Allah - Yahweh

By Daniel Scot Sept. 2008

Click here to get this in Tract form as a Word doc https://MuslimHope.com/DanielScot/11-Allah-yahweh_TractForm.doc

 

Jesus said: "...and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:32)

Warning—This pamphlet contains words of the Qur'an in Arabic and English. Please use appropriately.

NOTE: Authoritative Islamic texts are the Qur'an and Hadith. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the revealed word of Allah (verse numbers differ slightly in different versions). Sura always stands for a chapter in the Qur'an. Islamic belief is that Muhammad is the perfect example to be followed by all Muslims. Whatever he said, practiced or approved is called Hadith. There are six different sets of authentic ahadith (Hadiths): Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmizi, Sunnan Ibn Majah and Sunnan Nasa'i. This pamphlet is intended to show the teachings and examples of Muhammad, and is not intended to be offensive to Muslims; many Muslims may have little real knowledge of what their god, Allah and their prophet has said on this topic.

Multiculturalism and tolerance are the slogans of today. Dissenting voices are dismissed with patronising half-truths and complete falsehoods. This has happened to the extent that many people believe that Allah (the god of the Qur'an and Islam) is the same as Yahweh [Jehovah] (the god of the Bible and Christianity). Although Christians and Muslims claim the God of Abraham as their own, closer examination reveals that Allah and Yahweh are vastly different.

In the Bible and the Qur'an, both Yahweh and Allah respectively are described as Creator, One, Ruler, Revealer, Loving and Forgiving, and as Judge. The Qur'an claims that Allah and the God of the Bible are identical:

Z Sura 29:46, "And argue not with the People of the Scripture unless it be in (a way) that is better, save with such of them as do wrong; and say: We believe in that which has been revealed unto us and revealed unto you; our God and your God is One, and unto Him we surrender." [Pickthall's trans.]

In the light of this teaching in the Qur'an, Muslims claim that Christians have misrepresented Allah as a three-fold God and that they should revert to the original simplicity of the oneness (Tawhid) of Allah.

The Bible is much older than the Qur'an, and numerous proofs exist to show that the Bible has not been changed/tampered with over the centuries, as many Muslims claim. (For further information, please read the tract Authenticity of the Bible.) It would be reasonable to expect that what Allah reveals in the Qur'an and what Yahweh reveals in the Bible should be identical; the Qur'an should confirm the facts of the Bible and its teachings. However, a study of the Bible and the Qur'an shows that the apparent similarities mentioned above have very different meanings for each faith.

Indeed, as you can see from the table above, Yahweh and Allah are very different in many aspects. The Christian claims should be examined: Do Christians believe that God, Jesus and Mary are the Trinity? What are the proofs for the Authenticity of the Bible? (For further information on some elements in the table, read our tracts on, Sin in Christianity and Islam, Truth in Islam, The Trinity and The Straight Path.)

 

Yahweh

Allah

Creates only good (Genesis 1; 1 Timothy 4:4; James 1:17)

Creates good and evil (Sura 4:78; 113:2)

Loves all mankind (John 3:16)

Loves Muslims (Sura 2:195; 2:190; 2:276; 3:32)

Does not change (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17)

Changes his mind frequently (Sura 16:101, 13:39; 17:86; 87:6-8 etc.)

Guarantees heaven for believers (John 6:47; 10:28; Romans 6:23; 1 John 5:11-13; etc)

Guarantees hell for a time for believers (Sura 19:71-72).

Does not lie; He stands by His promises (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29)

Lies when convenient (Sura 3:54; 8:30)

Leads people in the path of life (Psalm 23; 139:24; John 14:6)

Leads astray whom he wills (Sura 7:178-179; 13:31 95:4-5; 4:142; 39:57; 18:17)

Is a complex unity: such as infinity + infinity + infinity = infinity (John 10:30; 14:9; Romans 8:9-11)

Is a simple unity (Sura 4:171; 5:73)

Demands eternal justice (Ezekiel 18:4; Isaiah 65:6; Psalm 37:28; Isaiah 30:18; 42:1-4; 61:8; Jeremiah 9:24; Matthew 16:27)

Doesn't demand eternal justice (Sura 7:8; 21:47; 23:101-103; 53:32; 5:39; 11:114; Bukhari, vol. 1. Hadith No. 17, 504 etc)

Always forgives believers (Colossians 2:13; 1 John 1:9)

Forgives believers when he pleases (Sura 2:284; 3:129; 4:48, 116 etc.)

Has a son (Psalm 2; Proverbs 30:4; Matthew 3:17; 17:5)

Does not have a son (Sura 112:3-4, Sura 72:1-5; 19:92)

Provides atonement and intercession (Deuteronomy 32:43; Isaiah 53:12; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25)

Many times refuses atonement and intercession (Sura 2:186; 6:51, 94; 10:18; 32:4; 19:95 etc)

Hates sin (Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; Numbers 19:1-2; Exodus 19:6; Psalm 119:142, 160; Matthew. 5:48; 1 Peter 1:15-16)

Demands sin (Muslim, Book 37, Hadith No. 6622 & 6621; Book 33 Hadith No. 6421)

Is a personal God (Jeremiah 24:7; 31:34; John 10:14; 14:9; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6; Revelation 21:7)

Is unknowable and impersonal; a master of slaves (Sura 4:172; 5:118; 6:18; 7:194; 15:49; 19:93)

Deception and Truth

The God of the Bible has a consistent standard of righteousness. Repeatedly, He tells people to trust Him because He is a covenant-keeping, faithful God (Genesis 17:7; Exodus 34:6; Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalm 36:5; 89:33; 2 Timothy 2:13; Hebrews 13:20).

Yahweh's Word stands forever and does not change (Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35; Luke 21:33; Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6); whereas Allah abrogates or changes his words (Sura 28:59, 16:101, 13:39; 17:86; 87:6-8). It is difficult to trust a God who changes his preferred people, his methodology or standards.

Allah does as he pleases, leading people in the right way or leading them astray:

Z Sura 3:54 And they cheated/deceived and God cheated/deceived, and God (is) the best (of) the cheaters/deceivers. [Translated by Mohamed Ahmed and Samira Ahmed] (see also Sura 8:30)

The word used in 3:54, 'makara', means to deceive, delude, cheat, double-cross and dupe. Allah is thus seen as the best of deceivers, the premier schemer and the conniving one. By contrast, Isaiah, speaking of Yahweh, says that there is no deceit in God's mouth (Isaiah 53:9).

Allah has no son, Yahweh has a son

The Bible states that God is triune: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is a difficult concept to understand; it is not 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 nor 1 + 1 + 1 = 1; rather it is a complex unity more like: infinity + infinity + infinity = infinity. Christians do not worship three gods and they consider it blasphemy to suggest it. Muslims get their understanding of the Trinity from the Qur'an (Sura 4:171; 5:116; 21:91; 66:12). Muhammad evidently heard about the Trinity from Christian heretics and not from the Gospels [Injil] themselves (Matthew 28:19 etc).

Perhaps the biggest and most critical difference is that Allah denies having a son, and will not forgive people who say that he does (Sura 5:17, 72; 3:61; 9:31 etc). Yahweh, by contrast, does have a son, and it is only through the son (Jesus), that people like you and I can become children of God (John 1:18; 14:6-9; Galatians 3:26; 4:6; Hebrews 1:1-2; 1 John 5:1; Revelation 21:7 etc) and have eternal life. Jesus' being called the Son of God is not referring to his parenthood but to his eternal intimate relationship with the Father.

Summary

Mohammad prayed frequently for the forgiveness of his sins, but there was no assurance that his sins were forgiven and that he would go to heaven (Sura 46:9; Bukhari vol. 8, Hadith No. 319). This is understandable since Allah does not always forgive sin (Sura 2:284; 3:129; 4:48, 116 etc.). By contrast, Yahweh reveals,

... If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).

Yahweh is described as a just and holy God (Psalm 51:6) who punishes all sin because, ultimately, sin is against God (Numbers 15:31). In fact, from Yahweh's perspective, if you have broken just one law, you've broken all of the law (James 2:10) because you have despised God and put yourself in His place as ruler of your life. Thus, unlike Allah (Sura 53:32; 5:39; 11:114; Bukhari, vol. 1. Hadith 17, 504), Yahweh does not allow punishment or good deeds in this life to substitute for punishment in the next (Revelation 21:8).

Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and rose again on the third day, victorious over death; but each one of us must choose to receive this free gift. If you refuse to receive this gift, you cannot enjoy the benefits of the gift. God desires us to humbly receive this gift with a thankful heart.

If you wish to receive the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ by faith, you need only to open your heart and ask God in your own words. See our tract, The Straight Path, for more information.

Read the Holy Bible online: http://www.ibs.org/bibles

Watch the Jesus Film online: http://www.jesusfilm.org/languages

Mizan ul Haqq

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