Yaqub's Dawah Blog

Why can't Muslims drink alcohol?

2009-06-15T05:13:00.000-07:00

As Muslims we know that Allah knows what is right and beneficial for His creation, and what is wrong and harmful. The Quran clearly states the lawful and unlawful actions and we all must follow these laws.

Allah says in the Quran (translation of the meaning):

“They ask you (O Muhammad, Sallahu alaihi wa sallam) concerning alcoholic drink and gambling. Say: “In them is a great sin, and (some) benefit for men, but the sin of them is greater than their benefit.”” (Surah Baqarah, verse 219)

In the early days of Islam, consumption of alcohol, just like other ills and evils of society, was also prevalent.

When the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, migrated from Makkah to Madinah, he found that the people of Madinah were also indulging in drinking. The masses were so attracted by the superficial and deceptive benefits offered by drinking that their minds became oblivious of the harmful effects and the evils which result from these addictions.

Imam al-Qurtubi says in his Tafsir (commentary of the Quran):

The prohibition of alcohol occurred in stages and after many incidents, for the Arabs used to love to drink it. The first[verse revealed regarding the matter of alcohol was:

"They ask you about alcohol and gambling. Say: 'There is great sin in both although there is some benefit for people…" (Surah Baqarah, verse 219)

i.e. (benefit) in their trade. Hence, when this verse was revealed, some people left [alcohol] saying, "We have no need for that in which there is great sin," and some did not leave it saying, "We take (from its) benefit and we leave its sin." Thereafter, the verse was revealed:

"Do not approach prayer while you are drunk…"

(Surah Nisa, verse 43) So some people left it saying, "We have no need for that which distracts us from the prayer," and some drank it outside the times of prayer until the verse was revealed:

"O you who believe! Alcohol, gambling, (sacrificing for) idols, and divining of arrows are only an abomination (of Satan's work…)"

(Surah Maidah, verses 90-91)So alcohol became prohibited for them such that some of them said, "Allah did not prohibit anything as strictly as alcohol."

The history of alcoholic beverages is believed to date back as far as 10,000 BC. The ancient Egyptian civilization believed that one of their ‘gods’, Osiris, invented beer. Both beer and wine were offered to the ‘gods’.

Among the Babylonians, beer was a major beverage, and as early as 2,700 BC they worshiped a wine ‘goddess’ and other wine deities. They too regularly used beer and wine as offerings to their ‘gods’.

In ancient Greece there was the cult of Dionysus, the ‘god’ of wine. They believed that intoxication brought people closer to their deity.

In modern times drinking is still prevalent.

The dangers associated with drinking are many. One of which is drunk driving, which has staggering statistics. Roughly every 39 minutes a drunk driver kills someone, and roughly every minute someone is injured by a drunk driver. Driving under the influence (DUI) is a crime in many countries, due to the damages it causes.

Drinking has many other bad effects that affect society as a whole. The harmful social effects of drinking include crime, sexual abuse, violence and unemployment. Drinking also causes problems amongst families where one or more members of the family become abusive due to excessive drinking. This can cause families to fall apart, resulting in divorce and separation of children. There is even a link between youth suicide and an abusive environment in the home (due to drinking).

Many young people today have taken up the habit of ‘binge drinking’, which is the drinking of alcoholic beverages with the primary intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time. This drinking habit is causes many problems amongst the youth, such as fighting, stealing, rampaging, rape, and other reckless criminal activities.

Some of the youth, when they become drunk, like to go driving. Just as mentioned previously, drink driving kills many people. It is estimated that on average 8 teenagers die every day in alcohol-related car crashes. The highest percentage of drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes are aged 18-24.

So from this we can see the damaging social effects of drinking. But what about the effects to health?

Alcohol can have many negative effects on health, which include, increased risk of liver diseases, oropharyngeal cancer, esophageal cancer, and pancreatitis, cardiovascular disease, anxiest disorder, schizophrenia, suicide, major depression, neurologic deficits (e.g. impairments of working memory, emotions, executive functions, etc) and brain damage. The list of damaging health effects can go on and on.

Some might say ‘What about moderate drinking?’. Well first of all we have to know what is moderate drinking? The meaning of the term “moderate” is highly subjective, however, and what one person considers being moderate drinking, another may view as heavy drinking.

There are some people who will not go to excess and become drunk all of the time but this is not the same for everyone. In fact many people who drink alcohol have usually been drunk at some point in their life. Islam is a religion for a person to develop himself and get closer to Allah, but it is also a religion which deals with how a society should be. In Allah’s infinite wisdom, He prohibited alcohol all together. Because we can see that in most societies there have been many people who abused alcohol and became drunk and doing all kinds of evils.

Some people say that drinking in moderation is good for the health. While there may be some health benefits, the bad outweighs the good.

A doctor at the World Health Organization stated that recommending moderate alcohol consumption for health benefits is "ridiculous and dangerous".

A study made in 2003 shows that even drinking ‘moderately’ may even damage brain tissue. Another study links ‘moderate’ drinking with an increased bowel cancer risk. Another study shows that it is also linked to higher blood pressure.

What is interesting is the findings of a new study, conducted over a 21-year period, which seem to contradict recent reports that moderate consumption of alcohol has significant health benefits. In fact, the opposite could be true.

To summarize, we know that drinking has many harms and evils associated with it, and some minor benefits, but the bad outweighs the good. Just as Allah says in the Quran (translated meaning):

“They ask you (O Muhammad, Sallahu alaihi wa sallam) concerning alcoholic drink and gambling. Say: “In them is a great sin, and (some) benefit for men, but the sin of them is greater than their benefit.”” (Surah Baqarah, verse 219)

God, the Bible and the Trinity

2009-06-03T06:46:00.000-07:00

Christians define the trinity is a 'Triune God-Head, consisting of three persons'.

Below is written what I sent to a Pastor, but have yet to have a reply. I do plan to edit and add more to this article but that is all within time.

The Trinity

With the image of the clover as an example, we see the Trinity belief in God being made of three separate parts but all within the same clover leaf. Each leaf has its own mind, something which makes it distinct. These three parts, or persons, are considered each to be God. This analogy falls short in that each part is not fully the leaf but is rather a part of the leaf. Any example that you give is going to fall short in the same was because the Trinity belief itself is a self-defeating one.

The Father can be a leaf completely and the Son can also be a leaf completely but with this it requires two leaves, i.e. multiple gods.

Many Christians do not like to use logic for this, and say 'it is faith'. Of course we don't know everything about God as our minds cannot comprehend Him for He is different to whatever we think, as our minds are limited. My use of logic in this case is not to try to understand God completely but rather it's to show that the Trinity belief is contradictory. Don't forget the doctrine of the trinity was formulated at the Council of Nicaea and set as the belief. I will note that, some of the early Christians (such as Aruis and the Ebionites) rejected the Trinity, just as the Jews do. In fact the Trinity appears to have been 'superimposed' over the text of the Scripture by later Christians. The Trinity appears to be the work of Christians who were heavily influenced by Greek philosophy.

If you were to believe that you were both fat and thin at the same time, would you go on a diet? You would be in confusion. Similar is the belief in God, we must not define Him with contradictory beliefs/terminology.

I will first mention that in the Bible what we usually see is things like "And Jesus said to Matthew..." but not things like "And (I) Jesus said..." and this is because the Bible is a recording, a narration, like "So and so said that Jesus said", except the chain is much longer. The validity of parts of the Bible is debated amongst scholars. It's level validity is actually fairly weak in comparison with other historical recordings. So from this we understand that it can be prone to human error and bias.

I do not pick and choose as such but I remain silent on the authenticity of some verses.

Here are some quotes from the Bible which seem to go against the doctrine of the Trinity:

In Luke 6:12 it is narrated:

"One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God."

It is interesting that Jesus bowed down to God. What he did glorify God and worshiped Him with absolute humility, as a prayer is to be done with sincerity.

Another interesting account is narrated in Matthew 26:39:

"Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

Apart from Jesus praying to God, he is also negates having Divine Will. Jesus even continues his praying a third time, saying the same.

In Mark 10:18 it is narrated:

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”

And in John 14:28:

"My Father (GOD) is greater than I"

Does this not show that Jesus is not an equal part with the Father?

And I will mention another verse which shows this lack of 'equal unity':

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

This is from Matthew 24:36 which shows that the Son lacks knowledge of the hour while the Father has knowledge of it. Showing that they are not equal and also that the Son has limited knowledge and does not know everything, while the attribute of God is that He is All-Knowing.

Of course there are many other verses like these too.

I will further continue by showing some verses which talk about God being One.

Deuteronomy 5:6

"I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

And in Deuteronomy 6:4,

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD" (or "The Lord is our God, the Lord alone (that is, the only one)"

Now to the New Testament, in Ephesians:

"One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all"

And I will conclude with the following, James 2:19:

"You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!"

In accordance with the above mentioned verses (and the first being the first of the ten commandments) as an interpretive basis, the narrated statements of Jesus would appear differently. I will also mention that the Bible contains figurative and exaggerating expressions in it. Like in Mark 16:17-18.

Such as in John 14:11,

"Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves."

This verse could be seen not in a literal sense but rather in a figurative sense. When you are in remembrance of God, you would say that God is in your heart, although you may not mean that God is actually inside of your heart. Like wise if someone were to say, "He only seems to have money on his mind", this doesn't imply that money is literally on his mind. This would mean that his speaking and his actions are in accordance to Gods laws, that he submits himself to God.

And if we look at John 10:30,

"I and the Father are one."

To say that this verse implies that the Son and the Father are equal could be taking it out of context. If we look back beginning at John 10:23 about Jesus talking to the Jews. In John 10:28-30, talking about his followers as his sheep's, he is reported to have stated:

"...Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father who gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are One."

So these verses prove, instead of the Father and the Son being equal, that rather the Father and the Son are One in that no man can pluck the sheep out of either's hand. In fact if we take a look at the above mentioned verses it is said: "My Father who gave them me, is greater than all (which would include Jesus)", which would negate the claim of the Father and Son being equal.

Back to the statement "I am the Father are one", the Greek 'hen' is used for the word one. So what is meant becomes clear from his prayer concerning the apostles (in John 17:22): "That they may be one (hen), just as we are one (hen)", which means that they should be united in agreement with one another as Jesus is always united in agreement with God, as Jesus is reported to have said in John 8:29: "I (Jesus) always do the things that are pleasing to Him". Thus there is no implication that Jesus and God, or the twelve apostles are to be considered as of one essence.

This terminology can be found in other places too which would suggest that a literal understanding is incorrect.

What’s wrong with pornography?

2009-05-31T04:34:00.000-07:00

Today it is not uncommon to hear of a person who looks at pornography. It has become such a socially acceptable thing these days that it is talked about freely on TV shows almost without any stigma.

Internet pornography is the latest media menace parents and anyone concerned about children and morality in general, must deal with.

Allah says in the Quran (meaning more or less) in Surah an-Nur, verse 30-31:

“Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their private parts; that will make for greater purity for them. Indeed Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty…”

The above verses are proof for the prohibition of pornography in Islam. From these verses we can see that doing the opposite of these acts has bad effects on the heart, and thus harming spiritual progression. Also, in a hadith, we are told that a person, who, after having been tempted, lowers his gaze, Allah will grant him the sweetness of Imaan.

The word Pornography comes from the Greek word pornographia, which derives from the Greek words ‘ponē’ (meaning prostitute), and ‘graphō’ (which means ‘record’, similar to ‘graph’ meaning illustration), and from the suffix –ia (meaning “state of”, “property of”, or “place of”), thus meaning “a written description or illustration of prostitutes or prostitution.

The history of pornography itself dates back to the very early ages. Some of the oldest pornographic depictions are believed by some to be dated back to as early as 10,000 BC, but this is not accepted by all.

The earliest and most apparent pornographic carvings are found in ancient Greece, although for them it was not necessarily always seen as pornography but as scenes from their daily life.

The concept of pornography as understood today did not exist until the Victorian era. It was around this time that the first nude pictures were taken.

Pornography in the west didn’t really start to receive social acceptance until after the ‘sexual revolution’ which happened from the 1960s into the 1970s. The Supreme Court in the 90s decision was to ban pornography, but this was given up on in the name of individual liberties.

The explosive popularity of the VCR (videocassette recorder) in the 1970s and 1980s led to a growth in the adult film business. Then in the late 80s and early 90s the first home PCs (personal computers) capable of network communication prompted the arrival of online pornography services, and then the dot-com boom further expanded this. In USA Today, a national American newspaper, they reported that over 30% of sites on the Internet are pornographic.

Revenues of the adult industry in the United States have been estimated to have been no more than $10 million in 1970. This soon skyrocketed over the years and in 1998 it was estimated that the industry grew to $750 million to $1 billion in annual revenue. Today it is estimated to be a $12-$13 billion a year industry.

This growth in the popularity of pornography has brought many problems with it.

There are movements who are against pornography and claim that it has a variety of harmful effects, such as encouragement of human trafficking, desensitization, pedophilia, dehumanization, exploitation, sexual dysfunction, and inability to maintain healthy sexual relationships.

Many relationship problems are coming from this pornography boom. In some cases for example, the husband develops an unhealthy addiction to pornography and this starts to replace the sexual desire that he has for his wife and causes problems in the relationship.

There are many stories of wives finding pornography on a husband’s computer and this in some cases causes them depression because they feel that they no longer please their partner and are being replaced with videos and images of other women. This is especially dangerous in long-term relationships where they have children and can lead to divorce, splitting apart the family.

Dr Dolf Zillman, who holds a doctorate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and is also a fellow of the American Psychological Association, says in a study:

“The values expressed in pornography clash so obviously with the family concept, and they potentially undermine the traditional values that favor marriage, family, and children...”

Furthermore it is disturbing to find that pornography is desensitizing people’s attitudes towards sexual abuse. Neil M. Malamuth of the University of California says the following:

“In most studies, higher levels of reported exposure to sexually explicit media correlated with higher levels of attitudes supportive of violence against women. For example, in a sample of college men, Malamuth and Check (1985) found that higher readership of sexually explicit magazines was correlated with more beliefs that women enjoy forced sex.”

Other research gathered over the past few decades demonstrates that pornography contributes to sexual assault, including rape and the molestation of children. (Pornography Victims Compensation Act of 1992, U.S. Senate Comm. on the Judiciary).

It also has shown that child molesters often use pornography to seduce their prey, to lower the inhibitions of the victim, and to serve as an instruction manual. ( W.L. Marshall, Ph.D., Pornography and Sexual Offenders, in Pornography: Research Advances and Policy).

This is a problem especially with the youth who are being brought up on pornography. For them pornography also becomes a source of information about sex for them and affects their understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong. According to the American Family Association Outreach, the average age of ‘first time contact’ with pornography among sex addicts is 11.

As previously mentioned, many men who come into contact with pornography are becoming addicted to it. Mary Anne Layden, co-director of the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Cognitive Therapy, called porn the "most concerning thing to psychological health that I know of existing today."

She continues saying: "The internet is a perfect drug delivery system because you are anonymous, aroused and have role models for these behaviours. To have drug pumped into your house 24/7, free, and children know how to use it better than grown-ups know how to use it -- it's a perfect delivery system if we want to have a whole generation of young addicts who will never have the drug out of their mind."

Pornography addicts have a more difficult time recovering from their addiction than cocaine addicts, since coke users can get the drug out of their system, but pornographic images stay in the brain forever, Layden said.

Jeffrey Satinover, a psychiatrist and advisor to the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality echoed Layden's concern about the internet and the somatic effects of pornography.

"Pornography really does, unlike other addictions, biologically cause direct release of the most perfect addictive substance," Satinover said. "That is, it causes masturbation, which causes release of the naturally occurring opioids. It does what heroin can't do, in effect."

Finally I will mention that the acceptance and allowance of pornography in today’s society is under the guise of “freedom” but like other so-called “freedoms”, the hidden reason is money.

Why does God do ...?

2009-05-30T05:43:00.000-07:00

Some people ask "Why does God do this and that?"

First we must understand that Allah is not obliged to do anything. He does what He wills and is not questioned as He is the Authority and there is none to judge Him. Allah is attributed with attributes of perfection, and it is out of Allah's mercy that He created the world.

As humans we try to understand things. When something happens that displeases us we wonder why did Allah make this happen? Sometimes we can't think of a possible reason (according to our understanding). The story below is an example of this:

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky.

The worst had happened ~everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. "God, how could you do this to me?" he cried.

Early the next day, however, he was wakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him.

"How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers.

"We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

It's easy to get discouraged sometimes when things appear to be going badly. But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering. Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground, it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.

The Muslim Prayer in Bible

2009-05-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

Lets see, how the Muslim Prayer can be compared to the Prayer in Bible.

First thing in Muslim prayer is the Athan or the call to prayer.

"O you who believe! when the call is made for the prayer....hasten to the remembrance of Allah" - (Holy Quran 62:9)

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, make thee two trumpets of silver...that thou mayest use them for calling of the assembly...And when they shall blow them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation" - (Numbers 10:1-3)

Now, when the faithful come to the Mosque they take off their shoes so that they may enter the house of worship in bare feet.

"When he came to the fire, a voice was uttered: O Moses! I am the Lord, therefore put off thy shoes, for thou art in the sacred valley of Tuwa." - (Holy Quran 20:11-12)

(And god said to Moses), "Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." - (Exodus 3:5, also ACTS 7:33).

So, before standing for prayer, Muslims make Ablution, washing their faces, hands, feet, etc.

"O you who believe! when you rise up for prayer, wash your faces and your hands as far as the elbows, and wipe your heads, and wash your feet to the ankles." - (Holy Quran 5:7)

"And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet threat; when they went into the tent of the congregation they washed as the Lord commanded Moses." - (Exodus 40:31-32)

After this, the Muslims stand for prayer facing the Kaaba or the Great Mosque in Mecca.

"So turn thy face towards the sacred Mosque, and (O Muslims), wheresoever ye may be, turn your faces towards it." - (Holy Quran 2:150)

"Now when Daniel...went into the house; and his window being open in the chamber towards Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime." - (Daniel 6:10)

The House of Worship or the Mosque is a place of peace and serenity, withouth images or idols of worship, and simple with a carpet on which to sit or stand and to meditate.

"God forgiveth not (the sin of) joining other gods with him;..one who joins other gods with God, hath strayed far, far away (from the Right)." - (Holy Quran 4:116).

"I am the Lord thy God... Thou shalt have no other Gods in front of me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in water under the earth..." - (Exodus 20:2-5)

In the Prayer, Muslims bow down before God, and make obeisance to Him, by touching the ground before them with their foreheads.

"O You who believe! bow down and prostrate yourselves and serve your lord, and do good that you may prosper." - (Holy Quran 22:77)

"And he (Jesus) went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed..." - (Matt 26:39).

"And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship..." - (Joshua 5:14)

"And they (Moses and Aaron) fell upon their faces..." - (Numbers 20:6)

"And Abraham fell on his face..." - (Genesis 17:3)

And lastly, when the prayer is over, the Muslims spread out their hands to God, asking forgiveness, seeking his Blessings, beseeching his protection for mankind.

"Our Lord! Give us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and defend us from the torment of the fire." - (Holy Quran 2:201)

"...when Soloman had made an end of praying all his prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to Heaven" - (1 Kings 8:54)

"And Jesus Lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest me. And i knew that Thou heardest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast send me." - (John 11:41-42)

If God Created everything – then who created God?

2009-05-09T06:21:00.000-07:00

According to the Quran, Allah tells us that He is the only creator and sustainer of all that exists and that nothing and no one exists alongside Him, nor does He have any partners. He tells us that He is not created, nor is He like His creation in any way. He calls Himself by a number of names and three of them are:

1) The First - (Al-Awal)

2) The Last - (Al Akhir)

3) The Eternal, who is sought after by His creation, while He has no need from them at all. (As-Samad)

He always has existed and He never was created, as He is not like His creation, nor similar to it, in any way. So from this we understand Allah has no creator.

If it is then asked, “How do you accept that Allah has no beginning, while you don’t accept that the world has no beginning?”

As mentioned above, Allah is not like His creation in anyway. Those who claim that the world has no beginning are in fact saying that it is a prerequisite for tomorrow to arrive that an infinite number of events first take place. This is impossible, because infinity cannot end. Clearly then, the number of events that precedes our existence must have a limit.

In addition, since it is necessarily true that this series of events has a beginning, then it must also be that before this beginning there was no series of events (defined as anything with a beginning). If someone claimed otherwise, then they would end up with the same contradiction (saying that infinity came to an end). Accordingly, the claim that the world was created by random events is irrational.

Rather, there must be a Creator that gave the series of events existence – since it was nonexistent before it began. Moreover, since it is impossible for there to be any events before the existence of this series, then it must also be that the Creator is not attributed with events, i.e. with any attribute or action that has a beginning. This again means that the Creator does not resemble His creation, since all created attributes must have a beginning. Actually, having a beginning and being a creation is the same thing. This is because to create is to bring into existence, and everything with a beginning must have been brought into existence.

So it has been shown that the world has a beginning based on the fact that it changes (changes are events). Allah does not change. Rather, He is One, and doesn’t change and has no beginning.

(Sources include: Yusuf Estes, and Shaykh Abu Adam al Naruiji)

Who is Allah?

2009-05-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

The word “Allah” is the perfect description of the “One God” of monotheism for Jews, Christians and Muslims. It comes from the Arabic word “ilah” which means ‘a god’ or something that is worshipped. This combined with the definite article “al-“ meaning ‘the’, makes the word Allah, meaning “the One God”.

Allah has no gender (‘He’ is used only out of respect and not for gender), no partners and is unlike anything else. It is said best in the Surah (Chapter) of the Quran, Surah Ikhlas (In the translated meanings):

Say: He is Allah, the One the Only!
Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
He begetteth not nor is He begotten.
And there is none like unto Him.

The word for God in Genesis 1:1 is Elohim which is the plural form of a more basic root-Hebrew word for God, Eloh. This plural is not in number but is used for honor or intensity, sometimes this type of plural is referred to as the plural of majesty. An example of this when the Queen uses ‘We’, as in “We are not amused”, referring to herself.

In addition to the etymological connection based on sound, we also discover the connections of the two Names based on roots, spelling, meaning, and geography.

If one were to find the word (eloh) (alef-lamed-heh) in an inscription written in paleo-hebrew, aramaic, or some sort of Nabatean script, it could be pronounced numerous ways without the diacritical marks to guide the reader.

When treated as a verb root, this letter combination (proncounced alah) is the root for the verb "to swear" or "to take an oath," as well as the verb "to deify" or "to worship"
[look up alef-lamed-heh (ALH) in Milon Ben-Y'hudaah, Ivri-Angli (Ben Yehuda's Hebrew-English Dictionary)]. The root itself finds its origin with an older root, el, which means God, deity, power, strength..

So, one of the basic Hebrew words for God, (eloh), can easily be pronounced alah without the diacritical marks. Not surprisingly, the Aramaic word for God, according to the Lexicon offered at http://peshitta.org, is (alah).

This word, in the standard script (), or the Estrangela script (), is spelled alap-lamad-heh (ALH), which are the exact corresponding letters to the Hebrew eloh.

The Aramaic is closely related to the more ancient root word for God, eel (according to Robert Oshana's on-line introduction to basic Assyrian Aramaic at www.learnassyrian.com).

The Arabic word for God, Allah, is spelled in a very similar way, and is remotely related to the more generic word for deity, ilah. We're quickly starting to notice the obvious linguistic and etymological connections between the respective words for God in these closely related Semitic languages (e.g. Allah, Alah, and Eloh being related to Ilah, Eel, and El, respectively).

Let me make it more clear....

1. We have made the connection in terms of spelling, as all these words are spelled similar to one another.
2. The geographic connection is there, as these respective languages originate in regions that are very close to one another.
3. The roots are also basically the same.
4. The meanings are essentially the same.
In conclusion, the ancient Semitic names for God (Allah and Elohim) are actually the same.

Also “Allah” is the same word used by Christian Arabs and Jewish Arabs in their Bible, centuries before Islam came.

If we take a look at the Arabic translation of the Bible, it uses the word “Allah” to refer to God in Genesis 1:1

“Fee al-badi’ khalaqa-Allahu as-Samaawaati waal Ard…”

Even the The Catholic Encyclopedia says:

The notion of Allah in Arabic theology is substantially the same as that of God among the Jews, and also among the Christians, with the exception of the Trinity, which is positively excluded in the Koran, cxii: “Say God, is one God, the eternal God, he begetteth not, neither is he begotten and there is not any one like unto him.”

(Parts taken from Dennis Giron’s “Allah in the Jewish Bible”)