Who is Allah?

[Icefrisco]

I understand who Allah is now but who was he in muhammads time? I did not know this but he was actually a pagan god. Does this mean that muslims are pagans? Is Allah a pagan god or the one god?

[Flogger]

I understand who Allah is now but who was he in muhammads time? I did not know this but he was actually a pagan god. Does this mean that muslims are pagans? Is Allah a pagan god or the one god?

What? Allah is just the Muslim name for God. Just like the Christian one.

[Ó Cathasaigh]

One could argue that the Christian God is not the Muslim God, but the Muslim God is based upon him. Muslims don't beleive in a trinity, and thus it isn't the same thing.

[Flogger]

One could argue that the Christian God is not the Muslim God, but the Muslim God is based upon him. Muslims don't beleive in a trinity, and thus it isn't the same thing.

Well, not all Christians believe in a trinity... but anyway, Allah and the Christian God are essentially the same thing; all powerful, all-knowing, all-merciful, creator of the universe... A lot of similarities can be drawn up between the two religions. Both have the same creation story, for a start.

[John I Tzimisces]

Arabic christians also refer to God as Allah. It's just arabic for God.

[Blau&Gruen]

I understand who Allah is now but who was he in muhammads time? I did not know this but he was actually a pagan god. Does this mean that muslims are pagans? Is Allah a pagan god or the one god?

Muslims have various names for god but Allah is the common appellativ and has been not uncommon before Islam. < * elloha
Now, you have a set of similar answers. If you mean with pagan polytheistic, then maybe not in the classical sense. It seems important for Muslims to underline the hiatus between the pre-islamic period and the time that starts with the revelation.

[modytop1]

allah is the one god who order us to do good things and never do bad things

[John I Tzimisces]

Allah...is just...the arabic name...for the God of Abraham. There is no distinction between the God of Islam and Christianity, just the belief's of those two faith's concerning Him.

[Blau&Gruen]

There is no distinction ...

For muslims god is the one who chooses the prophet ismael.
For muslims the revelation before the prophet has been corrupted.
For muslims god did not become a man (exceptions may make some directions of the shia, where Ali has a nearly metaphysical status)

Any muslims here who could clarify?

I know some roman catholic and protestant people would likely say that muslims have the same basic idea about god as christians. And I have heart that there is a religious dialogue between muslim schoolars from egypt and christians schoolars from europe. Within such a pattern John I Tzimisces is probably right to say that muslims and christians have no distinction between their god. And what is about muslims and judaism, another abrahamitic religion?
How rational are ideas about god at all?

I am a moronic lazist, so I have no idea.

[AngryTitusPullo]

For muslims god is the one who chooses the prophet ismael.

Eeerr.. All prophets are chosen by God, be it Ismael or Isacc. However, the final prophet were chosen from the line of Ismael (Muhammad - Arab) instead of previous known prophets whom were chosen from the line of Isacc (Jesus, Johm the Baptist, Zachariah, Moses etc).

For muslims the revelation before the prophet has been corrupted.

Yes. Muslims believes that the Torah and the Injeel (OT & NT) has been corrupted.

Muslims have various names for god but Allah is the common appellativ and has been not uncommon before Islam. < * elloha
Now, you have a set of similar answers. If you mean with pagan polytheistic, then maybe not in the classical sense. It seems important for Muslims to underline the hiatus between the pre-islamic period and the time that starts with the revelation.

According to the Qur'an, there are 00 known names of God (Allah). The most known are Ar-Rahman (Most Compassionate) and Ar-Rahim (Most Merciful).

http://www.islamicity.com/Mosque/99names.htm

The pre-Islamic Arabs were generally pagan which according to muslim historians were those who corrupted the Abrahamic religion of One God. Idol worshipping comes from the very fact that men are always searching for God and when the can't see Him, they created images of Him (which is forbidden in Islam). However, not all pagan Arabs were polytheistic.

Arabic christians also refer to God as Allah. It's just arabic for God.

Yes. Some eastern language bibles also have Allah written in it. I have seen some Malay version of the bible which name Allah (The Father) to differentiate between the Father and the Son.

I understand who Allah is now but who was he in muhammads time? I did not know this but he was actually a pagan god. Does this mean that muslims are pagans? Is Allah a pagan god or the one god?

There were pagan Arab (before Muhammad) which pray to the idols that were called Allah, which is the manifestation of the One God.

[-Conan the Barbarian-]

I understand who Allah is now but who was he in muhammads time? I did not know this but he was actually a pagan god. Does this mean that muslims are pagans? Is Allah a pagan god or the one god?

I think you are referring to the pre-islamic origins of the word Allah which was the Arabian supreme god. Allah is also related to the Semitic high god El. Other Semitics such as the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians referred to their Supreme God as Ba'al which is also related to the words Allah and El. I think Ba'al was associated with the moon which is why you see Islam using the crescent moon as their symbol today.

[jankren]

I think Ba'al was associated with the moon which is why you see Islam using the crescent moon as their symbol today.

I think there was a thread regarding this a while ago. Anyway, the famous crescent moon symbol of Islam was introduced by the Turks who were originally nature worshippers. The moon was a common pagan goddess of the Balkan. So as the Ottoman Empire grew so did the spread of the Turkish symbol. In conclusion, the crescent moon symbol has nothing to do with Islam.

Peace,

[SickBoy13]

Allah...is just...the arabic name...for the God of Abraham. There is no distinction between the God of Islam and Christianity, just the belief's of those two faith's concerning Him.

Was going to post the same thing, but stumbled upon this.
Lestat, your post about "Early Judaism" was actually the syncretism brought about by Solomon because of his many foreign wives, who took their religions with them to his palace.

[AngryTitusPullo]

Was going to post the same thing, but stumbled upon this.
Lestat, your post about "Early Judaism" was actually the syncretism brought about by Solomon because of his many foreign wives, who took their religions with them to his palace.

The observation comes from my reading of James A. Michener 'The Tell'.

From the Qur'anic perspective I believe the Jews sprung from Abraham through Ishak (Isacc ?) which as in all prophets of God, preaches the One God. So the early Judaism which I mean earlier was not the original Jew (Ishak) but his decendants (the people of Davis, Solomon and Moses) who distorted the teachings.

There are traditions (or was it from the Qur'an) regarding Abraham (whose father is an idol maker/sculptor) that he destroyed all idols except one, which some claim to represent Allah, but from what I learned is only to show his people that if the stone (idol) is indeed Allah, then it can't grant any wishes whatsoever and can't even be made a mockery of it without lighting strikes on them etc. etc..

[jankren]

I understand who Allah is now but who was he in muhammads time? I did not know this but he was actually a pagan god. Does this mean that muslims are pagans? Is Allah a pagan god or the one god?

Allah = Al(The)+Ilah(God)= The God

The word 'Allah' indeed originated from the name of an Arabic pagan god 'Allat'. It is just like the word 'God' originated from the name of a Gaelic pagan god 'Gaut'. It is only about the origin of the word. Im sure when English people say they worship God it doesnt mean they actually worship the pagan god Gaut. Therefore when Muslims say he serve Allah does not mean they serve the pagan god Allat. Besides, Al Quran itself says not to worship Allat nor the moon .

Muslims believe that the God of the Jews is the same with our God while God the Father in Christianity is also the same God we serve.

Peace,

[Zenith Darksea]

Well, not all Christians believe in a trinity...

Sorry to be the one who comes across as a hardliner, but I'm afraid that all Christians do believe in the Trinity. The reason is that Christianity necessitates this belief - without it, it's not Christianity anymore. You start getting into all sorts of strange pseudo-Judaeo-Christian religious practices like Gnosticism and so forth, which arose long after the Christian Church itself did.

[jankren]

Sorry to be the one who comes across as a hardliner, but I'm afraid that all Christians do believe in the Trinity. The reason is that Christianity necessitates this belief - without it, it's not Christianity anymore. You start getting into all sorts of strange pseudo-Judaeo-Christian religious practices like Gnosticism and so forth, which arose long after the Christian Church itself did.

I thought Christianity merely means the belief which follows the teachings of Jesus Christ?

[Sétanta]

I thought Christianity merely means the belief which follows the teachings of Jesus Christ?

Jesus pretty clearly makes the concept of Trinity known.

[userfri3ndly]

it's pretty funny that Islam roots from Ishmael, father of arabic nations, who was the brother of Isaac, father of Jewish nation. Now that I think about it, could the differences in perspective about the same God stem from the differences between these two brothers?

I'm not very sure about how Abraham treated Ishmael, but I keep hearing things about how this is linked to Islam being a "fatherless religion".

[removeduser_487563287433]

it's pretty funny that Islam roots from Ishmael, father of arabic nations, who was the brother of Isaac, father of Jewish nation. Now that I think about it, could the differences in perspective about the same God stem from the differences between these two brothers?

I'm not very sure about how Abraham treated Ishmael, but I keep hearing things about how this is linked to Islam being a "fatherless religion".

That's myth.