There is No Monopoly on Allah

I read with sadness the attacks on churches in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya.  What is to become of our country?  The hooligans (to use a mild term) behind the attacks have no right to use religion as a justification for their action.

The Semitic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, share much in common.  None can claim a monopoly on Allah.  The  squabble is unjustified.

In the Old Testament, the Jews refer to God as “Elohim” {el-o-heem}. Elohim is the plural form of “‘elowahh” {el-o’-ah}, which means “god.”  The plural form is used to refer to the of majesty of God, not to indicate the plurality of God.

The word for God in Genesis 1:1 is elohim.  Furthermore, the Arabic translation of the Jewish Bible  uses the name “Allah” to refer to God in Genesis 1:1

“Fee al-badi’ khalaqa Allahu as-Samaawaat wa al-Ard . . .”

In addition to the etymological connection based on sound, we also discover the connections of the two names based on roots, spelling, meaning, and geography.

If one were to find the word (eloh) (alef-lamed-heh) in an inscription written in paleo-Hebrew, Aramaic, or some sort of Nabatean script, it could be pronounced in numerous ways (without the diacritical marks to guide the reader).  When treated as a verb root, this letter combination (proncounced alah) is the root for the verb “to swear” or “to take an oath,” as well as the verb “to deify” or “to worship”.  The root itself finds its origin with an older root, el, which means God, deity, power, strength.

So, one of the basic Hebrew words for God, (eloh), can easily be pronounced alah without the diacritical marks. Not surprisingly, the Aramaic word for God is (alah).

This word, in the standard script (), or the Estrangela script (), is spelled alap-lamad-heh (ALH), which are the exact corresponding letters to the Hebrew eloh. The Aramaic is closely related to the more ancient root word for God, eel.

The Arabic word for God, Allah, is spelled in a very similar way, and is remotely related to the more generic word for deity, ilah.  Notice the obvious linguistic and etymological connections between the respective words for God in these closely related Semitic languages (e.g. Allah, Alah, and Eloh being related to Ilah, Eel, and El, respectively).

Let’s make it clearer:

1. We have made the connection in terms of spelling, as all these words are spelled similar to one another.
2. The geographic connection is there, as these respective languages originate in regions that are very close to one another.
3. The roots are basically the same.
4. The meanings are essentially the same.

In conclusion, the ancient Semitic names for God (Allah and Elohim) are actually the same.

So there you have it.  Are we going to continue the squabble over who has the right to use the word Allah and in the process drive our beloved country to ruin, or are we going to unite based on what we have in common?

No good Muslims in their right mind would condone the attack on the churches.  What the aggressors did is against the teaching of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

“Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loveth not, aggressors.” (Al-Baqarah: 190)

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is reported to have said: “Beware of the prayer of the oppressed; for there is no barrier between it and Allah.”

Since last year, certain people have been hinting at racial tension and riots.  Are we going to give them the satisfaction of being right?  Or are we going to unite as Malaysians, regardless of faith, and say NO to intolerance and violence.

Are we going to allow a minority of narrow-minded people drive this beautiful country of ours to ruin, or are we going tell them, “NO, this is not what Malaysia is about.  We are proud of our diversity of culture and faith and we will not allow anyone to destroy what we have built.”

Let us find a common ground for unity and peace.

In this video, Prof. Miroslav Volf discusses the use of the word “Allh’ since the pre-Islam era. The book by Prof. Volf mentioned in this video is “Allah: A Christian Response“.

Source:
Allah in the Jewish Bible

Related links:

• Penggunaan “Allah” Oleh Orang Bukan Islam
• Konsep kalimah Allah eksklusif untuk Islam satu kekeliruan, kata sarjana Indonesia
• Oxford Islamic expert: Word ‘Allah’ monopolised because of inferiority complex
• Prophet Muhamad’s Promise to Christians
• On Respect, Thinking and Dialogue
• Allah Issues Lead to Muslim-Christian Dialogue
• Trusting “The Other”
• We Palestinian Christians say Allahu Akbar