Posted on 01/02/2014 3:54:27 PM PST by rjbemsha
Islamic authorities in Malaysia on Thursday seized 321 Bibles from a Christian group because they used the word Allah to refer to God, signaling growing intolerance that may inflame ethnic and religious tension in the Southeast Asian country.
The raid comes after a Malaysian court in October ruled that the Arabic word was exclusive to Muslims, most of whom are ethnic Malays, the largest ethnic group in the country alongside sizeable Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities.
Christians from Malaysia's rural states of Sabah and Sarawak in Borneo, who have used the word Allah for centuries, have moved in droves to Selangor and other parts of peninsular Malaysia in recent years to look for work.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Much better for Christians and Jews to avoid the use of “aLlah” To avoid confusing the one true (Biblical) God with people who kill and/ or subjugate Chrjstians and Jews ( and others) all over the world.
They can try using "God" for God. Or Yahweh.
allah is not God in the Judeo-Christian tradition. allah refers to the moon god of the ancient Middle East. To use it in a Christian setting merely generates confusion.
But don’t those so called Moderate Muslims here in US & other countries tell everyone that Allah is the same as our God?
Agreed. Even if ‘Allah’ was once used by Christians as a name for God, it has since been tainted by the followers of the pedo-sandpirate in the same way that the name ‘Adolph’ has been ruined by HItler.
In Arabic, the word for "God" is "allah." Arabic-speaking Jews translated the word "God" in the Bible as "allah" long before Mohammed came on the scene.
In Arabic, the word for "God" is "allah." Arabic-speaking Jews translated the word "God" in the Bible as "allah" long before Mohammed came on the scene.
Looks like muslims and islam are upset Allah in the bible has a son! LOL
These aren't English speakers. It would make as much sense to tell them to use "Bog" or "Dieu" or "Gott" for God, since they don't speak Russian, French, or German either.
I imagine G-d imatating Ret Butler over this: “frankly I don’t give a dam” - over what name you make up as long as it means “G-d the one and only G-d” /LOL
No. “Allah” is simply the Arabic equivalent of “God” in English, “le Dieu” in French or “’o theos” in Greek. As in Greek the application of the definite article (al in Arabic ‘o in Greek) to the generic word for a deity (ilah in Arabic, theos in Greek) has the same force as capitalizing the initial letter in English — indicating the uniquely existing deity as understood by a monotheistic doctrine. It is common in Arabic for words to elide so that al ilah becomes allah — the simple word for a deity is preserved even among Muslims in the invocation Bismillah, “in the name of God”.
It is a Mohammedan conceit that the Arabic word for God is the proper name of the one existing deity, rather than simply the appropriate designation for a monotheist to use when speaking or writing in Arabic. Ordinarily it would be appropriate for Christians to use “allah” only when speaking Arabic (as, for instance in the Trisagion Hymn, which in Arabic begins “Quduson allah...” (Holy God...)). The problem is, in Malaysia, the Mohammedan conceit so influence the Malay language that the Arabic word became the Malay word for the unique existing deity, older Malay words for a deity now having the significance of a pagan god only. Any change to the usage will be an impediment to the evangelization of the Malays, in that whatever Christians call God in Malay, if it is not “Allah” it will be perceived that they are not proclaiming the one existing God — which is precisely the Muslims’ intent in this regard.
I worship God©
“Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn’t we all say that from now on we will name God Allah? …What does God care what we call Him? It is our problem,” said Muskens, according to The Associated Press.
The retiring bishop was a former missionary to Indonesia – the most populous Muslim country in the world – for eight years, where he said priests used the name “Allah” while celebrating Mass [yet they are forbidden to use Yahweh].
In response, Mohler pointed out that it would be difficult to support the argument that “Allah” can be used as a generic term for God. The theologian said separation of Allah from the language, theology, and worship closely associated with it is difficult. Moreover, even non-Arabic speaking Muslims use Allah when referring to their god.
Another irreconcilable difference is that Jesus commanded his followers to baptize “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” - http://www.christianpost.com/news/is-calling-the-christian-god-allah-wrong-29015/
the Bible in some Muslim lands uses a word for God other than Allah (Farsi and Urdu are examples). But for more than five hundred years before Muhammad, the vast majority of Jews and Christians in Arabia called God by the name Allah. - http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/allah.html
The first Arabic translation of the Bible was made about the 9th century. Nowhere is the name of Allah found in the Old or New Testament. When Islam became the dominant political force people were coerced to use the name Allah for God or suffer the consequences from the hands of militant Muslims. Because of Islam's dominance Allah became the common name of God. The translators of the Bible gave in to the religious pressures and substituted Allah for Yahweh in the Arabic Bibles, but this is not the name of the God of the Hebrews, nor of the creator who made heaven and earth because of its source in paganism. His nature and attributes have only a few basic similarities and many more differences. And the most important point is that all through the Qu'ran it says Allah has no son.
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