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Some non-Muslims claim that Allah is not the same God referred to in the bible by Moses , Jesus and other prophets mentioned in the Bible.

Question

Is the above statement true?

Answer

Historically, Islam builds its foundation from the previous revelations (see my discussion from my previous article), the Torah and the Gospels. Therefore, it should be straightforward for us Muslims to believe that, the God referred to by Moses (A.S.)ʿAlayhi as-salām, Arabic for "Peace be upon him", Muslim honorific. and Jesus (A.S.)ʿAlayhi as-salām, Arabic for "Peace be upon him", Muslim honorific., in the previous revelations, is the same God referred to in the Qur'an. However, as you noticed, we Muslims have reservations, we don't really know how authentic are the revelations in the bible, that is, we don't know which verse is indeed a true revelation. What we are (Muslims) sure of, is that the religion preached by Moses (A.S.)ʿAlayhi as-salām, Arabic for "Peace be upon him", Muslim honorific. (see Deuteronomy 6:4) and Jesus (A.S.)ʿAlayhi as-salām, Arabic for "Peace be upon him", Muslim honorific. (see Matthew 5:17-19 and 17:3, see my previous article for more details on why Moses (A.S.)ʿAlayhi as-salām, Arabic for "Peace be upon him", Muslim honorific. and all prophets are Muslims) refers to one absolute supreme being, and that is the Almighty God, that is Allah (S.W.T.)Subhanahu wa ta'ala, Arabic for "May He be glorified and exalted", Muslim honorific.. Hence, any bible verse referring to the absolute oneness of God is indeed lovely to us Muslims.

Let's investigate how Moses (A.S.)ʿAlayhi as-salām, Arabic for "Peace be upon him", Muslim honorific., Jesus (A.S.)ʿAlayhi as-salām, Arabic for "Peace be upon him", Muslim honorific., and prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.)Ṣalla llāhu ʿalay-hi wa-alehe-wa-sallam, Arabic for "May Allah honour him and grant him peace", Muslim honorific. refer to God, etymologically (the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history). Starting with the name of God in Arabic, and its comparison to Hebrew (not sure if Moses (A.S.)ʿAlayhi as-salām, Arabic for "Peace be upon him", Muslim honorific. used this language since he lived in Egypt, I greatly appreciate if there are evidences) and Aramaic (the language of Jesus (A.S.)ʿAlayhi as-salām, Arabic for "Peace be upon him", Muslim honorific.). After that, we'll look at the concept of God in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The name of God in Arabic

The name Allah is written in Arabic as الله. It is composed of the following letters:

Arabic Letter	Name
ا	Alif
ل	Lam
ل	Lam
ه	Hah

The letters above are all consonants. The vowels are formed by what we call the tashkil (these are the small lines above and below the consonant letters), and the complete form of the name with the vowels is اَللّٰهْ. The name Allah refers to "one and only true God".

The name of God in Hebrew

The old testament is the Jewish bible originally written in Hebrew (the language of Moses ) and some Aramaic (e.g. the book of Ezra. Aramaic is the language of Jesus ), a semetic language with close similarity to Arabic (the language of prophet Muhammad ). The name Allah if spelled in Hebrew is אללה, composed of the following consonant letters:

Hebrew Letter	Name
א	Aleph
ל	Lamed
ל	Lamed
ה	He

or in English, א is equivalent to A as consonant (a placeholder for the following sounds: "a", "e" or "i", "o" or "u"); ל is equivalent to letter L; and ה is equivalent to letter H. If we remove one ל (lamed) above, then we have אלה, which in Hebrew is "God". Of course, one might argue that these letters can also refer to "curse" in Hebrew, since there are seven words in Hebrew that uses the three ordered consonant letters -- אלה, and two of it are "curse" and "God". However, like the tashkil of Arabic for vowels, Hebrew uses niqqud (dots above and below the consonant letters) for vowels. So that the spelling of "curse" in Hebrew is אָלָה (Alah/Oloh), and the complete spelling of "god" in Hebrew is ַאֱלֹה (Eloh). Through etymology, the name of God in Hebrew is based on the three letters: אלה.

On the other hand, God in Arabic is also called "ilah" spelled as (with vowels) اِلَهْ , composed of the following consonant letters:

Arabic Letter	Name
ا	Alif
ل	Lam
ه	Hah

which in Hebrew is equivalent to אלה. Though there are differences on the style of the scripts, the letters used are the same. Therefore, etymologically, the word God in Hebrew and in Arabic is the same. Of course, one might argue that this can also refer to curse, but that can only be answered by looking at the concept of the name God in Islam and in Judaism, which will be discussed after the next section. Here is an explanation of our Jewish brother on the name of God in Arabic and in Hebrew.

The name of God in Aramaic

The word God in Aramaic which is the language of Jesus is pronunced as "Aalah" (eastern) or "Aaloh" (western), spelled as follows: 𐡀𐡋𐡄 (all in consonants using Imperial Aramaic letter):

Aramaic Letter	Name
𐡀	Ālap
𐡋	Lāmadh
𐡄	Hē

You can confirm this at the Aramaic Lexicon and Concordance by entering "God" in the query. Therefore, Jesus referred to God as "Aalah" which is close to Allah. I think this should be no surprise since Arab Christians use the name "Allah" to refer to God. However, we should be clear that we Muslims and Christians don't refer to the same God as discussed in the next section.

As a conclusion for this section, the name Allah in Arabic, is indeed God in Hebrew and Aramaic. This is in contrary to the claims by other non-Muslims that Allah is a moon God or a curse God (from the Hebrew word אָלָה) or devil.

Does Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have the same concept of God?

Concept of God in Judaism, Christianity, Islam

While we have shown above the similarity of the word God in three languages, we also need to confirm its consistency with the concept of God taught in the three religions. I think it should be clear that, among the three religions, only Islam and Judaism pray to the same one absolute being (pure monotheism), while Christianity pray to a triune God to accommodate the deity of Jesus .

We understand if our Christian brothers object to this and claim that Moses (A.S.)ʿAlayhi as-salām, Arabic for "Peace be upon him", Muslim honorific. prayed to a triune God, and we are indeed interested on these evidences. We also understand if our Christian brothers claim to be following the jewish understanding of the Bible, since that justifies their claim on the diety of Jesus (A.S.)ʿAlayhi as-salām, Arabic for "Peace be upon him", Muslim honorific. as the fulfillment of the old testament, but again we are indeed interested on these evidences. For now, I will let our Jewish brothers to speak for this.

May the Almighty guide and bless these Rabbis, I tried to summarize what they said, but the content of the video in full is not even a representative of these summaries, so I encourage you to watch it in full.

Again according to our Jewish brother (first video),

If a Jew needs to pray, he is allowed to go to a Mosque and pray together with the Muslims... Allah is the same god of the Torah... As a Jew, I can say Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest) with no problem. And even the shahada of the Muslims: La illaha illa Allah (there is no god but Allah), I can freely say this with no problem, because their concept of God is exactly the same Jewish concept of God.

Again according to our Jewish brother, Rabbi Mintz (second video),

We need to realize why Muslims took Jewish as the second religion to study in school, since we lived in the same principle, in the same God. While Christianity believed in trinity... They call Allah, which comes from the (Hebrew) word Eloah the same thing for the jewish...

Again according to our Jewish brother, Rabbi Tovia Singer (third video)

Christianity is a complete idolatry, ... Islam is definitely not idolatry ... Muslims worship one God, very clear about that... A Jew can never enter a trinitarian Chruch, a Jew is permitted to pray in the Mosque... I should say as a caveat that there are Christian denominations that rejects the trinity, for example christadelphian...

I'm not trying to judge Christianity as we were taught to respect, just how a Christian/Jew is taught to respect. With regards to the statement of the Rabbis, that is indeed true, Jews do pray in the Mosque. For example, here and many other by simply googling. , Jesus was a practicing Jew, and if he was here, he would pray in the Mosque as well, and eat kosher/halal food together with the Muslims and Jews. As the Almighty God mentioned in the Qur'an:

قُلْ يَٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ تَعَالَوْا۟ إِلَىٰ كَلِمَةٍ سَوَآءٍۭ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهَ وَلَا نُشْرِكَ بِهِۦ شَيْـًٔا وَلَا يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْا۟ فَقُولُوا۟ ٱشْهَدُوا۟ بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ

Say, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah." But if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]."

Qur'an

Al-'Imran (The Family of Imran)

3:64

The People of the Scripture mentioned above refers to the Jews and the Christians who obtain revelations of the Torah and the Gospels, respectively. I should emphasize though, that when I say Torah or Gospels, I'm refering to the original scriptures containing the original message of the Torah and the Gospels, which, unfortunately, is nowhere to be found. The Christians acknowledged this.

يَٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ لَا تَغْلُوا۟ فِى دِينِكُمْ وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلْحَقَّ إِنَّمَا ٱلْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُۥٓ أَلْقَىٰهَآ إِلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ مِّنْهُ فَـَٔامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ ثَلَٰثَةٌ ٱنتَهُوا۟ خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ إِنَّمَا ٱللَّهُ إِلَٰهٌ وَٰحِدٌ سُبْحَٰنَهُۥٓ أَن يَكُونَ لَهُۥ وَلَدٌ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ وَكِيلًا

O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, "Three"; desist - it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.

Qur'an

An-Nisa (The Women)

4:171

Final Message

As an end note, I want to add to what the Rabbis mentioned above. To be honest, it is hard for us Muslims to understand the claim of our Christian brothers that they are inclined to the Jewish culture. The reason follows from the fact that the fundamental beliefs of the Jews are enumerated in the laws revealed to Moses , which the Christians accuse as bringer of wrath (Romans 4:15), otherwise, that defeats the purpose of one of their core beliefs, and that is the crucifixion.

We may all have differences, but as a conclusion, these differences shouldn't make us dishonest of other faiths. There maybe conflicts between Muslims and Jewish in Palestine and in Israel, but like what our Jewish brother said, all these has nothing to do with our religions, these are politics over worldly affairs.

AC: Allah is not the same God referred to in the Bible