In a Q&A section of the Chicago Tribune (I can't find it online), there was an interesting answer by a Chicago professor of languages. Apparently there was a previous Q&A where there were religious differences between a Christian and a Muslim couple. The professor said that when the man says "there is no God but Allah", he really is saying "there is no God but God." Further, the language professor says that "Allah" is not a god, but the Arabic word for the deity English speakers call God. In essence, he says, they (the couple in the original Q&A) are each praying to God.
He says the confusion comes from a bad linguistic habit in our country of translating Arabic sentences but letting the word "Allah" stand, in its Anglicized form, which gives an impression Muslims believe in some other alien God.
That's pretty much it. The first part 'al is the definite article 'the' and the second part 'ilāh[/i] 'god' is cognate with Hebrew 'elohim 'god' (interestingly plural in form, -im, but singular in meaning. There are cognate forms in other Semitic languages.
So none of the Hebrew-based religions actually says the specific name of their deity. Thus the statement, "In God we trust," which is stuck on US money (and many an Indiana auto license plate) could mean "In Odin we trust," or "In Zeus we trust," or...
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
the statement, "In God we trust," which is stuck on US money (and many an Indiana auto license plate) could mean "In Odin we trust," or "In Zeus we trust," or...
Well, the use of the capital letter gives a clue. Also, wouldn't the phrase be "In a god we trust"?
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Well, religious Jews do have a name for their god. It's just that in the context of their religion you are not supposed to speak that name. In fact, when one comes across the name of god in the Tanakh (Old Testament) one is supposed to vocalize 'adonai (literally 'lord', and cognate with the Greek god Adonis, a Semitic borrowing). There is a Christian sect, which call themselves, Jehoah's Witnesses, who make a big fuss of calling their god by name.
