Should We Use The Word
"Allah" or
"God"
by unknown Author
In as many times as we have been on the internet
or in a discussion or a chat group, we almost always run into
someone who feels offended that we use the word "God"
when we talk about the One and Only God (Allah in Arabic).
It is surprising to notice that most of these Muslim brothers
and/or sisters do not know that the word "Allah" is the
Arabic word for the word "God". Many of them believe
that "Allah" is the name of the Muslim God. They do not
realize that the word "Allah" does not belong
exclusively to the Muslims and that it has always been used
before (and after) Islam by the Arabic-speaking Jews and
Christians when they speak about God.
Talking to English speaking people about God using the word
"Allah" is very much the same like speaking to Arabic
speaking people about "Allah" using the word God. It
makes all the sense to show respect to the people and their
language by speaking to them in the language they use.
Insisting on the use of the word "Allah" which is the Arabic word for God immediately creates the illusion that "Allah" is a whole different deity than God of the whole world. It creates a god that belongs ONLY to the Muslims, and takes the universality of Islam out of it. We found the comment sent by Abu Iman Robert Squires to be very informative and we re-produced it here.
The word "ALLAH"
A Comment by : Abu Iman Robert Squires
Assalamu Alaikum,
I would like to strongly concur with your observations about
the use of the word "Allah" in English and any other
language. Both from my conversion experience in America and my
experience doing da'wah here in Kuwait, it is definitely 100% -
without a shadow of a doubt - better to use the word
"God" when making da'wah to English speaking people.
This alone is enough to open many hearts and minds since many
people think that Muslims worship a different God. I've come
across some Arab brothers who insist in using only the word
"Allah". They somehow think that it implies Tawhid
while the word "God" implies the Trinity, etc., etc.
You know, the problem with such people is not their knowledge of Arabic, but their ignorance of English. The mushriks (disbelievers) at the time of the Prophet (saws) used the word Allah, and so do Arabic-speaking Christians. The word itself in no way implies tawhid. The reason it implies tawhid to Muslims is that they're Muslims. Others use this word in ways that are nothing but shirk.
The word God implies tawhid to me because I have the Islamic concept of Him. It's all in the concept, but has nothing to do with the word itself. Also, there are statements in some da'wah pamphlets that say "all prophets since Adam used the word Allah" and that "the word Allah is exactly the same as the Aramaic word Jesus used for God".
The first statement is baseless and can be proved to be logically incorrect from the Qu'ran. The second statement is incorrect, but the words are only similar, but NOT exactly alike. This whole trend of using "Allah" in English seems to come about rather recently.
Most of the translations and writings done back in the 1940's
and 1950's used the word "God", which is a perfectly
good translation of the word Allah in Arabic. M.M. Pickthall
being the main exception, since he seemed to have used
"Allah" in all of the translations that I've seen.
The change came, I believe, as a result of Nasserite Arab Nationalism. Many Arabs I know over here still don't know the difference between Islam and Arab Nationalism! They seem more interesting in defending their pride heritage than really spreading the message. But this is in no way limited to Arabs, I've dealt with Pakistanis, Malaysians, Turks and Afghanis that have the same hangup.
The mentality of some of these brothers almost approaches that
of the Bani Isra'il - the "our God vs your God"
mentality! By the way, I've never met an English-speaking convert
to Islam (or Spanish-speaking, or French-speaking) who disagreed
with me on this point. Most them went through a stage wondering
why (some) Muslims insist on using Allah.
I should also add that I know a lot of Muslims that use "God" when speaking English. I find this rather common among most Egyptians that I know. In Morocco, where I visit quite frequently, the also use Dieu when they parlez francais.
Insh'allah, more Muslims will realize this and our da'wah will become more effective. This is a BIG barrier, but many Muslims don't realize it. Many come up with baseless reasons to justify it (for whatever reason). What do we converts know anyway!!! Ha! Another point before I go...some people like to try to draw exact parallels between English and Arabic words which just don't fit.
The word "ilah" in Arabic can be used for a false god or for Allah. (Like when God says (paraphrased) the "ilah" of Ibraham", and numerous other example.) Anyone who can read the Qu'ran should know this. However, unlike the word "god" in English, which ALWAYS implies a false god. Non-native English speakers sometimes mistakenly believe that "god" and "God" are the same English word, but they are not. They carry completely different meanings. If they doubt this, then they simply don't know how to speak the English language. And to say that the word "Allah" can only be used for the Supreme Almighty Creator is refuted by the Qu'ran itself.
It clearly says (and I paraphrase here rather liberally) that Christians say that "Allah is Jesus". There you have it, applying "Allah" to something that isn't "Allah" right there in the Qur'an. You see, what people really mean to say is that you SHOULDN'T use "Allah" for anything except the Almighty Creator, but you still CAN. The same thing goes for the word God.
People can use it in the wrong way, but that doesn't make it right. The truth is that this word too should only be used for the Almighty Creator. Remember...God has sent prophets to everyone in their OWN LANGUAGE, i.e. a language that they can understand. How many more people around the world wouldn't be dying on SHIRK if many Muslims woke up and started making da'wah in a way people can understand? Well, I've spoken my peace.
Abu Iman Robert Squires
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Here is another comment and response by Steven Thomas;
To: BILL H--------
From: STEVEN THOMAS
Sorry Bill, but your sources are dubious at best. Souroush for instanceis a evangelical missionary associated with Jimmy Swaggart - great reliability there!
The fact is that Allah does not refer to the moon god or have associates. The linguistic breakdown of Allah is "The/Al God/Lah". That is why all Christian Arabs (monophysists, Nestorians, Orthodox, Roman, and Protestant (yes, even Mr. Shouroush) use the term Allah to refer to God the Father when they speak Arabic. Lest you wonder where I am coming from, my degrees are Biblical Arch. and Arabic language.
Try again. Steven.