By N H Chan
Introduction: why I decided to write on why the Deity Allah is not owned by Muslims only
I wrote the series of articles on Allah to put forward the Christians’ point of view on why they are entitled to use the word Allah in their Malay language Bibles. I felt it was unfair for the people in power to use governmental clout to prevent Christians from calling their God Allah. And when these myopic politicians started to desecrate the Christians’ Holy Book that became the catalyst which really drove me to write so as to inform the public that it is not anyone’s right to claim ownership of an Arabic word which was in use by the Jews and the Arabs since the time of Abraham and his descendants, or even much earlier i.e. from the time of the descendants of Shem the eldest of the three sons of Noah who were regarded as the ethnic group of peoples known as the Semites or Shemites who spoke a Semitic language. And Arabic and Hebrew are two Semitic languages. The Arabic word Allah meaning “The God” had been used by God’s people for thousands of years before Jesus was born and before Mohammad’s Call, the legendary revelation of Allah in 611 AD.
But then there are certain people who think that to mention that Christians worship the same God as Muslims do is sacrilege
It looks like there are some Malay Muslims, and some other people of unknown faiths, who maintain that it is heresy to say in my articles that Christians worship the same God as Muslims do. They say Muslims worship only one God and that is Allah but Christians worship three persons called the trinity.
But do these misinformed Muslims know what they are talking about when the word “trinity” is not found in the Bible? Can they tell us why they say that Christians worship three persons when this is not even mentioned in the Bible? Or are these people just paying lip service to keep up with the Joneses to upstage the Christians’ faith without knowing the reason why they are doing that?
I think it is mean, unseemly and unbefitting of such narrow-minded Malay Muslims to decry the Christians, who believe in the same God as Muslims, that Christians are polytheistic by relying on a baseless assumption that Christians worship three persons. But how can anyone say that when there is not even a tittle of evidence to support such an unfounded assumption? In truth Christians are as monotheistic as Muslims. Indeed both faiths worship the same Deity who is God or Allah depending on whether your Bible is in English or in Malay or Arabic.
I find it most disconcerting as an observer, who is neither Christian nor Muslim, to see those narrow-minded followers of Islam defy their own Allah by not accepting the followers of Jesus who, according to the Quran, was created by Allah to receive His revelation and be His prophet.
The Quran says that Jesus was made by Allah to propagate the teachings of Allah
When the Quran has acknowledged that Jesus was created by Allah to deliver the teachings of Allah, who are they – I am referring to the narrow-minded Malay Muslims – to object to the Christians calling their Deity Allah? They should not assume that all Christians are English speaking! Many Christians in this country, especially those in East Malaysia, can only read the Malay Bible. English, which is a foreign language, is quite unfathomable to them. A rudimentary knowledge of English is not good enough to understand the Bible because the King James Bible is not an easy read.
I quote below from the Yusuf Ali Translation:
The Holy Quran (Yusuf Ali Translation)
Surah 19, Maryam (Mary)
27. At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: “O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought!
28. “O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!”
29. But she pointed to the babe. They said: “How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?”
30. He said: “I am indeed a servant of Allah. He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;
31. “And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live;
32. “(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable;
33. “So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)”!
34. Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute.
35. It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, “Be”, and it is.
36. Verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord: Him therefore serve ye: this is a Way that is straight.
37. But the sects differ among themselves: and woe to the unbelievers because of the (coming) Judgment of a Momentous Day!
38. How plainly will they see and hear, the Day that they will appear before Us! but the unjust today are in error manifest!
39. But warn them of the Day of Distress, when the matter will be determined: for (behold,) they are negligent and they do not believe!
40. It is We Who will inherit the earth, and all beings thereon: to Us will they all be returned.
41. (Also mention in the Book (the story of) Abraham: He was a man of Truth, a prophet.
The above is what the Quran says about Jesus; verse 34: “Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they vainly dispute.” and verse 35: “It is not befitting (to the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! When He determines a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be’, and it is.” From this it is clear that Jesus was created or made by Allah to be His prophet to perform a specific task which is to spread the teachings of Allah.
In these verses of Surah 19 of the Quran, Jesus said:
30. … “I am indeed a servant of Allah. He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;
31. “And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live;
32. “(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable;
33. “So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)”!
Thus it is proclaimed in the Quran that Jesus the son of Mary is a statement of truth. The Quran also says that Jesus is a servant of Allah who gave a revelation to him and made him a prophet. So those who doubt, namely the aforesaid uninitiated Malay Muslims, the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament should hold their tongue for it is unbefitting of them to dispute what is said in the Quran!
So that when Jesus spoke to the eleven disciples after he rose from the dead; see the New Testament, Matthew 28: 19:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Those misinformed Muslims should not doubt this statement of Jesus even though they may wish to doubt and imagine that Jesus was saying there are three persons to be worshipped in the Godhead. Those who doubt the teachings of Jesus should be careful of offending Allah for disputing what is said in the Quran that Jesus was created by Allah to propagate His teachings to all nations.
“In the name of the Father” means “In the name of God” because God is also called Father in the Bible.
Just as Allah is also referred to as “Lord” in the Quran; see e.g. verse 36 above: “Verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord”.
“In the name of the Son” means “In the name of Jesus” because Jesus is also known as the Son of God in the Bible.
Just as in the Quran Jesus is the “son” made by Allah because Allah cannot beget a human son: see e.g. verse 35 above: “It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be’, and it is”.
“In the name of the Holy Ghost” or Spirit. In the Quran this is “an angel”; see e.g. verse 17 above: “She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects”. The continuing verses in Surah 19 of the Quran should be read as they are quite revealing:
18. She said: “I seek refuge from thee to ((Allah)) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah.”
19. He said: “Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son.
20. She said: “How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?”
21. He said: “So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, ‘that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us’: It is a matter (so) decreed.”
22. So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place.
So there you have it, convincing proof from the Holy Book of the Muslims that Christians worship the same God/Allah as Muslims!
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About the Trinity
However, since there is so much confusion among the uninitiated, I think I should try to explain what the word “trinity” is meant to convey. It is a term which is sometimes used by Christians to explain the Oneness of God. But for sure trinity does not mean three persons to worship, and it is not a word which is found in the Bible.
Christians worship only one God who is sometimes described by them as “God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost or Spirit” and these three are one. This is the most likely passage in the New Testament where I think the phrase comes from: Matthew 28:19:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost
Matthew 28 speaks of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. After Jesus rose from the dead he spoke to the 11 disciples:
16Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
17And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
But where does it say in the Bible that Jesus is part of the Godhead?
1 John 5: 7 says:
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
And for proof of the deity of Jesus Christ, see John 1: 1:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Word is clearly identified in John 1: 14:
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
And 1 Timothy 3: 16 states:
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
It is quite obvious that “God was manifest in the flesh” above refers to Jesus.
Actually, if you know your English well, you will know that the expression Trinity or Holy Trinity does not mean the worship of three persons: God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost. I have already explained in a previous article that the word “Trinity” is a euphemism for God. But it looks like I have been casting pearls before swine because the critics of Christianity in this country are unable to understand plain English. Anyway, I am digressing. The fact remains that the expression “trinity” or “the trinity” is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. This is because Christians do not worship three persons. They worship only one God who was the God of Abraham, and who is the same God the Jews and the Muslims worship.