is Allah an idol?

Originally posted on September 26, 2009 – by Andre Piet

Earlier this week I noted in a weblog that the word ‘Allah’ is not an Islamic invention but simply the ordinary Arabic word for ‘God’. The French say Dieu, the Germans Gott, and the Arabs say Allah. In response to this statement, I was approached from various sides with the question whether the Allah of the Muslims is also the same as the God of the Bible? Or is their Allah an idol? After all, does not the way in which God is described in the Bible differ vastly from the description of God that we find in the Quran? How then can both be identical?

false images

That there is a great gulf between the Bible and the Quran is not up for debate. To mention the most essential point right away: in the Bible GOD IS LOVE. His entire being and all His actions are characterized by this. He loves all His creatures and He never abandons the works of His hands. God does justice but He also brings everything to its proper end. The Quran does not know this. But I will immediately add: most Christians do not know this GOD of LOVE either. Their conception of God also stands in many respects in stark contrast to what the Bible teaches. Sometimes even more so than among Muslims. Thus I dare to state that a Muslim is more purely monotheistic than the average Christian who conceives of God as a trinity (one Being, three Persons).

images and idols

And yet… despite all the (grossly) deviating conceptions of God, I would not readily claim that a Muslim, Jew, or Christian worships an idol. Wherever a person forms an image of God that deviates from the Image that God has given of Himself (=Christ), he is guilty of idolatry. That is a sin against the second commandment: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image…”. That, however, is something different from what the first commandment speaks of: “You shall have no other gods before Me…”. Acknowledging “other gods” (=idols) is a characteristic of polytheism.

Muslims are monotheists

Whatever one may say about Muslims, and however much they have made “carved images” of God (as Christians have as well!), their monotheism is beyond all doubt. They very emphatically acknowledge only ONE GOD, the Creator of heaven and earth. Therefore, Allah is not an idol.

Delen: