I called davidylan's attention because I noticed he always like to make a point that our Allah equals the god as if Muslims worship a god and not God. So I took the time to go 'copy and paste' from the site (wikipedia) he always refers to which it seems he never read to the end or didn't understand.

Allah (Arabic: الله) is the standard Arabic word for God. While the term is best known in the West for its use by Muslims as a reference to God, it is used by Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, in reference to “God” The term was also used by pagan Meccans as a reference to the creator-god, possibly the supreme deity in pre-Islamic Arabia. (note that god in all languages have been used to denote deities before Islam was revealed)

The concepts associated with the term Allah (as a deity) differ among the traditions. In pre-Islamic Arabia amongst pagan Arabs, Allah was not considered the sole divinity (though the supreme deity), having associates and companions, sons and daughters - a concept which Islam thoroughly and resolutely abrogated. In Islam, the name Allah is the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name. All other divine names are believed to refer back to Allah. Allah is unique, the only Deity, creator of the universe and omnipotent. Arab Christians today use terms such as Allāh al-ʼAb ( الله الأب, "God the Father" to distinguish their usage from Muslim usage.[6] There are both similarities and differences between the concept of God as portrayed in the Qur'an and the Hebrew Bible.[7]

The term Allāh is derived from a contraction of the Arabic definite article al- "the" and ʼilāh "deity, god" to al-lāh meaning "the [sole] deity, God" (in case you do not get it, the contraction equals the only God, as in when you say ‘the man is here’ = a definite man which is different from ‘a man’ or ‘a god’). Cognates of the name "Allāh" exist in other Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Aramaic. The corresponding Aramaic form is Ĕlāhā in Biblical Aramaic and Alâhâ or Ālōho in Syriac.

Usage in Arabic
Pre-Islamic Arabia
In pre-Islamic Arabia, Allah was used by Meccans as a reference to the creator-god, possibly the supreme deity.[12]Allah was not considered the sole divinity; however, Allah was considered the creator of the world and the giver of rain. The notion of the term may have been vague in the Meccan religion.[4] Allah was associated with companions, whom pre-Islamic Arabs considered as subordinate deities. Meccans held that a kind of kinship existed between Allah and the jinn.[13] Allah was thought to have had sons[14] and that the local deities of al-ʻUzzá, Manāt and al-Lāt were His daughters.[15] The Meccans possibly associated angels with Allah.[16][17] Allah was invoked in times of distress.[17][18] Muhammad's father's name was ‘Abdallāh meaning the “servant of Allāh.” or "the slave of Allāh"[17]
(But before you ask, as ussual, ‘Which Allah was he a servant to cos he was b4 Islam? I want you to keep in mind how the past men of God were naturally righteous and faithful to God despite the idolatery practices surrounding them before God eventually calls them, e.g. Moses. Abdallah might not have known Allah as muslims later did but he was divinely guided just like his son who never worshipped idols, which was pedominant in his environ, before he was inspired.)

Muslims
According to Islamic belief, Allah is the proper name of God,[11] and humble submission to His Will, Divine Ordinances and Commandments is the pivot of the Muslim faith.[1] "He is the only God, creator of the universe, and the judge of humankind."[1][2] "He is unique (wahid) and inherently one (ahad), all-merciful and omnipotent."[1] The Qur'an declares "the reality of Allah, His inaccessible mystery, His various names, and His actions on behalf of His creatures."[1]Most Muslims use the untranslated Arabic phrase "insha' Allah" (meaning "God willing" after references to future events.[20] Muslim discursive piety encourages beginning things with the invocation of "bismillah"(meaning "In the name of God".[21]

Others
Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, use the word "Allah" to mean "God". The Christian Arabs of today have no other word for 'God' than 'Allah'. (Even the Arabic-descended Maltese language of Malta, whose population is almost entirely Roman Catholic, uses Alla for 'God'.) Arab Christians for example use terms Allāh al-ʼab (الله الأب) meaning God the father, Allāh al-ibn (الله الابن) mean God the son, and Allāh al-rūḥ al-quds (الله الروح القدس) meaning God the Holy Spirit
Arab Christians have used two forms of invocations that were affixed to the beginning of their written works. They adopted the Muslim basm-allah, and also created their own Trinitized basm-allah as early as the eight century CE. The Muslim basm-allah reads: "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful." The Trinitized basm-allah reads: "In the name of Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God palatable to Muslims.
According to Marshall Hodgson, it seems that in the pre-Islamic times, some Arab Christians made pilgrimage to the Kaaba, a pagan temple at that time, honoring Allah there as God the Creator.[2Marshall Goodwin Simms Hodgson (1922–1968), was an Islamic Studies academic and a world historian at the University of Chicago. He was chairman of the interdisciplinary Committee on Social Thought in Chicago. He was also a practicing Quaker.Hodgson was the author of the three-volume The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization. Through this work, and his overall scholarship on Islam, he was renowned in his day. In addition to this, his modern importance rests with his work on world history, which remained relatively unnoticed during his lifetime. Much of it was rediscovered and subsequently published through the efforts of Edmund Burke III of the University of California, Santa Cruz.

A point you should note is that Allah must have chosen the Arab Language over others because of its uniqueness in expressions which is difficult for all translators to perfectly translate into other languages .e.g. Allahuakbar when translated into English is God is the greatest and this is comparative (i.e. great, greater, greatest) but actually in the Arabic language it simply states that meaning without comparing Gods greatness.

I hope with this you will get it that Allah is quite unique than God or Eledumare or Chukwu, etc cos it implies the one and only which is what the supreme being is.

Salaam

ronkeenuf:


Others
[b]Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, use the word "Allah" to mean "God". The Christian Arabs of today have no other word for 'God' than 'Allah'. (Even the Arabic-descended Maltese language of Malta, whose population is almost entirely Roman Catholic, uses Alla for 'God'.) Arab Christians for example use terms Allāh al-ʼab (الله الأب) meaning God the father, Allāh al-ibn (الله الابن) mean God the son, and Allāh al-rūḥ al-quds (الله الروح القدس) meaning God the Holy Spirit
Arab Christians have used two forms of invocations that were affixed to the beginning of their written works. They adopted the Muslim basm-allah, and also created their own Trinitized basm-allah as early as the eight century CE. The Muslim basm-allah reads: "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful." The Trinitized basm-allah reads: "In the name of Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God palatable to Muslims.
According to Marshall Hodgson, it seems that in the pre-Islamic times, some Arab Christians made pilgrimage to the Kaaba, a pagan temple at that time, honoring Allah there as God the Creator.[2Marshall Goodwin Simms Hodgson (1922–1968), was an Islamic Studies academic and a world historian at the University of Chicago. He was chairman of the interdisciplinary Committee on Social Thought in Chicago. He was also a practicing Quaker.Hodgson was the author of the three-volume The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization. Through this work, and his overall scholarship on Islam, he was renowned in his day. In addition to this, his modern importance rests with his work on world history, which remained relatively unnoticed during his lifetime. Much of it was rediscovered and subsequently published through the efforts of Edmund Burke III of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
[/b]

I did that selfless service to help davidylan see crystal clear what's written without looking for his spectacle.

@ronkeenuf,

Thanks

this thread does not address the origin of the islamic allah. . .does it?

@Noetic: « #2 on: Yesterday at 10:34:10 PM »

this thread does not address the origin of the islamic allah. . .does it?

From all indication, will it be safe to say that at a particular time, a once upon a time there was no structure known as the kaaba in Makka? If this is so, then we have to say that at that time, there was no idol in/on this structure, because it simply was not a structure then. The place/site was empty.

Later, according to Ismaila story, we that his mother and little infant Ismail (AS) was deposited in Makka. A result of their faithfulness, whereby Allah changed their certain death from thirst to survival and a bouyant and vibrant place, is what brought about Zam Zam water! Neither you nor anyone can deny this fact. The water is still there, till this very moment! Later, it was reported that Ibrahim and Ismail (AS Jamia), the father and son combo built this structure, the first time, from after the flood of Noah (AS). We see, as a proof of Ibrahim's presence in Makka a place called the Station of Ibrahim, next to the wall of the Kaaba.

With these two matters now established, the kaaba and Ibrahim, etc, except anyone with certain proof that Ibrahim was an idol worshipper after this time, we have to accept the fact that when Ibrahim completed the Buiding known as kaaba there was no idol placed in or around it! What was Ibrahim calling God the Creator to his son Ismail and Ismail's mother Hajah? If Arabic was not spoken at that time, but was spoken in Yemen, where people used to travel and pass this structure and drink from the Zam Zam water, they must have a word for The God Creator of all things. Every society does. Yoruba people say Eleda, Eledumare, Oluwa, Olorun, etc.

Unless anyone has some information that I dont have, the Yemeni Arabs used to call The God, Allah. Now that we establish this condition, I summit that when the Yemeni Arabs adopted Judaism, they called Yahweh in Arabic, Allah still. When they adopted Christianity in the arab societies, and indeed, Yemen, the indigenous people called the same Creator Allah. But Eloi sounds like Allah. At least to me. Try pronouncing both with your eyes closed and just listen to the sounds. You will know that they are very similar and sound the same.

When the idols were introduced, little by little until, it became a structure that housed 360 idols, none of them is called Allah. When Islam of Muhammad (AS) began and finally conquered Makka, it will behoves a sincere soul to even suggest that there was an idol in there that was named Allah, since all of te idols, all the 360 of them were smashed into pieces. No idol was spared. Everyone of them met its destruction right there.

Could Allah the idol have been smashed, if the muslims worship it? In other words, if there was an idol named Allah, it behoves me that the muslims who you claim worship it would not have saved it, as you have saved the cross that your human god was nailed to! What I have attempted here is that the word Allah, as the God was well in use by the Arabs, before Ibrahim, before the Children of Israel, before Judaism, before christianity, before Islam of Muhammad, and after te defeat of Makka. Nothing changed as in the use of Allah. No idol bore the name even among the 360 idols! If this does not help you then your case is with Allah and I am free of your deeds. And you are free of mine. The burden shall be bore by the bearer of burden, you of yours, me of mine.

It is not related that the Black Stone was connected with any special god. In the Ka'ba was the statue of the god Hubal who might be called the god of Mecca and of the Ka'ba. Caetani gives great prominence to the connection between the Ka'ba and Hubal. Besides him, however, al-Lat, al-`Uzza, and al-Manat were worshipped and are mentioned in the Kur'an; Hubal is never mentioned there. What position Allah held beside these is not exactly known.

The Islamic tradition has certainly elevated him at the expense of other deities. It may be considered certain that the Black Stone was not the only idol in or at the Ka'ba. The Makam Ibrahim was of course a sacred stone from very early times. Its name has not been handed down. Beside it several idols are mentioned, among them the 360 statues. (First Encyclopedia of Islam, E.J. Brill, 1987, Islam, p. 587-591)


"The verses of the Qur’an make it clear that the very name Allah existed in the Jahiliyya or pre-Islamic Arabia. Certain pagan tribes believed in a god whom they called ‘Allah’ and whom they believed to be the creator of heaven and earth and holder of the highest rank in the hierarchy of the gods. It is well known that the Quraish as well as other tribes believed in Allah, whom they designated as the ‘Lord of the House’ (i.e., of the Ka’ba), It is therefore clear that the Qur’anic conception of Allah is not entirely new." (A Guide to the Contents of the Qur’an, Faruq Sherif, (Reading, 1995), pgs. 21-22., Muslim)

According to al-Masudi (Murudj, iv. 47), certain people have regarded the Ka'ba as a temple devoted to the sun, the moon and the five planets. The 36o idols placed round the Ka'ba also point in this direction. It can therefore hardly be denied that traces exist of an astral symbolism. At the same time one can safely say that there can be no question of any general conception on these lines. The cult at the Ka'ba was in the heathen period syncretic as is usual in heathenism. (First Encyclopedia of Islam, E.J. Brill, 1987, Islam, p. 587-591)

The name Allah, as the Qur'an itself is witness, was well known in pre-Islamic Arabia. Indeed, both it and its feminine form, Allat, are found not infrequently among the theophorous names in inscriptions from North Arabia. The common theory is that it is formed from ilah, the common word for a god, and the article al-; thus al-ilah, the god," becomes Allah, "God." This theory, however, is untenable. In fact, the name is one of the words borrowed into the language in pre-Islamic times from Aramaic. (Islam: Muhammad and His Religion, Arthur Jeffery, 1958, p 85)

"If a Muslim says, "Your God and our God is the same," either he does not understand who Allah and Christ really are, or he intentionally glosses over the deep-rooted differences." (Who Is Allah In Islam?, Abd-Al Masih, Light of Life, 1985, p. 36.)

Now there dwelt in Mecca a god called Allah. He was the provider, the most powerful of all the local deities, the one to whom every Meccan turned in time of need. But, for all his power, Allah was a remote god. At the time of Muhammad, however, he was on the ascendancy. He had replaced the moon god as lord of the Kaaba although still relegated to an inferior position below various tribal idols and three powerful goddesses: al-Manat, goddess of fate, al-Lat, mother of the gods, and al-Uzza, the planet Venus. (Islam and the Arabs, Rom Landau, 1958 p 11-21)

Muhammad no more invented Allah than he did al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat. The Cult of the deity termed simply "thc god" (al-ilah) was known throughout southern Syria and northern Arabia," and it was obviously of central importance in Mecca, where the building called the Ka'ba was indisputably his house. Indeed, the Muslim profession of faith, 11 there is no ilah except al-ilah," attests to precisely that point: the Quraysh are being called upon to repudiate the very existence of all the other gods save this one. It seems equally certain that Allah was not merely a god in Mecca but was widely regarded as the "high god," the chief and head of the Meccan pantheon, perhaps the result, as has been argued, of a natural progression toward henotheism or of the growing influence of Jews and Christians in the peninsula." The most convincing piece of evidence that the latter was at work is the fact that of all the gods of Mecca, Allah alone was not represented by an idol. (The Hajj, F. E. Peters, p 3-41, 1994)

Allah, we can be sure, was neither an unknown nor an unimportant deity to the Quraysh when Muhammad began preaching his worship at Mecca. What is equally certain is that Allah had what the Quran disdainfully calls "associates": other gods and goddesses who shared both his cult and his shrine. The processional chant of the pagans of the Age of Barbarism was, we are told, "Here I am, O Allah, here I am; You have no partner except such a partner as You have; You possess him and all that is his." 103 The last clause may reflect what we have already seen was an emerging tendency toward henotheism, the recognition of Allah as the "high god" of Mecca. But it was not sufficient for Muslims, who put in its place their own manifestly monotheistic hymn: "Here I am, O Allah, here I am; You have no partner; the praise and the grace are Yours, and the empire; You have no partner." (The Hajj, F. E. Peters, p 3-41, 1994)

While Allah is best known as the principal god of Mecca, he was also worshiped in other places throughout Arabia as is shown by the occurrence of the name in Sabean, Minean and particularly Libyanite inscriptions." The Qur'an (xxix, 61) refers to the belief of the pagans in Allah as the creator of the heavens and the earth; and Muhammad's own father bore the name of `Abd Allah or `Abdullah, meaning the slave or worshiper of this god. In Mecca, Allah was worshiped in the Ka'bah and possibly represented by the famous Black Stone in that place. (The Archeology Of World Religions, Jack Finegan, 1952, p482-485, 492)

In Mecca, Allah was worshiped in the Ka'bah and possibly represented by the famous Black Stone in that place. (The Archeology Of World Religions, Jack Finegan, 1952, p482-485, 492)
Prior to the rise of Islam, these three goddesses were associated with Allah as his daughters and all were worshiped at Mecca and other places in the vicinity. (The Archeology Of World Religions, Jack Finegan, 1952, p482-485, 492)

Allah (allah, al-ilah, the god) was the principal, though not the only, deity of Makkah. The name is an ancient one. It occurs in two South Arabic inscriptions, one a Minaean found at al-'Ula and the other a Sabaean, but abounds in the form HLH in the Lihyanite inscriptions of the fifth century- B.C. Lihyan, which evidently got the god from Syria, was the first Centre of the worship of this deity in Arabia. The name occurs as Hallah in the Safa inscriptions five centuries before Islam and also in a pre-Islamic Christian Arabic inscription found in umm-al-Jimal, Syria, and ascribed to the sixth century . The name of Muhammad's father was 'Abd-Allah ('Abdullah, the slave or worshipper of Allah). The esteem in which Allah was held by thepre-Islamic Makkans as the creator and supreme provider and the one to be invoked in time of special peril may be inferred from such koranic passages as 31 : 24, 31; 6 : 137, 109; to : 23. Evidently he was the tribal deity of the Quraysh. (History Of The Arabs, Philip K. Hitti, 1937, p 96-101)

When Mohammed proclaimed his creed: 'There is no God but Allah,' he was not trying to introduce a new God. His pagan countrymen knew and acknowledged this divinity. His name, Allah, occurs already in pre-Mohammedan times, both in inscriptions and in compound personal names like Abd Allah, 'servant of Allah.' The effective note in Mohammed's evangelistic preaching is that he is able to accuse the pagans of acknowledging Allah as the creator of heaven and earth, and yet failing to draw the only possible conclusion from their belief; which is, to worship Allah and none else besides Him. 'If thou ask them who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, and hath imposed laws upon the sun and the moon, they will certainly say, "Allah". . If thou ask them who sendeth rain from Heaven, and by it quickeneth the earth after it hath been dead, they will certainly answer "Allah"' (Sura 29, 6 1 and 63).

When in extreme danger, especially on the sea, the pagans call upon Allah (29, 65; 31, 31; 17, 69), but when they are on land again, and feel safe, they share His divine honour with other beings. Allah is supposed to have given certain commandments and taboos to men (Sura 6, 139 ff.), and the most sacred oaths are sworn in His name (Sura 3,r, 40; 16, 40). Thus, even though Allah was not worshipped as He deserved, the cult of Allah was not entirely neglected. A species of tithing, or offering of the first-fruits of grain and cattle, was offered to Allah as well as to the other gods (6, 137)

. But, above all, Allah was apparently regarded as ,the Lord of the Ka'ba,' the God to whom the cult of the highest sanctuary of Central Arabia was dedicated. In one of the oldest Suras (io6) Mohammed urges his tribesmen, the Quraish, to worship 'the Lord of this house, who allows the two annual trade caravans to be equipped, and who cares for them, and permits them to dwell in security. Concerning himself he says that he has received the commandment to worship 'the Lord of the house,' i.e. the Ka'ba. Apparently, then, the Prophet and his countrymen fully agree that the God who is worshipped through the ritual of the Ka'ba is Allah. (Mohammed: The man and his faith, Tor Andrae, 1936, Translated by Theophil Menzel, 1960, p13-30)


"The religion of the Arabs, as well as their political life, was on a thoroughly primitive level, In particular the Semites regarded trees, caves, springs, and large stones as being inhabited by spirits; like the Black Stone of Islam in a corner of the Ka’bah at Mecca, in Petra and other places in Arabia stones were venerated also, Every tribe worshipped its own god, but also recognized the power of other tribal gods in their own sphere, Three goddesses in particular had elevated themselves above the circle of the inferior demons. The goddess of fate, al-Manat, corresponding to the Tyche Soteira of the Greeks, though known in Mecca, was worshipped chiefly among the neighboring Bedouin tribes of the Hudhayl. Allat—"the Goddess," who is Taif was called ar-Rabbah, "the Lady," and whom Herodotus equates with Urania—corresponded to the great mother of the gods, Astarte of the northern Semites; al-‘Uzza, "the Mightiest," worshipped in the planet Venus, was merely a variant form, In addition to all these gods and goddesses the Arabs, like many other primitive peoples, believed in a God who was creator of the world, Allah, whom the Arabs did not, as has often been thought, owe to the Jews and Christians, The more the significance of the cult declined, the greater became the value of a general religious temper associated with Allah. Among the Meccans he was already coming to take the place of the old moon-god Hubal as the lord of the Ka’bah, Allah was actually the guardian of contracts, though at first these were still settled at a special ritual locality and so subordinate to the supervision of an idol. In particular he was regarded as the guardian of the alien guest, though consideration for him still lagged behind duty to one’s kinsmen." (History of the Islamic Peoples, Carl Brockelmann, p 8-10)


The god Il or Ilah was originally a phase of the Moon God, but early in Arabian history the name became a general term for god, and it was this name that the Hebrews used prominently in their personal names, such as Emanuel, Israel, etc., rather than the Bapal of the northern semites proper, which was the Sun. Similarly, under Mohammed's tutelage, the relatively anonymous Ilah became Al-Ilah, The God, or Allâh, the Supreme Being. (Southern Arabia, Carleton S. Coon, Washington, D.C. Smithsonian, 1944, p.399)

", a people of Arabia, of the race of the Joktanites, the Alilai living near the Red Sea in a district where gold is found; their name, children of the moon, so called from the worship of the moon, or Alilat." (Gesenius Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures, translated by Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, 1979, p. 367)

Al-Kindi, one of the early Christian apologists against Islam, pointed out that Islam and its god Allah did not come from the Bible but from the paganism of the Sabeans. They did not worship the God of the Bible but the moon-god and his daughters al-Uzza, al-Lat, and Manat (Three Early Christian-Muslim Debates, ed. by N. A. Newman, Hatfield, PA, IBRI, 1994, pp.357, 413, 426).

"The cult of a deity termed simply "the god" (al-ilah) was known throughout southern Syria and northern Arabia in the days before Islam—Muhammad’s father was named ‘Abd Allah ("Servant of Allah"--and was obviously of central importance in Mecca, where the building called the Ka’bah was indisputably his house. Indeed, the Muslims shahadah attests to precisely that point: the Quraysh, the paramount tribe of Mecca, were being called on by Muhammad to repudiate the very existence of all the other gods save this one. It seems equally certain that Allah was not merely a god in Mecca but was widely regarded as the "high god," the chief and head of the Meccan pantheon, whether this was the result, as has been argued, of a natural progression toward henotheism or of the growing influence of Jews and Christians in the Arabian Peninsula, Thus Allah was neither an unknown nor an unimportant deity to the Quraysh when Muhammad began preaching his worship at Mecca." (The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, ed. John L. Esposito, 1995, p 76-77)

[b]"That Islam was conceived in idolatry is shown by the fact that many rituals performed in the name of Allah were connected with the pagan worship that existed before Islam. , Before Islam Allah was reported to be know as: the supreme of a pantheon of gods; the name of a god whom the Arabs worshipped; the chief god of the pantheon; Ali-ilah; the god; the supreme; the all-powerful; all-knowing; and totally unknowable; the predeterminer of everyone’s life destiny; chief of the gods; the special deity of the Quraish; having three daughters: Al Uzzah (Venus), Manah (Destiny), and Alat; having the idol temple at Mecca under his name (House of Allah).; the mate of Alat, the goddess of fate. . , Because of other Arabian history which points to heathen worship of the sun, moon, and the stars, as well as other gods, of which I believe Allah was in some way connected to. This then would prove to us that Allah is not the same as the true God of the Bible whom we worship, because God never changes." (Is Allah The Same God As The God Of The Bible?, M. J. Afshari, p 6, 8-9)[/b]

"In pre-Islamic days, called the Days of Ignorance, the religious background of the Arabs was pagan, and basically animistic. Through wells, trees, stones, caves, springs, and other natural objects man could make contact with the deity, At Mekka, Allah was the chief of the gods and the special deity of the Quraish, the prophet’s tribe. Allah had three daughters: Al Uzzah (Venus) most revered of all and pleased with human sacrifice; Manah, the goddess of destiny, and Al Lat, the goddess of vegetable life. Hubal and more than 300 others made up the pantheon. The central shrine at Mekka was the Kaaba, a cube like stone structure which still stands though many times rebuilt. Imbedded in one corner is the black stone, probably a meteorite, the kissing of which is now an essential part of the pilgrimage." (Meet the Arab, John Van Ess, 1943, p. 29.)


"Muslims are notoriously loathe to preserve traditions of earlier paganism and like to garble what pre-Islamic history they permit to survive in anachronistic terms" (Southern Arabia, Carleton S. Coon, Washington DC, Smithsonian, 1944, p 398)

"But history establishes beyond the shadow of doubt that even the pagan Arabs, before Muhammad’s time, knew their chief god by the name of Allah and even, in a sense, proclaimed his unity, Among the pagan Arabs this term denoted the chief god of their pantheon, the Kaaba, with its three hundred and sixty idols." (The Moslem Doctrine of God, Samuel M. Zwemer 1905, p 24-25)

"Historians like Vaqqidi have said Allah was actually the chief of the 360 gods [one for each day of the year] being worshipped in Arabia at the time Muhammad rose to prominence. Ibn Al-Kalbi gave 27 names of pre-Islamic deities, Interestingly, not many Muslims want to accept that Allah was already being worshipped at the Ka'ba in Mecca by Arab pagans before Muhammad came. Some Muslims become angry when they are confronted with this fact. But history is not on their side. Pre-Islamic literature has proved this." (Who Is This Allah?, G. J. O. Moshay, 1994, p 138)
"Islam also owes the term "Allah" to the heathen Arabs. We have evidence that it entered into numerous personal names in Northern Arabia and among the Nabatians. It occurred among the Arabs of later times, in theophorous names and on its own." (Why I Am Not A Muslim, Ibn Warraq, 1995, p. 42)

"Arabia in Muhammad’s time was polytheistic in its conception of the cosmos and tribal in its social structure. Each tribe had its own god(s) and goddess(es), which were manifest in the forms of idols, stones, trees, or stars in the sky." (Islamic Studies, A History of Religions Approach, Richard C. Martin, 2nd Ed., p 96)

"Before Islam, the religions of the Arabic world involved the worship of many spirits, called jinn. Allah was but one of many gods worshiped in Mecca. But then Muhammad taught the worship of Allah as the only God, whom he identified as the same God worshiped by Christians and Jews." (A Short History of Philosophy, Robert C. Solomon, p. 130)

"Allah: Originally applied to the moon; he seems to be preceded by Ilmaqah, the moon god, Allat: the female counterpart to Allah." (A Dictionary of Non-Classical Mythology, Marian Edwardes, Lewis Spence, Allah, p. 7)

[b]There were hundreds of such deities in pagan Arabia; the Ka'bah alone at one time housed three hundred and sixty-seven of them. Of all those mentioned in the Qur'an, four appeared to be most popularly revered on the eve of Islam, al`-Uzzah (power), al-Lat (the goddess), and Manah (fate); all three female deities, popularly worshiped by the tribes of the Hijaz, were regarded as the daughters of Allah (the god) who headed the Arabian pantheon when Muhammad began to preach. Allah, the paramount deity of pagan Arabia, was the target of worship in varying degrees of intensity from the southernmost tip of Arabia to the Mediterranean. To the Babylonians he was "Il" (god); to the Canaanites, and later the Israelites, he was "El"., the South Arabians worshipped him as "Ilah," and the Bedouins as "al-Ilah" (the deity). With Muhammad he becomes Allah, God of the Worlds, of all believers, the one and only who admits of no associates or consorts in the worship of Him[/b]. Judaic and Christian concepts of God abetted the transformation of Allah from a pagan deity to the God of all monotheists. There is no reason, therefore, to accept the idea that "Allah" passed to the Muslims from Christians and Jews. (Islam, Beliefs And Observances, Caesar E. Farah, p2-7, 26-35)

Before the name [Allah] came into Islam, it had already long been part of the pre-Islamic system, and a considerably important part, too, the pagan concept of Allah, which is purely Arabian—the case in which we see the pre-Islamic Arabs themselves talking about "Allah" as they understand the word in their own peculiar way." (God and Man in The Koran, Toshihiko Izutsu, Chapter 4: Allah, p96-119, 1980)

Let us begin by remarking that the name itself of Allah is common to Jahiliyyah and Islam. When, in other words, the Koranic Revelation began to use this word, it was not introducing a new name of God, a name strange and alien to the ears of the contemporary Arabs. The first problem, then, that we must answer is: Was the Koranic concept of Allah a continuation of the pre-Islamic one, or did the former represent a complete break with the latter? Were there some essential-not accidental-ties between the two concepts signified by one and the same name? Or was it a simple matter of a common word used for two different objects? ." (God and Man in The Koran, Toshihiko Izutsu, Chapter 4: Allah, p96-119, 1980)

olabowale:

@Noetic: « #2 on: Yesterday at 10:34:10 PM » From all indication, will it be safe to say that at a particular time, a once upon a time there was no structure known as the kaaba in Makka? If this is so, then we have to say that at that time, there was no idol in/on this structure, because it simply was not a structure then. The place/site was empty.

Later, according to Ismaila story, we that his mother and little infant Ismail (AS) was deposited in Makka. A result of their faithfulness, whereby Allah changed their certain death from thirst to survival and a bouyant and vibrant place, is what brought about Zam Zam water! Neither you nor anyone can deny this fact. The water is still there, till this very moment! Later, it was reported that Ibrahim and Ismail (AS Jamia), the father and son combo built this structure, the first time, from after the flood of Noah (AS). We see, as a proof of Ibrahim's presence in Makka a place called the Station of Ibrahim, next to the wall of the Kaaba.

With these two matters now established, the kaaba and Ibrahim, etc, except anyone with certain proof that Ibrahim was an idol worshipper after this time, we have to accept the fact that when Ibrahim completed the Buiding known as kaaba there was no idol placed in or around it! What was Ibrahim calling God the Creator to his son Ismail and Ismail's mother Hajah? If Arabic was not spoken at that time, but was spoken in Yemen, where people used to travel and pass this structure and drink from the Zam Zam water, they must have a word for The God Creator of all things. Every society does. Yoruba people say Eleda, Eledumare, Oluwa, Olorun, etc.

Unless anyone has some information that I dont have, the Yemeni Arabs used to call The God, Allah. Now that we establish this condition, I summit that when the Yemeni Arabs adopted Judaism, they called Yahweh in Arabic, Allah still. When they adopted Christianity in the arab societies, and indeed, Yemen, the indigenous people called the same Creator Allah. But Eloi sounds like Allah. At least to me. Try pronouncing both with your eyes closed and just listen to the sounds. You will know that they are very similar and sound the same.

When the idols were introduced, little by little until, it became a structure that housed 360 idols, none of them is called Allah. When Islam of Muhammad (AS) began and finally conquered Makka, it will behoves a sincere soul to even suggest that there was an idol in there that was named Allah, since all of te idols, all the 360 of them were smashed into pieces. No idol was spared. Everyone of them met its destruction right there.

Could Allah the idol have been smashed, if the muslims worship it? In other words, if there was an idol named Allah, it behoves me that the muslims who you claim worship it would not have saved it, as you have saved the cross that your human god was nailed to! What I have attempted here is that the word Allah, as the God was well in use by the Arabs, before Ibrahim, before the Children of Israel, before Judaism, before christianity, before Islam of Muhammad, and after te defeat of Makka. Nothing changed as in the use of Allah. No idol bore the name even among the 360 idols! If this does not help you then your case is with Allah and I am free of your deeds. And you are free of mine. The burden shall be bore by the bearer of burden, you of yours, me of mine.

what EXACTLY is the long story above intended to imply?

It definitely did not erase the fact that allah is a moon-god in arabia worshipped along with 359 other gods, by mohammed's father. . .this was the same allah that mohammed came to elevate.

any questions?

Allah is the black stone embedded in the corner of Kabbah

You can say that again

focused123:

Allah is the black stone embedded in the corner of Kabbah

Yes, you got it, the kabbah in your church has the black stone in it's corner.
Sons of jesus don't lie now

"Historians like Vaqqidi have said Allah was actually the chief of the 360 gods [one for each day of the year] being worshipped in Arabia at the time Muhammad rose to prominence

quite a coincidence

focused123:

Allah is the black stone embedded in the corner of Kabbah

Abu Zola:

You can say that again

am I missing something?

tpia.:

am I missing something?

Like what?

tpia.:

am I missing something?

He's(Abuzola) not exactly the most intelligent guy around

^^ more like that was a very big slip up.






@ muhsin

Like what?

what do you think?

tpia.:

@ muhsin

what do you think?

Nothing. So I asked.

hymen:

He's(Abuzola) not exactly the most intelligent guy around

And you are, huh

focused123:

Allah is the black stone embedded in the corner of Kabbah

Abu Zola:

You can say that again

tpia.:


am I missing something?

muhsin:

Like what?

Re: Is human flesh sweet

Abu Zola:

I'm thinking of trying one in anticipation for economic recession. E no easy

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-388994.0.html









this newer version of abuzola must be having quite a lot of laughs while playing people like football here.

muhsin can you explain this latest post of abuzola's?

i know you look up to the user id, like many others here.

Tpia, hope you know that post is meant for laughter and humour. But since your common sense is located at ur foot so be it

so Islam allows hadith quoters and imam wannabees to joke in that manner?

You really dont fool me though you can fool your admirers here.

Mrs ijaw or is it mrs half cast hausa, i don't have ur time, and for ur info i don't want anybody to admire me, whatever am doing is not for pride but for Allah. *long hiss*

Abu Zola:

Mrs ijaw or is it mrs half cast hausa, i don't have your time, and for your info i don't want anybody to admire me, whatever am doing is not for pride but for Allah. *long hiss*

Allah told you to start joking about eating human beings?

explain yourself nah.

This isnt a hissing matter unless you think otherwise.

Calm yourself down and tell us how you reconcile the koran, hadith, and joking about eating people.

Pls don't disturb me, as you can see am not joking this time around

How bad it is to be ignored