About Islam; Is "Allah" The Same God Of The Christians And Jews?



Posted: Monday, December 01, 2008

by
God's Mosque.org

One of my dear friends asked me a general question yesterday about Islam. In our conversation, Justin turned to me and asked, "Since Muslims pray to "Allah," I was wondering if "Allah" is the same God of the Christians and the Jews?" I have heard this question before, just as so many Muslims before me have heard it. This means there is some confusion about it, and some clarification is in order. Yes; Allah is God the Creator, the same God of the Christians and Jews. Here are some relevant Quran Verses about the same God of the Muslims, the Christians, and the Jews:

Submission (Islam): Abraham's Religion

[2:135] They said, "You have to be Jewish or Christian, to be guided." Say, "We follow the religion of Abraham - monotheism - he never was an idol worshiper."

Abraham: Original Messenger of Islam

[4:125] Who is better guided in his religion than one who submits totally to GOD, leads a righteous life, according to the creed of Abraham: monotheism? GOD has chosen Abraham as a beloved friend.

Abraham: Original Messenger of Islam

[22:78] You shall strive for the cause of GOD as you should strive for His cause. He has chosen you and has placed no hardship on you in practicing your religion - the religion of your father Abraham. He is the one who named you "Submitters" originally. Thus, the messenger shall serve as a witness among you, and you shall serve as witnesses among the people. Therefore, you shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and hold fast to GOD; He is your Lord, the best Lord and the best Supporter.

Muhammad: A Follower of Abraham

[16:123] Then we inspired you (Muhammad) to follow the religion of Abraham, the monotheist; he never was an idol worshiper.

Part of the confusion of Allah and God being the same, is the usage of Arabic. Allah is just the Arabic word for God and does not symbolize a different god. Therefore, it is a fact that when the Christians and Jews who speak Arabic call on God, they say the name "Allah".

Another aspect that adds to the confusion is that there are Muslim leaders who refuse to use the name God even when they are speaking in English. This certainly can cause an illusion that "Allah" is an entirely different deity. Their insistence is a mistake, since we are encouraged in the Quran to: [17:110] "Call Him GOD, or call Him the Most Gracious; whichever name you use, to Him belongs the best names." In the end, we are informed in the Quran, that: [7:180] To GOD belongs the most beautiful names; call upon Him therewith, and disregard those who distort His names.

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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)
» left by Teresa Ortiz
 3 years 66 days ago.
187 fans.
Hi Kris, this is a well written article. Thank you for sharing this information. However, I must respectfully disagree with your assement here. They are not the same God for many reasons. The most important and most obvious reason is that Allah is not considered a triune God. Nor do the Muslims consider Jesus to be God in the Flesh. This is a fundamental difference that you did not reference here.
 
The God of the Bible, Yaweh is His name is  triune in nature and Jesus the Christ is diety-- God in the flesh. The Muslims believe Jesus to be a good teacher and prophet but not God in the flesh.
 
There are many other reasons that Allah is not the same God of the Bible  (Jews and Christians).  If you are interested, I will be happy to share them with you.
 
Thank you again for sharing information on the Muslim god. Blessings and peace to you. Teresa
» left by Michelle MacKinnon 3 years 63 days ago.
6 fans.
Teresa,
It always amuses me when people get adamant about which 'God' is the 'right' one. I guess it is all relative. 'Truth' is always dependent on who is telling the story - what is truth for you may not be truth for someone else. I have some wonderful Muslim friends who tell me that they see Christians and Jews as their brothers and that Allah is the same God as the Christian and Jewish God. It saddens me when Christians are not so acccepting. Perhaps if people looked beyond the cultural and racial differences and saw the genuine heart of others, they might discover a brother they didn't know they had. Differences in doctrine wouldn't matter then.
 
An interesting thought to ponder - Abraham had two sons - Ishmael the son by Hagar who became the father of the Arab race, and Isaac the son by Sarah who became the father of the Jewish race. Both sons had the same earthly father and both races recognise their common God in their respective religions. Jesus too worshipped the God of Abraham...
 
Thank you Kris for your article.
» left by Teresa Ortiz 3 years 63 days ago.
Hi Michelle,
 
Thank you for your comments. I do know about Ishmael and Isaac. According to the Bible Isaac was the son of promise leading to freedom and Ishmael the son of the bondservant leading to slavery--this whole account is revealed in the New Testament.  Every person has the right to believe it or not.  I have many friends who happen to believe it is all fairy tales. We are good friends. I was not saying we did not have commonality and respect for differences. I was only clarifying the undeniable differences of these Gods.
 
How can two God's be the same if they have distinctive differences in who they claim to be? I also have friends that are muslim and they are adament that the Christian god is not the same as their god for the same reasons I give. This is something that cannot be ignored. It does not mean we dislike each other or feel we need to fight.  They believe their book is sacred and the only truth and Bible believing Christians believe the Bible to be sacred and the only truth. Who is right? Well I suppose we will all find out one day.
 
In the meantime we all come together in love and respect.  I did not mean to imply any different.
 
What you say in the end--Jesus worshipped the God of Abraham, that is my point.  Jesus did not only praise his Father in heaven, he claimed to be the Son of God, God in the flesh--one with the God of Abraham. The Muslims do not accept this to be true of their God.  Again. This is my only point.  Culture and race having nothing to do with it.
 
Blessings and peace to you.
» left by Anonymous 3 years 63 days ago.
oops, forgot to address one more thing :-)
 
I never said which one was true and which one was false.  Only pointed out they are not the same. 
 
By again :-)
» left by Rabbi Stanley 2 years 270 days ago.
10 fans.
Yehova (God) said about Jesus, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased". Allah said, "I have no son". So they are obviously 2 different beings.
 
Rabbi Stanley
» left by Kris A.O. 2 years 266 days ago.

Thank you for all your comments.  In response to the Rabbi:  Who is the God of the Bible?  Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; Genesis 1:21: So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind; Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.    Isaiah 40:28: Do you not know?   Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God,  the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary,  and his understanding no one can fathom.

So the God of the Bible is the Creator.  Who is the God of the Quran?  Quran 36:81-83: Is not the One who created the heavens and the earth able to recreate the same? Yes indeed; He is the Creator, the Omniscient. All He needs to do to carry out any command is to say to it, "Be," and it it is.  Therefore, glory be to the One in whose hand is the sovereignty over all things, and to Him you will be returned.  . 

The God of the Quran is also the same entity, the Creator. 

You are right, that the Bible verse Matthew 3:17 talks about Jesus being given heavenly distinction.  The term “son”, suggesting a son of God is mentioned.  However, this is not the only time “son” alluding to sons of God is used in the Matthew scriptures; others are also called sons of God: Matthew 5:8-10: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  

Keep in mind that we (Muslims) do not deny Jesus’ special placement in our history.  The Quran does not deny Jesus’ distinction given by God; as seen in the Quran verses 2:253: These messengers; we blessed some of them more than others. For example, GOD spoke to one, and we raised some of them to higher ranks. And we gave Jesus, son of Mary, profound miracles and supported him with the Holy Spirit.

Thus, in my article I am focusing on the basic concept of my God and your God, the Creator; to avoid divergent arguments. Certainly we can agree on the validity of the above mentioned verses that there is one God, the Creator.  It seems divisions are not based on God the Creator, but rather additional concepts such as where the “son” of God stands in the religion.  Those type of arguments bring about fracturing into many different groups of worshippers who are using the same Scripture.  We now have the Roman Catholics, the Baptists, the Lutherans, Pentacostal, Presbyterians, Reformed Christians, Methodists, and on and on… all claiming the same Scripture as their guidebook.  The same has happened with the world’s Jews who utilize the Torah, and Muslims who claim to use the Quran as their guidebook.  So let’s examine if we are truly following God’s Scripture, because there should not be so many divisions if the words of God are truly being examined and used by the faithful. 

So, are the Jews and Christians truly following God’s commandments highlighted in the Testaments?  Commandment number 1:

 Exodus 20:1-3: And God spoke all these words:  "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  "You shall have no other gods before me.  

Matthew 22:36-38: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'This is the first and greatest commandment.

And, are we All focusing on worshipping and loving God, or are our energies going into different entities or other such distractions other than God, our Creator?

Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is One God!                     
 Therefore you shall adore the Lord your God                      
 with all your heart,                                             
 with all your soul,                                              
 with all your mind,                                              
 and with all your strength.    [Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Luke 12:29-30, Quran 3:18] 

 

» left by Anonymous
 1 year 284 days ago.
Very informative article!!
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