Is Allah the God of the Bible – Part 2 (Dr. Bill Duerfeldt)
In an earlier article we looked at the Name of the God of the Bible – the God of Israel – and discussed whether that God – the Living God – is the same Being as the Islamic deity named Allah. Although the Koran says that Allah is the same god as the God worshipped by “the People of the Book” (i.e., Christians and Jews) [Sura 29:46], we noted that the proper Name of the God of the Bible is יְהוָה. This Name (pronounced “Yahweh”) occurs over 9000 times in the Tanakh (Old Testament), whereas the Koran teaches that the proper Name of God is Allah. The word Allah – as a Name for God – does not appear even once in the Bible, although we noted that “alah” in Hebrew and “elahh” in Aramaic do appear in the Tanakh – although neither can be interpreted as a proper name.
OK, you may ask, so what’s the big deal with a name? William Shakespeare wrote, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” (Romeo and Juliet; Act II, Scene 2). Although I personally think names are extremely important, I will concede “Bill” Shakespeare’s point for the time being.
Therefore, let’s put aside the name issue for now, and instead compare the attributes and characteristics of “Yahweh” and “Allah” to see if they share these attributes – to see if they are, indeed, the same Being. First, some similarities --
- Both are said to be Transcendent.
- Both are said to be the Universe’s Creator.
- Both are said to be Sovereign.
- Both are said to be Omnipotent.
- Both are said to have spoken to humanity through angels, prophets, and the written word.
- Both are said to know in detail the intimate thoughts and deeds of all men and women.
So far, so good. But, let’s keep going.
- Both are said to be One
Now here we do run into a problem. According to the Koran, Allah is a completely singular Being. He is not a Father, nor has he begotten a Son (Sura 19:88-92 and 112:3). In contrast, Yahweh is described in Hebrew as a “unity” rather than a singularity. The Hebrew word “Elohim” (God) is a plural noun. Even the Sh’ma – the declaration that Yahweh is One – confirms the concept of unity, rather than singularity. The Sh’ma says: “Sh’ma Israel. Yahweh Elohenu. Yahweh Echad.” (Hear O Israel. Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is One.) The Hebrew word “Echad” in the Sh’ma is the exact same Hebrew word used in Genesis 2:24 – “A man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one (echad) flesh.” Clearly a husband and wife don’t “morph” into a single being. Rather, they become a “unity”, joined together in the sacred rite of marriage, yet remaining two distinct individuals. Moreover, the concept of the “unity” of the Godhead carries over into the Brit Chadeshah (the New Testament) in such verses as John 10:30, John 1:1, or Matthew 28:19, to name only three. Both the Tanakh and the Brit Chadeshah confirm the Fatherhood of God, and that He has begotten a Son. (e.g. Jeremiah 31:9 and Acts 13:33).
- God of Love vs. a god of hate
Here we have one of the most dramatic differences between Yahweh and Allah. The Koran is replete with verses which describes Allah’s utter disdain for sinners. The list is too long to reproduce in its entirety, but a few examples will suffice to make the point –
1. Sura 3:140 -- “…and Allah does not love those that do wrong.”
2. Sura 4:107 -- “...for Allah does not love one who is treacherous and sinful.”
3. Sura 31:18 – “…surely Allah does not love any self-conceited boaster.”
4. Sura 3:32 – “…surely Allah does not love the unbelievers…”
5. Sura 4:168-169 -- “Surely those who disbelieve [in Islam]…Allah will not forgive them nor guide them to a path except the path to Hell to abide in it forever, and this is easy for Allah.”
By contrast, although Yahweh hates sin, He loves the sinner, and has made available to mankind the provision for the pardon of sin through the Messiah.
1. Isaiah 1:18 -- “Come now, let us reason together says Yahweh. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…”
2. Isaiah 53:6 – “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way, and Yahweh has laid on Him [Messiah] the iniquity of us all.”
3. Romans 5:8 – “But God [Yahweh] showed His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Messiah died for us.”
- God of holiness vs. a god of deception, trickery, and evil
The Bible is abundantly clear that Yahweh is completely and utterly “holy” – kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, in Hebrew. (Isaiah 6:3). In fact, the Tanakh makes the point that the holiness of God is completely unique – “There is none as kadosh as Yahweh” (1 Samuel 2:2). Moreover, Yahweh cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone with evil. (Psalm 5:4, Habakkuk 1:13, and James 1:13).
By contrast, the Koran has many examples where Allah himself engages in schemes, deceit, evil, and treachery – traits and actions that are certainly not consistent with a holy God:
1. “Verily the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He who will deceive them…” (Sura 4:142)
2. “And they [the infidels] schemed, but Allah schemed also; indeed the best of schemers is Allah.” (Sura 3:54).
3. “And when We desire to destroy a city, then We command its men…and they commit ungodliness…and We destroy it utterly. (Sura 17:16)
4. The Koran even states that Allah deceived Christians and Jews into only thinking that Jesus was crucified – “it was made to appear unto them”, when, in fact, -- according to the Koran – Jesus was neither crucified nor killed. (Sura 4:157)
- A God of consistency vs. a god vacillation and historical error
The God of the Bible is a God who is eternally faithful and consistent in His Word and in His deeds.
1. Numbers 23:19: “God is not a man that He should lie, or the son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it; or has He spoken and will He not make it good?”
2. Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares Yahweh, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
3. Malachi 3:6: “I am Yahweh; I change not.”
4. 2 Timothy 2:13: “…He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.”
On the other hand, Allah is a god of vacillation and historical errors, as these examples reveal:
1. Sura 2:106: “None of Our revelations do we cause…to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar. Don’t you know that Allah has power over all things?”
2. Sura 16:101: “When We substitute one revelation for another Allah knows best what He reveals.”
3. Sura 18:83-98: This portion of the Koran claims that Alexander the Great (called The Two-Horned One) was a Muslim, when in fact Alexander died in 323 BCE, a full 933 years before Muhammad founded the Islamic religion in 610 CE!
4. Sura 4:157: This verse purports that the Jews boasted that “we killed the Messiah Jesus…” In fact, Jesus was killed by the Romans, not the Jews, and this was done because the Jewish hierarchy insisted that Jesus was NOT the Messiah, and were able to convince Pilate that as an imposter, Jesus was a threat to Rome.
In conclusion, although there exist today, three monotheistic religions, it seems clear to this writer than only two of these religions – Judaism and Christianity – worship the same God – Yahweh. The god of Islam, Allah, is clearly not the God of Israel, the Living God, described in both the Tanakh and the Brit Chadeshah.
Moreover, (1) the tenants of intolerability to people outside of Islam, (2) the Koran inspired hatred of Christians and Jews found within Islam, and (3) the maniacal “cult of death” ascribed by so many of Islam’s adherents, is blatantly anti-Biblical. To quote a comment made by David Horowitz recently…“No people have shown themselves as so morally sick…in the history of all mankind, there was never a people who strapped bombs on their bodies and killed innocent people. No other people have sunk so low…” [FrontPageMag.com , 25 March 2011]
For these reasons, in my opinion, Allah is not, and cannot be, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and our Messiah, Yeshua!
