There is a fallacious theory being spread by certain groups, in particular some Evangelical Christians, that ALLAH is a Moon God, and is therefore nothing but a pagan deity. It seems they are desperately trying to show that Muslims do not pray to the Biblical God. It is unfortunate that they have not carried out a thorough investigation into the matter; otherwise they would have discovered that Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews also call God ALLAH.
Every polytheistic and idolatrous people on earth have had some notion of a Supreme God, sometimes going back thousands of years. It is not surprising that they have portrayed the True God as an idol or icon. Christians also portray the God of Israel as an old white man with a long beard. However, such depictions and idols made of Him will not and cannot change His real nature. If the real God is presented as an idol or picture, that will change nothing of what He is in reality. Therefore, if we find such idols of Allah made by Arabs prior to Islam, that will diminish nothing of what He truly has been and is since Eternity.
ALLAH is none other than ELOHIM and YHWH of the Children of Israel; He is BHAGWAN and PARMESHWAR of the Hindus, and other nations have alternative names for Him. In the Qur’an GOD is called HAYY and YUHYI the One Who has existed since eternity, the Living One Who shall live forever and ever, the True God Who created us all. All the most beautiful names and attributes are for GOD.
In the Arabic language, ALLAH is the perfect Divine Name. Unlike the word GOD, which can be made plural (GODS) or feminine (GODDESS), ALLAH has neither plural nor feminine forms. On the other hand, the EL (ELOAH) of the Bible has a plural form: ELOHIM, and a feminine form: ELAT.
The name ALLAH is not a contraction of AL + ILAH (AL-ILAH means “the god”), as is wrongly suggested by people who are ignorant of the intricacies of the Arabic language. It also has absolutely nothing to do with the goddess of pre-Islamic times AL-LAT (“The Lat”, the name of a man who used to feed pilgrims moist barley meal and whose gravestone was venerated as a goddess after his death). LAT is derived from the root word L-T, meaning “to moisten”, whereas ALLAH is from the root A-L-H, meaning “to worship”.
ALLAH is situated in the Arabic grammatical category of FA33AAL, which is the super-intensive form of the root word, where the middle letter is doubled and the third letter is preceded by a lengthened Fat-hah vowel (corresponding to a lengthened Patah in Hebrew), A-LL-AA-H means “The One Who is supremely worthy of being worshipped.”
Thus, ALLAH is the perfect name in the Arabic tongue of the only God Who is worthy of worship. This is why Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians have always used it in their Arabic prayers, for they know it is the Arabic Name of the God Who spoke to Abraham, Moses and David (peace be upon all of them).
So, we see that ALLAH is not a “pagan god’s name” but the Name of the True God which pagans chose to represent by an idol, which is quite natural for such people.
Those who seek to show by any means that ALLAH is not the God of the Bible, also seek to show that Muhammad(saw) was an impostor. They declare without rhyme or reason that the Ten Commandments are nowhere to be found in the Qur’an. Furthermore, they say that the Qur’an does not teach observance of the Sabbath, and that therefore Islam cannot be from God.
In fact, all of the Ten Commandments of the Holy Torah are found in the Holy Qur’an. And in comparison to the 613 commandments of the Hebrew Bible, the Holy Qur’an contains approximately 700 commandments. Many of the Biblical commandments, including the observance of the Sabbath, were specifically for the Children of Israel and were not given by God to other nations. Other people were not commanded by God to follow the Saturday Sabbath observed today by practising Jewish people.
Sometimes Jeremiah 6:16-19 is quoted by the opponents of Islam in an attempt to prove that all the ways of the past must be followed today –
“16 Thus says the LORD: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ 17 Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’ 18 Therefore hear, you nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them. 19 Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people — The fruit of their thoughts, because they have not heeded My words Nor My law, but rejected it.”
However, as has been previously explained, not every commandment was given by God to every single nation on earth. Some commandments were common to all, but others were time-specific or people-specific. On the other hand, today, we find that the followers of Judaism no longer practise many commandments of the Law of God. They have often randomly picked and chosen which commandments they want to practise and which commandments they want to reject. Calamities have incessantly been befalling the Jewish people throughout their history for their disobedience to God’s Laws. If God’s Laws are followed, then such calamities do not happen. People who disobey God’s Laws can never live in peace. They always live in fear. Therefore, it is certain that God is angered by the fact that His Laws have been rejected. Similarly, most Muslims of today have ceased to practise many of the most important Qur’anic commandments, and now they are suffering greatly for their disobedience.
Since the birth of Islam, many millions of the Children of Israel all over Arabia and Asia, including almost all the lost tribes of Israel scattered throughout Persia, Afghanistan and Kashmir, have been obeying Moses(as) by accepting the Prophet of Islam, as they remembered that Moses had said (in Deuteronomy 18):
17 And the LORD said unto me: ‘They have well said that which they have spoken.
18 I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.
20 But the prophet, that shall speak a word presumptuously in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’
21 And if thou say in thy heart: ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?’
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken; the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him.
This Prophet is none other than the Prophet Muhammad(saw), who is the only Prophet who appeared among the Ishmaelites – who are the true brethren of the Israelites – and who brought a Law like the Law of Moses(as) and who spoke in the Name of God – ALLAH, the True Name of God in the Arabic language. The Holy Qur’an starts with: In the Name of ALLAH, the Gracious, the Merciful – B’Shem Elohim, ha-Rahman, ha-Rahoom. And it was revealed exactly according to the prophecy made by Isaiah(as) (see Isaiah 28):
9 Whom shall one teach knowledge? And whom shall one make to understand the message? Them that are weaned from the milk, them that are drawn from the breasts?
10 For it is precept by precept, precept by precept, line by line, line by line; here a little, there a little.
11 For with stammering lips and with a strange tongue shall it be spoken to this people;
The Qur’an was revealed over 23 years, precept upon precept, line by line, in a strange tongue to Hebrew-speakers: Arabic. And the only people addressed by name in this revealed book are the people of Israel, when it says: “Ya Bani Isra’il…” i.e. “O, Children of Israel…”, in several of its chapters.
In Deuteronomy 33, we read:
1 And this is the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
2 And he said: The LORD came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them; He shined forth from mount Paran, and He came from the myriads holy; at His right hand was a fiery law unto them.
The Prophet Muhammad(saw) was the only Prophet to come from Mount Paran towards the end of his life (Mount Paran near Makkah, called FARAN in Arabic) at the head of ten thousand Saints (the myriads holy = 10 000 Saints), and in his hand was the fiery Law for them: The Qur’an.
No other prophet has ever fulfilled this prophecy, and none ever will. This is why so many millions of Israelites recognised Muhammad(saw) as the true prophet predicted by Moses(as).
Therefore, you will find that Muslims follow exactly what Moses(as) wanted. Furthermore, the majority of the tribes of Israel obeyed Moses(as) by accepting the Prophet like him, who spoke in the Name of God. Readers are invited to study him carefully, and not to reject the blessed prophecy of Moses(as). Otherwise, remember what Ha-Shem said:
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.
It is sincerely hoped that God will illuminate the hearts, and grant them the strength to accept the fulfilment of what Moses(as) had correctly prophesied.
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