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Why some Christians want to worship Allah
Washington Post ^ | 06/24/2014 | ISHAAN THAROOR

Posted on 06/24/2014 9:00:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Malaysia's highest court on Monday rejected a challenge to a ban that in effect prohibits non-Muslims from referring to God as Allah. That ban has been in place since 2007 and, despite a series of appeals by the Catholic Church, will now remain.

Malay-speaking Chrisians have long used the word "Allah" to signify God; the word entered the Malay language in the medieval era with the arrival of Arabic-speaking merchants. But in Malaysia's complex, fragmented social landscape, historic realities often rub up against modern politics. Malaysian authorities pursuing the case say that Christian usage of the term presents a dangerous blurring of lines.

An umbrella group of Christian denominations in the country claims that the ruling only applies to the Herald, a Catholic weekly newspaper originally involved in the legal proceedings, and that they will continue invoking Allah in their religious activities. But that is little comfort to some. "[The ruling] will confine the freedom of worship," said the Rev. Lawrence Andrew, the editor of the Herald. "We are a minority in this country, and when our rights are curtailed, people feel it."

Malaysia styles itself as a kind of Asian crossroads, its multi-ethnic, multi-faith population of Malays, Chinese and Indians an embodiment of the wider continent. But the controversy over the case reflects the longstanding tensions between the country's majority Muslim population and its religious minorities.

In 2009, after Christians briefly won an appeal challenging the ban (that was later overturned), a number of churches in various parts of the country were firebombed and vandalized.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Islam; Religion & Culture; Theology; Worship
KEYWORDS: allah; christians; ishaantharoor; islamicsupremacist; lietothekufir; lifeamongthekufir; malaysia; muslimworld; worship
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To: SeekAndFind

The only “so called Christians” who want to worship Allah are:

1. Pedophiles

2.

3.


21 posted on 06/24/2014 10:15:47 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: Jonty30

That’s a word that’s never crossed my lips without (((spitting))), right afterward.


22 posted on 06/24/2014 10:20:16 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (Peace is that brief glorious moment in history, when everybody stands around reloading.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Allah is a moon rock. Maybe the word slipped in but the Islamic Allah is not the Christian God.


23 posted on 06/24/2014 10:21:03 AM PDT by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Are!)
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To: silverleaf

differences btwn allah and the Triune God of the Bible

1. allah is unknowable, cannot have a personal relationship with; the real God is knowable, wants to be known/have relationship with all people

2. allah is author of both good and evil; the real God permits others b/c of fre will to commit evil, but is not the author of evil

3. for muslims to be saved your good deeds must outweigh bad deeds, AND you must also have the favor of allah - ie he must like you - and you have no way of measuring/kowing if you’ve’done enough; the real God offers salvation through Jesus Christ His Son’s atoning sacrificial death, b/c there’s no amount of good we can do to earn it, and the bible assures us we’can know we are saved b/c we believe in what Jesus did for us.

4. allah has no/son; the real God is a triune God, One God, three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

5. as allah is not knowable there is no personal connection to him; the real God says in the bible that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit live within/indwell the believer.

6. there is no concept of personal forgiveness in islam, scales are weighed and if you do more good than bad,/folow the five pillars of islam - works - and if you are lucky that allah likes/favors you, you go to heaven, otherwise hell. the real God has mercy ad grace on people, personally, there is personal forgiveness of sins, God tells us our good works don’t save us, He saves’us completely.

clearly allah and the real, true God are not the same.


24 posted on 06/24/2014 10:26:53 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Secret Agent Man

Adding 7. allah allows and requests violent conversion or death to be considered doing worthy jihad. the real God does not demand others worship Him or face temporal death,/converting to Him at the edge ‘of a sword. allah says convert or die; God allows people to reject Him if they desire without fear of death if they don’t.

adding 8. allah hates those against him. The real God loves us while we are still sinners, still turned away from Him.


25 posted on 06/24/2014 10:32:06 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Cicero
>> the intrinsically evil name of Allah <<

The arab word for God, "Allah", predates the existence of Islam. It was used for hundreds of years by Christians BEFORE Muslims started using it. The word was hijacked by Muslims. Read a history book and educate yourself.

26 posted on 06/24/2014 10:42:05 AM PDT by BillyBoy (Looking at the weather lately, I could really use some 'global warming' right now!)
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To: Secret Agent Man

Amen to all those distinctions! The moon god of Islam is NOT the same as the omnipotent God of Creation.

In fact, Muslims worship a false god, and we already know who does a great imitation of a false god. Jesus warned us of that.

But muzzies continue to insist that “all three Abrahamic faiths” (ptui!) worship the dame Deity.

I tell you, those muzzies will try to hijack absolutely ANYTHING!


27 posted on 06/24/2014 10:48:44 AM PDT by elcid1970 ("In the modern world, Muslims are living fossils.")
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To: elcid1970

“same” replaces “dame”

Geez.........


28 posted on 06/24/2014 10:49:53 AM PDT by elcid1970 ("In the modern world, Muslims are living fossils.")
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To: Cicero
On the other hand, “Allah” is the Muslim name for God, and Allah is an evil god. I would imagine that when the Muslim “traders” came to Malaysia, they imposed Allah on the population. “There is no God but Allah.” Then, later, when the Christian missionaries arrived, they used the word that the Malaysians gave them.

The word "allah" in Arabic means "god" or "God". Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians called God "Allah" long before Mohammed was ever born. When the Moslems say "there is no god but Allah," the Arabic is actually "there is no allah but Allah."

29 posted on 06/24/2014 10:51:26 AM PDT by Lurking Libertarian (Non sub homine, sed sub Deo et lege)
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To: cizinec
Well, I’m glad your understanding of the Arabic language is better than Arab Christians.

I lived in Islam. You? My understanding of how they use the word Allah and Ellah are quite specific. Some use them interchangeably but generally do so with the knowledge that if they upset their Moslem neighbors, it will cost them their lives.

Allah is, has been, and always will be, the personal name for the Moslem god. Your arrogance not withstanding.

30 posted on 06/24/2014 10:59:05 AM PDT by rjsimmon (The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
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To: SeekAndFind

The real name for God that Christians ought to use is Yaweh.


31 posted on 06/24/2014 11:38:01 AM PDT by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: Lurking Libertarian

Yet some western Bible-based Christians believed that “allah” also refers to a either a moon-rock god or the enemy/devil. Just saying.


32 posted on 06/24/2014 11:42:35 AM PDT by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: BillyBoy

The people of Indonesia didn’t use Arab words until the Arab traders invaded their country and took it over.


33 posted on 06/24/2014 12:02:37 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: cizinec

What always amazes me in these threads is that people who claim to be monotheistic christians readily accept the existence of Allah as a god—an evil god, to be sure, but a god nonetheless—when the Bible explicitly has God declaring “I am the Lord, and there is none else.”


34 posted on 06/24/2014 12:48:24 PM PDT by Bubba Ho-Tep ("The rat always knows when he's in with weasels"-- Tom Waits)
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To: Lurking Libertarian

Lurking ... something isn’t right in that sentence:

When the Moslems say “there is no god but Allah,” the Arabic is actually “there is no allah but Allah.”
***************
The reason why I say that is because the arabic word for “god/God” is “ilah” from what I gathered in my notes here.

I also have a couple of qurans here too.
One verse in the quran really stands out in arabic:

“wa ‘ilaahukum ‘ilaahunw-waahid: laaa ‘ilaaha ‘illaa huwar-rahmaa-nur-rahiim. - 2:163 - (Yusuf Ali - 1st U.S. edition 2005)

I don’t see the word “allah” at all in that verse, yet the english interpretation reads like this:

“and your God is One God: there is no god but He; Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Do you see how the word “god/God” is used 3 times in that arabic phrase straight out of the quran, yet not one time is it spelled “allah”, but yet has the spelling closer to “ilah”? ... just saying


35 posted on 06/24/2014 12:51:50 PM PDT by A child of Yah (I once was lost, but now I'm found, twas grace that set me free ... thank you LORD)
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To: SeekAndFind

Maybe the Catholic Church should spend their time teaching the Catholics out there not to use the word Allah since Allah is synonymous with the false god of Islam.

Oh wait, the New Religion teaches Catholics worship the same God as Islam anyway.


36 posted on 06/24/2014 2:27:14 PM PDT by piusv
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To: piusv

I’m not familiar with it, so educate me...

How does the Catholic Church use the word — God in Arabic?


37 posted on 06/24/2014 2:31:10 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: A child of Yah

RE: Do you see how the word “god/God” is used 3 times in that arabic phrase straight out of the quran, yet not one time is it spelled “allah”, but yet has the spelling closer to “ilah”? ... just saying

So, is it your opinion that changing the word ‘Allah’ to ‘Illah’ would be better for Christians when they refer to God?


38 posted on 06/24/2014 2:33:44 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

I don’t know what word they use in Arabic. All I know is that the New Catechism based on Vatican II now teaches Catholics that Muslims worship the same God as Catholics.

So, apparently the fact that the word they use is the same as the word the Muslims use is totally fine.


39 posted on 06/24/2014 2:34:15 PM PDT by piusv
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To: piusv

RE: All I know is that the New Catechism based on Vatican II now teaches Catholics that Muslims worship the same God as Catholics.

The only difficulty with that is they will have to qualify that even if the Muslims IDENTIFY correctly that there is one God, they are wrong in how they conceive Him.

Let’s put it in terms of how we can understand it in ordinary life.

The left and the right all know Obama is the President.

However, their conceptions of the person Obama are totally different.

To the left, Obama is courageous, honest, competent, fair and holds all the right ideas for a prosperous America.

The right believes in the opposite about Obama.

However, THEY BOTH IDENTIFY THE PRESIDENT CORRECTLY.

It is their CONCEPTION of Obama that is different and that conception has a direct bearing on how they act politically.

*THAT* is exactly the difference between Christians and Muslims when they worship the one God (however name or term you use ).

One does not believe that He loves us enough to be incarnate and die for our sins. One also believes that He commands apostates to be killed.

The other believes differently.

However, they both identify Him correctly.


40 posted on 06/24/2014 2:41:58 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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