Allah’s Many Names And YHVH’s One Unique Name
Is the name Allah simply a generic name for any and every deity in every religion? This is the way we use the word God in English. But no Muslim would ever call Zeus: Allah!
The answer is to make a conscious distinction between God’s personal name that is used by members of a believing community in prayer; and all the other so called names of God; which are really just titles, roles and appellations.
For those religions that trace their prophets back to Prophet Abraham, and his two sons Ishmael and Isaac, the many names of God simply describe different aspects or attributes of the one and only God’s multifaceted personality.
All of God’s names except one are appellations: titles and descriptions. Thus to say that God is a King or Judge describes one of many ways God acts. To say that God is the Prince of Peace or the Compassionate One is to describe one of God’s many character or personality traits.
While each name is only one of the many appellations of the one universal creator of space and time; Christianity, Islam and Judaism also have one Divine name that is always in the believer’s heart and soul especially during prayer.
On the other hand, Divine Mercy and Compassion are universal attributes ascribed to God in most, if not all, of the world’s religions. Because Hebrew and Arabic are brother languages many of the titles of God not only describe the same attribute, they even sound the same.
For example:
Arabic Hebrew English
Ar-Rahman, Ha Rakhaman, the Compassionate One;
Ar-Rahim. El Rakhum, the Merciful One
Most of the similarities between Christian, Jewish and Muslim appellations of God reflect similar philosophical views of God’s attributes. But the personal (prayer) name each religion uses reflects the unique religious experience of its believers and its own sacred scriptures.
Hadith Kudsi provide good examples of the shared values of Islamic and Jewish common values. “When Allah decreed the Creation He pledged Himself by writing in His book which is laid down with Him: ‘My mercy prevails over my wrath.’” (Hadith Qudsi – 1)
And in the Jewish Oral Torah Rabbi Zutra ben Tobi said in the name of Rab, that God continually prays: ‘May it be My will that My mercy overcomes My anger, and that My mercy prevails over My [other] attributes, so that I may deal with My children with the attribute of mercy and, on their behalf, stop short of the boundary of strict justice’. (Talmud B’rakhot 7a)
Another shared value between Jews and Muslims is that Divine mercy will be shown to those who fail their test, and yet humbly accept God’s judgement, as Hadith Qudsi – 32 reports: “A man sinned greatly against himself, and when death came to him he charged his sons, saying: When I die, cremate me, then crush and scatter [my ashes] into the sea, for, by Allah, if my Lord takes possession of me, He will punish me in a manner in which He has punished no one [else]. So they did that to him.
Then Allah said to the earth: Produce what you have taken-and there he was! Allah said to him: What induced you to do what you did? He said: Being afraid of You my Lord; and because of that Allah forgave him.
In a similar way a Hassidic Rabbi, Elimelech of Lizensk, who was a great scholar and at the same time, was very humble, once said, “When I will pass on and come to the World-to-Come they will ask me, did you study Torah to the best of your Ability? I will answer, no. Did you pray to the best of your ability? I will answer, no. Did you do good deeds to the best of your ability? I will again have to answer no.
Then they will say to me, You are very honest, and for this alone you are worthy of a reward in the World-to-Come.”
The many names of God are appellations: titles and descriptions. Thus, to say that God is a King or a Judge describes two of many ways the One God acts. To say that God is The Compassionate One, or The Appreciative One, is to describe two of many character or personality traits of the One God.
There are several verses of the Qur’an which speak of God as Al Shakur “appreciative”, for example: If anyone willingly does what is good, God is appreciative and cognizant. (Quran 2:158)
While for monotheists each of the many ‘names’ of the one God is only one of the many appellations of the one universal creator of space and time; both Islam and Judaism also have one special Divine name that is always in the believer’s heart and soul.
Allah is the Arabic word for the One and Only God; and “Allah” is the greatest name for Muslims because it is mentioned 2697 times in the Qur’an according to a list in al-Mu‘jam al-Mufahras [a famous concordance or index of the Qur’an]
Finally, I offer an almost exact parallel between the Qur’an and the Oral Torah. Mishnah 4:5 states “whoever destroys a single Israelite soul is deemed by Scripture as if he had destroyed a whole world. And whoever saves a single Israelite soul is deemed by Scripture as if he had saved a whole world.”
The Qur’an (5:35) states: “We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”
The only difference between the two statements is that the Holy Qur’an explicitly states that judicial execution of murderers and inciters of sedition is not prohibited, and that is exactly what the Mishnah also teaches. Academics, who do not believe that Prophet Muhammad was an inspired prophet of God, often say that he took ayah 5:35 from the Jews because the Mishnah is four centuries older than the Qur’an. This is not true.
The Qur’an states clearly that Allah had already ordained this for the Jews; so why is it surprising that it is actually found in the Oral Torah (Mishnah) of the Jews.
While each monotheistic religious community receives many different laws and rituals from their own prophet, there can be no major differences between them in the basic principles of avoiding idol worship and associating any other being with the one God of Abraham.
So the biological offspring of Prophet Abraham-the-Hebrew (i.e., the Banu Israel) became the first ongoing monotheistic community when God rescued them from Egyptian oppression and made an enduring covenant with them at Mount Sinai. Prophet Abraham-the-Hebrew was not born a Jew, but his descendants from his grandson Jacob/Israel became the Banu Israel—the Jewish People.
For 1200+ years after Prophet Moses, the Banu Israel was the only ongoing monotheistic community in the world. Unlike the other monotheistic communities that rose and fell during those centuries, most, but not all, of Banu Israel remained loyal to the covenant which God had made with their ancestors at Mount Sinai (i.e., Mount Tur – Quran 28:43-46).
It was only several centuries after Prophet Abraham-the-Hebrew that the Hebrew nation acquired its better-known name, the Children (Descendants) of Israel (in Hebrew B’nai Israel; in Arabic Banu Israel). The name of Abraham-the-Hebrew’s grandson, Prophet Jacob, was changed by God to Israel when his descendants were being oppressed in Egypt and in Egypt “YHWH whose name is Impassioned” which means “the Impassioned One,” is a name for an interactive, passionate lover who freed the Hebrews from oppression in Egypt, and made a covenant with them at Mount Sinai.
As Prophet David says in his Zabur (Psalm 5::13) “But let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them always sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in You.” And as Psalms 18:29 states: “For You light my flame; God illuminates my darkness.” So God provides us with the energy for our souls.
“We cannot call Godliness anything other than a radiation of light. In truth, no word, name, or term can adequately be allied to Godliness. But since it is impossible to speak without words, we must call it by some name. So we choose one that is somewhat less remote from Godliness. Light is the finest and subtle of all physical phenomena, and less remote from Godliness.” Rabbi and Kabbalist Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
