Mr. Nafees Akhtar [Reader’s Pulse, Radiance 23 Feb.-1 March 2014] says that in my opinion, others have no right to use this word (Allah) to mean God. May I draw his attention to my sentence in that article? “There can be no objection to the use of Allah with its Islamic connotation by others.”
The credit for the global awareness of the name ‘Allah’ for God goes solely to the Muslim community. The dictionary says, “Allah is the name of God among Muslims.”
The Arabs in the Prophet’s time worshipped several gods. Allah was just one of them. After the battle of Uhud, Abu Sufyan shouted the names of Hubal and Uzza, because he held those names to be more powerful than the name of Allah. The Muslims declared that their Moula was Allah.
The Arabs believed that Allah had daughters who were more important than Allah Himself. The Qur’ān reprimanded them: “Rather than call upon Him, they call upon goddesses.” (4:117)
But Mr. Nafees Akhtar asserts that “The Arabic speakers of all Abrahamic faiths would use the term Allah to denote their object of total surrender.” That means they were pure uncompromising monotheists who surrendered totally to Allah and not to Jehovah or Jesus. This piece of information is news to me and I am enlightened.
The Qur’ān corrects many misconceptions about Allah that have crept into the Old Testament and the New Testament. This becomes unnecessary when the Arabic speakers of the Abrahamic faiths looked upon Allah as their object of total surrender.
I am given to understand that Arab Christians of today use the term ‘Allah’ as a synonym for God in their daily conversations. ‘Insha Allah’ is a phrase used by many non-Muslims in India too. Nobody objects because the issue of belief or Aqeeda about Allah is not involved here.
Mr. Nafees Akhtar is on a firm ground when he quotes the Qur’ān. He says that “faith in Allah is common between Muslims and Ahlekitab”. This is a reference to the following verse: Say People of the Book! Come to a word common between us and you that we shall worship and serve none but Allah, and shall associate none with Allah. (3:64).
The common word is found in the Biblical statement: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Deuteronomy, 6:13; St. Matthew, 4:10)
The Bible has the phrase ‘the Lord thy God’; the Arabic Qur’ān uses the Arabic word ‘Allah’. The Bible uses ‘only’ whereas the Qur’ān uses ‘none but Allah’. However, the two statements refer to the common word between the Bible and the Qur’ān, wherein the concept of Holy Trinity is totally excluded because the Qur’ān says, “We shall associate none with Allah.” It is in this context that the name of Allah is used. The Biblical statement does not have the personal name of God – Allah.
The Bible says that God created the world in six days. The Qur’ān agrees and specifies the name of God as Allah. “Surely your Lord is none other than Allah who created the heavens and the earth in six days.” (7:54)
Mr. Nafees Akthar quotes chapter 9 verse 30: “The Jews say Ezra is the son of Allah and the Christians say, Messiah is the son of Allah.” This is a quotation, and when someone is quoted he should be quoted verbatim and accuracy must be observed. This is what Allah does.
However, Allah disowns the assertions of the Jews and the Christians and shows His displeasure in no uncertain terms in the remaining part of the same verse: “These are merely verbal assertions in imitation of the sayings of those unbelievers who preceded them. May Allah ruin them. How do they turn away from the Truth”. (9:30)
The phrase “Allah’s son”, whether it is used in a literal or metaphorical sense, is equally reprehensible, according to Moulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi. That is, the use of Allah in the phrase is not proper. The Qur’ān says, “Believe in Allah and in His Messengers and do not say “(Allah is a) Trinity.” Give up this assertion; it would be better for you.” (4:171) Allah does not want others to be treated as co-existent, co-equal and co-powerful with Him. How then can we justify the unrestricted use of Allah?
I request my brother-in-Islam to pray that I should never advocate un-Islamic ideas and stick to them.