Stories of Jesus in Islamic tradition.

My question is, besides trying to incorporate Judaism and Christianity into the Islamic religion, did Muhammad name his god "Allah" in order to get the popular Sumerian believers to follow him too? Did he try to incorporate all three belief systems into one?

According to Muslim chronologists, Allah was the tribal god of the Quraysh, Muhammad's own clan. But at certain religious ceremonies held in pre-Islamic days, many of the tribes would call themselves "the family of Allah." In ancient Arabia, the deity of each tribe was respected according to the social status of that tribe. When the Quraysh clan became the overlords of Mecca, their god, Allah, was elevated to a supreme position and equal to the most important deities of Arabia, such as al- Uzza, al-Lat, and al-Manat.

We have clear proof that Allah was worshiped in Arabia before the time of Muhammad. Pre-Islamic personal names often contain the name of Allah as an element.It was the custom among the Arabs, in order to show their respect to their gods, to name their sons "the servant" or "the slave" of such and such deity. Muhammad's grandfather named his sons 'Abd-Allah and 'Abdul-Uzza, the slaves of Allah and Uzza, respectively, the father and daughter deities of his clan.

'Abd-Allah was Muhammad's father. He died before his son was born. Muhammad's own cousin, from his mother's side, was called 'Abd-Allah ben Djahsh (slave of Allah). His brother was 'Ubayd-Allah (humble servant of Allah). This brother migrated to Abyssinia as a Muslim, but there he became fascinated by Christianity, and subsequently repudiated Islam to become a Christian.

Another man whose name was associated with Allah before the time of Muhammad was 'Abd-Allah ben Djudan, a Quray#e notable of the clan Tayn ben Murra; he lived at the end of the sixth century of our era. He acquired a fortune through the slave trade. 'Umar, the close associate of the Prophet and the second caliph, had two sons, 'Abd-Allah and 'Ubayd-Allah, born before Islam.

Thus, Muhammad universalized Allah as the Supreme Being because this god was the tutelary deity of his own clan and his own father was named "the slave of Allah" ('Abd-Allah). STONE WORSHIP, THE KA'ABA, AND PILGRIMAGE)

inyourface.info...

reply to post by Deetermined


Continued...

In the light of the above, it is perfectly clear that Muhammad, through a close association with the Hanifs of Mecca, the most distinguished among whom were his relatives, became acquainted with their beliefs, which were called Islam. He became an ardent devotee of the new religion and, when fully convinced, started to act as a promulgator of Islam, which was originated by the Hanifs as a mixture of Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Manicheism, and, last but not least, ancient Arab paganism.

It is interesting to note that not only his adversaries, but his ardent followers and even his close friends, pointed out to him on many occasions the inconsistencies in his scriptures. It was to impugn his opponents' accurate criticisms that he came up with a verse like, "This is a clear Arabic Koran with no crookedness in it." (Koran 39:28; see also 18:1; 41:3) And again on another occasion, he tried to quiet his critics when he said: "But those in whose heart is doubt pursue, forsooth, that which is allegorical seeking (to cause) dissension by seeking to explain it. None knoweth its explanation save Allah." (Koran 3: 7)

inyourface.info...

Regarding the Morning Star (Venus) in Islam...

He subjected the sun and the moon till they say Allah. (Sura 29:61)

The sun goes to the throne of Allah where it worships the moon.

From Abi al-Thur. 'I asked the prophet, peace upon him from Allah, about the verse of Allah in the Qur'an which states that 'the sun goes to an abiding place,' the prophet answered; 'the sun's abiding place is under the throne.'17

I was with the prophet in the mosque when the sun was setting. he asked me: "Do you know where the sun goes after the sunset?" I answered: "Allah and his prophet better know." The prophet said: "The sun goes under the throne in order to worship, this is the interpretation of Allah's saying 'the sun goes to an abiding place'".18

Athtar - Venus became Allah, who appears at mecca in the third pert of each night. Mohammed shared the same concepts of this star deity.

No wonder Venus snatched the title "Allah" from the moon. later, the same Athtar-Venus was called "Allah" in Mecca and in other parts of northern Arabia. Allah became a great and high star which descended every third part of the night to appear to his worshippers. We can see this from many authors who wrote about the life of Mohammed, and who wrote about the life and creeds of Jahiliyah, the period before Islam. Among the authors was Ali Bin Burnan al-Din al-Halabi, known as the author of Halabieh. he wrote that Allah descends to the heaven of this world when it is the last part of the night.42 It is clear that, by the word "Allah," they meant the morning star which they saw in the third portion of each night.

brotherpete.com...

reply to post by lonewolf19792000

DUH! I told you before, hebrew days begin at night with the rising of the moon, so does Venus which was then thought to be a star.

So I was right then. Your logic is :
Since the moon shines at night, its the same as the "shining one".

Listen, the Hebrews had a different word for moon... it is "yah-REH-akh" Why didn't they use that word in Isaiah 14:12? Even further they had several variations for the word. see

Also, notice how the Hebrew word for moon has word "Yah" in it. So what now? Does it have something to do with "Yah-weh"? Its just as easy to make the claim using your logic.

You are simply assuming things by dabbling in a language you don't even speak.

Jethro (father-in-law of Moses) was Midian and he worshipped the moon, but he gave it up for the God of Moses. Midia is modern day Saudi Arabia. Guess what city was in Midian back then? Mecca. Care to guess what the supreme deity was of the Quraysh tribe Muhammad was born into? Hu'bal and the Ka'aba was primarily used for him. You see, Muhammad thought he was being clever, playing he part of Abraham who smashed the idols of his father Terah to follow after only one God. All he did was copycat in his grand design to be a "great" father like Abraham, except he left one Idol to Hu'bal because that was his Al-Ilah, his Allah.

Any muslim will tell you that Arabia was once infested with idolatry. And Mohammads tribe were also idolaters. Thats exactly what Mohammads mission was... to bring an end to all the idolatry and polytheism in Arabia.... even that of his own tribe. It was something no Israelite or Christian did. It was a direct fulfillment of Isaiah 42.

As for your statement about Mohammad sparing the idol of Hubal, that is exactly the opposite of what happened.
The worshippers of Hubal were the ones who fought Mohammad. After their defeat, the idol of Hubal was removed from the Kaaba.

Hubal (Arabic: هبل‎) was a god worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia, notably at the Kaaba in Mecca. His idol was a human figure, believed to control acts of divination, which were made by tossing arrows in front of the statue. The direction in which the arrows pointed answered questions asked of the idol. Access to the idol was controlled by the Quraysh tribe. Devotees of Hubal fought against Muhammad's followers at the Battle of Badr. After Muhammad entered Mecca in 630, the statue of Hubal was removed from the Kaaba.

wiki

This happened after the battle...

When Abu Sufyan wanted to leave he went to the top of the mountain and shouted loudly saying, 'You have done a fine work; victory in war goes by turns. Today in exchange for the day (of Badr). Show your superiority, Hubal,' i.e. vindicate your religion. The apostle told ‘Umar to get up and answer him and say, God (Allah) is most high and most glorious. We are not equal. Our dead are in paradise; your dead are in hell.

I am now certain that you have only been reading from Christian fundamentalist websites.

Amazingly the only image that Mohammad spared was that of Jesus and Mary. Mohammad is said to have covered it with his cloak and ordered his men to destroy all the others. That was only out of reverence for Jesus and Mary.

reply to post by Deetermined



You seem to have missed this one....


"And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Do not bow down (prostrate) to the sun nor to the moon, but only bow down (prostrate) to "Allah" Who created them, if you (really) worship Him."
-Quran 41:37


Care to address that deetermined?

Its amazing how so many Christians rely on half truths and outright lies to make their arguments against Islam.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n


Precisely why my earlier link said this...

It is interesting to note that not only his adversaries, but his ardent followers and even his close friends, pointed out to him on many occasions the inconsistencies in his scriptures.

inyourface.info...

Originally posted by sk0rpi0n


So I was right then. Your logic is :
Since the moon shines at night, its the same as the "shining one".

Listen, the Hebrews had a different word for moon... it is "yah-REH-akh" Why didn't they use that word in Isaiah 14:12? Even further they had several variations for the word. see

Also, notice how the Hebrew word for moon has word "Yah" in it. So what now? Does it have something to do with "Yah-weh"? Its just as easy to make the claim using your logic.

Forget about the moon, will you? Read Lonewolf's text again...

DUH! I told you before, hebrew days begin at night with the rising of the moon, so does Venus which was then thought to be a star. Here, this should look familiar to you. "Crescent moon and star" comes from Strong's concordance, and the arabic word "Hilal" is associated with the crescent moon.

Here, let me repeat it for you. "Crescent moon AND STAR". They go together.

This is where the names, "Shining One, Morning Star", "The Morning Star, the Planet Venus", "Lucifer" and "Bringer of Dawn" come from.

If you'll notice from the link, Shining One is not separated from Morning Star in the first definition nor is The Morning Star and Planet Venus separated in the second definition.

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by Deetermined

Forget about the moon, will you? Read Lonewolf's text again...

Forget about his text and read what I said.
He is the one who is hung up on the moon. The Hebrews had a different word for moon and they could have used that in Isaiah 14:12.

For the sake of you and lonewolf, here are some videos of some Jewish people (who actually speak Hebrew, unlike you guys) who say that Allah is the God of the Bible.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n


Personally, I don't get too hung up on names, but I just wanted to point out why Muhammad was using the name Allah instead of any other name in the Qu'ran. He was trying to appeal to all of the people in the area, even the pagans by using that name at that time.

Eloh/ Elohim in Hebrew
Elah in Aramaic
ilah in Arabic

So the word God in Arabic is obviously ILAH or ILAHI, not ALLAH.

I live in Indonesia, the country who has the biggest Moslem population in the world. These Arabic words were also absorbed into Indonesia/Malay language's vocabulary, and they mean 'god' or 'divine'.

But what about the word ALLAH ?

The word ALLAH is not a common word or equivalent to the Semitic word. You have to observe that the word Allah has double LAMED.

ALLAH is the personal name of god who worshiped in Islam. And in fact, the name ALLAH was already widely used in Arab peninsula far far ago before the birth of Islam in sixth century.

In pre-Islam era, ALLAH is the name of the highest Mecca people. He is the protector god of Mecca and was worshiped along with his daughters (female deity), and Manat.

chriswillard.multiply.com...

reply to post by Deetermined

Personally, I don't get too hung up on names,

If you are not hung up on names, then you shouldn't be hung up on words in a language you don't even speak either.

but I just wanted to point out why Muhammad was using the name Allah instead of any other name in the Qu'ran. He was trying to appeal to all of the people in the area, even the pagans by using that name at that time.

Allah is the Arabic way of saying the Hebrew and Aramaic words for God...."Eloi", "Eloah", "Elohim" etc.
Also, Mohammad did not have to "appeal" to pagans in Arabia.... because he completely eradicated the practices of the pagans and the idolaters.

reply to post by Deetermined


From your link

In pre-Islam era, ALLAH is the name of the highest Mecca people. He is the protector god of Mecca and was worshiped along with his daughters (female deity), and Manat.

Allah was not the local "protector" God of Mecca. He is the God of all reality.

Allah was always worshipped in Arabia ever since Ishmael settled down there. But over the generations, the ignorant started to attach partners to Allah in worship. After Mohammads arrival, he eliminated the practise of attaching partners to Allah and restored Arabia to proper monotheism.

One of the gravest sins in Islam is to attach partners to God. This is mentioned in the Koran several times.

Originally posted by sk0rpi0n


Allah is the Arabic way of saying the Hebrew and Aramaic words for God...."Eloi", "Eloah", "Elohim" etc.
Also, Mohammad did not have to "appeal" to pagans in Arabia.... because he completely eradicated the practices of the pagans and the idolaters.

Allah is the Arabic way of SAYING God? So, you're saying that Muhammad spelled Allah the way he did because he was illiterate. Whatever. I disagree.

LOL! Muhammad eradicated the practice of the pagans by force only after he couldn't appeal to them by using/stealing the name of their God by mouth.

Originally posted by sk0rpi0n
reply to post by Deetermined

 

From your link

In pre-Islam era, ALLAH is the name of the highest Mecca people. He is the protector god of Mecca and was worshiped along with his daughters (female deity), and Manat.

Allah was not the local "protector" God of Mecca. He is the God of all reality.

Allah was always worshipped in Arabia ever since Ishmael settled down there. But over the generations, the ignorant started to attach partners to Allah in worship. After Mohammads arrival, he eliminated the practise of attaching partners to Allah and restored Arabia to proper monotheism.

One of the gravest sins in Islam is to attach partners to God. This is mentioned in the Koran several times.

Allah means the all. As does the word God.
Where is it all?
It is here now as presence. There is no 'other' - this is it.

reply to post by Deetermined

Allah is the Arabic way of SAYING God? So, you're saying that Muhammad spelled Allah the way he did because he was illiterate. LOL! Muhammad eradicated the practice of the pagans by force only after he couldn't appeal to them by using/stealing the name of their God by mouth.

No. Allah is the Arabic word for God. Mohammad was illiterate but he could speak fluent Arabic.

Would you go up to an Indian Christian and say he is worshipping a false god because he uses the generic word for God - "Bhagwan", which is also used by hindus and muslims in general conversation?

Did Indian Christians steal the name of the God of the hindus?

Do Arab Christians worship a false god because they too use the word "Allah"?

No?

Then please stop with the silliness over the word Arabs use for God.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n


You're right. Let's forget about all of the names of God and focus on the fact that what Muhammad taught contradicted itself as well as what the other prophets and Jesus taught (even though he told everyone to listen to them).

reply to post by Deetermined

...and focus on the fact that what Muhammad taught contradicted itself as well as what the other prophets and Jesus taught (even though he told everyone to listen to them)

What contradictions?
That God is One? That Jesus is Messiah? That satan is the enemy of mankind? That good is rewarded? That evil is punished? Can you be a little specific?

It looks like Christians contradict a lot of stuff in the Bible with all their beliefs about Jesus being divine and God being a trinity. And don't even get me started on the contradictions within the bible.