Replies

"If you read the Qur'an's description of Allah, and read the Bible's description of God, it becomes obvious you are reading about two different persons."

And a Manichean or a Gnostic would say that it is obvious that the God of the Old Testament cannot be the loving Christ of the New Testament. While I think that Muslims are extremely wrong-headed in their perception of the Deity, I don't see this as preventing them from worshipping Yahweh anymore than it stops contemporary Jews.

"Allah had no son while God sent His Son to die for sinful men. Allah is 'unknowable' while God seeks a personal relationship with His creation, man."

You do realize that these same invectives can be leveled at the Jewish faith, right?

"The spirit behind Islam is an entirely different spirit... a spirit that denies the deity of Jesus Christ."

As does Judaism. So is Judaism then irredeemably evil (as opposed to simply being incorrect)?

"Any Christian who accepts the notion that Allah is God creates an impossible situation."

Funny, the Copts have been around for over a millennium now and they're still around.

"The Qur'an specifically denies the deity of Christ!"

As does the Jewish Talmud, if I recall correctly. Your point being?

"Jehovah is not Allah. Jehovah never was the moon god Allah."

Allah simply means "the God" in Arabic. Any attempt to link it back to Arabian polytheism is ultimately an exercise of deceptive semantics. Deus, the Latin word from which we derive the term Deity, originally referred to the Greek god Zeus. So the dilemma you find yourself is this: are Coptic, Maronite, Chaldean, or Syriac Christians praying to Yahweh when they say "Allah" every day in their prayers or not?

Bringing up the fact that the Jews deny Jesus is God each time a comparison of Allah and Jehovah is attempted is simply a diversion and does not matter to the question at hand.

One can compare Allah with the OT YHWH or Allah with the NT Jesus Christ and determine that Allah resembles neither. What the OT YHWH and the NT Jesus Christ and subsequently He whom Jesus calls Father have in common is an entirely different discussion, albeit an interesting and necessary one.

But for the point that keeps getting lost. Allah is neither found in the OT descriptions of YHWH nor the NT descriptions of Christ and/or the Father.

First, the mention must be made of the fact that Islam denies the accuracy of both texts (OT and NT), while at the same time, irreconcilably professing respect for "the Book" and "people of the Book," ie Jews and Christians. Mohammed taught that both texts were corrupted, the originals distorted, changed, things omitted and the original message lost.

That alone raises the notion that the three faiths do not worship the same God, even if only addressed from the Muslim's perspective - how can any Muslim believe that the Christians and Jews are accurately worshipping Allah if they don't even know for sure what He is really like, due to the fact that their scripture has been corrupted and changed?

With that in mind, one only has to compare the attributes of Allah with the attributes of the OT Jehovah, or compare the attributes of Allah with the NT Jehovah to determine that neither represents Allah as claimed by Islam.

For the sake of the original proof, here's a comparison of Allah with Jehovah as Christians believe Him to be, according to the Bible.

Christianity says Jehovah is eternal and changeless (James 1:17). Islam says that Allah can change (Surah 2:106).

Jehovah loves utterly (John 3:16). Allah changes in affections (Surah 32:13).

Jehovah cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Allah deceives (Surah 8:30).

Jehovah is triune (John 8:54, Col 2:9, many more). Allah is not triune and to say otherwise is blasphemous (Surah 5:73). Also, Islam misrepresents the trinity as consisting of Jesus, God and Mary (Surah 5:116).

Jesus is eternal (Col 1:17). Islam says Jesus was created (Surah 3:59).

Jesus is Lord God, and the only way to the Father (John 14:6). Islam says Jesus is merely an apostle of Allah (Surah 4:171).

Jesus was crucified for the sins of mankind (Eph 1:7). Islam says Jesus was never crucified, that it was a deception ((Surah 4:157).

More general concepts relating to Jehovah and Allah which further define their differences -

According to Christianity, humankind is sinful/fallen by nature (Rom 3:23, 5:12). Islam says humans are not born sinful and their good will be weighed against evil on judgment day (Surah 11:114).

Salvation is a gift (Eph 2:8-9). Islam says salvation is works-based (same surah as above).

Salvation is offered to all (Rom 10:13). Islam says Allah saves whom he wants to save (Surah 2:284).

We can be sure of salvation (John 10:28, and others). Islam only mentions jihad as a guarantee, anything else is dubious until death (Surah 3:157).

Based on these and no doubt other comparable differences, it is pretty safe to say that the attributes of Allah and Jehovah as seen through Christian scriptures vs Islamic ones are basically in complete dichotomy. To suggest that Christians and Muslims worship the same God (regardless of what Allah means in Arabic, which is a trivial point) is to deny both the Koran and the Bible. And with that in mind, both texts can't be correct. Bottom line - if we believe the Bible, we must deny the Koran. And vice versa. If we believe in Jesus, we must deny Allah. And vice versa.