Is Allah God? | Prof. Miroslav Volf
CC: 🇺🇸 🇪🇸 عربي
Is Allah God? If the answer to this question were simple, Professor Miroslav Volf would not have written a whole book on the subject. Still, in this engaging short video, Professor Volf provides a brief summary of the answer.
Professor Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School. He is also the Founding Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. In his book, Allah: A Christian Response (2011), Professor Volf explores every side of this important question and whether Muslims and Christians have a common God.
You can get Professor Volf's book from Amazon:
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- Arabic: عبدالرحمن بن عبدالله السدرة
In one sense, for me, a Christian theologian, the answer to the question whether Allah is God is simple. Before the prophet Muhammad proclaimed the message of Islam, Arabic speaking Christians have for centuries read in their Bibles that “Allah loved the world” acting in Jesus Christ to rescue it from perishing. They also prayed to Allah in the name of Jesus Christ to forgive their sins, to bless their marriages, to heal their maladies, and help them rejoice in sufferings. After the seventh century, too, and all the way up to the present day, Arabic speaking Christians have continued to use “Allah” to refer to the God whom they sought to love above all things. To ask whether Allah is God, is then like asking whether Bog is God, whether Dieu is God, or whether Gott is God. Bog, Dieu, and Gott are Croatian, French, and German words for God respectively.
When it comes to lexical meaning of the words, it is simple: Allah is God and God is Allah. But things get more complicated when it comes to the religious meaning of “Allah” and “God.” That’s because today the great majority of people in the world who use “Allah” to refer to God are Muslims, some 1.7 billion of them. In the light of the predominantly Muslim use of “Allah,” the question whether Allah is God acquires new meaning: Do Muslims, when they say “Allah” mean the same thing as do Christians when they say God, Bog, Dieu, Gott, or Allah. Is the God Muslims and Christians worship the same?
I have written a whole book about this question. It is titled Allah: A Christian Response (2011). If the answer to the question were simple, no whole book would have been needed. Still, I can summarize the answer briefly. To do so, I find it helpful to ask the question in two ways. First, is the “entity” whom Muslims and Christians worship identical? Second, are their beliefs about the character the “entity” they worship identical? Let’s take the second question first.
When it comes to God’s nature and attributes, Muslims and Christian agree on many important things. Here are six of them:
1. There is only one God.
2. God created everything that is not God.
3. God is radically different from everything that is not God.
4. God is good, merciful and just.
5. God commands that we love God with our whole being.
6. God commands that we love our neighbors as ourselves.
These agreements are significant. They mark Christianity and Islam, along with Judaism, as belonging to the family of monotheist faiths, requiring of their adherents undivided worship of the One God. “No God but One” of the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 8) corresponds to “No God but God” of Shahadah (and both correspond to “No other God but me” of the Ten Commandments).
Notwithstanding these similarities, there are also significant differences in Christian and Muslim understandings of God’s nature and attributes. Two are particularly important. First, Christians believe that the indivisibly one God is the Holy Trinity, which is the foundation of the Christian claim that the Divine Word became flesh in Jesus Christ. Muslim, like Jews before them, contest that claim, believing that it compromises monotheism. Second, Christian affirm that, as it is written in the New Testament, “God is love” (1 John 4). This means not only that God is loving, but that God loves unconditionally: though God doesn’t love evil deeds, God loves all people, including evildoers. Muslims resist that claim. God is infinitely merciful, but God’s love is conditional; there are people, and not just deeds, whom God does not love.
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the point is that most people listen to religious leaders rather than read their own books.
I'm a muslim, to be honest this channel is one of few that explain the similarity and difference of Islam and Christian in just manner, really love and respect for you guys...
@dralchemy8459
4 жыл бұрын
If only all the christians of the world were like these guys, we would all be co existing peacefully
Muslim: who is God? Christian: Jesus Muslim: is Jesus son of mary? Christian: Yes Muslim: who created mary? Christian: God Muslim: who is God? Christian: Jesus Muslim: Jesus is the begotten son? Christian: Yes Muslim: who is his father? Christian: God Muslim: who is God? Christian: Jesus Muslim: Is Jesus is servant of God? Christian: Yes Muslim: Jesus died on the cross? Christian: Yes Muslim: who resurrected him? Christian: God Muslim: is Jesus a messenger? Christian: Yes Muslim: who sent him? Christian: God Muslim: who is God? Christian: Jesus Muslim: did Jesus worship while on earth? Christian: Yes Muslim: whom did he worship? Christian: God Muslim: who is God? Christian: Jesus Muslim: did God have beginning? Christian: no
I'm Muslim and I love our Christian Brothers sisters and love respect to you also. You are very humble
@_litornado
3 жыл бұрын
We love you too 🙏🏾
Allah SWT said: وَلَا تُجٰدِلُوٓا أَهْلَ الْكِتٰبِ إِلَّا بِالَّتِى هِىَ أَحْسَنُ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ ۖ وَقُولُوٓا ءَامَنَّا بِالَّذِىٓ أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَأُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَإِلٰهُنَا وَإِلٰهُكُمْ وٰحِدٌ وَنَحْنُ لَهُۥ مُسْلِمُونَ "And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best, except for those who commit injustice among them, and say, We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him." (QS. Al-Ankaboot 29: Verse 46)
@aawishkhan
4 жыл бұрын
Wonderful.
@benbot6520
4 жыл бұрын
Elohim or Allah or Alaaha are not God"s name, is not God. These names are man made names supposed to be God. These names are not mention in the VEDA, the oldest books in universe. Only Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva(trinity) are names of God given by God. And the most important: Shakti.
قل هو الله احد الله الصمد لم يلد ولم يولد و لم يكن له كفؤا احد
Sir congratulations you won my admiration. This the first time as a Muslim ☪️ to hear a Christian learned man to compare the two religions in a fair way. Our world today needs sincere people like you. Thanks again and keep the good work.
Even Arab Christians called God “Allah”
1-Allah in arabic 2-Alaha in aramaic 3-Elohim in hebrew 4-Dieu in french 5-Dios in spanish 6-Deus in portuguese 7-God in english 8-Gott in german Only One God .One,One,One.Only One God !
I’m a Muslim and I have so much respect for this channel.... keep up the good work. People from all religions should get to know each other and respect each other.
Yes. Allah is god.
Read Surah Al Ihklas, that is where our Allah and Christians Allah are different. 😊
Its simple, In arabic, term "ILAH" means "God" . . When we refer to "One God" we use proper Noun as "The God" and termed as "AL-ILAH" which in linguistic called "ALLAH". Regards and respect,
I can't stop thinking about how Christians shout Allah u akbar Which mean god is great To mock muslim little they know that they are praising god.🤦🏽♂️
I am a Muslim and the Christian✝ father of the church💒⛪ gave me financially much support to complete my graduation🎓🎓🎓
I am Christian but l love Muslim because Jesus love us all
When you start reading 1 chapter of Quran it say .. all praises to allah lord of the world 1:1.. thats is the God muslim worship the one who created everything.. very simple..
Great video. As you mentioned at the end of the video, Allah says in Quran: (And argue not with the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), unless it be in (a way) that is better (with good words and in good manner, inviting them to Islâmic Monotheism with His Verses), except with such of them as do wrong; and say (to them): "We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you; our Ilâh (God) and your Ilâh (God) is One (i.e. Allâh), and to Him we have submitted (as Muslims)."
Yes Allah is god the creator of the earth and the heaven and the whole universe. Not a single matter moves wihout the order of allah
Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent." Surah 112..The Sincerity. الإخلاص
DID YOU KNOW THAT "ALLAH" IS SPELLED "ELAH" IN ARMAIC LANGUAGE AND THAT BOTH MEAN GOD? 🖤
Moslem criteria for Allah is QS. 112. Al Ikhlas verse 1-4
الحمد للَّه على نعمة الإسلام، لا إله إلا ﷲ وحده لا شريك له له الملك وله الحمد وهو على كل شيء قدير وان محمد عبده و رسوله صلى ﷲ عليه وسلم
Well said. Peace and love from a Christian brother. Love God always. Praise God.
Allah=Al(the)+ilah(God)
You say “ god the father, god the son , and the holy spirit “ We Muslims worship only the entity that you call the father We believe the son which is Jesus wasn’t god , And the holy spirit is just a holy angel which is Gabriel.
I've thought about this for so long and I'm a translator/lexicographer. The problem is that to a Christian, the word "God" makes him/her think of a MAN who lives in the sky, drawn in paintings like any other man, you can see his beard and even robe (subhan Allah). When to a Muslim, Allah cannot be depicted in any form but can only be described by traits he taught us that he has. Even though these traits reach levels of extremeness unfathomable to us humans. Hence my reluctance to use the word God and Allah interchangeably.
I'm muslim, as far as i'm concerned Allah loves all of men regardless of their deeds, even Allah loves those who don't worship him, so to love him back, one should follow his commandments
When prophet Muhammad (s) father name was Abdullah means servent of Allah
1-in Judaism (Shalom aleichem ) 2- in Christianity(peace be upon you ) "And as they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." - new testament (Luke 24:36) 3-in Islam(as_Salam alaikum) وقال الله له: يا آدمُ اذهبْ إلى أولئك الملائكةِ، إلى ملأٍ منهم جلوسٍ، فقلْ: السَّلامُ عليكم، فقالوا: وعليك السَّلامُ ورحمةُ اللهِ وبركاتُه، ثمَّ رجع إلى ربِّه عزَّ وجلَّ، فقال: (هذه تحيَّتُك وتحيَّةُ بنيك). God said to Adam: go to those angels and say :as-Salam alaikum (peace be upon you) and they responded :wa 'alaykum as-salam wa rahmatu Allah wa barkatuhu (and peace be upon you and God's forgiveness and blessing) We are all the sons of Adam and Eve so we must come to an equal word between us.
I love this man. He’s so professional and amazed with his speech and knowledge
Good explanation indeed, with sincerity, subtleness & patience. Aquiring real & beneficial knowledge will make us able to be on Siraat Al Mustaqeem. ........Peace and blessings to all......
"... but also with GENTLENESS, BENEVOLENCE, and FORBEARANCE." Let's spread that attitude towards one another.
Peace from your Muslim cousin
Sorry, but this is a fallacy. We, as Muslims, do not worship three in one. We worship one God, Allah (SWT). (Sahih International) Surah An-Nisa (4:171) يَٰٓأَهۡلَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ لَا تَغۡلُواْ فِي دِينِكُمۡ وَلَا تَقُولُواْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلۡحَقَّۚ إِنَّمَا ٱلۡمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ٱبۡنُ مَرۡيَمَ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُۥٓ أَلۡقَىٰهَآ إِلَىٰ مَرۡيَمَ وَرُوحٞ مِّنۡهُۖ فَـَٔامِنُواْ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦۖ وَلَا تَقُولُواْ ثَلَٰثَةٌۚ ٱنتَهُواْ خَيۡرٗا لَّكُمۡۚ إِنَّمَا ٱللَّهُ إِلَٰهٞ وَٰحِدٞۖ سُبۡحَٰنَهُۥٓ أَن يَكُونَ لَهُۥ وَلَدٞۘ لَّهُۥ مَا فِي ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِۗ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ وَكِيلٗا O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, "Three"; desist - it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs. (Sahih International) Surah Maryam (19:88 - 19:93) وَقَالُواْ ٱتَّخَذَ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنُ وَلَدٗا And they say, "The Most Merciful has taken [for Himself] a son." لَّقَدۡ جِئۡتُمۡ شَيۡـًٔا إِدّٗا You have done an atrocious thing. تَكَادُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتُ يَتَفَطَّرۡنَ مِنۡهُ وَتَنشَقُّ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ وَتَخِرُّ ٱلۡجِبَالُ هَدًّا The heavens almost rupture therefrom and the earth splits open and the mountains collapse in devastation أَن دَعَوۡاْ لِلرَّحۡمَٰنِ وَلَدٗا That they attribute to the Most Merciful a son. إِن كُلُّ مَن فِي ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ إِلَّآ ءَاتِي ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ عَبۡدٗا There is no one in the heavens and earth but that he comes to the Most Merciful as a servant.
Outstanding discuss.Thanks a billion,Sir.
One thing I would add is that when Muslims say Allah is Merciful, it is an English translation of the Arabic word rahmah, which carries the meanings of great love, care, gentleness, etc. Allah's rahmah encompasses all. And He punishes whom He wills. So His love is already afforded to everything, but it is possible for us to lose that love, which means Hellfire. So we cannot take His love for granted and must be vigilant towards anything that could result in us losing that love.
Love from the core of heart this channel
Regards to every knowledge that is given clearly and properly rather decently
You got a new subscriber. Nice work. Keep it up
ALLAH IS THE ULTIMATE ALL KNOWING. PERIOD!
May Allah guide you to the straight path
la ilaha illallah muhammadur rasulullah 😇🥰
The greatest of all sins is to commit "SHIRK" means "to associate partners with ALLAH, The GOD". May GOD show us the straight path. Aameen.
The moment I saw Miroslav I hit the play button right away. He organizes/hosts many Christianity and Islam events at our school. Glad that you have him as one of your interviewees. This channel now became a bit personal after seeing this little connection in addition to a great content that this channel produces. Shukran for your work!
I just want to add, yes Allah's love is actually infinite. Allah loves also to those who did wrong except to those who did syirik but didn't repent until the end of his/her life. Allah loves you even more when you obey His commands and do repent from doing the wrong deeds. But "rahmah" (blessings) , Allah only gives the blessings to the believers.
Thanks for the very important information that many needed to know 👍
Much respect for this channel we need more
la ilaha ila Allah, Mohammad rasullah
May God bestow His mercy to those who do good and spread love.
Muslim and Christian not believing one God. Muslims do believe Allah is one and only ☝🏾 and Christians believe God is three in One 🤯.
Thanks for the video, indeed informative
Actually when Christian thinks about God, they referred to “Jesus” they called him ‘son of god’ 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
While I don't agree with everything being said, I am glad to finally see some christian theologians on youtube do Islam justice and not base their arguments on verses out of context.
@owl8930
4 жыл бұрын
@Aubrey De La Vega It is part of my faith to believe in the previous revelations. However I also believe they have been corrupted over time. I only believe about jesus what the one true God and his last messenger ﷺ said about him in the Quran.
What a lovely video!
There is only one God (Allah), human are the one makes things different and disagree.
I’m a Muslim and I respect all the religions 💓
Subhanallah... Indah nya Islam...
In life I felt the same that Allah is God same like Christian.... And really appreciate that it make a sense of unitement among abrahamic religion(Jews,Islam&Christian) Thank you sir
I love ALLHA and muhammad saw ❤❤
I agree with this man, not only is intellectual debates need to exist, but also respect and humbleness on both parties. In order to prevent unnecessary silly disputes.
World needs people like you to Spread Peace and Love
We Christians all know that it's not , at all, not even close
An educated and simply put analysis.🌹
- Christianity "the church": God is three.. 1.The father, 2.Son, 3.the Holy spirit. - Jesus: "Here, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." (Mark 12:29) - Islam: God is one. "Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One,(1) Allah, the Eternal Refuge.(2) He neither begets nor is born,(3) Nor is there to Him any equivalent.(4)" (Quran:112)
Actually, sir,respectively, its sounds to be a relaxing ahh,calming,thk you
Yah allah indeed told us to do as u mentioned when allah said in sura imran chapter 3 vers 64 Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “O People of the Book! Let us come to common terms: that we will worship none but Allah, associate none with Him, nor take one another as lords instead of Allah.” But if they turn away, then say, “Bear witness that we have submitted ˹to Allah alone˺.” ... which means we muslims are doing better than others do as allah seid Invite ˹all˺ to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and kind advice, and only debate with them in the best manner. Surely your Lord ˹alone˺ knows best who has strayed from His Way and who is ˹rightly˺ guided. Chp 16 vers 125
Keep up the good work
بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم قل هو الله احد الله الصمد لم يلد ولم يولد ولم يكن له كفوا احد
Iam a Muslim from 🇦🇫☝️ I spurts this channel God bless you man ❤🕋❤🤲
Great video! Thanks
you got me lost when you said the Christian God is unconditional, like why do we have laws & commandments, and even Heaven & Hell. of course there’s a condition to be in the presence of God & to enter His Kingdom in Heaven, no bad or disobedienf will be allowed to Enter.
Christian disobeyed the meaning of God (No 3: God is radically different from everything that is not God). God can be anything but he won't be as his own creation that make him weak. There is no single word from Bible says Jesus (human) was God. And lastly Jesus will come back to earth for what for? He come back because want to proclaim that he is human not God with God's willing.
Thank you for this ❤❤❤
By this post you won a subscriber.
في سورة آل عمران ايه ٦٤ قال الله تعالى {قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْا إِلَىٰ كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءٍ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَلَا نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ ۚ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْا فَقُولُوا اشْهَدُوا بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ} ° : 64Say: 'People of the Book! Come to a word common between us and you: that we shall serve none but Allah and shall associate none with Him in His divinity and that some of us will not take others as lords beside Allah.' And if they turn their backs (from accepting this call), tell them: 'Bear witness that we are (the ones who have submitted ourselves exclusively to Allah)=(muslimon)
In Arabic the translation of God is ilah or rabb and Not Allah ALLAH is a proper name of the one only god we worship The word god in arabic, ilah or rab, can also be attributed to statues, fire, objects... That were worshiped by men So the translation of Allah in any other language is Allah cuz its not a word but the name of the only one god and creator of everything
Mashallah well said...
Svaka čast we'll agree on commonalities instead of differences and love 💕 will grow.
@rashidhakim7021
3 жыл бұрын
May It be So - InSha-ALLAH... Ameen
Good and simple explanation. Thanks
Actually Christians born in a Muslim counties usually say Allah.
To simplify the meaning of Allah to those that don't know, it's true that it means God. But root meaning of Allah is "The" "One"="AL" "Lah".
Thank you for your explanation.
Thank you people for opening your hearts to Muslims, may Allah be pleased with us, bless us and guide us to what he loves best, ohh Allah grant us all place in heaven. أمين يارب العالمين
Quick note: Allah actually translates to "The God". The word God in Arabic is "Ilah".
Yes, Allah is God.
Beautifully explained...
I just found this channel and i really like it.
@EmirSteinCenter
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you! Please share with your friends.
@user-ko6pv5lz3c
3 жыл бұрын
@@EmirSteinCenter We and they do not worship the same God They worship Jesus and we worship Allah not jesus. So isnt the same god
@Wartensteiin
3 жыл бұрын
@@user-ko6pv5lz3c the people that believe in trinity do.But I have seen videos by christians saying trinity is false.
Emir: Is ALLAH GOD? Me: Without Hesitation!
اللهم صل وسلم علي سيدنا محمد ♥️🤍🤲🏻🕋🕌
The god of islam and the God of the bible is not the same.
Good words. Receive love from Sialkot, Pakistan.
And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. Joel 2:27
“For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”-John 3:16
SIncere Appreciations & Huge Respect ... Professor
Almighty God is the Only one to be Worshipped and we are all the Children of God(AALAH).
An-Nisa' 4:82 أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَۚ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ غَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا۟ فِيهِ ٱخْتِلَٰفًا كَثِيرًا Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction.
And where is this arab bible before muhammad using the word "allah" in reffering to the God of the bible? Claiming is 1 thing and proving is another thing.
He is wrong when he said Allah does not love some people and some deeds. Allah’s love has two conditions 1. Believe in the one true God 2. Doing good deeds
In Islam there are 2 words that cover the meaning of God's love to creatures, i.e. Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim. Ar-Rahman means God cares about all of creatures, and Ar-Rahim means God gives special cares to the chosen people.