GUEST COMMENTARY: What’s in a Name?

c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Should Christians call God by the name “Allah”? At least one Catholic bishop in the Netherlands, Tiny Muskens, thinks so. “Allah is a very beautiful word for God,” he recently told Dutch television. “Shouldn’t we all say from now on we will name God Allah? … What does God […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Should Christians call God by the name “Allah”? At least one Catholic bishop in the Netherlands, Tiny Muskens, thinks so. “Allah is a very beautiful word for God,” he recently told Dutch television.

“Shouldn’t we all say from now on we will name God Allah? … What does God care what we call him?”


Muskens based his opinion in part on the fact that Catholic churches in Indonesia use “Allah” to refer to God. “In the heart of the Eucharist, God is called Allah over there, so why can’t we start doing that together?” he asked.

It’s an interesting suggestion, but not one that has sat well with many Christians. In a survey published in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, 92 percent of people disagreed with Muskens. The Rev. Jonathan Morris, a Catholic priest and an analyst for FOX News, said: “I’m sure his intentions are good, but his theology needs a little fine tuning. Words and names mean things. Referring to God as Allah means something.”

It is not, however, as far-fetched as many people might think. Since the birth of Islam, Muslims have asserted that they worship the very same God as Jews and Christians _ the God of the Bible, the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus Christ.

Some Christian leaders, such as religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, disagree. “Allah was the moon god from Mecca. That is why Islam has the crescent moon,” Robertson says on his Web site. “The flag of Turkey has a crescent moon with a star in it. Well, the crescent moon is because Allah was the moon god, and that is the deal.”

Actually, not really. The Quran instructs the Prophet Muhammad to say: “`O followers of earlier revelation (i.e., Jews and Christians)! Come unto that tenet which we and you hold in common: that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall not ascribe divinity to aught beside Him, and that we shall not take human beings for our lords beside God.’ And if they turn away, then say: `Bear witness that it is we who have surrendered ourselves unto Him.”’

If, as Robertson asserts, “Allah” was the moon god of Mecca, then Arabic-speaking Christians must be worshipping the wrong god. They also call God “Allah,” and every Arabic translation of the Bible translates God as “Allah.”

There’s more:

_ The name “Allah” is the Arabic form of the ancient Semitic name for the supreme deity. Its proto-Semitic root word is “LH,” which means “to worship.” The Hebrew “eloh,” which is the name used for God in the Hebrew Bible, also comes from this root word.


_ In Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke, the word for God is “alaha.” Moreover, the name “Eloi,” which Jesus calls out from the cross, is nothing but the Hebrew translation of the Aramaic “alaha.” Jesus would have called God “alaha,” which is very similar to “Allah.”

So should Western Christians call God “Allah” in their liturgies? No. The English word “God” is a beautiful name, dating back to before Christianity. It is the name I use when I speak to Muslims in English. Nevertheless, the fact remains that “Allah” is the very same God worshipped by Jews and Christians, and Muslims do not worship an alien or pagan god.

Rather than heed the calls of those who would seek to divide us, we should learn about and appreciate our similarities _ as followers of the Abrahamic tradition _ so that we can learn to work together for the common good. The God upon whom we call is one and the same; the name that each community chooses to call him is completely immaterial.

(Hesham A. Hassaballa is a physician in the Chicago area. He is co-author of “The Beliefnet Guide to Islam,” published by Doubleday. His Web site is at http://www.drhassaballa.com.)

KRE/PH END HASSABALLA625 words

A photo of Hesham Hassaballa is available via https://religionnews.com.

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