I am not a Muslim but I have some familiarity with Islam. I am also a linguistics and anthropology major and have learned a bit about the measures which scholars go to to ensure that the original meaning and text of the Qur'an is preserved when it is read, transliterated or translated.
I have noticed that, in most English translations of the Bible, God's proper name is translated as the Germanic/English word "God". I have heard that "Allah" comes from the Arabic "al-ilah", meaning "the god". It seems that, in both cases, a pre-existing word for "deity" was used after the people became monotheists, but as a proper name in and of itself, so as to recognize that there is only one God.
English versions of Christian texts (except for some versions which use Jehovah/YHWH, but I think those are the exception rather than the rule) translate the name of God, but English versions of Islamic texts do not.
Anti-Semites sometimes claim that Jews worship a different God than the Christians do, and that Jews do terrible things in that other God's name. Nowadays the political and cultural tide has shifted and I think that most American churches teach that Christians and Jews worship the same God. However, I have now seen Islamophobes exploit the linguistic difference in order to make a similar claim against Muslims.
Some people have the impression that, while they worship God, Muslims worship Allah. I have seen some right-wing evangelicals further exploit this idea to make the ridiculous claim that "Allah" is a corruption of the name of a particular pre-Islamic deity (whose original name is clearly distinct in Islamic texts and who is named as a false god), and I think it works in part because many English-speaking Christians don't know what the early Christians would have called God. I know that in Aramaic, which is likely the language Jesus spoke, God's proper name was pronounced "Elah". At the same time, I think there is also some willful ignorance going on -- I got in an argument with someone about this once and she just started telling me to "get saved" when I explained the relationship of the Arabic name to that in other Semitic languages.
It made me wonder if some people leave the Arabic name untranslated because they want to maintain the impression that Islam is the "other" or "antithesis" to Christianity, rather than a related faith which shares the central principle of monotheism (how monotheistic certain forms of Christianity are is a whole other ca
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In my head, its as simple as that. For a Muslim to claim Islam is correct, argument of first cause, etc is not it. Its as much proof of Islam as it is for Hinduism or Scientology. (not saying these arguments are proof of a deity, just saying that its all equally valid or invalid for all religions).
What proof is there that the Quran is the word of God? This question should be asked more often.
But I know that the rules which are almost always irrational and cause undue discomfort in this world are mostly wrong. But idk what to believe or think about the actual root principle of islam.... one prophet.... one Allah... and heaven and hell. Are those correct? Aside from the rules accompanying the religion ofc.
Iโm not an Atheist, but I use to be religious. Never understood why anyone doesnโt ask this question more (I understand that currently knowledge of other species and civilizations doesnโt exist, but still).
If indeed other religions do refer to Jesus, how is he represented, and what is the context for this representation (eg: developed in the 10th C due to...)?
Much appreciated.
My parents used to forbid me to take a shower on saturdays... because apparently the jews always take a shower on saturdays and allah told us not to be like the jews
"The Compassionate has ROSE OVER theย 'Arsh."Al-Qur'anย 20:2.โฃ (He lives above the heavens) โฃ โฃ โฃ "The angels andย Ar-Ruhย (Jibril,ย alayhis-salam) ASCEND TO ALLAH in a day which is fifth thousand years long."ย [Al-Qur'anย 70:4].โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ "O, Isa (Jesus)! I shall cause you to die, and RAISE YOU UPTO ME."Al-Qur'anย 3:55.โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ "The ones who swear allegiance to you merely swear allegiance to God.ย God's HAND rests above their hands..." S. 48:10โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ "Every one upon it will disappear whileย your Lord's FACEย will remain full of majesty and splendor." S. 55:26-27โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ "Be merciful to those on earth, so that the ONE ABOVE the heavens will be merciful to you."[Imamย Al-Bukhari,ย Imamย Muslim, and others]โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ The angel of death used to appear to people whose souls he would collect. When he came to the Prophet of Allah, Musa alayhis-salam to collect his soul, Musa punched out his eye. The angel of death ASCENDED to his Rabb, the Glorious, and said to Him, My Rabb (Sunan an Nasa'i)โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ Our Rabb, the Blessed, the Exalted, DESCENDS to the lowest heaven every night, during the last third of the night, and saysโฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ I saw my Lord, the Exalted and Glorious in the most beautiful form...He then placed HIS PALM between my shoulders and I felt its coldness in my chest (Tirmidhi 237)โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ A Jew came to the Prophet and said, "O Muhammad! Allah will hold the heavens onย a Finger, and the mountains onย a FINGERS, and the trees onย a Finger, and all the creation onย a Finger, and then He will say, 'I am the King.' " On that Allah's Apostle smiled till his premolar teeth became visible, and then recited:--โฃ 'No just estimate have they made of Allah such as due to him... (39.67) 'Abdullah added: Allah's Apostle smiled (at the Jew's statement) expressing his wonder and believe in what was said. (Sahih al-Bukhariย 9:510)โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ The Prophet said, "When Allah created the Creation,ย He WROTE in His Book--and He wrote (that) about Himself, and it is placed with Him on the Throne--'Verily My Mercy overcomes My Anger.'" (Sahih al-Bukhariย 9:501)โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ โฃ
