You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Olde Tyme Religion
Hey Dhimmis!: Write "God" Instead of "Allah"
2007-01-24
Reporting last week on the construction of a new mosque in Atlanta, Georgia, the local newspaper noted: "By year's end, more than 1,500 worshippers will profess their faith in Allah here. They hope the mosque will help bridge the crater of suspicion created after the 2001 terrorist attacks."

In Australia, where remarks by a Muslim cleric have been causing controversy, Associated Press reported that the man in question, Sheikh Feiz Mohammed, had been "urging children to become 'soldiers defending Islam' and sacrifice their lives for Allah".

At a terrorism trial in Britain last week, a court was told that notes found in the home of one of the accused included (according to the Press Association) "a description of the components of fertiliser, while 'In the name of Allah' was also written on one of the pages ..."

These news items - a random sample from the last few days - reflect a silly but increasingly common practice of referring to God as "Allah" when talking about Muslims. There is no logical reason for this. Why use an Arabic word in English-language news reports when there is a perfectly good English word that means exactly the same thing?

Various Arabic words - "jihad" and "sheikh", for example - have crept into everyday usage because no precise equivalent exists in English, but "Allah" is not of that type. It is simply is the normal word that Arabic speakers use for "God" - whether they are Muslims or not. Arab Christians worship "Allah" too, and the first verse of the Arabic Bible informs us that "In the beginning Allah created heaven and earth."
Posted by:Sneaze Shaiting3550

#17  Obviously Mohammed's was the original, Pappy, and L.Ron Hubbard stole the message and falsely claimed it for himself.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-01-24 23:00  

#16  "If I wanted to make some real money, I'd start a religion."

I thought that was L. Ron Hubbard?
Posted by: Pappy   2007-01-24 22:39  

#15  Maybe we could just call him a taxi.
Posted by: SteveS   2007-01-24 22:11  

#14  "Mr. Akhbar" does simply radiate good manners, ryuge. It is, after all, entirely too forward to call a god by his first name before he gives permission. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-01-24 21:16  

#13  How about the Head Chopper or, on more formal occasions, Mr. Akbar?
Posted by: ryuge   2007-01-24 18:33  

#12  I prefer to call the object of Mohammedans' idol worship Ganesh (Pachyderms BUH).
Posted by: ed   2007-01-24 16:53  

#11  It is simply is the normal word that Arabic speakers use for "God" - whether they are Muslims or not. Arab Christians worship "Allah" too, and the first verse of the Arabic Bible informs us that "In the beginning Allah created heaven and earth."

This is blasphemy before God and any learned scholar, priest, or devoted follower of either Judeaism or Christianity could tell you so. That is spews forth from the mouth of a Muslim cleric is simply another example of how this so-called religion, more exactly a cult, believes it can lie to the uninformed masses or the non-believers in order to further its own goals.

What BA said.


Posted by: FOTSGreg   2007-01-24 16:36  

#10  "If I wanted to make some real money, I'd start a religion."

Mohammed
Posted by: SR-71   2007-01-24 14:26  

#9  They hope the mosque will help bridge the crater of suspicion created after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

I cannot speak for the crater of suspicion. But it will be a cold day in Hell before those evil bastards bridge the crater they left in lower Manhattan.

As for "Allah", we could use the perfectly good English name "Sauron" by way of substitution.
Posted by: Excalibur   2007-01-24 13:49  

#8  I also think Allan is a better substitute for the word Allah than God because it has clarity and snark value attached.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2007-01-24 13:10  

#7  P.S., I completely HATE your term "Christian Jihadists". You haven't even begun to see "righteous fury" if you think we Christians are on a "jihad."

Reminds me of the bumper sticker I heard about recently: "Jesus IS coming back, and boy, is he p!ssed"
Posted by: BA   2007-01-24 12:50  

#6  As a Christian, I've gotta say there IS a theological difference between God and Allah. One IS the same God (YHWH) as the Hebrews (Jews) worshipped. The other is a moon "god" created by a thieving, raping, pillaging, savage pedophile in order to enrich himself and make things he did o.k., even though Allan told him no one else could do it.

In ALL complete seriousness, there IS a difference between God (in the English) used with a capital letter (signifying the Judeo-Christian God) and a god (Allah) of the Muslim faith. Theologically (and in the way they act), they are 2 completely different creatures. PERIOD!

*See, we can close out an "argument" to shut off all debate too, Mr. writer-person*
Posted by: BA   2007-01-24 12:47  

#5  #4, I agree 100%. We want them identified. All their bags, rags, scarves, etc. are excellent ID's as targets. Let's keep it as easy as possible for us, so that when the time comes we can act with certainty.
Posted by: SpecOp35   2007-01-24 12:13  

#4  I prefer to have them continue to use Allah for the sake of clarity.

I think the headline has it backwards and its a sign of Dhimmihood to use God in both cases as it helps the Muslims seem 'just like Christians' when you use the term God for both.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2007-01-24 11:31  

#3  From the comments at the link:

As far as I'm aware the writers called Edward Said and Matthew Hogan are not god, God, Allah or even twin deities, so their Word doesn't necessarily have to be obeyed. Period. Same with Mr Whitaker. Another period.

It apostrophe s a bit tiring comma this spelt out punctuation comma isn apostrophe t it exclamation mark I think I apostrophe ll revert to the more conventional sort period

What a relief! Still saying "period" in a discussion is really handy, because it means that no one is allowed to challenge what you've just said. Unless, of course, they do.
Posted by: Seafarious   2007-01-24 10:20  

#2  "These news items - a random sample from the last few days - reflect a silly but increasingly common practice of referring to "the Annointed one" as "Christ" when talking about Christians. There is no logical reason for this. Why use a Greek word in English-language news ports when there is a perfectly good English word that means exactly the same thing?

Various Greek words - "science" and "democracy", for example - have crept into everyday usage because no precise equivalent exists in English, but "Christs" is not of that type. It is simply is the normal word that Greek speakers use for "The Annointed One" - whether they are Christians or not. Greekspeaking Jews hope for the "Christ" too, and the first verse of the Greek Talmud informs us that "Christ shall raise the dead, and restore worship in the Temple."

Fixed.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2007-01-24 09:56  

#1  Why use an Arabic word in English-language news reports when there is a perfectly good English word that means exactly the same thing?

"Satan" works for me.
Posted by: exJAG   2007-01-24 09:52  

00:00