Are Allah And The God Of The Bible The Same?

In the light of the recent attacks by Islamic extremists in London, many questions have arisen about the religion of Islam. One area of confusion surrounds Allah. The question is, “Are Allah and the God of the Bible the same?” Islam teaches that the true god is a being called Allah, and that all other views of God are false. The Koran’s emphasis of Allah is, “There is no God but he, the living, the everlasting.”

Who is Allah? Is he anything like the God of the Bible? The answer is an emphatic “No”. Allah lacks all attributes of Almighty God, such as holiness, grace and love. If we compare the Muslim god with the God of the Bible, we can see that Islam and Christianity not only have very different views of God, but also are diametrically opposed.

First, Allah is a remote god, a god with whom no one can have a personal relationship in the manner described in the Bible. The God of the Bible desires men and women to have a personal relationship with Him.

Second, the god of Islam has a different nature from the biblical God. For example, Allah is not ultimately a god of love. However the Bible teaches, “God is love” (1 John. 4:16). Allah only “loves,” that is, is merciful to, those who do good; he is not merciful to those who are bad. The Koran repeatedly emphasizes that Allah does not love the sinner. The God of the Bible loves the sinner; in fact, so much so, He sent His Son the Lord Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners (John 3:16; Romans 5:1-10).

Third, Allah is considered the author of evil, and judging by the actions of many of the followers of this religion we can see why. However the biblical God is not the author of evil; He is infinitely holy and righteous. So holy and pure is Almighty God that He is “of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity” (Habakkuk 1:13).

Fourth, Islam denies the triune nature of God as revealed in the Bible. The Koran emphasizes that Christians are unbelievers and infidels because they believe in the historic Christian doctrine of the Trinity. The Koran distorts the orthodox view of the Trinity as tritheism, that is, three gods.

What does all this mean? It means that the god of Islam and the God of the Bible constitute two distinct and opposing concepts of deity. Because Muslims teach that Allah alone is the one true God, they claim that Christians worship a false god, a pagan idol. It is, however, very clear that Muslims have either forgotten or maybe they have never been taught that “Allah” was originally, and very much still is, a pagan god. Scholars agree that before Muhammad came on to the scene, “Allah” was merely one of the pagan deities of the pre-Islamic Arabic collection of gods. In fact the ancient ‘moon god’ still symbolised in the crescent moon can be seen on the mosques, and as if to add insult to injury, this Allah was not even the central deity. It was Muhammad who transformed and elevated this pagan deity into the supreme god of Islam.

Do not be deceived by the spin-doctors of Islam, or the politicians, into accepting the lie that the God of the Bible is the god of Islam, He is not.

Dr. Peter J. Gadsden
Editor of Our Inheritance
Taken by permission from Autumn 2005 edition.
Website: http://www.bible-christian-heritage.co.uk