Does Allah = Moon God?

I agree with you that there isn't a huge deal of importance to the fact that Islam derived from the moon god, since Allah has come to stand for the one creator God, but it certainly is part of the historical picture of Islam along with many others that show it to have man-made origins. Beyond that, the topic is controversial just because so many people adamantly insist that it isn't true. If you are going to concede it, we can call the subject done.

The point is that the scriptures say different things ABOUT HIM, and in that case the people who are following those different scriptures are worshipping different concepts of God, which is the same thing as worshipping different Gods because there is NO OTHER WAY TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT GOD.

The word "al-lah," "al-ilah," simply means "the god" in Arabic (thus mirroring the New Testament's term for God -- ho theos, "the god"). Christians and Jews writing in Arabic have always used the term "Allah" for the Judeo-Christian God; indeed, as the 6th-century Umm al-Jimal inscription in Jordan shows, Arabic Christians were using "Allah" as a term for God before Islam even arose. "Allah" means God the One and Only. Period.Now it may well be true that the term "Allah" was also used in pre-Islamic times for a less impressive deity, a member of a polytheistic pantheon. But so what? As is well known, exactly the same is true of the Hebrew terms "Yahweh," "El," and "Elohim," used in the Bible as names of God. Early Jewish tradition assigns Yahweh a wife, Asherah. The term "Yahweh" was used by the Moabites as another name for the Canaanite god Ba'al; indeed, "El," "-ilah," and "Ba'al" are all obvious cognates, and are recognised by Biblical scholars as having a common origin. And the word "Elohim" shows its polytheistic origins in its very structure: it is the result of adding a masculine plural ending to a feminine singular noun (thereby strangely deriving a masculine singular: "he is the goddess-men"). If Islam has pagan roots, so do Judaism and Christianity.The fact that the Arabic term for God once referred merely to one god among many no more proves that Muslims today are worshipping a moon god than the fact that the Hebrew terms for God once referred merely to one god among many proves that Jews and Christians today are worshipping a tribal deity with many wives. Etymology is not theology. St. Paul had more sense than many of his modern followers when he accepted, as legitimate references to the Christian God, pagan Greek verses describing Zeus as an immaterial, monotheistic creator. What god one worships presumably has more to do with how one conceives of her than with what names one calls her. [For any Kripkeans who may be reading this: no, I'm not rejecting causal origin as irrelevant; I think it's one, but only one, element in the disjunctive complex that determines a term's meaning. But that's a story for another day.]So how does Islam conceive of God? Do Muslims in any interesting sense worship a "moon god"? The answer lies in the Qur'an, verses 6.75-79:Thus did we show Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, that he might be among those possessing certainty:When the night grew dark upon him, he beheld a star. He said: This is my Lord. But when it set, he said: I love not things that set.And when he saw the moon rising in splendour, he said: This is my Lord. But when it set, he said: If my Lord had not guided me I should certainly be one of those who have gone astray.And when he saw the sun rising in splendour, he said: This is my Lord! This is the greatest! But when it set he cried: O my people! Behold, I am no longer deceived by your false encumbrances.For surely I have turned my face toward him who created the heavens and the earth, as one by nature upright, and I am not of the idolaters.In other words: moon god my ass.

Hence this thread. This thread purpose is solely to debate the Allah = Moon God controversy

... The term "Allah" is probably derived from al illahwhich means "the god."... [P]eople in pre-Islamic Meccan culture believed in many different gods, a view known as plytheism. For the most part, local and tribal gods received the most attention, and the people of that time often carved images of these gods and made blood sacrifices to them. They also believed in angels and fairies, who were considered kind spirits.Among this pantheon was the chief God, who went by the name of Allah. Before Muhammad even arrived on the scene, Allah was already known as the supreme deity or "high God" to the Bedouin peoples of northern Arabia. This "high God" was considered to be the creator and sustainer of the universe, the one who brought help in time of need. As Muhammad grew from boyhood to manhood, he increasingly became convinced that Allah was the only true God, and all others were mere idols...

Turns out this is a political controversy apparently started by Pat Robertson. No one has demonstrated any scholarly reason to believe Allah = Moon God and many have shown why that is nonsense.

Arach writes:to quote my good friend ray martinez, "inability to refute."look buz, you brought it up, as a difference. saying you're not going to talk about it when it's brought up that they are actually the same is what we call a "cop out."you can't pretend your argument is valid if you ignore it when it turns out that it works equally well against you. that's called "hypocrisy."

AdminPD writes:Please continue on topic and leave old off-topic battles behind.
Does Allah = Moon God?

SNC writes:We all know that Allah started out as the same god as the judeo-christian god. Perhaps god in his infinite wisdom presents different aspects to differenct peoples.

RDG writes:as for allah being a moon god, its irrelevent if they do not worship him as a moon god,even if they use the moon as a symbol.

1. Specific vidence which has been produced relating the Quranic god, Allah historically to the pagan moon god has yet to be soundly refuted.

Read Sura 6, 7 and particularly 10, 12 and 13 where Allah is said to have created the Moon and to command the Moon and Sun to move in their courses.The claims made in the OP and in the title of this thread are simply stupid. They show a total ignorance of both Christianity and of Islam and should be treated with all due contempt.

1. What this thread is about is whether Allah was the moon god.

That has been shown by documentation to be the case.

Jehovah nor Jesus had nothing to do with Allah and the rest of the Mecca gods. Unless you can prove otherwise, you have no case.

2. This thread is definitely not about whether the NT god is one and the same as the OT god. IF YOU WANT TO DEBATE THAT, DO YOUR OWN THREAD. DO NOT HIJACK THIS THREAD. IT'S AGAINST Forum Guidelines.