Respected Mr Sibinil

I have nowhere and in no way claimed that Allah is a contraction of Al-Ilah. I might have a theory that Allah with the doubling, or rather "strengthening" of the middle root consonant of the common Semitic root ' L H denoting "deity" or "divine being" is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew strengthening that same root by adding the ending -im, which is normally a plural ending, which, however cannot be the only way the ending should be understood. It could be a way of adding emphasis just as the doubling of the middle consonant in Arabic denotes emphasis. Any implication that God is one and plural at the same time sounds unrealistic given the emphasis in the OT on Elohim's oneness. I do concede that it could be a veiled hint on the Trinity, but if the rest of the OT has no implicit theology of Trinity, I find it unlikely.

I know this is conjecture, but it's not out of keeping with Semitic linguistics. The best comment I can make is the striking similarity between the Syriac (Aramaic) term translating "God" or Elohim is Alaha, again a word with the same basic Semitic root consonants ' L H. The -a ending is a sort of definite article, which then is the Aramaic way to emphasize that one is talking about THE one, true God.

I gladly acknowledge being Catholic, living my faith in continuity with the Apostles of Jesus Christ and their followers.

I have actually visited Malaysia and have spoken to both Malaysian and Indonesian Christian leaders who are not unhappy with calling God Allah when the read from the Bible or preach in Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Indonesia. The whole issue of changing the wording in a time-honoured Bible translation just serves to confuse many of the believers.

However, if you have found peace in calling God by a Hebrew word or name, may He bless you abundantly, in Yeshua's, the Messiah's name.

Mr. Rasmussen,
Show me the Surah in the Koran that says: "The People of the Book can call on the name of Allah and they too shall be blessed...., et al" Do you know the FIRST Pillar of the Koran? What does it say? Aren't the word "ilah" and "Allah" mentioned in any one statement (surah) of the Koran? Show me also where is the term "Allah" (in its precise spelling) is ever found in the OT and NT of the Christian Bible. What the proponents of the term "Allah" have done when asked of the same question by the Muslims in Malaysia was merely to AVOID the question and pretended not to have heard or read it. Come on...., if NOT because of the Malaysian Constitution that weighed heavily against the governifment,if ONLY this "Allah" issue is to be brought before an independent tribunal like the international court of law, the Muslims shall win this case quite easily 'cos it will be the Roman Catholics (and its cohorts) that shall PROVE that (1) Allah is a contraction of the Arabic word "Al-Ilah" to mean god, and (2) Allah is really an Arabic word. They also have to prove that there exist a religious manuscript that shows the term "Allah" being used by the Jewish Arabs and the Christian Arabs before Islam came into the picture (circa AD632).

Mr. Henrik Ertner Rasmussen,
I do NOT believe that you know exactly the 'ground zero' scenario in Malaysia (if you have never been here...) I am a BORN AGAIN follower of the JESUS CHRIST of the Christian Holy Bible and I do NOT subscribe to the false beliefs of the Roman Catholics and Anglicans (including Baptists, SIBs, Basel, Methodists, Charismatics and other evangelicals) that "Allah" is a contraction of the Arabic word "AL-ILAH" (which means god in English). Perhaps, you are kind enough to illumine an 'ignorant' Asian guy like me where on earth did you ever get the idea that (1) Allah is a contraction from Al-Ilah and (2) Allah is really an Arabic word. Give me also an evidence to show the Apostles of JESUS CHRIST and that the partriarch Abraham ever used the term "Allah" to refer to "Elohiym" when he taught his concubine Hagar about his faith in his God. Would you please take up the challenge? And when I say "OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE", I mean authentic "HARD COPIES"; not mere HEARSAY. So, please do NOT pamper a dumb idea that all so-called 'christianised' people in Malaysia use Allah to refer to the God of the Bible. I am NOT one of them. There are ONLY a FEW of us in Malaysia that have REMOVED / DROPPED the term (name) Allah in our Sunday worships. Period.

The ban on non-Muslims using the term Allah is in clear contradiction of Islam's own Scripture, where it says that the believers (Muslims), Jews, Christians and Sabaeans, whosoever (of those) believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness, they have their wages with their Lord. How could they, as native to the Arab Peninsula, express their belief in God without calling Him Allah? - And how could the Messenger to whom the Qur'an was sent down, recognise the similarity of faith if not by the recognition that all of these communities shared the faith in Allah? Where is the logic behind this piece of legislation, which caused a Malaysian friend of mine to say, "Unfortunately, our government is making us (the people of Malaysia) the laughing stock among people all over the world."