Publication of Book:
“Allah — The Unique Name of God” by Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi
The Light (UK), December 2005 Issue (p. 8)
In our October issue (pages 5–6) we announced the forthcoming printing of the above title [available here], consisting of certain material taken from the book Muhammad in World Scriptures by Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi, having been edited by Selim Ahmed and Zahid Aziz to improve in particular the references to sources and quotations therefrom as given in that edition. This book of about 100 pages has now been printed on behalf of the A.A.I.I.L. (U.K.) by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Literary Trust of Trinidad & Tobago. We are grateful to them for making the arrangements for printing. It has also been published in pdf form at the web address:
ahmadiyya.org/islam/allah-name.htm
The thesis of the research presented in this book is that among the names of God used by various languages, nations and religions of the world, the name Allah is unique in being the distinctive, personal name of God, while other names express some particular attribute of God such as the creator, the all-powerful, the highest, etc. The other names are also applied to beings and things other than the Supreme Being, while ‘Allah’ refers only to the one God. The author states his conclusion as follows:
“Every religious scripture, no doubt, has a pre-eminent name of God, but it is really an attributive name of Almighty God. Though the language may be unfamiliar, the reality is not ambiguous to us. If we know the meanings of these names, we shall realise that most of them are the best attributes of our God. The names are at variance in various languages, but it is just like flowers of fine distinct colours. It seems to me that God may be better glorified by the very variety of flowers that blossom in the garden. …
“… the Divine Name in every nation, language and scripture is a lamp of subtle distinct colour, but the light is the same. It comes from beyond and shines through it. If you keep looking at the lamp you are lost, for thence arises disparity. Jehovah is the Lord God of the Israelites, Om is the deity of the Hindus, Yazdan is the god of the Zoroastrians, Shang-ti is the heaven of the Chinese, Kamui or Amida is the saviour of the Japanese, and so on and so forth for the rest. But peep into the light (Allah) which shines through all those distinct lamps of distinct colours and you will be delivered from henotheism to the monotheism of Islam, the religion of no particular race, tribe, colour, caste or country but of all humanity.
“All the names of God are good and excellent. In Greek it is Theos, in Sanskrit it is Om, in Buddhism it is ‘Buddha’, in Hebrew it is ‘Jehovah’, etc. … Allah’s are all the 200 names of the different languages of the world. All these names from the East and the West are attributes of Allah. His personal and proper name is only one name, that is, Allah, comprising all the attributes of perfection.”
There is not the least suggestion in the book that the other names for God are those of “false” gods, even though they have also been applied to others than the one true God. Unfortunately, this is in stark contrast to the attitude of many critics of Islam in the West who consider that the word Allah refers to a being different from the being who is called God in the Bible, and is alleged by them to be a “false” god of the Arabs adopted by Islam as its God. However, we may point out that when the Bible is translated into Arabic by Christian missionaries themselves the word which appears as ‘God’ in the English Bible is translated by them as ‘Allah’. Thus the Bible in Arabic opens with the words:
Fil-bad’i khalaq Allah-us-samaawaati wal-ard —
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”
— and so on.
Thus these Christian missionary translators of the Bible are in effect telling their Arabic readers, both Christian and Muslim Arabs, that the word Allah in Arabic refers to the same Being Whom the Jews and Christians recognise as God.