Some people believe that Muslims worship a God that is different from the one worshipped by Christians and
Jews. This might be due to the fact that Muslims often refer to God as “Allah”. This concept is false, since “Allah” is simply the Arabic word for the One true “God” Who created the universe and all humanity. Let there be no doubt – Muslims worship the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus. However, it is certainly true that Jews, Christians and Muslims all have different concepts of Almighty God. For example, Muslims – like Jews – reject the Christian beliefs of the Trinity and the Divine Incarnation. This, however, does not mean that each of these three religions worships a different God – because, as we have already said, there is only One True God. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all claim to be “Abrahamic Faiths”, and all of them are also classified as “monotheistic.” However, Islam teaches that other religions have, in one way or another, distorted and nullified a pure and proper belief in Almighty God by neglecting His true teachings and mixing them with man-made ideas. Islam calls upon people to return to the one true God and to worship and obey Him alone. Islam teaches that God should be approached without intermediaries. That is because the merciful all-knowing God is completely in control of everything that exists and that He can bestow His grace and mercy on His creatures as He pleases; therefore no intercession, atonement or incarnation is necessary.
Arabic speaking people of all religions refer to God as “Allah”. For example, if you pick up an Arabic translation of the Christian Bible you will see the word “Allah” where “God” is used in English. Therefore, Allah is not the god of only the Muslims, but the same God worshipped by all monotheistic faiths. This idea that “Allah” is different from “God” is illogical since it is tantamount to saying that the French worship a different “god” because they use the word “Dieu”, that Spaniards worship a different “god” because they say “Dios” or that the Hebrews worshipped a different “god” because they called Him “Yahweh”!
The Quran, which is the divine scripture of Muslims, was revealed in the Arabic language, so Muslims use the word “Allah” for “God”, even when they are speaking other languages. A more literal translation of “Allah” into English might be “the one- and-only God” or “the one true God”.
It should be clearly understood that what Islam is primarily concerned with is correcting humankind’s concept of Almighty God. What people are ultimately going to be held accountable for at the end of Day of Judgment is not whether they preferred the word “Allah” or the word “God”, but what their concept of Him is. The true concept of God is clarified only within the message revealed by Him. The last message sent by God, or Allah, is the Quran.
