Saturday, January 23, 2010

Why are those terrorists shouting AllahuAkbar?!

Allah.

Do you know what that means?

Do you know what language it is?

Do you know who uses it?

Shall I answer your questions?

Allah.

It's an Arabic term. It means God. Muslims are the one's that are usually heard using it.

Islam, as some of you know, is a monotheistic religion i.e. the belief there is only one God.

The God we worship is just God. He's not a different God. Or a different being. The same God that Jews and basically Christians worship.

Why do I say basically Christians?

Well, this is where the main and most important difference comes in between Islam and Christianity.

Muslims monotheistic belief in God is similar to that of in Judaism. Where God is unquestionably one being, with no partners, without the concept of Trinity.

Before I digress too much on this topic I want to mention that Muslims do however believe in Jesus. But we believe that Jesus was a Prophet and also believe he will return to defeat the anti-Christ. And unfortunately for the sake of my wrists and keeping this post short I will stop here about Jesus.

Allah has become a word that many non-Muslims in the west have come to misunderstand. I've seen people yell saying Allah is the devil. Which never made any sense to me, especially when they where preaching and telling us to worship God.

It's like...ohhkayyy

Funnier thing is, many Arab Christians use the word as well.

Why?
Because it means God. The God that we all believe to have created humankind, the earth, and the universe.

Sometimes though Arab Christians will add another term after Allah for God, the father and God, the son.

Sometimes I consider going to those individuals that tell me Allah is the devil and is evil and having a discussion with them. I wonder if learning something will confuse them.

Some people argue it's our fault for using the word Allah because it confuses other people. My answer? It's not like we don't use the word God. How many times have you seen the writers on this blog say God? Quite a lot.

Like Hebrew is that language for Judaism, Arabic is the language of Islam.

Many of us are not Arabic speakers but have learned to read the Quran in Arabic. And learn to say our prayers in Arabic. We use many terms in Arabic like Insh'Allah (God willing), Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God), and the famous Allahu Akbar (God is Great). And those are just a few.

I will have to end my post here despite having other things to talk about like the controversy going on in Malaysia. But insh'Allah when my hands are better my posts won't be so crappy but until then, I hope you did learn something.


CC out.

14 comments:

Artistic Logic said...

Allahu akbar

Nomadic Cognition said...

Actually the word "Allah" [اللة] in Arabic has a much deeper meaning than "God." In Arabic majority of words come from a root word from which meanings are derived. The roots of the word "Allah" shed the following meanings on the word...

The One who is worshiped
The One who amazes and overwhelms people [with His amazingness]
The One who is high, elevated
The One who is hidden
The One who creates

Just another reason why I think Arabic is one of the coolest languages :)

Nomadic Cognition said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Soda and Candy said...

Oh I have a question!!!

Is Allah only the name of the big-G God, or is it also the same word for small-g gods?

Like, what if you're talking in Arabic discussing pantheistic religions like Hinduism, and their gods? Is there a different word when "god" is just a noun and not your God (proper noun)?

Maureen@IslandRoar said...

I did know Allah meant God. I actually didn't know this wasn't widely understood, so, yes, a lesson learned.
I love all those Arabic meanings Youthful Wisdom added in the comments. Unlike some languages, Arabic seems a flowing beautiful language.

Nomadic Cognition said...

Soda and Candy- the word for the lower case god is "Ilah" [إله] which is the indefinite form of Allah...meaning "a thing that is worshiped" or "deity." Whereas the word Allah is a definite noun. The difference in English is almost equivalent to "The God" versus "a god."

I hope that makes sense!

controlled chaos said...

YW thanks answering the question. Honestly guys, I think she did a better job explaining than I would.

Anonymous said...

i think its so lame that french is considered the "most beautiful language", Arabic is soo much prettier

Soda and Candy said...

Oh thanks Youthful Wisdom! That is cool to know!

Little T said...

I ALWAYS learn something from you! I commend you for discussing God/Allah/Jesus when most people shy away. The path to acceptance begins with understanding. You are lighting the way.

Anonymous said...

Hey there,

Figured I'd throw in my two cents . . .

The confusion between Allah and God is the root of a huge lack of communication. Average Christians are unaware of the meaning of Allah, they vilify their own notion of Allah/God by damning something in their ethnocentric mind state that is falsely perceived as the antithesis of their beliefs! On the contrary, I've never met a Muslim with the notion that the Christian God is evil, I think American Muslims are more respectful to Christianity not out of compassion, which is present in ALL people, but out of knowledge they learn in addition to their beliefs

Best

Jon

controlled chaos said...

I guess the lesson i wanted you all to take away is that we are worshiping the same God.
And are NOT worshiping the devil.

Jon and Little T- thank you :)

Kate said...

I did learn something, thanks for taking the time to explain. I learned about Insh'Allah when I visited the Middle East. I loved how everyone ended their conversation saying that.

At our school we say Allahu Akbar to our Muslim students when they celebrate Eid. Is this correct?

controlled chaos said...

Er...Um.. Huh
Kate, usually when it's Eid we say Eid Mubarak to each other or Happy Eid.


AllahuAkbar- I've never heard that being used to say to each other when it's Eid. Like ever.
Could you tell me where you guys came up with that from?