Question about the use of "Allah" when not speaking Arabic...

[Some Moran]

Arabic Christians refer to God as "Allah" ("The One True God) when speaking Arabic.

So why don't Muslims say God's name in the language that they are speaking at the time? I don't say "God" when I speak French or Spanish.

[ComerPerro]

1. Well

I think this is because the Christian God is just "God". So, I think muslims want to keep the distinction.

But, I have no idea.

[Some Moran]

2. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all follow the God of Abraham...

So it's not 3 different beings...

[ComerPerro]

6. However

Different interpratations.

And, since religion is an invention of man, this makes all the difference.

[Tyler Durden]

3. Actually, a lot of them do....

...and it is considered semantically correct for Muslims to refer to the deity as "GOD" when speaking English.

Happens on CBC all the time.

[Some Moran]

4. Cool...

The ones around here almost always say Allah.

[supernova]

5. Never bothered me

to hear "Allah" inserted into an othwerise English sentence. I enjoy hearing Arabic. It is a beautiful spoken language.

[rucky]

7. It's mostly a Western media filter that divides Judeo-Christian & Muslim..

Here's an interesting article on it...

http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-5-57-1347.jsp

Politics begins with the way we use words, George Orwell reminded us. At a precarious moment for relations between Muslims and their ‘others’ it is important to recall that Allah is not the name of the Muslim god; that God, Allah and Yahweh are different words for the same deity.

For as long as I can remember, and almost without exception, the dominant media has used the word ‘Allah’ in place of ‘God’ when reporting on, about, Islam or from a Muslim region. Let me get straight to the point, Allah is not the name of an Arabic or Muslim god. ‘Allah’ in Arabic means God. Muslims, regardless of language race, ethnicity, or nationality have conventionally used this Arabic term to refer to God.

Therefore, to give the impression that Muslims believe in Allah while Christians believe in God is like claiming that ‘Christians believe in God while Jews believe in Yahweh.’ Clearly, this statement completely ignores the fact that these are two different names for what is considered by these traditions to be the same God.

The question is not whether Islam is a different religion from Christianity, or Judaism; obviously it is. The issue is whether, despite doctrinal differences, Muslims, Christians and Jews worship the same God. They do! Without entering into more detail than necessary, it will suffice to be reminded that Muslim theology clearly accepts the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. It sees itself as a continuation of that same Zoroastrian-Judeo-Christian tradition that started and evolved in the great culture centres of the ancient Middle East.

[Scott Lee]

8. You have the wrong translation. "Allah" means "Other than Man"

Hence it would be an accurate reference to the Almighty by an Arabic speaking person be they Christian or Muslim.

[Astarho]

9. Allah

is a contraction of Al-ilah "the god". Ilah being cognate with other Semitic words for god: El in Hebrew (from which comes Elohim) and Assyrian ilu.

[IndianaGreen]

10. "Allah" just means "God" in Arabic

It means nothing more than that, which is why it is quite correct to say that Muslims and Jews worship the same God, the God of Abraham.

The Christian belief in the Trinity is problematic for the true monotheist religions.

[Scott Lee]

13. Allah = "Other than man". It doesn't mean "God" exactly

Sorry, this is a common misconception that needs to be corrected if we're going to talk about this intelligently.

To take it further, there is much evidence (I point to the scholarly work done by Dr. Patricia Monihan) that suggests "Allah" came from the Mother Face of a triple-faced pre-Islamic Arab deity. The "h" at the end of "Allah" supports this as it's a feminine noun ending (which turns to a "t" sound if you add the appropriate short vowel at the end when declining the noun - eg. "Allatu", "Allati", "Allata"; the nominative, genitive and accusative forms of the noun, respectively).

[MrPrax]

11. I Have Been Told That Non-Believers

should say 'The Prophet' instead of using Allah. Muslim's think naming Him is a form of blasphemy...they only use the word in 'praise'...

[LibLabUK]

15. errr

"should say 'The Prophet' instead of using Allah."

'Cept I think "the Prophet" refers to Mohammed, not Allah.

[Cocoa]

12. the anthrax letters said "Allah is great"

I've read some people took that as a clue they were not sent by a real Muslim because a real Muslim would have written "God is great."

[Scott Lee]

14. Right. It was a hilariously stupid forgery.

A Muslim would have written in Arabic "Allahu Akbar", or in English "God is Great".