# The word "Allah" for muslims only!



## Eoghan (Oct 18, 2013)

'Allah': For Muslims Only | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com

I was intrigued to catch this ruling from Malasia. I first became aware of the "controversy" surrounding how we translate God into Arabic when listening to a missionary worker to muslim communities in Glasgow. 

There is no record of the OT using Allah that I know of, _despite sections being written in Arabic_! That would be my 2 cents worth or in Uk parlance my response to: "a penny for your thoughts".


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## Covenant Joel (Oct 18, 2013)

A few notes:

(1) Malaysia is not an Arabic-speaking country. Their new law is not in any Arab country.

(2) There is nothing written in the OT in Arabic, only Aramaic.

(3) Arab Christians used Allah long before Muhammad was born.


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## Pergamum (Oct 18, 2013)

Malaysia is out of step with the historical use of the word "Allah" for the generic term "God" which word was even used in pre-Islamic Arabia.


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## MichaelNZ (Oct 18, 2013)

The Malay language, which contains quite a number of words of Arabic origin, has two words for 'God' - _Allah _and _Tuhan_. In Bible translations, one is used to translate _Elohim_, and the other is used to translate the Tetragrammaton YHWH, rendered LORD in small caps in most English Bibles.


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## Pergamum (Oct 18, 2013)

Tuhan means "Lord" 

Therefore, "Allah" would be the best translation for the generic "God" and "Tuhan" would be the best translation for the English word "Lord." In Malay or Indonesian, Yehovah is fine for the personal name of God.


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## Leslie (Oct 18, 2013)

Dudley Woodbury, the grand old master of M evangelism, thought that in some cultural contexts the word Allah is appropriate; in othe contexts it is not appropriate, having erroneous assumptions that cannot be separated from the word.


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## Eoghan (Oct 18, 2013)

I stand corrected


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