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Friday, November 21, 2008
is Allah the God of the Bible?
a fascinating article on contextualizing the Gospel among muslims and the name of "Allah". any one who is interested in missions would probably find this fascinating (at least i did).
Hey Ben, My personal opinion has always been that Allah is exactly the word for God we should be using with Muslims. Especially knowing that Islam is based off of what Muhammad knew of Christians and Jews and his "revelations" from God, a.k.a. Allah. I've heard Don Richardson speak about this very subject. If we want to win people to Christ we have to look for the things in their culture or religion that point to Christ and to God, the "cultural compass".
yeah, i think the article did a really good job on explaining how damaging it can be to our witness to muslims when we go around saying that allah is a demon or something to that effect. interesting notes about the aramaic, too.
While mentioning what Allah is (the moon god and was the chief god of 100's in the the Ka'aba) right out of the gate may be something to skip at first, giving the impression that the name is equal to God can engender confusion. The constantly repeated phrase "Allahu akbar" means Allah is greater, so you must ask, greater than who? Muslims know what they mean by it.
The Quran teaches Allah's sovereignty, his power, his mercy, his greatness. Allahu akbar "God is Great!" This literally means "God is Greater", because you cannot say "God is Greater than ___" because that is comparing him to something. Muhammad and the Quran teach that Allah is the God who is to be served. In contrast Jesus is the God who came to serve.
Contrary to popular understanding, Islam did not begin with Mohammad. Most of the practices still embodied in Islam had their beginning in pre-Islamic Arabia. Mohammad repackaged the pagan worship associated with the Ka’aba in Mecca into a monotheistic form. It is important to distinguish between the Allah of Islam and the God of Old Testament. They are not equivalent. Allah is presented as unknowable and capricious. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob delights in making and keeping His promises. Jesus summarized the entire Law of Moses in two commandments: Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. No where does the Qu’ran admonish its readers to make such commitments. Some may find this a useful link for background and in helping the to present the Gospel to Muslims: www.ldolphin.org/islamprimer.html
yes, i've heard avi lipkin share on the roots of "allahu akbar" and am very familiar with the arabic paganism roots as well as the stark differences between the teachings of the quran and the Bible.
however, the article (did you read it?) is not about claiming to be muslims or to propagate the quran, but simply the theological, etymological and logical basis of using the name "allah" when speaking to muslims about the God of the Bible. the quran itself says that "the Christians say Isa (Jesus) is Alllah". of course, it then says they're wrong, but the point being that it takes even the Christian's terminology as using "Allah", simply implying the one, monotheistic God. using the name allah in talking to muslims would hopefully open them to talking about the Gospel, not trying to say the teaching is the same.
it'd be like using the name Jehovah with JW's. granted, that one is in the Bible, but the point being that their "Jehovah" is NOT the true God of the Bible (though they claim He is, as do Muslims claim Allah is the same "Yahweh" of the Bible in as much as He is the same who chose Abraham, gave Moses the Law, etc.). would we balk at using the name "Jehovah" when talking to JW's? i would hope not. i think this is kind of in the same vein. again, what did you think of the points in the article?
The quran says what Christians say is a reliable source of what they DO say? The point I was making is a simple one and it is all focused on the phrase "Allahu akbar" - meaning Allah is greater. Knowing who is supposed to be greater than, is a reflexive on who Allah is and that Muslims know what they mean. The reason it matters is that when preaching the Gospel to Moslems the distinction between Allah and God is inherent (more than implied) in the phrase. Given that, it will quickly become apparent in the presentation that Allah is not just a generic name but a proper name of another "Deity". My point was not so much a comment on the recommendation to use Allah when speaking of the word God but that right from the very beginning of the discussion, this distinction is the heart of the issue. Since it is, one will by necessity have to clarify that point. If not, then there is no need to introduce the Gospel since they already believe they have the "Gospel" but obviously as Paul says in Galatians when speaking of those who add Law to Grace as a requirement of salvation, that they preach "another Gospel which is no Gospel. So the point of approach might be to explore who is God, is; who Allah is really and who God is and the vast difference. Since the heart of Islam is the belief that Allah is greater than... the Jewish or Christian God, Peppermint Patty, etc.. this will become the whole point of the discussion. My point was to focus on quickly changing over from using the name Allah by explaining the nature of God vs Allah - which is the "justification" fro introducing who "Allah" really is - and is not. As far as reading the article, no I have not yet. I was replying to the information presented in the summary and my point was different from what you are saying the article contains. My point is essentially based on the "Allah is greater" phrase so is a different focus from the other points made - as summarized. It was for consideration of the essence of a Muslim's mindset when he says Allah is greater - that it could be loosely understood as saying "our God is greater than the other Gods" The link to Lambert Dolphin's site was to provide additional info for consideration.
you should check out the article. its got some very interesting points that speak to what you saying. would love to hear your thoughts on it once you read it.
7 comments:
Hey Ben,
My personal opinion has always been that Allah is exactly the word for God we should be using with Muslims. Especially knowing that Islam is based off of what Muhammad knew of Christians and Jews and his "revelations" from God, a.k.a. Allah. I've heard Don Richardson speak about this very subject. If we want to win people to Christ we have to look for the things in their culture or religion that point to Christ and to God, the "cultural compass".
-Greg
yeah, i think the article did a really good job on explaining how damaging it can be to our witness to muslims when we go around saying that allah is a demon or something to that effect. interesting notes about the aramaic, too.
While mentioning what Allah is (the moon god and was the chief god of 100's in the the Ka'aba) right out of the gate may be something to skip at first, giving the impression that the name is equal to God can engender confusion. The constantly repeated phrase "Allahu akbar" means Allah is greater, so you must ask, greater than who? Muslims know what they mean by it.
The Quran teaches Allah's sovereignty, his power, his mercy, his greatness. Allahu akbar "God is Great!" This literally means "God is Greater", because you cannot say "God is Greater than ___" because that is comparing him to something. Muhammad and the Quran teach that Allah is the God who is to be served. In contrast Jesus is the God who came to serve.
Contrary to popular understanding, Islam did not begin with Mohammad. Most of the practices still embodied in Islam had their beginning in pre-Islamic Arabia. Mohammad repackaged the pagan worship associated with the Ka’aba in Mecca into a monotheistic form. It is important to distinguish between the Allah of Islam and the God of Old Testament. They are not equivalent. Allah is presented as unknowable and capricious. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob delights in making and keeping His promises. Jesus summarized the entire Law of Moses in two commandments: Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. No where does the Qu’ran admonish its readers to make such commitments. Some may find this a useful link for background and in helping the to present the Gospel to Muslims: www.ldolphin.org/islamprimer.html
hey dad -
yes, i've heard avi lipkin share on the roots of "allahu akbar" and am very familiar with the arabic paganism roots as well as the stark differences between the teachings of the quran and the Bible.
however, the article (did you read it?) is not about claiming to be muslims or to propagate the quran, but simply the theological, etymological and logical basis of using the name "allah" when speaking to muslims about the God of the Bible. the quran itself says that "the Christians say Isa (Jesus) is Alllah". of course, it then says they're wrong, but the point being that it takes even the Christian's terminology as using "Allah", simply implying the one, monotheistic God. using the name allah in talking to muslims would hopefully open them to talking about the Gospel, not trying to say the teaching is the same.
it'd be like using the name Jehovah with JW's. granted, that one is in the Bible, but the point being that their "Jehovah" is NOT the true God of the Bible (though they claim He is, as do Muslims claim Allah is the same "Yahweh" of the Bible in as much as He is the same who chose Abraham, gave Moses the Law, etc.). would we balk at using the name "Jehovah" when talking to JW's? i would hope not. i think this is kind of in the same vein. again, what did you think of the points in the article?
The quran says what Christians say is a reliable source of what they DO say? The point I was making is a simple one and it is all focused on the phrase "Allahu akbar" - meaning Allah is greater. Knowing who is supposed to be greater than, is a reflexive on who Allah is and that Muslims know what they mean. The reason it matters is that when preaching the Gospel to Moslems the distinction between Allah and God is inherent (more than implied) in the phrase. Given that, it will quickly become apparent in the presentation that Allah is not just a generic name but a proper name of another "Deity". My point was not so much a comment on the recommendation to use Allah when speaking of the word God but that right from the very beginning of the discussion, this distinction is the heart of the issue. Since it is, one will by necessity have to clarify that point. If not, then there is no need to introduce the Gospel since they already believe they have the "Gospel" but obviously as Paul says in Galatians when speaking of those who add Law to Grace as a requirement of salvation, that they preach "another Gospel which is no Gospel. So the point of approach might be to explore who is God, is; who Allah is really and who God is and the vast difference. Since the heart of Islam is the belief that Allah is greater than... the Jewish or Christian God, Peppermint Patty, etc.. this will become the whole point of the discussion. My point was to focus on quickly changing over from using the name Allah by explaining the nature of God vs Allah - which is the "justification" fro introducing who "Allah" really is - and is not. As far as reading the article, no I have not yet. I was replying to the information presented in the summary and my point was different from what you are saying the article contains. My point is essentially based on the "Allah is greater" phrase so is a different focus from the other points made - as summarized. It was for consideration of the essence of a Muslim's mindset when he says Allah is greater - that it could be loosely understood as saying "our God is greater than the other Gods" The link to Lambert Dolphin's site was to provide additional info for consideration.
you should check out the article. its got some very interesting points that speak to what you saying. would love to hear your thoughts on it once you read it.
will do
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