London Buses To Feature ‘Praise Allah’ Ads

“Al-ilah” is the Arabic word for “god”, AIUT. And “Allah” is not a contraction of “al-ilah”, but a name unto itself; neither word is linguistically cognate with Hebrew “Eloah/Elohim” although the sound of the words might suggest it.

Sure, if Sadiq and Shahid are the same name.

One city mayor of limited powers.

Not the UK, after all YOU voted you know who in TWICE.

Sure.

But Mayor of London is a stepping stone to PM.

Labor is the Muslim party now. It’s constituency is too much Muslim to be any other.

The UK is far from lost.

Firstly, how a country is lost because of some bus ads which nobody will take a blind bit of notice in is beyond me. Anymore than the US is lost because say a LGBT group puts stuff on NY buses.

Secondly, the UK remains 96% NON Muslim. And that after 60 years of Muslim immigration. Demographics?. There is no way in hell or Allah that 4% after 60 years, even with a rising birthrate, will ever become a majority.

Muslims aren’t even the biggest UK ethnic minority!.

YES, there sadly will be a rise by 2050 and 2100, but demographics show that with a DROP in Muslim birthrates by 2050 from 2.8 now to 2.2 then, and 2.0 by 2060, the UK Muslim population will be around 5-6% of the UK. So a rise, BUT far from the OTT hype we read here.

Lastly, whilst ONE CITY in the UK has just elected a Muslim mayor with limited powers, YOU elected one to run your country. TWICE.

Its fun to watch America get senile.

A few years ago, they elected a Muslim as President. TWICE. Yet, in their senile dotage, they attack an ally for electing a Muslim (Labour politician) as mayor in one city.

They are also ignorant of the fact that the Muslims came to the UK in the 50s and didn’t all turn up in 2005 at Dover.

Senile, stupid or arrogant, or a mix of all three. Who knows?.

That’s why Boris and Red Ken are heading for the PM-ship.

Erm, no.

That’s why Boris and Red Ken are heading for the PM-ship.

Erm, no.

PLEASE DON’T remind us what we elected twice WE know and have been SUFFERING for it for 8 long years!!!!! Many of us KNOW FULL WELL he is a Muslim, but MOST feel he is JUST the first BLACK POTUS, either way he has been a DISASTER!!!! I believe it will GE a COLD DAY in HELL before another BLACK person will be elected as POTUS no one would stand up to his lawlessness due to the color of his skin, JUST SHAMEFUL!!!!!

I was honestly asking - I knew it was “Khan”.

Sorry to have offended your apparent delicate sensibilities.

I’m not offended by anything you said. What made you think I was? Frankly, I don’t know if the two names mean the same thing.

Will It look like this?

Used to buy this stuff by the case in the 80's & 90's

While I do not know from your post, I am going to respond with the assumption you are a Christian whose primary language is English. If either of these is incorrect, please feel free to correct me.

” ‘Al-ilah’ is the Arabic word for ‘god’, AIUT.”

More accurately it means “the god”. And I have no idea what AIUT is. But it is not the Arabic name for God.

“And ‘Allah’ is not a contraction of ‘al-ilah’, but a name unto itself”

You are stating an Islamic doctrine. There are many scholars who believe it is a contraction. Regardless, whether it is or not is irrelevant. The Arabic word for God, contrary to your statement and that of Muslims, was Allah BEFORE Muhammed lived on this planet. There are sources too numerous to list, which demonstrate this fact. Muhammed was not the first to refer to the Supreme Being as Allah.

The Muslims argue that this is God’s name, not title. They argue that it was first revealed to Muhammed. However, Allah was the Arabic title for God long before then. You and they are incorrect.

“neither word is linguistically cognate with Hebrew ‘Eloah/Elohim’ although the sound of the words might suggest it.”

I’m not sure what you mean. Elohim is the Hebrew title for God. The title for God is unique to nearly every language. In English, His title is God. Is God “linguistically cognate” to Elohim? How about the apostles of Christ who delivered His message in Greek, using the title for God in Greek, which is Theos?

Perhaps you are under the false impression that my reason for identifying “Allah” as the Arabic title for God is that it has a similar etymology to the Hebrew title. I do not think this. While languages do evolve, they became distinct when God divided them at Babel. He also reserved to Himself a unique title in every language. There has never been a spoken language that did not have a word for God in it.

“although the sound of the words might suggest it.”

Arabic is not Hebrew. So any similarity in sounds of words is irrelevant. As I already pointed out, the Hebrew, Greek, and English titles for God are quite dissimilar. They also sound NOTHING alike.

The reality is that Arabic Jews and Christians called upon “Allah” (but not an Islamic Allah), long before Muhammed arrived on the scene.

The Muslims have commandeered God’s Arabic title, claiming it is His exclusive name. Looking at the Bible, we find that God’s name, like the names of people, is different linguistically from one language to another. For example, Jesus is the English equivalent for the name of Christ. In Hebrew it would be something like Yeshua. In fact, when we translate from Hebrew, we get Joshua. But Joshua and Jesus are actually the same name.

My point about the names is that God’s name being “One” is a major tenet of Islam but is not Biblically correct. God’s name being one is not about languages being merged together again like they were before Babel. It is about knowing His true identity. He has progressively revealed that identity since the dawn of creation. In the New Testament He reveals His identity through the identity of Jesus, His Son. And so, we do not find a Greek equivalent to Jehovah in the New Testament. Rather, God is called Father.

There is nothing magical about the arrangement of phonemes. It is the meaning we ascribe to them that is important. It is not nomenclature. It is identity. As the saying goes, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Back to my original point. Allah IS the Arabic title for God. I challenge anyone to show otherwise. There is NO Arabic word that can replace it. And this is because God ordained that His title in Arabic would be Allah.

If Westernized Christians could grasp this simple reality, it would spare a lot of confusion. Arabic Christians and Jews read Arabic scriptures that call God Allah. It is not blasphemous. It is the correct word to specify the one true God, IF you are speaking in Arabic.

Thus, Christians should never disparage that title, even though that title is being abused by Muslims.

Muslims talk about “Allah”, but they do not know who the true “Allah” is. Muslims would like to impose the Arabic title for God on the whole planet, whether we speak Arabic or not. However, let’s not make the equivalent mistake of expecting Arabic speakers to learn English in order to find the one true God. Arabic Christians were among the first Christians in the Church as evidenced by the record in Acts. It specifically says Arabic Jews were present for the feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit arrived. And they, like every other group distinguished by native language, heard the message of “God” in their native tongue. This strongly suggests that on the birthday of the New Testament Church, some heard and believed the Gospel message about Jesus Christ Who was the Son of God ( “Allah” in their native language). But there were no English speakers present on that day. English would not become a language for centuries.

1 Corinthians 12:3
Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

No, it is still not “God’s Arabic title” no matter how much it is in common use as such. See here:

Many believe the word “Allah” was derived from the mid-eastern word “el” which in Ugaritic, Caananite and Hebrew can mean a true or false God. This is not the case. “The source of this (Allah) goes back to pre-Muslim times. Allah is not a common name meaning “God” (or a “god”), and the Muslim must use another word or form if he wishes to indicate any other than his own peculiar deity.” (Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (ed. Hastings), I:326.)

According to the Encyclopedia of Religion, Allah corresponded to the Babylonian god Baal, and Arabs knew of him long before Mohammed worshipped him as the supreme God. Before Islam the Arabs recognized many gods and goddesses, each tribe had their own deity. There were also nature deities. Allah was the god of the local Quraysh tribe, which was Mohammed’s tribe before he invented Islam to lead his people out of their polytheism. Allah was then known as the Moon God, who had 3 daughters who were viewed as intercessors for the people into Allah. Their names were Al-at, Al-uzza, and Al-Manat, which were three goddesses; the first two daughters of Allah had names which were feminine forms of Allah. Hubal was the chief God of the Kaaba among the other 360 deities. Hubal was the chief God of the Kaaba among the other 360 deities. Hubal was a statue likeness of a man whose body was made of red precious stones whose arms were made of gold. (Reference Islam George Braswell Jr.)

“Historians like Vaqqidi have said Allah was actually the chief of the 360 gods being worshipped in Arabia at the time Mohammed 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 Mohammed 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.” (G. J. O. Moshay, Who Is This Allah? (Dorchester House, Bucks, UK, 1994), pg. 138). …

Another derivative of the Ba’alim.

“No, it is still not God’s Arabic title no matter how much it is in common use as such. See here:”

If we use your logic, then all western Christians are idolaters who really worship Odin, because our word for God derived from the “pagan Germanic ‘Gott,’ which was used as a proper name for the chief Teutonic deity, Odin.” See here:

https://www.thepeopleofthebook.org/about/strategy/the-use-of-the-word-allah/

Christians and Jews translated the Bible into Arabic hundreds of years before there was an English translation of the Bible. ALL of them used the word “Allah” for God. Ascribing the Arabic title for God to an ancient moon god, is a naive and simplistic response to the rise of Islam.

Muslims do NOT worship a moon god. Muslims do not believe in worshipping angels, stars, or man-made images. Do they worship the true God? No. Of course not. If you thought that is what I was saying, you misunderstood. But Muslims do use the correct title for God in Arabic.

I could site a thousand sources that contradict your assertion, but it is irrelevant if you have made up your mind and will not be swayed by facts. Just because idolaters call a particular idol “God” does not invalidate God’s title. Do you think a culture can simply have no word for God? Whenever Arabs attributed God’s title to a moon god or other gods, they were committing idolatry. Israel did the same thing when they corrupted their worship of the one true God Who revealed Himself to them.

Amos 5:21-26
I hate, I despise your feast days,
And I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream.
Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings
In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
You also carried Sikkuth your king
And Chiun, your idols,
The star of your gods,
Which you made for yourselves.

Exodus 32:7-8
And the Lord said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’”

There are millions of people who claim to follow the God and the Jesus of the Bible (i.e. Jesus of Nazareth), but are worshipping some other god. They are using the correct title but have a wrong theology of Who God is. This is easily illustrated from the Bible itself:

John 16:2
They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.

2 Corinthians 11:4, 13-15
For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

We learn from the New Testament that when someone worships a false god, they are not worshipping a real deity because there is only one true Deity. Idolaters are unintentionally worshipping demons, which are real:

1 Corinthians 10:20
Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.

Do you think that the Arabs have the wrong word for Jesus also? Arabic speaking Muslims call Him Isa, but only regard Him as a prophet. They do not believe He actually died on the cross but tricked Judas into taking His place. They do not believe He is the Son of God or rose from the dead. But the Arab lands have always played a major role in God’s plan in the Bible. Both Moses and Paul were taught by Christ (for Moses the pre-incarnate Christ was a Theophany) in this region rather than in the promised land of Israel.

The knowledge of God in what the Bible calls Arabia existed even before God called Abraham. So, when an Arabic speaking Muslim converts to Christianity, he or she believes on “Isa” for salvation. He or she believes the message of Christ’s atoning substitutionary death, His fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, His resurrection as witnessed by the apostles. And these Arabic speaking Christians call Jesus “Isa” and God “Allah”. And these same Christians are this day being martyred for their faith in Jesus and the one true God. Yet they use the words that you disparage. They do not worship a moon god. They just worship the true God as revealed in the Bible rather than the false doctrines of Islam.

If your premise about the name “Allah” is correct, then you should be able to easily answer one question: What word for God SHOULD Arabic Christians and Jews use if not Allah? If you cannot answer that, you should rethink your position. I am not trying to insult you or be argumentative just for the sake of arguing. But you are wrong.

If not, then I am wrong, and I want to be corrected of my error. So I will happily admit my error, as I have a few times on this forum, if you or anyone can prove me wrong. But I am pretty confident about this. I have researched it. No one of an opposing view has been able to successfully demonstrate that there is a different, correct title for God and Jesus in Arabic.

False equivalence to Odin. “Gott” is at least the proper Germanic equivalent of Hebrew “Eloah/Elohim” (which can refer to false gods) whereas “Allah” in particular is not.

“Hebrew ‘Eloah/Elohim’ (which can refer to false gods) whereas ‘Allah’ in particular is not.”

You seem to be contradicting yourself. First you argued that Allah was once considered a moon god, according to the source you cited:

“Before Islam the Arabs recognized many gods and goddesses, each tribe had their own deity. There were also nature deities. Allah was the god of the local Quraysh tribe, which was Mohammed’s tribe before he invented Islam to lead his people out of their polytheism. Allah was then known as the Moon God, who had 3 daughters who were viewed as intercessors for the people into Allah.”

And now you are arguing that the difference between my analogy of Odin and Allah is that the Hebrew word for God can also refer to gods, but Allah cannot.

But actually you seen to share the same error in logic as the author you cited:

“The source of this (Allah) goes back to pre-Muslim times. Allah is not a common name meaning ‘God’ (or a ‘god’), and the Muslim must use another word or form if he wishes to indicate any other than his own peculiar deity.”

The error here is obvious. The author is confusing Arabs and Muslims. Islam is the religion of Muslims. Arab is the ethnicity of people who descended from Ishmael, Abraham’s first son. Further, Arabic is the native language spoken by many people of the middle east, whether they are Arab or Jewish or some other ethnicity.

Just because Muslims are not supposed to use the word “Allah” to refer to any other god, does not mean that Arabic speakers are bound to follow the tenets of that religion. Even your own source confirms that the term “Allah” pre-dates Islam. So clearly, even the way Muslims use it today is NOT the way Arabs used it before Islam.

Christianity spread to the Arabian peninsula long before English even existed. The Bible was translated into Arabic long before it was translated into English. Moses received the first five books of the Bible from God there. Paul received his apostolic training by Christ there. These people are descendants of Abraham. Do you think the message of salvation in the Bible does not apply to Arabic speakers?

According to the Bible, God will save an uncountable multitude which will be comprised of people of every language on earth. That must include Arabic.

Revelation 7:9, 14
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands... These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

According to Acts 2, Arabs were among those converted at Pentecost. (These were Jewish proselytes of Arab ethnicity, and almost certainly spoke Arabic, as that is a major point of the passage.)

What Arabic word do you suppose they used for God? What Arabic word for God should Arabic Jews and Christians use today?

How am I contradicting myself? I have not deconstructed my original point that “Allah” is not the god of Christianity and Judaism, which has nothing to do with “Allah” referring to some other unrelated deity.

And no, the author would not conflate Arabs and Muslims. Mahomet himself expounded the Koran being in Arabic as some sort of virtue, and thought of Islam as being an Arab-centric religion either way, no matter what other Arabs believed.

With all due respect, you seem to be a bit overly attached to this.

“you seem to be a bit overly attached to this”

I am attached to what is true. You seem pretty lackadaisical about it, as evidenced by avoiding the issue.

“the author would not conflate Arabs and Muslims”

I just pointed out how the author cited the prohibition of Muslims from using “Allah” toward any other deity but their own as if it was some sort of evidence that Allah is NOT a general term for God.

“Mahomet himself expounded the Koran being in Arabic as some sort of virtue, and thought of Islam as being an Arab-centric religion either way, no matter what other Arabs believed.”

I agree that Islam and its founder treated the Arab ethnicity as superior to others. That mentality invades that culture today. And it is part of the reason that Islam has made “Allah” the universal name for God. They want everyone else to recognize their uniquely Arabic deity. But the question is, do YOU think Allah is strictly Arab-centric? Or more particularly, do you think there is one true God over ALL mankind, or is He the God only of English speaking people? Must Arabic speakers learn English in order to be saved?

Again, what name should Arabic speakers call on to be saved? Is it Issa? That is the Arabic name for Jesus (which is not how Jesus of Nazareth was addressed by His disciples or family because they did not speak English).

You seem very evasive about the germane issue. Do you think there is no title for God in Arabic? If not, what is that title? I have asked this question now 3 times, several different ways. And you have ignored every one of them. I do not understand your reason for posting an article, engaging in discussion, arguing a point of disagreement, and yet being either unwilling or unable to answer one very simple question.

If you or someone else can show me what title for God in Arabic should be used by Christians and Jews, and why it is valid historically rather than Allah, I will admit my error and change my position. However, I used to believe what you believe on the subject when I was totally ignorant and merely did a cursory exploration of the topic. When I examined the evidence more thoroughly, I realized I was wrong. God intends for the message of salvation to be proclaimed to all people in their own language. This requires translating the Bible. People were burned at the stake to give us the Bible in our language. For that I am grateful. The Bible was translated into Arabic long before it was in English. And God is called “Allah” in both the Jewish and Christian translations of their scriptures into Arabic.

It is quite easy to be an armchair quarterback like our friends at “Let Us Reason” when it comes to translating the Bible. It is easy to critique those doing the work. It is another to actually do the work. And if “Allah” is the wrong word to use in these translations, you and they need to answer, what is the correct term for God in Arabic?

You still haven’t proved that “Allah” specifically does mean the Biblical God, however; it is still clear that the name “Allah” is not “Al-ilah”. You are stuck on this. The personalities of the Koranic deity and the Bible’s God are utterly divergent.