Is Allah the same as YHVH?

Many Muslims like to claim that Allah is the same as YHVH, the God of the Bible. Now, let me be clear. I think that if you walked up to any Muslim today and asked him or her this question, they would say that Allah and YHVH are one in the same. In fact, Mohammad even said they were. But are they?

Mohammad was born in Mecca, a large trading center. Larger towns like Mecca often had Kaabas - cube-like structures that would attract pilgrims during holy months. The Kaaba at Mecca housed various idols, including the black meteorite that remains to this day. In addition to the black rock, Mohammad’s Quraish tribe worshiped a moon god called Allah. Other gods were recognized as well, and the town of Mecca was renowned for religious tolerance, where people of all faiths could come and pray at the Kaaba.

So this in an interesting fact. The name "Allah" (which can be translated as "the God") was used to describe the pre-Islamic pagan moon god, this highest god in their pantheon. This god had other names as well. The star and crescent, which is the symbol of Islam, can be traced back to this pagan worship of the sun, moon, and stars. If you check it out on Wikipedia, the article states that "most sources agree that these ancient celestial symbols were in use by the peoples of Central Asia and Siberian Turks in their worship of sun, moon, and sky gods."

It would seem that Mohammad basically took the deity and traditions of his own Quraish tribe and merged these ideas with Jewish and Christian monotheistic views.

This idea can be cemented when we look at the "Satanic Verses" incident. At one point while in Mecca, Mohammad agreed to recognize the local gods in addition to Allah. This pleased the Meccans; however, Mohammad soon changed his mind after seeing his own people begin to lose faith in him. He claimed that Satan had spoken through him, and he rescinded recognition of the Meccan gods. Who were these Meccan deities? Well, they were Allat, al-'Uzza, and Manat. In Pre-Islamic paganism, these three goddesses were known as the daughters of Allah, the moon god.

Mohammad also utilized pagan rituals in Islam, such as the pilgrimage to Mecca. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "pilgrimage had been performed to certain temples of the moon gods, with rituals similar in many details to those of the pre-Islamic and Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca." The various acts involved in the pilgrimage ("the Hajj") such as running around the Kaaba seven times, kissing the black stone, running up and down two hills, throwing stones at the devil, etc. are all pagan in origin. Additionally, Muslims are commanded to pray toward Mecca five times per day. This practice is derived from the fact that pre-Islamic pagans prayed five times a day towards their local temples.

More important than the pagan origin of Allah is the character of Allah. According to Islam, Allah is remote and completely beyond comprehension. The Encyclopedia Britannica states that "the Judeo-Christian precept to 'love God with all thy heart' is nowhere formulated in Islam. The emphasis is rather on God's inscrutable sovereignty, to which one must abandon oneself." So we can see that the Judeo-Christian belief that God is ultimately loving and has a personal relationship with man contrasts sharply with Islamic teaching.

I don't advocate walking up to Muslims and telling them that they actually worship a pagan moon god. They'd probably think you were a bit looney. However, we should be accurate and know the truth about this kind of thing. I had a professor in college who told our entire class that Allah and YHVH were the same god. If we don't know the truth, we can be very easily deceived.