Islam

Bot · #1

So, as some of you may know, I'm currently taking an Islam class: The History and Culture of Islam.

It's a good class; I'm really enjoying it. I thought it might be interesting to discuss some of the inconsistencies or stereotypes or generalizations etc about Islam.

There was one thing I found particularly interesting, and maybe everyone already knows this... but Allah is not the "Islamic God."

The way the media portrays Allah, it's like Allah belongs only to Muslims, like He's their God.

But that's not true. Apparently the word Allah means God in Arabic. Like, if two Christians were discussing God, and they were speaking Arabic, they would say Allah, not God.

I thought that was interesting.

#2

ok that's the modern sense, (suprised you didn't know that), but see, that is per-Islamic. in fact, Arabic jews and Christians, such as those in Yemen that predate islam, and many Mizrahi use Allah as the dialectic variation of "Eloah.", even to this day.

Allah occurs in the Tanakh before the Arabs were considered one people. Allah was a term used in the times of the Canaanites, and occurs in many names,.. it seems to indicate one "born of Ilhu" (variant Illu). regardless, it is distinctly connected to El,.. which is the ultimate root of EVERY semetic name of God.

in fact, many Islamic scholars insist "Allah" is not a name, but rather an epithet meaning "The God.",.. becuase it is "Al-Ilah" Al is "The", a prime definite article. Ila is the Arabic word for a "god."

Thus historically, Allah is not a name,.. but a definitive indicator for "The God."

#3

QUOTE(raum)Thus historically, Allah is not a name,.. but a definitive indicator for "The God."

Similar to שמא, it seems.

Praise Allah

Praise The God

Praise The Lord

Praise The Name

It's all the same.

Cool topic Kramer. Thanks for posting.

Speaking of Arabs, where did they originally come from? For some reason I don't think it was Sumeria.

#4

the Arabs are not a people of common cultural origins.

The word indicates their mixed status. The word indicates their common language, not their common origin. The word "Arab" is first seen in usage around 5 B.C., both in the works of Heroditus (The Father of History) and Nemiyah

Cultures which significantly contirbuted to Arabic identity early on are Kushites, Yemenites, and Edomites. Later, the adoption of entire displaces underclasses of India (including those that created Mecca), led to a significant influx of religion not seen before in these cultures, who were predominantly a primitive people with many Gods, including one named Hubar, which was the "Al-Ilah"

#5

Thank you for that information.

Where do the Kushites & Edomites come from?

And what is the origin of the suffix "ite"??? I see it everywhere.... Chlorite, silliminite, forsterite, biotite, pyroxenite, myrmekite, marmite, promite, andalusite, magnesite, enstatite, titanite, albite, wolframite, kyanite, prehnite, pumpellyite, scheelite, covellite, chalcopyrite, bornite, haematite..........](*,) :grumble: #-o

Thank damn goodness for glaucophane, rutile, sphene, K-feldspar, clinopyroxene & plagioclase! :cheers:

#6

it is a Latin suffix of the word, "ita" meaning "from, or native to"

these are all proto-hebraic Semetic lands. get a biblical map and look em up. Yemen still exists,.. Kush is parts of Africa

#7

QUOTE(raum)Yemen still exists

I know that. I just didn't know about the other two.

I should have guessed though about Kush. Dumb me :oops:

I'll try and find the Edomites' land on a biblical map.

EDIT: Oh cool. They actually were originally from around Canaan. Well, south of the Dead Sea.

Thanks for the info on "ite". It's always bothered me how nearly every mineral ends in "ite".
If I ever discover a mineral no way am I calling it just "taifalosite"!

#8

so tribes of canaan origin predate jews in that region... or am I misunderstanding things here?!

#9

*bump*

#10

the Canaanites were integrated to the tribes of the Hebrew Semites that survived the war, and were officially intergrated after Elijah defeated their challenge. Much of their culture and countries became the foundation of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Many of the Hebrews REALLY wanted nothing to do with the Canaanites, but their accomplishments, such as in written language, were impossible to ignore.

In case you didn't know. Abraham went to the land of Canaan with his wife and half-sister Sarah and her maid that she had serving Abraham in her role of childbearing. That maid's name is Hagar, and he took these women with him when bought a plot of land. That land was later given to one of his sons, either Isaac (according to the Jews), or Ishmael (according to the Muslims) - whom he was bid to sacrifice on the Mt. Moriah, and where god stayed his hand in killing his son. Even though Hagar had a son with Abraham, and then Sarah finally had some, and made Abraham get rid of Hagar and her son.

Isaac's life is summed up,.. he buried his father on that land, his sister-wife died, and then he went blind. he remarried to his cousin.

Isaac (Yishak) was the father of Esau (Yishaw, whose mother was an Edomite who died), and Jacob (Yakobh, whose mother was a Semite, and was a pretty cunning linguist). Esau was oldest, and thus was supposed to recieve the birthright of Isaac. While Isaac was on his deathbed, he asked to see Easu, and Jacob's mother sent Easu to go hunting, and brought Jacob instead. Jacob got the birthright, ran away for his life which is very eventful and he become a man of power. Jacob prepares to go back to his family, and has to fight an Angel where he given the vision of El-Sellam Ha-Yakkobh, or Jacob's ladder: that is the ladder into heaven which all the angels are climbing up and down.

Jacob comes back, and he and Easu reconcile. Jacob's son's are the namesakes of the tribes, and he bestows each a part of his birthright, which he got from Isaac. The exception is his favorite, Joseph, who other conspire to kill, and instead goes to Egypt, serves pharoah in dream interpretation, which earns him great favor, and earns a position for the family of Joseph in the court of Egypt, and thus the tribes go to Egypt. Flash forward, and the Jews are getting too powerful in egypt, and so the egyptians enslave them.

then, with the Hebrews gone, the Canaanites retake the land that Abraham paid for, and was entombed in.

The Ishmaelite's (and thus the muslim's) original claim was Ishmael was Abraham's oldest son, and thus the birthright was his, not isaac's - though Ishmael was not old enough for bar-mitzvah at the time of Isaac's birth, so no formal birthright had been given. that claim fell apart a long time ago, and gave way to even more "interpretation and indication" that the Ishmaelites have dominion fair and square. When these fell apart, they began to interbreed (rape and pillage) with the indigenous people to gain power in the region. then, they went and conquered parts of India, and Persia, and began a nomadic lifestyle, because they had no promise of a residing place.