In Kuwait I hear frequent mention of Allah. I see the name of Allah inscribed on houses and mosques. Allah is mentioned in the many daily salutations. The name of God is overwhelmingly present in the market place and the home. For a Westerner coming from a secularised society where God is mentioned with embarrassed undertones - I find Islamic society wonderfully liberating.
A frequent question that arises surrounds the use of the term Allah. There was case recently where Malaysian Muslims prevented Christians from using the name Allah in their written Christian books. Muslims objected that Christians were taking a name which was exclusively for the use of Islamic believers.
Allah is an Arabic word which literally means "The God". Linguuists see a similarity to the Syriac term "elah" used in the ancient liturgies which in turn has a family resemblance to the Hebrew form for God in which we see used in the Bible in its plural form as "elohim". Although some scholars claim that Allah is the name for some pre-Islamic moon Goddess, other evidence shows that Allah was widely understood in pagan pre-Ismaic Arabia as the chief God who was creator of all and was supreme over every God. The shout Allahu akbar (literally God is greater) relates the supremacy of Allah in relation to other gods.
Christians have used the term Allah as the word for God ever since the Bible was translated into Arabic. For Christian Arabs there is no question of Allah is referring anything but to the God who created the heavens and the earth, and the God who sent the prophets to bring his message to the peoples of the earth.
The real question is - "Do we share the same understanding of Allah's character and work?" Our answer to this will reveal many similarities as well as difference. We both believe Allah is the creator, He is good, He is powerful, He is the Judge, He is Compassionate and Merciful, He is Lord and so on.
The differences begin to emerge when we look at issues of transcendance and imminence. Orthodox islam stresses the unknowability and "otherness" of God while Christianity talks of Allah in shockingly personal terms - for example Jesus taught his disciples to address Allah as "abba" an intimate term which literally translates as "daddy!"
Misunderstanding also arises when we talk about the Tawhid or the unity of God. The doctrine of Trinity can mislead Muslims into believing that Allah has been divided up into three persons. this would then make Christianity a polytheistic faith. Clearly Christianity is not. Along wih Judaism and Islam it declares its monotheism in the words of the Creed "We believe in one God . . ."
That Allah is one in his unity is a conviction shared by us all. The question of how that unity is manifest in the world is when we begin to enter into the realms of Trinitatrian doctrine. For Muslims, God chooses to interact with His creation through the medium of the oral word - given through prophets or angels (messengers). These are then written into text form. That, however would be the extent to which we can know God. His thoughts and messages given to us is through spoken and written word. This however does not violate the unity of God. For Christians, the Word becomes flesh takes this principle further. As the spoken and written word does not violate the essential unity of God, neither does God coming in human form. Perhaps there is a hint of this in the Qur'anic description of Jesus as a "Spirit from God".
What do you think?
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2 comments:
Allah As we believe is the God of all mankind.
I think where we truly differ is when You, The Christians, believe that Allah has indeed came to this land, ate, slept, went to the bathroom and was then crucified. I think, God or Allah, is above these mortal stuff.
About "spirit from God," I don't think the Quran has any false information. You need to ask a guy with real knowledge in Quran for clarification :)
Great blog. I'll keep coming back for sure :)
Thanks for your comment life. Yo are right - this is a huge difference and you really hit the nail on the head.
The God becoming flesh story is a complete scandal which has offended, bewildered and bemused folks through out the ages.
It lies at the heart of the Gospel stories and it confronts us and there is no middle ground in terms of response. I think God is certainly powerful enough to become a man. After all the scriptures say he created heaven and earth. It must be easy for him to take on the form of his own creation. the question is -Did He?
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