firedragon
Veteran Member
YHWH, Allah are two names of God. Of course YHWH is more specific, Allah is generic. But many Muslims too take Allah as a personal name of God. Any name may have some meaning but these two names are very different in meaning. As a simple introduction we are made aware that YHWH if derived from the word Havah means he exists. He is the self sufficient. Very similar to the arabic attribute describing God in the Quran al-qayyoom. Its basically the same meaning.
Allah is a generic word that means "The God" or "Al-ilah". Of course there are some who oppose this understanding because they believe Allah is a unique, personal name of God. Well, it is interchangeable actually because the word The God can only refer to one person so you want it to be a name, yeah fine. Doesn't make a difference because conceptually its one God.
Nevertheless the question remains if humans have a want to anthropomorphise God and give him human attributes. Do we really need to give God a personal name to identify him. Is that not simply our need we are imposing upon God who claims to be one? Is not differentiating between ourselves "our need", not God's?
Allah is a generic word that means "The God" or "Al-ilah". Of course there are some who oppose this understanding because they believe Allah is a unique, personal name of God. Well, it is interchangeable actually because the word The God can only refer to one person so you want it to be a name, yeah fine. Doesn't make a difference because conceptually its one God.
Nevertheless the question remains if humans have a want to anthropomorphise God and give him human attributes. Do we really need to give God a personal name to identify him. Is that not simply our need we are imposing upon God who claims to be one? Is not differentiating between ourselves "our need", not God's?