Posted on 10/23/2001 8:39:39 AM PDT by spycatcher
Pre-Islamic Arabia's religion was one of superstition. Belief in jinns (genies), curse casting, magic stones, totems was the norm - and it was against this background that Allah arose. Although the Quran is claimed to be a heavenly writing with no earthly source, evidence of these very sorts of cultural influence is found in such places as Suras 55, 72, 113 and 114.
Animism, the belief that spirits inhabit rocks, trees and other elements was also very commonplace. Some of these stones were venerated and used as a focal point for the worship of a particular tribal god. No surprise, Muhammad's family had just such a stone for their own tribe - a black stone, in fact, that they kept at the Kabah (where the tribal idols were set up). The pagan rites of bowing toward Mecca, making a pilgrimage to the Kabah, running around it seven times, kissing it, then running to the river to throw stones at the devil all found there way into Islamic practice.
The final piece of the puzzle was in found in the religion of the Sabeans, an astral religion that worshipped the moon god and planned their religious rites around the lunar calendar. One such rite was fasting from crescent moon to crescent moon, a practice which would also be adopted by Muhammad.
If these things were not present before Muhammad received them from Allah (who himself is the moon god of Muhammad's tribe), why did Muhammad not have to explain what those words meant in the Quran? How would people have known who Allah was? ( or: what a jinn was? what the Kabah was? what the word Islam meant? etc.). Even the word "Islam" which many believe to mean "submission" was not an original word. In Arabic it was a secular term that denoted the strength and bravery of a desert warrior (a definition that accurately reflects the war-like tribes that founded Islam with bloodshed).
The Moon God
"Allah" is from the compound Arabic word "al-ilah" or in english "the god". Allah was known before Muhammad's time without a doubt. His name has been found in pre-islamic writings and other archeological finds. At the Kabah in Mecca over 350 gods were worshipped, but it was built especially for the chief deity - the moon god. Allah was the personal title of the moon god. Allah was married to the sun goddess. They produced three daughters, whose worship Muhammad would later make the mistake of condoning. The crescent moon symbol of Arabia came from this god.
Muhammad's family revered this particular god, and it is this idol that Muhammad declared to be the only true god. So, Allah - far from being the revealed God of the Bible as Muhammad would have us believe - is nothing more than an amplified pagan idol. Muhammad did not re-make the pagan god, he simply removed the lower deities from the rites of worship. That is why he never had to explain who Allah was. By definition, an idol converted in the 7th century into a new god cannot be the sama God revealed thousands of years earlier to Biblical prophets!
If they don't worship Jesus, they aren't worshipping the true and only God.
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; NO ONE comes to the Father, EXCEPT BY ME." Jesus, ca. 32 AD
Then you yourself are making this particular claim merely because you were born where you were were born.
They do now, but this appears to be due only to the cultural domination of Islam (examples of biblical texts using the word "Allah" cannot be found before around 900AD). Before Mohammed, "Allah" was the name of one of the deities of the Kaaba (a member of a pantheon of 360 gods), not another name for the Jewish God.
"Allah" means "God" in Arabic.
No it doesn't. "God" would be "Ilah", not "Allah", in arabic. "Allah" is a proper name of a specific deity, not a generic noun.
The article starting this thread suggests that "Allah" is from the compound Arabic word "al-ilah" or in english "the god". While this is popularly held to be true, in reality such an origin seems doubtful, since the part of the word signifying deity, "IL", is missing from the compound word. If this were the origin, then "Allah" would mean "the the", not "the god", which doesn't make sense. The Muslims believe that "Allah" is the proper name for their god, not a generic name for the Deity.
It's a good thing you don't believe in over-generalizing. I know now to keep an eye out for those fundamentalist Buddhists. (sarc)
Christian Supporters of Israel ping list,
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There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had
spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass. (Joshua 21:45)
Letter To The President In Support Of Israel ~
'Final Solution,' Phase 2 ~
Christians consider themselves a continuation of the Hebrews. The Jews are, in a sense, the Mother Church. That is why the OT is published together with the NT.
Yes.
If of course there is One real God.....and it's unlikely He would be a skitzo fighting Himself in two different religions.
The Muslim god is a false god which is why "it" breeds so much hostility against the true God of Abraham.
You were born here, so you believe what you believe. They were born there, so they believe what they believe. But had your places of birth been reversed, you'd be every bit as vehement a defender of Allah.
So where were you born?
Seems you have defeated your own argument.
The Bible clearly shows God takes sides when it comes to all the world religions.
All through the Bible we see God warning His people not to involve themselves in the religions of other nations.
Jesus Christ Himself makes it very clear that He is the ONLY WAY to God.
Nowhere does the Bible teach that ALL men are God's children.
I'll trust what God says when it comes to playing with fire, thank you.
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