Reply #25: The meaning of "Allah"

[southlandshari]

I've only glanced at the rest of the thread, but it looks like some have already given some good passages of scripture from both holy books to go on, so I'd like to add another quick fact that may also help with this.

The word "Allah" in Arabic is from il-Allah, which literally translated means "The God". It isn't an actual name, like Baal or Gabriel or Pete or Joe.... it is the Arabic word for God. I lived in Jerusalem for two years and attended regular church services in Arabic, and the word "God" was never inserted into prayers, Bible reading, hymns or anything else. When reading or singing any of these in Arabic, the references were always to Allah. By Christians. In Jerusalem. In Bethlehem. Whose families have been there since the days of Jesus.

There is ample doctrinal and historical "proof" that Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same entity (Yahweh, God, Allah in different languages), even if some disagree on interpretation of what that God teaches. One of the only differences there is the Christian idea of the trinity. And, I know from experience, anyone who takes the time to learn the basic tenants of each (not always reflected in cultural traditions) of those three monotheistic religions, will find far more common ground than contradiction.