arabic word, al-ilah. Al is the definite article "the" and ilah is an Arabic word for "god", i.e. the god. We immediately see that (1) this is not a proper name but a generic name like the Hebrew El (which was used of any deity; and (2) that Allah is not a foreign word (as it would have been if it had been borrowed from the Hebrew Bible) but a purely Arabic one. It would also be wrong to compare "Allah" with the Hebrew or Greek for God (El and Theos, respectively), because "Allah" is purely an Arabic term used exclusively in reference to an Arabic deity.
Allah in Archeology
Archaeologists have uncovered temples to the Moon-god throughout the Middle East. From the mountains of Turkey to the banks of the Nile, the most wide-spread religion of the ancient world was that of the worship of the Moon-god. In the first literate civilization, the Sumerians have left us thousands of clay tablets in which they described their religious beliefs. As demonstrated by Sjoberg and Hall, the ancient Sumerians worshipped a Moon-god who was called many different names. The most popular names were Nanna, Suen and Asimbabbar. His symbol was the crescent moon. Given the amount of artifacts concerning the worship of this Moon-god, it is clear that this was the dominant religion in Sumeria.
A temple of the Moon-god has been excavated in Ur by Sir Leonard Woolley. He dug up many examples of moon worship in Ur and these are displayed in the British Museum to this day. Harran was likewise noted for its devotion to the Moon-god. In the 1950's a major temple to the Moon-god was excavated at Hazor in Palestine. Two idols of the Moon god were found. Each was a stature of a man sitting upon a throne with a crescent moon carved on his chest. The accompanying inscriptions make it clear that these were idols of the Moon-god. Several smaller statues were also found which were identified by their inscriptions as the "daughters" of the Moon-god.
During the nineteenth century, Amaud, Halevy and Glaser went to Southern Arabia and dug up thousands of Sabean, Minaean, and Qatabanian inscriptions which were subsequently translated. During the 1950's, Wendell Phillips, W.F. Albright, Richard Bower and others excavated sites at Qataban, Timna, and Marib (the ancient capital of Sheba). Thousands of inscriptions on walls and rocks in Northern Arabia have also been collected. Reliefs and votive bowls used in worship of the "daughters of Allah" have also been discovered. The WIFE, al-Lat and the 2 daughters al-Uzza and Manat are sometimes depicted together with Allah the Moon-god represented by a crescent moon above them.
Muslims will find this hard to believe but the facts must be faced. Archeology has found Allah. Allah existed as the Arabian moon god long before Muhammad ever introduced him to Arabs.
Archaeologists have uncovered temples to the Moon-god throughout the Middle East. From the mountains of Turkey to the banks of the Nile, the most wide-spread religion of the ancient world was that of the worship of the Moon-god. In the first literate civilization, the Sumerians have left us thousands of clay tablets in which they described their religious beliefs. As demonstrated by Sjoberg and Hall, the ancient Sumerians worshipped a Moon-god who was called many different names. The most popular names were Nanna, Suen and Asimbabbar. His symbol was the crescent moon. Given the amount of artifacts concerning the worship of this Moon-god, it is clear that this was the dominant religion in Sumeria.
A temple of the Moon-god has been excavated in Ur by Sir Leonard Woolley. He dug up many examples of moon worship in Ur and these are displayed in the British Museum to this day. Harran was likewise noted for its devotion to the Moon-god. In the 1950's a major temple to the Moon-god was excavated at Hazor in Palestine. Two idols of the Moon god were found. Each was a stature of a man sitting upon a throne with a crescent moon carved on his chest. The accompanying inscriptions make it clear that these were idols of the Moon-god. Several smaller statues were also found which were identified by their inscriptions as the "daughters" of the Moon-god.
During the nineteenth century, Amaud, Halevy and Glaser went to Southern Arabia and dug up thousands of Sabean, Minaean, and Qatabanian inscriptions which were subsequently translated. During the 1950's, Wendell Phillips, W.F. Albright, Richard Bower and others excavated sites at Qataban, Timna, and Marib (the ancient capital of Sheba). Thousands of inscriptions on walls and rocks in Northern Arabia have also been collected. Reliefs and votive bowls used in worship of the "daughters of Allah" have also been discovered. The WIFE, al-Lat and the 2 daughters al-Uzza and Manat are sometimes depicted together with Allah the Moon-god represented by a crescent moon above them.
Muslims will find this hard to believe but the facts must be faced. Archeology has found Allah. Allah existed as the Arabian moon god long before Muhammad ever introduced him to Arabs.
"But history establishes beyond the shadow of doubt that even the pagan Arabs, before Muhammad's time, knew their chief god by the name of Allah and even, in a sense, proclaimed his unity...Among the pagan Arabs this term denoted the chief god of their pantheon, the Kaaba, with its three hundred and sixty idols." --(The Muslim Doctrine of God, Samuel M. Zwemer 1905, p24-25)
"Historians like Vaqqidi have said Allah was actually the chief of the 360 gods [one for each day of the year] being worshipped in Arabia at the time Muhammad rose to prominence. Ibn Al-Kalbi gave 27 names of pre-Islamic deities... Interestingly, not many Muslims want to accept that Allah was already being worshipped at the Ka'ba in Mecca by Arab pagans before Muhammad came. Some Muslims become angry when they are confronted with this fact. But history is not on their side. Pre-Islamic literature has proved this." -- (Who is This Allah?, G.J.O.Moshay, 1994, p138) "Islam also owes the term "Allah" to the heathen Arabs. We have evidence that it entered into numerous personal names in Norther Arabia and among the Nabatians. It occurred among the Arabs of later times, in the theophorous names and on its own." --(Why I am not a Muslim, Ibn Warraq, 1995, p42) The Encyclopedia of Religion says: "'Allah' is a pre-Islamic name ... corresponding to the Baylonian Bel" (ed. James Hastings, Edinburgh, T. & T. Clark, 1908, I:326) "Allah is found ... in Arabic inscriptions prior to Islam" (Encyclopedia Britannica, I:643) "Ilah ... appears in pre-Islamic poetry ... By frequency of usage, al-ilah was contracted to allah, frequently attested to in pre-Islamic poetry" (Encyclopedia of Islam, eds. Lewis, Menage, Pellat, Schacht; Leiden: E.J.Brill, 1971, III:1093) "The name Allah is also evident in archeological and literary remains of pre-Islamic Arabia" (The Call of the Minaret, New York: Oxford University Press, 1956, p. 31). The name Allah is also evident in archaeological and literary remains of pre-Islamic Arabia" (The Call of the Minaret, New York: OUP, 1956, p.31) "Allah, the moon god, was married to the sun goddess. Together they produced three goddesses who were called 'the daughters of Allah'. These three goddesses were called Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat. "The daughters of Allah, along with Allah and the sun goddess were viewed as "high" gods. That is, they were viewed as being at the top of the pantheon of Arabian deities" (Robert Morey, The Islamic Invasion, Eugene, Oregon, Harvest House Publishers, 1977, pp.50-51). |
Now these 3 daughter goddesses of Allah normally wouldn't mean anything, but interestingly enough they show up in the Qur'an's 'Satanic verses'. This ensures the identity of Allah as the pagan moon god of the Arabs whose symbol was the crescent moon. Islamic clerics in Mecca still insist on the canon of the Satanic Verses to this day. So here is the verses straight out of the Qur'an.
Muhammad COMMANDED his followers to worship 'the daughters of Allah in the Qur'an in Sura 53:19-20. Then Muhammad said he was mislead by satan. Muhammad couldn't tell the difference between revelations from Allah and revelations from satan. And this is whom muslims trust with their eternal salvation? No prophet of Yahweh in the Bible ever confused satan's voice with Yahweh's voice.
Muhammad COMMANDED his followers to worship 'the daughters of Allah in the Qur'an in Sura 53:19-20. Then Muhammad said he was mislead by satan. Muhammad couldn't tell the difference between revelations from Allah and revelations from satan. And this is whom muslims trust with their eternal salvation? No prophet of Yahweh in the Bible ever confused satan's voice with Yahweh's voice.
Have you thought upon Allat and Al-Uzza,and, the third (goddess), Manat(whom you considered as God's daughters)? What! for you the male sex, and for Him, the female? Behold, such would be indeed a division most unfair! They are naught but names which you have named, you and your fathers; for which Allah has sent down no authority (whatever). They follow naught but conjecture and the low desires which (their) souls incline to; and certainly the guidance has come to them from their Lord. How many-so-ever be the angels in the heavens, THEIR INTERCESSION will avail nothing except after Allah has given leave for whom He pleases and that he is acceptable to Him. --Quran 53:19-23&26 [An-Najn]
Original text: Have ye thought upon al-Lat and al-UzzaAnd Manat, the third, the other? These are the exalted cranes (intermediaries) Whose intercession is to be hoped for. --orginal Quran 53:19-20 |
Conclusion
The pagan Arabs of old worshipped the Moon-god Allah by praying toward Mecca several times a day; making a pilgrimage to Mecca; running around the temple of the Moon-god called the Kabah; kissing the black stone; killing an animal in sacrifice to the Moon-god; throwing stones at the devil; fasting for the month which begins and ends with the crescent moon; giving alms to the poor, etc. All of which is identical to what Muslims today are required by Muhammad to do.
The pagan Arabs of old worshipped the Moon-god Allah by praying toward Mecca several times a day; making a pilgrimage to Mecca; running around the temple of the Moon-god called the Kabah; kissing the black stone; killing an animal in sacrifice to the Moon-god; throwing stones at the devil; fasting for the month which begins and ends with the crescent moon; giving alms to the poor, etc. All of which is identical to what Muslims today are required by Muhammad to do.
So who is Allah? Simply put he is only a repackaged moon god considered chief among 360 gods Arabs had all throughout history. Allah was married to the sun goddess and had 3 daughter goddesses, all 3 being repeated by name in the Qur'an. Far from the all knowing, omnipotent God of creation and the universe that is in the Bible, Allah turns out to be no more than a statue of a moon god of bygone Arabian countries who have come and gone. Instead the God of the Bible is the God of Israel whose country and people have been preserved by Him, against constant and best attempts to wipe them out. This very real God of Israel, Yahweh, made a promise recorded in the pages of the Bible to Israel that they would remain a nation and people ever before Him until the sun and moon stopped shining.
This same God also makes a promise that if we come to Him and accept His son Christ Jesus, called Yahshua, we would be saved and enjoy true Heaven with Him. This Heaven is not the sick twisted dream of Muhammad with rivers of wine and 72 virgins(of either gender that suits your fancy). Rather this Heaven is a perfect place with no disease, no sickness, no violence and no injustice. Sound too good to be true? It gets even better. Yahweh doesn't tie you up in rituals and prayers with the threat of rearranging your face if you don't get it right. Instead He values a relationship of love and constant communication at anytime, anywhere, and any way. And best of all, this is all a free gift from Him. You don't need to do anything to earn it, in fact you can't. All you need to do is accept the gift He gives by believing in His son Jesus who died in your place to pay for all your sins. Won't you accept his free gift today?
This same God also makes a promise that if we come to Him and accept His son Christ Jesus, called Yahshua, we would be saved and enjoy true Heaven with Him. This Heaven is not the sick twisted dream of Muhammad with rivers of wine and 72 virgins(of either gender that suits your fancy). Rather this Heaven is a perfect place with no disease, no sickness, no violence and no injustice. Sound too good to be true? It gets even better. Yahweh doesn't tie you up in rituals and prayers with the threat of rearranging your face if you don't get it right. Instead He values a relationship of love and constant communication at anytime, anywhere, and any way. And best of all, this is all a free gift from Him. You don't need to do anything to earn it, in fact you can't. All you need to do is accept the gift He gives by believing in His son Jesus who died in your place to pay for all your sins. Won't you accept his free gift today?
Dear Lord God. I know I am a sinner and need your gift of salvation from my sins. I BELIEVE IN JESUS, the Son of God, as my personal Savior. I believe that His death on the cross and resurrection provides forgiveness for ALL my sins past, present, & future. Please forgive all my sins and come into my heart and life. I hereby trust in Jesus FINISHED WORK alone, and NOT upon me & my "good works", as sufficient to make me right with you and fit for Heaven. Please forgive ALL my sins and come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Seal me with your Holy Spirit until the day you come to take me home. In your Son Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Ref: http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/islam.htmhttp://www.biblebelievers.org.au/moongod.htm