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WHY MUSLIMS PREFER USING THE ARABIC WORD "ALLAH" INSTEAD OF THE ENGLISH WORD GOD?
The Muslims prefer calling the Supreme Creator, Allah, instead of by the English word ‘God’. The Arabic word, ‘Allah’, is pure and unique, unlike the English word ‘God’, which can be played around with.
If you add ‘s’ to the word God, it becomes ‘Gods’, that is the plural of God. Allah is one and singular, there is no plural of Allah. If you add ‘dess’ to the word God, it becomes ‘Goddess’ that is a female God. There is nothing like male Allah or female Allah. Allah has no gender. If you add the word ‘father’ to ‘God’ it becomes ‘God-father’. God-father means someone who is a guardian. There is no word like ‘Allah-Abba’ or ‘Allah-father’. If you add the word ‘mother’ to ‘God’, it becomes ‘God-mother’. There is nothing like ‘Allah-Ammi’, or ‘Allah-mother’ in Islam. Allah is a unique word. If you prefix tin before the word God, it becomes tin-God i.e., fake God. Allah is a unique word, which does not conjure up any mental picture nor can it be played around with. Therefore the Muslims prefer using the Arabic word ‘Allah’ for the Almighty. Sometimes,
however, while speaking to the non-Muslims we may have to use the inappropriate word God, for Allah. Since the intended audience of this blog is general in nature, consisting of both Muslims as well as non-Muslims, I have used the word God instead of Allah in several places in this blog.


IF "ALLAH" IS THE CORRECT NAME FOR GOD AS IS STATED IN THE QUR’AAN, THEN IS "ALLAH" MENTIONED IN OTHER RELIGIOUS SCRIPTURES BESIDES THE QUR’AAN?
Almost all the major religious scriptures of the world contain the word "Allah" as one of the names of God. In the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1990 Edition, vol.1, and pg. 276 – it says, “Allah is the standard Arabic word used by Muslims as well as by Christians.” The word ALLAH appears about 7,000 times in the Hebrew Bible.
a. “Elohim El, Elah, Alah”
In the Bible, God is very often referred to as ‘Elohim’ in the Hebrew language. The ‘im’ in the ending is a plural of honour and respect. God is referred to as ‘El’ or ‘Elah’ in the English Bible edited by Reverend C. I. Scofield. ‘Elah’ is alternatively spelled as ‘Alah’. The difference in spelling is only of a single ‘L’. Muslims spell Allah as ‘Allah’ while the Reverend has spelled it as ‘Alah’, and they pronounce it as ‘Elah’. Muslims pronounce it as Allah. Hebrew and Arabic are sister languages therefore we say it should be pronounced as ‘Allah’ and not as ‘Elah’. Exodus 3:13 & 15/Psalm 50:1 & 2- In the Hebrew it is written ALLAH.
Language is a medium of expressing thoughts. However, the pronunciation should conform to the dictates of that particular language. A few examples of the English language with the pronunciations:

INTRODUCTION TO HINDUISM:


The most popular among the Aryan religions is Hinduism.
‘Hindu’ is actually a Persian word that stands for the inhabitants
of the region beyond the Indus Valley. However, in common
parlance, Hinduism is a blanket term for an assortment of religious
beliefs, most of which are based on the Vedas, the Upanishads
and the Bhagavad Gita.




INTRODUCTION TO HINDU SCRIPTURES.
There are several sacred scriptures of the Hindus.
 Among these are the Vedas, Upanishads and the Puranas.


1.  VEDAS:


1. The word Veda is derived from vid which means to know, knowledge
par excellence or sacred wisdom. There are four principal divisions of the Vedas
  (although according to their number, they amount to 1131 out of which
about a dozen are available). According to Maha Bhashya of Patanjali,
there are 21 branches of Rigveda, 9 types of Atharvaveda, 101 branches
of Yajurveda and 1000 of Samveda).


2. The Rigveda, the Yajurveda and the Samveda are considered to be more
ancient books and are known as Trai Viddya or the ‘Triple Sciences’. The Rigveda
is the oldest and has been compiled in three long and different periods of time.
The 4th Veda is the Atharvaveda, which is of a later date.


3. There is no unanimous opinion regarding the date of compilation or revelation
of the four Vedas. According to Swami Dayanand, founder of the Arya Samaj,
the Vedas were revealed 1310 million years ago. According to other scholars,
they are not more than 4000 years old.


4. Similarly, there are differing opinions regarding the places where these books
were compiled and the Rishis to whom these Scriptures were given. Inspite of these
differences, the Vedas are considered to be the most authentic of the Hindu
Scriptures and the real foundations of the Hindu Dharma.


2.  UPANISHADS:
1.  The word 'Upanishad' is derived from Upa meaning near, Ni which means
down and Shad means to sit. Therefore ‘Upanishad’ means sitting down near.
Groups of pupils sit near the teacher to learn from him the secret doctrines.


According to Samkara, ‘Upanishad’ is derived from the root word Sad which
means ‘to loosen’, ‘to reach’ or ‘to destroy’, with Upa and ni as prefix;
therefore ‘Upanishad’ means Brahma-Knowledge by which ignorance is
loosened or destroyed.


2.  The number of Upanishads exceeds 200 though the Indian tradition
puts it at 108. There are 10 principal Upanishads. However, some consider
them to be more than 10, while others 18.


3.  The Vedanta meant originally the Upanishads, though the word is
now used for the system of philosophy based on the Upanishad.
Literally, Vedanta means the end of the Veda, Vedasua-antah, and the
conclusion as well as the goal of Vedas. The Upanishads are the
concluding portion of the Vedas and chronologically they come at the end
of the Vedic period.
 4.  Some Pundits consider the Upanishads to be more superior to the Vedas.


3.  PURANAS:


Next in order of authenticity are the Puranas which are the most widely
read scriptures. It is believed that the Puranas contain the history of the
creation of the universe, history of the early Aryan tribes, life stories of the
divines and deities of the Hindus. It is also believed that the Puranas
are revealed books like the Vedas, which were revealed simultaneously
with the Vedas or sometime close to it.


Maharishi Vyasa has divided the Puranas into 18 voluminous parts.
He also arranged the Vedas under various heads.


Chief among the Puranas is a book known as Bhavishya Purana.
It is called so because it is believed to give an account of future events.
The Hindus consider it to be the word of God. Maharishi yasa is considered
to be just the compiler of the book.


4.  ITIHAAS:


The two epics of Hinduism are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.


A. Ramayana:


According to Ramanuja, the great scholar of Ramayana, there are more
than 300 different types of Ramayana: Tulsidas Ramayana,
Kumbha Ramayana. Though the outline of Ramayana is same, the details
and contents differ.


Valmiki’s Ramayana:


Unlike the Mahabharata, the Ramayana appears to be the work of
one person – the sage Valmiki, who probably composed it in the 3rd century BC.
Its best-known recension (by Tulsi Das, 1532-1623) consists of 24,000 rhymed
couplets of 16-syllable lines organised into 7 books. The poem incorporates
many ancient legends and draws on the sacred books of the Vedas.
It describes the efforts of Kosala’s heir, Rama, to regain his throne and rescue
his wife, Sita, from the demon King of Lanka.


Valmiki's Ramayana is a Hindu epic tradition whose earliest literary version
is a Sanskrit poem attributed to the sage Valmiki. Its principal characters are
said to present ideal models of personal, familial, and social behavior and
hence are considered to exemplify Dharma, the principle of moral order.


B. Mahabharata:


The nucleus of the Mahabharata is the war of eighteen days fought between
 the Kauravas, the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra and Pandavas, the five sons
 of Pandu. The epic entails all the circumstances leading upto the war. Involved
in this Kurukshetra battle were almost all the kings of India joining either of
the two parties. The result of this war was the total annihilation of Kauravas and
their party. Yudhishthira, the head of the Pandavas, became the sovereign
monarch of Hastinapura. His victory is supposed to symbolise the victory of
good over evil. But with the progress of years, new matters and episodes
relating to the various aspects of human life, social, economic, political, moral
and religious as also fragments of other heroic legends came to be added to the
aforesaid nucleus and this phenomenon continued for centuries until it acquired
the present shape. The Mahabharata represents a whole literature rather than
one single and unified work, and contains many multifarious things.


C. Bhagavad Gita:


Bhagavad Gita is a part of Mahabharata. It is the advice given by Krishna to Arjun
on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. It contains the essence of the Vedas and is the
most popular of all the Hindu Scriptures. It contains 18 chapters.


The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most widely read and revered of the works sacred
to the Hindus. It is their chief devotional book, and has been for centuries the
principal source of religious inspiration for many thousands of Hindus.


The Gita is a dramatic poem, which forms a small part of the larger epic,
the Mahabharata. It is included in the sixth book (Bhismaparvan) of the Mahabaharata
and documents one tiny event in a huge epic tale.


The Bhagavad Gita tells a story of a moral crisis faced by Arjuna, which is solved
through the interaction between Arjuna, a Pandava warrior hesitating before battle,
and Krishna, his charioteer and teacher. The Bhagavad Gita relates a brief incident
in the main story of a rivalry and eventually a war between two branches of a royal family.
In that brief incident - a pause on the battlefield just as the battle is about to begin -
Krishna, one chief on one side (also believed to be the Lord incarnate), is presented
as responding to the doubts of Arjuna. The poem is the dialogue through which
Arjuna’s doubts were resolved by Krishna’s teachings.

1.  Common Concept of God in Hinduism: Hinduism is commonly perceived as a polytheistic religion. Indeed, most Hindus would attest to this, by professing belief in multiple Gods. While some Hindus believe in the existence of three gods, some believe in thousands of gods, and some others in thirty three crore i.e. 330 million Gods. However, learned Hindus, who are well versed in their scriptures, insist that a Hindu should believe in and worship only one God. The major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim perception of God is the common Hindus’ belief in the philosophy of Pantheism. Pantheism considers everything, living and non-living, to be Divine and Sacred. The common Hindu, therefore, considers everything as God. He considers the trees as God, the sun as God, the moon as God, the monkey as God, the snake as God and even human beings as manifestations of God! Islam, on the contrary, exhorts man to consider himself and his surroundings as examples of Divine Creation rather than as divinity itself. Muslims therefore believe that everything is God’s i.e. the word ‘God’ with an apostrophe ‘s’. In other words the Muslims believe that everything belongs to God.
The trees belong to God, the sun belongs to God, the moon belongs to God, the monkey belongs to God, the snake belongs to God, the human beings belong to God and everything in this universe belongs to God. Thus the major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim beliefs is the difference of the apostrophe ‘s’. The Hindu says everything is God. The Muslim says everything is God’s. 2. Concept of God according to Hindu Scriptures: We can gain a better understanding of the concept of God in Hinduism by analysing Hindu scriptures. BHAGAVAD GITA: The most popular amongst all the Hindu scriptures is the Bhagavad Gita. Consider the following verse from the Gita: "Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures." [Bhagavad Gita 7:20] The Gita states that people who are materialistic worship demigods i.e. ‘gods’ besides the True God. UPANISHADS: The Upanishads are considered sacred scriptures by the Hindus. The following verses from the Upanishads refer to the Concept of God: 1.  "Ekam evadvitiyam" "He is One only without a second." [Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1]1 2.  "Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah." "Of Him there are neither parents nor lord." [Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9]2 3.  "Na tasya pratima asti" "There is no likeness of Him." [Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19]3 4.  The following verses from the Upanishad allude to the inability of man to imagine God in a particular form: "Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam." "His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye." [Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20]4 1[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 447 and 448] [Sacred Books of the East, volume 1 ‘The Upanishads part I’ page 93] 2[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 745] [Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page 263.] 3[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 736 & 737] [Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page no 253] 4[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 737] [Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page no 253] THE VEDAS Vedas are considered the most sacred of all the Hindu scriptures. There are four principal Vedas: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda. 1. Yajurveda   The following verses from the Yajurveda echo a similar concept of God: 1. "na tasya pratima asti"     "There is no image of Him."     [Yajurveda 32:3]5 2. "shudhama poapvidham"     "He is bodyless and pure."     [Yajurveda 40:8]6 3. "Andhatama pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste"     "They enter darkness, those who worship the natural elements" (Air, Water, Fire, etc.).  "They sink deeper in darkness, those who worship sambhuti."         [Yajurveda 40:9]7 4. Sambhuti means created things, for example table, chair, idol, etc.    The Yajurveda contains the following prayer:    "Lead us to the good path and remove the sin that makes us stray and wander."    [Yajurveda 40:16]8   5[Yajurveda by Devi Chand M.A. page 377]   6[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith page 538]   7[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith page 538]   8[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Griffith page 541] 2. Atharvaveda The Atharvaveda praises God in Book 20, hymn 58 and verse 3: 1. "Dev maha osi" "God is verily great" [Atharvaveda 20:58:3]9 3. Rigveda 1.  The oldest of all the vedas is Rigveda. It is also the one considered most sacred by the Hindus. The Rigveda states in Book 1, hymn 164 and verse 46:  "Sages (learned Priests) call one God by manynames." [Rigveda 1:164:46] 2. The Rigveda gives several different attributes to Almighty God. Many of these are mentioned in Rigveda Book 2 hymn 1. Among the various attributes of God, one of the beautiful attributes mentioned in the Rigveda Book II hymn 1 verse 3, is Brahma. Brahma means ‘The Creator’. Translated into Arabic it means Khaaliq. Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as Khaaliq or ‘Creator’ or Brahma. However if it is said that Brahma is Almighty God who has four heads with each head having a crown, Muslims take strong exception to it. Describing Almighty God in anthropomorphic terms also goes against the following verse of Yajurveda: "Na tasya Pratima asti" "There is no image of Him." [Yajurveda 32:3] Another beautiful attribute of God mentioned in the Rigveda Book II hymn 1 verse 3 is Vishnu. Vishnu means ‘The Sustainer’. Translated into Arabic it means Rabb. Again, Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as Rabb or 'Sustainer' or Vishnu. But the popular image of 9[Atharveda Samhita vol 2 William Dwight Whitney page 910] Vishnu among Hindus, is that of a God who has four arms, with one of the right arms holding the Chakra, i.e. a discus and one of the left arms holding a ‘conch shell’, or riding a bird or reclining on a snake couch. Muslims can never  accept any image of God. As mentioned earlier this also goes against Svetasvatara Upanishad Chapter 4 verse 19. "Na tasya pratima asti" "There is no likeness of Him" The following verse from the Rigveda Book 8, hymn 1, verse 1 refer to the Unity and Glory of the Supreme Being: 3.  "Ma cid anyad vi sansata sakhayo ma rishanyata" "O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One. Praise Him alone." [Rigveda 8:1:1]10 4.  "Devasya samituk parishtutih" "Verily, great is the glory of the Divine Creator." [Rigveda 5:1:81]11 Brahma Sutra of Hinduism: The Brahma Sutra of Hinduism is: "Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan" "There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not in the least bit." Thus only a dispassionate study of the Hindu scriptures can help one understand the concept of God in Hinduism. 0[Rigveda Samhita vol. 9, pages 2810 and 2811 by Swami Satya Prakash Sarasvati and Satyakam Vidyalankar] 11[Rigveda Samhita vol. 6, pages 1802 and 1803 by Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati and Satyakam Vidyalankar] as from the sun." The Prophecy confirms: 1. The name of the Prophet as Ahmed since Ahmed is an Arabic name. Many translators misunderstood it to be ‘Ahm at hi’ and translated the mantra as "I alone have acquired the real wisdom of my father". 2. Prophet was given eternal law, i.e. the Shariah. 3. The Rishi was enlightened by the Shariah of Prophet Muhammad. The Qur’an says in Surah Saba Chapter 34 verse 28 (34:28): "We have not sent thee but as a universal (Messenger) to men, giving them glad tidings and warning them (against sin), but most men understand not."