Home | Letters | ALLAH IS NOT GOD, OKAY?

ALLAH IS NOT GOD, OKAY?

25/09/2016 08:52:00 The editor

Font size:

Sir,

Probably about five or so years ago, I wrote an article in which I was responding to Muslims claims that their god (Allah) is the God we, Christians worship.

The response from Muslims to my article was threatening and downright false.
However, that should not surprise you.
Hardly three years later, a Malaysian Court of Appeal confirmed what I had said three years earlier on, that indeed Allah is not God Jehovah.

Now since the story of local Muslims inviting people, including non-Muslims to their festival (Eid ul-Adha) where they would be given free meat that had be prayed for by the name of Allah, the debate has been rekindled once again. Then a certain Abdullah Hlophe, a fervent Muslim stormed the Times of Swaziland offices in his attempt to correct what Bishop Samson Hlatjwako had said concerning the god of Islam.
As the bible says: “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

Indeed, the truth came earlier than many people had expected.
Below is an abstract of what the Malaysian Court of Appeal said concerning whether non-Muslims (professing Christians in particular) should use the name Allah when referring to their God (Jehovah).
The presiding judge, Zawawi Salleh along with Federal Court judge Mohamed Apandi Ali and Appeals Court judge Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim, provided sufficient religious background to support the court’s decision.
Judge Zawari said there was potential for ambiguity if Allah was allowed to be used in The Herald.

“If the word Allah is to be employed in the Malay versions of The Herald to refer to God, there will be a risk of misrepresentation of God within Christianity. This is because the Christian concept of God as symbolised by the Trinity is absolutely and completely dissimilar to the concept of Allah in Islam. The potential for confusion is not confined only to Muslims but also to Christians,” said Zawari.
Zawawi also pointed out that the Indonesian, Malay and Middle Eastern Bibles erred by using the word Allah to refer to God in the Bible.

“This Islamic deity called Allah is never found in the Hebrew text of the Bible. It is antithetical to the Biblical God, Jehovah-Elohim,” he said.
There you have it. As I said about five years ago, what Muslims worship is not the God Jehovah we Christians worship.

The words of Judge Zawari above testify what I have been saying all along. As to why Muslims did not condemn Judge Zawawi’s ruling if he was wrong remains an answered question but your guess is as good as mine.
Now people like Abduallah Hlophe are just blowing hot air about his claim that they (Muslims) are worshipping the same God as Christians.
In the Times of Swaziland dated September 12, 2016, Hlophe is quoted as saying, “Also, he needs to know that Muslims worship God the Creator so he must not mislead the nation.”
Hlophe is the one misleading the nation.

Does Hlophe mean that he knows more than these learned judges of the Court of Appeal of Malaysia, an Islamic country?
Further, Hlophe is quoted as saying, “The festival we are talking about was hosted by Abraham during biblical times and God said we must do like him.
So it is shocking that their bishops are failing to understand their own bible, which is written in black and white.”
The problem with people like Hlophe is that they are being fervent for nothing.

If he and company really understand the bible, he would not be doing what he is doing because Allah is not God Almighty.
That is why the Quran is fraught with many contradictions and untruths.
For instance, in the bible, God forbade the eating of camel meat – Levi 11:4 but Allah, through his prophet Muhammad told Muslims to eat camel meat - Sura 6:142-146.
So, who is failing to understand the bible Mr Hlophe? You or us?

If you and all Muslims truly understand and believe in it, why do you violate this commandment in Levi 11:4; written in black and white?
while you have the right to mislead yourself and your family, you do not have that right to the larger society.

BB Nkosi
MBABANE