Muslims often point to the connection between the word “Allah” and the Hebrew ”El” or its plural “Elohim” (which is used in the Bible as a reference to God) to show that Muslims don’t worship a pagan Arab god (as claimed), but rather the God of Abraham and all the Prophets. One Christian argument has been that even though the connection between “Elohim” and “Allah” (and the Aramaic equivalent “Alaha“) may be there, Muslims still don’t worship the One True God since His name, according to them, is Jehova or Yahweh. And this is supposedly alien to the Islamic tradition. And since we don’t worship Yahweh, we are worshipping a false god say some of the Christians.
I saw an interesting reply to this on youtube from a Muslim. It was a while ago and I couldn’t find the video but I’ll just summarize the arguments and add a few things. Basically, the video focused on the meaning of the word “Yahweh” instead of its pronounciation. Before I start discussing its actual meaning, there is an interesting thing I found about its pronounciation. The wikipedia entry on this subject states:
During the Babylonian captivity, the Hebrew language spoken by the Jews was replaced by the Aramaic language of their Babylonian captors, which was closely related to Hebrew and, while sharing many vocabulary words in common, contained some words that sounded the same or similar but had other meanings. In Aramaic, the Hebrew word for “blaspheme” used in Leviticus 24:16, “Anyone who blasphemes the name of YHWH must be put to death” carried the meaning of “pronounce” rather than “blaspheme”. When the Jews began speaking Aramaic, this verse was understood to mean, “Anyone who pronounces the name of YHWH must be put to death.” Since then, Jews have maintained the custom of not pronouncing the name, but use Adonai (“my Lord [plural of majesty]”) instead. During the first few centuries AD this may have resulted in loss of traditional memory of how to pronounce the Name (except among Samaritans).
I am myself a bit sceptic about this piece of information. I mean, it is after all taken from wikipedia and I am sure that Orthodox Jews dispute this and have their own explanation. But if it is true (and it does seem to make sense), then this explains why there is so much controversy around the pronounciation of the name.
As for the meaning of the name, wikipedia touches on this as well and I think that the information found in that particular section is less controversial and they provide sources so I’ll use that site as my reference. Any Muslim, with basic knowledge of the Names and Attributes of Allah, who reads the wikipedia article about the derivation of the word will see where I’m going with this…
What is the Greatest Name of Allah? Some scholars say it is Allah, others say it is al-Hayy al-Qayyum. Since the name Allah includes the meaning of the name al-Hayy al-Qayyom, both names prove the same point but I will focus on the latter.
So, what does the name al-Hayy al-Qayyom mean? My notes from Ali al-Timimis explanation of al-Aqidat al-Wasitiyyah basically say that the name al-Hayy referes to Allah being Ever-Living. He has a perfect life and this Attribute, by necessity, also includes every other Attribute of Allah that has to do with His Essence. So since He is al-Hayy, He is also the All-Hearing, All-Seing, etc. The name al-Qayyum means that He is living without any need or assistance from others, i.e. His living and existence is established on its own without any wants or needs from others. Also, it means that everything that exists is in total and utter need of Him for its existence and living. This includes every Attribute that is a reference to Allahs actions. So al-Qayyum includes His Attributes of giving life, providing etc. So this name al-Hayy al-Qayyum describes every Attribute that pertains to Allahs Essence as well as every Active Attribute. This is why it is the Greatest Name of Allah, some scholars said. By the way, this was a really short and summarized explanation so please take time to learn more about this subject. The knowledge of Allahs Names and Attributes is the most noble type of knowledge one can attain.
Now, knowing what al-Hayy al-Qayyum means, let us take a look at what “Yahweh” means. Here are some quotes:
The ancient explanations of the name proceed from Exod. iii. 14, 15, where “Yahweh[42] hath sent me” in v 15 corresponds to “Ehyeh hath sent me” in v. 14, thus seeming to connect the name Yahweh with the Hebrew verb hayah, “to become, to be”. The Jewish interpreters found in this the promise that God would be with his people (cf. v. 12) in future oppressions as he was in the present distress, or the assertion of his eternity, or eternal constancy; the Alexandrian translation ‘Eγω ειμι ο ων. . . ‘ O ων απεσταλκεν με προς υμας understands it in the more metaphysical sense of God’s absolute being. Both interpretations, “He (who) is (always the same);” and , “He (who) is (absolutely the truly existent);”
Modern scholars have sometimes found in the name the expression of the aseity[43] of God
Another explanation, which appears first in Jewish authors of the Middle Ages and has found wide acceptance in recent times, derives the name from the causative of the verb; He (who) causes things to be, gives them being; or calls events into existence, brings them to pass; with many individual modifications of interpretation—creator, life giver, fulfiller of promises.
Another tradition regards the name as coming from three verb forms sharing the same root YWH, the words HYH haya היה: “He was”; HWH howê הוה: “He is”; and YHYH yihiyê יהיה: “He will be”. This is supposed to show that God is timeless, as some have translated the name as “The Eternal One”. Other interpretations include the name as meaning “I am the One Who Is.” This can be seen in the traditional Jewish account of the “burning bush” commanding Moses to tell the sons of Israel that “I AM (אהיה) has sent you.” (Exodus 3:13-14) Some suggest: “I AM the One I AM” אהיה אשר אהיה, or “I AM whatever I need to become”. This may also fit the interpretation as “He Causes to Become.” Many scholars believe that the most proper meaning may be “He Brings Into Existence Whatever Exists” or “He who causes to exist”. Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible, which is based on the King James Version, says that the term “Jehovah” means “The Existing One.”
The quotes speak for themselves. I would like to say, though, that we obviously don’t accept the verb “to become, to be” as an acceptable thing to attribute to God since there was a never a time when He didn’t exist and had to come into being. And this was not the interpretation either, the word was just derived from the verb (according to this opinion). Also, we don’t accept what is mentioned in this wikipedia article as acceptable descriptions of the Names and Attributes of God unless they agree with Islam. I only quoted the article for the sake of information, not to use as a source of our understanding of the Names and Attributes of Allah. If we want more knowledge about that, we go to the appropriate Islamic sources.
In conclusion, the meaning of the word “Yahweh” isn’t alien to Islam. In fact, God is described as the Perfect Ever-Living God who gives, cherishes and sustains life and has no wants or needs and His are the most perfect names and attributes. Not only that, the name that has this type of meaning, al-Hayy al-Qayyum, is also described as Allahs Greatest Name by some scholars. And according to most experts, the name “Yahweh” carries a very similar meaning. In addition to that, since both Hebrew and Arabic are Semitic languages, there is also a similarity between the pronounciation as well (for those that are hung up on that). Remember that many derive the word Yahweh from the Hebrew “hayah”, whereas in Arabic the word for life is “hayat”.
If anyone finds something incorrect, please make sure to bring it to my attention. Barak Allah fikum.
4 Comments
November 6, 2007 at 11:25 pm
[...] of Muslim Europe analyzes the relationship of Judeo-Christian theology with Islamic belief through the Divine Names and Attributes of Allah. Muslims often point to the connection between the [...]
November 6, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Assalamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullah
I pray that you are in the best of health & imaan.
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May Allah bless you for your noble efforts.
Wa’salam
November 7, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Jazzakum Allah kheyr
April 17, 2008 at 7:14 am
I enjoyed this article very much. Thank you for writing.
YaH-Huwa:
YaH is the Ever-Existing:
May HE bless you and again!
Amen,
Khy’em