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Thursday 7 January 2010

Allah the Pagan God?



There is an article written by RPK ( all know who he is) about this controversy about the name Allah. The article said, even the Pagans called God Allah so why do Muslims make a big hoo hah about it?

We are making a big fuss about it because the first religious fundamental to which our Prophet preached was Tauhid (the Oneness of Allah). This is expressed by the testification, 'La ilaha illa Allah' (meaning, none has the right to be worshiped except Allah). Muhammad spent thirteen years in Makkah explaining the Oneness of Allah, and not calling towards any other aspect of the religion.

This is because the correct belief (Aqidah) is the foundation of Islam. Only those actions and statements that stem from the correct belief (Aqidah) are acceptable to Allah and therefore, it is a Muslim's duty to safeguard his Aqidah against all defects.

Now I am sure RPK being the widely person that he is, knows that the Islamic Concept of Tawhid is divided into three categories – Tauhid ar-Rububiyyah, Tauhid al-Uluhiyyah, and Tauhid al-Asma was-Sifaat; which respectively mean that Allah is One. These mean:-


  • without partner in His dominion and His Actions



  • without similitude in His Essence and Attributes



  • without rival in His divinity and worship 


 Tauhid ar-Rububiyyah means to believe that Allah alone is the Rabb (the Creator, Provider, Sustainer, etc.) He has no partner in His Dominion and Actions. Allah alone has the power to benefit or harm, the power to change destiny, and He alone is truly Self-Sufficient (As-Samad) upon whom all the creation depends, as He says: "Allah created all things and He is the Wakeel (Trustee, Disposer of affairs, Guardian) of all things." "To Him belong the keys of the Heavens and the earth. He (Allah) enlarges and restricts provisions to whomever He Wills. Surely, He has Knowledge of everything."

 Now, about the Arab Pagans.

 True- the Arab Pagans believed in Tauhid ar-Rububiyyah. They believed in Allah to the extent that they declared Allah as the Supreme Lord. They acknowledged Him as the Creator of the Universe and considered Him to be the Sovereign and the Provider of sustenance, as is clear from the verses of Surah al-Mu'minun, Allah says: "Say (to the disbelievers): "Whose is the earth and whosoever is therein? If you know!" They will say: "It is Allah" … Say: "Who is the Lord of the seven Heavens and the Lord of the Great Throne?" They will say: "Allah" … Say: "In whose Hands is the sovereignty of everything? And He protects all, while against whom there is no protector, if you know?" They will say: "(All this belongs) to Allah."

Betul- Pagans also believed in Allah and uttered the word Allah. However, the belief in Tauhid ar-Rububiyyah did not make them Muslims, just as Abdullah the Prophet's father wasn't. Though they believed in this Tauhid, they lacked Tauhid al-Uluhiyyah (Oneness of Allah's Worship).

Thus even though as RPK pointed out, the Arab Pagans believed that Allah was their Lord, they did not direct all forms of worship to Him alone. They believed that Angles and pious people had special status with Allah, and thus could intercede with Allah for them. They would say: "We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to Allah."

Calling upon Allah for one's needs is a great act of worship, and if it is directed towards other than Allah, it leads to Shirk in the worship. Allah revealed: "They worship besides Allah things that hurt them not, nor profit them, and they say: "These are only our intercessors with Allah."

 Thus, Allah declared their act of seeking intercession with Allah as Shirk and termed them as Kafirun and Mushrikin. He ordered His Prophet (PBUH) to proclaim, "I worship not that, which you worship, nor will you worship that which I worship, and I shall not worship that you are worshiping, nor will you worship that which I worship." These verses of the Noble Quran establish the importance of the Tauhid of worship along with the Tauhid of Lordship.

 From the above, we understand that the Arab Pagans, despite their ignorance and arrogance, completely understood the meaning of Ibadah . They believed that intercession is a form of worship, and did not deny that calling upon pious people amounted to worshiping them. They would call their idols, 'Aaliha'(pl. of Ilah lit. meaning, One, who is worshiped).


Hence I urge Muslims to be wary of unchallenged thinking from smoked-salmon sermoners and Bolshevik Believers.

3 comments:

maxthecat 7 January 2010 at 10:53  

For me, the underlying issue lies with the way we Malay Muslims (MM) in Malaysia understand God/Allah/Tuhan. Let me explain.

From an Quranic perspective, there is no problem with other religions calling their god Allah. That much is clear, I wont elaborate more on that as many articles have been written on that account. So why the fuss?

The fuss lies with etymology. Allah to a MM, differs to Allah as understood elsewhere. Allah is just God to an Arab Muslim (MA). For an AM or Arab Christian (AC), they both believe in God, but what they differ upon is the qualities of God ie. Oneness vs Trinity, etc. So, in the Arabic countries and elsewhere, God = Allah = Tuhan. No biggie.

But back here, its different. MM believe that a God called Allah, must have all those qualities as defined in the Muslim faith.

So this issue boils down to purely terminology and understanding of words? Partly. But the real question is, why do MM have this understanding and AM don't?

2 reasons I can think of. One, because MM do not understand the Quran. They recite, but they do not understand. Secondly, Malay = Muslim and Muslim = Malay. To equate your God with my God is to say that Chinese = Malay. No way, jose.

Solution? Let's ban the word Allah for non Muslims. So that forever, the Malays need not know what is in the Quran or understand it. They dont have to. They are good at memorizing, failing which they can consult many learned religious people. The Quran is not for understanding, its for memorizing and decoration.

Anonymous,  7 January 2010 at 12:54  

Saya kurang arif mengenai undang2, cuma secara logiknya, boleh kah undang2 buatan manusia, ie common low menentukan dan menetapkan keputusan mengenai perkara2 yg menyangkut perihal agama islam, terutama berkaitan dengan ugama dan terma2 ayat yg digunakan di dalam Quran.


Soalan kedua, tidak bolehkah bila perlembagaan menetapkan ugama rasmi negara sebagai islam, maka hal2 berkaitan agama dapat membuatkan keputusan syariah atau undang2 Allah iaitu Islam yg paling supreme?

Anonymous,  7 January 2010 at 21:52  

Dato',

Can I have your comment on this then?

http://themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/opinion/breaking-views/48791-non-muslims-calling-the-creator-allah-islamtoday-


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