The Archeology of The Middle
East
The religion of Islam has as its focus
of worship a deity by the name of
"Allah." The Muslims claim that
Allah in pre-Islamic times was the
biblical God of the Patriarchs,
prophets, and apostles. The issue is
thus one of continuity. Was "Allah"
the biblical God or a pagan god in
Arabia during pre- Islamic times?
The Muslim's claim of continuity is
essential to their attempt to
convert Jews and Christians for if
"Allah" is part of the flow of divine
revelation in Scripture, then it is the
next step in biblical religion. Thus
we should all become Muslims. But,
on the other hand, if Allah was a
pre- Islamic pagan deity, then its
core claim is refuted. Religious
claims often fall before the results
of hard sciences such as
archeology. We can endlessly
speculate about the past or go and
dig it up and see what the evidence
reveals. This is the only way to find
out the truth concerning the origins
of Allah. As we shall see, the hard
evidence demonstrates that the
god Allah was a pagan deity. In
fact, he was the Moon-god who
was married to the sun goddess
and the stars were his daughters.
The reader must know that
Ismael was a Hebrew.
Archaeologists have uncovered
temples to the Moon-god
throughout the Middle East. From
the mountains of Turkey to the
banks of the Nile, the most wide-
spread religion of the ancient world
was the worship of the Moon-god.
In the first literate civilization, the
Sumerians have left us thousands
of clay tablets in which they
described their religious beliefs. As
demonstrated by Sjoberg and Hall,
the ancient Sumerians worshipped
a Moon-god who was called many
different names. The most popular
names were Nanna, Suen and
Asimbabbar. His symbol was the
crescent moon. Given the amount
of artifacts concerning the worship
of this Moon-god, it is clear that this
was the dominant religion in
Sumeria. The cult of the Moon-god
was the most popular religion
throughout ancient Mesopotamia.
The Assyrians, Babylonians, and the
Akkadians took the word Suen and
transformed it into the word Sin as
their favorite name for the Moon-
god. As Prof. Potts pointed out, "Sin
is a name essentially Sumerian in
origin which had been borrowed by
the Semites. "
In ancient Syria and Canna, the
Moon-god Sin was usually
represented by the moon in its
crescent phase. At times the full
moon was placed inside the
crescent moon to emphasize all the
phases of the moon. The sun-
goddess was the wife of Sin and
the stars were their daughters. For
example, Istar was a daughter of
Sin. Sacrifices to the Moon-god are
described in the Pas Shamra texts.
In the Ugaritic texts, the Moon-god
was sometimes called Kusuh. In
Persia, as well as in Egypt, the
Moon- god is depicted on wall
murals and on the heads of statues.
He was the Judge of men and gods.
The Old Testament constantly
rebuked the worship of the Moon-
god (see: Deut. 4:19;17:3; II Kngs.
21:3,5; 23:5; Jer. 8:2; 19:13; Zeph.
1:5, etc.) When Israel fell into
idolatry, it was usually the cult of
the Moon-god. As a matter of fact,
everywhere in the ancient world,
the symbol of the crescent moon
can be found on seal impressions,
steles, pottery, amulets, clay
tablets, cylinders, weights, earrings,
necklaces, wall murals, etc. In Tell-
el-Obeid, a copper calf was found
with a crescent moon on its
forehead. An idol with the body of
a bull and the head of man has a
crescent moon inlaid on its
forehead with shells. In Ur, the Stela
of Ur-Nammu has the crescent
symbol placed at the top of the
register of gods because the Moon-
god was the head of the gods.
Even bread was baked in the form
of a crescent as an act of devotion
to the Moon-god. The Ur of the
Chaldees was so devoted to the
Moon-god that it was sometimes
called Nannar in tablets from that
time period.
A temple of the Moon-god has
been excavated in Ur by Sir
Leonard Woolley. He dug up many
examples of moon worship in Ur
and these are displayed in the
British Museum to this day. Harran
was likewise noted for its devotion
to the Moon-god. In the 1950's a
major temple to the Moon-god was
excavated at Hazer in Palestine.
Two idols of the moon god were
found. Each was a stature of a man
sitting upon a throne with a
crescent moon carved on his chest .
The accompanying inscriptions
make it clear that these were idols
of the Moon-god. Several smaller
statues were also found which were
identified by their inscriptions as
the "daughters" of the Moon-god.
What about Arabia? As pointed out
by Prof. Coon, "Muslims are
notoriously loath to preserve
traditions of earlier paganism and
like to garble what pre-Islamic
history they permit to survive in
anachronistic terms."
During the nineteenth century,
Amaud, Halevy and Glaser went to
Southern Arabia and dug up
thousands of Sabean, Minaean, and
Qatabanian inscriptions which were
subsequently translated. In the
1940's, the archeologists G. Caton
Thompson and Carleton S. Coon
made some amazing discoveries in
Arabia. During the 1950's, Wendell
Phillips, W.F. Albright, Richard Bower
and others excavated sites at
Qataban, Timna, and Marib (the
ancient capital of Sheba).
Thousands of inscriptions from walls
and rocks in Northern Arabia have
also been collected. Reliefs and
votive bowls used in worship of the
"daughters of Allah" have also
been discovered. The three
daughters, al-Lat, al-Uzza and
Manat are sometimes depicted
together with Allah the Moon-god
represented by a crescent moon
above them. The archeological
evidence demonstrates that the
dominant religion of Arabia was the
cult of the Moon-god.
In Old Testament times, Nabonidus
(555-539 BC), the last king of
Babylon, built Tayma, Arabia as a
center of Moon-god worship. Segall
stated, "South Arabia's stellar
religion has always been
dominated by the Moon-god in
various variations." Many scholars
have also noticed that the Moon-
god's name "Sin" is a part of such
Arabic words as "Sinai," the
"wilderness of Sin," etc. When the
popularity of the Moon-god waned
elsewhere, the Arabs remained true
to their conviction that the Moon-
god was the greatest of all gods.
While they worshipped 360 gods at
the Kabah in Mecca, the Moon-god
was the chief deity. Mecca was in
fact built as a shrine for the Moon-
god.
This is what made it the most
sacred site of Arabian paganism. In
1944, G. Caton Thompson revealed
in her book, The Tombs and Moon
Temple of Hureidha, that she had
uncovered a temple of the Moon-
god in southern Arabia. The
symbols of the crescent moon and
no less than twenty-one inscriptions
with the name Sin were found in
this temple. An idol which may be
the Moon-god himself was also
discovered. This was later
confirmed by other well-known
archeologists.
The evidence reveals that the
temple of the Moon-god was active
even in the Christian era. Evidence
gathered from both North and
South Arabia demonstrate that
Moon-god worship was clearly
active even in Muhammad's day
and was still the dominant cult.
According to numerous inscriptions,
while the name of the Moon-god
was Sin, his title was al- ilah, i.e.
"the deity," meaning that he was
the chief or high god among the
gods. As Coon pointed out, "The god
Il or Ilah was originally a phase of
the Moon God." The Moon-god was
called al- ilah, i.e. the god, which
was shortened to Allah in pre-
Islamic times. The pagan Arabs
even used Allah in the names they
gave to their children. For example,
both Muhammad's father and uncle
had Allah as part of their names.
The fact that they were given such
names by their pagan parents
proves that Allah was the title for
the Moon-god even in
Muhammad's day. Prof. Coon goes
on to say, "Similarly, under
Mohammed's tutelage, the
relatively anonymous Ilah, became
Al-Ilah, The God, or Allah, the
Supreme Being."
This fact answers the questions,
"Why is Allah never defined in the
Qur'an? Why did Muhammad
assume that the pagan Arabs
already knew who Allah was?"
Muhammad was raised in the
religion of the Moon-god Allah. But
he went one step further than his
fellow pagan Arabs. While they
believed that Allah, i.e. the Moon-
god, was the greatest of all gods
and the supreme deity in a
pantheon of deities, Muhammad
decided that Allah was not only the
greatest god but the only god.
In effect he said, "Look, you
already believe that the Moon-god
Allah is the greatest of all gods. All I
want you to do is to accept that the
idea that he is the only god. I am
not taking away the Allah you
already worship. I am only taking
away his wife and his daughters
and all the other gods." This is seen
from the fact that the first point of
the Muslim creed is not, "Allah is
great" but "Allah is the greatest,"
i.e., he is the greatest among the
gods. Why would Muhammad say
that Allah is the "greatest" except
in a polytheistic context? The Arabic
word is used to contrast the greater
from the lesser. That this is true is
seen from the fact that the pagan
Arabs never accused Muhammad
of preaching a different Allah than
the one they already worshipped.
This "Allah" was the Moon-god
according to the archeological
evidence. Muhammad thus
attempted to have it both ways. To
the pagans, he said that he still
believed in the Moon-god Allah. To
the Jews and the Christians, he said
that Allah was their God too. But
both the Jews and the Christians
knew better and that is why they
rejected his god Allah as a false
god.
Al-Kindi, one of the early Christian
apologists against Islam, pointed
out that Islam and its god Allah did
not come from the Bible but from
the paganism of the Sabeans. They
did not worship the God of the Bible
but the Moon-god and his
daughters al-Uzza, al-Lat and
Manat. Dr. Newman concludes his
study of the early Christian-Muslim
debates by stating, "Islam proved
itself to be, a separate and
antagonistic religion which had
sprung up from idolatry." Islamic
scholar Caesar Farah concluded
"There is no reason, therefore, to
accept the idea that Allah passed to
the Muslims from the Christians and
Jews." The Arabs worshipped the
Moon-god as a supreme deity. But
this was not biblical monotheism.
While the Moon-god was greater
than all other gods and goddesses,
this was still a polytheistic pantheon
of deities. Now that we have the
actual idols of the Moon-god, it is no
longer possible to avoid the fact
that Allah was a pagan god in pre-
Islamic times. Is it any wonder then
that the symbol of Islam is the
crescent moon? That a crescent
moon sits on top of their mosques
and minarets? That a crescent
moon is found on the flags of
Islamic nations? That the Muslims
fast during the month which begins
and ends with the appearance of
the crescent moon in the sky?
CONCLUSION
The pagan Arabs worshipped the
Moon-god Allah by praying toward
Mecca several times a day; making
a pilgrimage to Mecca; running
around the temple of the Moon-
god called the Kabah; kissing the
black stone; killing an animal in
sacrifice to the Moon-god; throwing
stones at the devil; fasting for the
month which begins and ends with
the crescent moon; giving alms to
the poor, etc.
The Muslim's claim that Allah is the
God of the Bible and that Islam
arose from the religion of the
prophets and apostles is refuted by
solid, overwhelming archeological
evidence. Islam is nothing more
than a revival of the ancient Moon-
god cult. It has taken the symbols,
the rites, the ceremonies, and even
the name of its god from the
ancient pagan religion of the Moon-
god. As such, it is sheer idolatry and
must be rejected by all those who
follow the Torah and Gospel.
moongod.htm

You must be very STUPID starting this DUMB thread.
You will burn in H, **L

It is better to be a philosopher than to be a religionist coz they do research and they ask questions. Doctrine can take one to hell, even if you know the true God. @ibrokay no vex pls do research.

^^^^^ But no idol has entered Makka since Muhammad (AS) and his companions (RA) entered it victoriously some 14+ centuries ago? How do you explain such a no idolatry, iconoclasm?

But on the other hand the Bible reported the children of Israel under Solomon the wise worshiped idols?

Further, today we see the christians with their image and hero worships (lol) of idol Jesus son of Mary and even the catholic carry this mentality to include Mary?

I put question marks just to agitate your christian mind against the Bible that spoke about no raven image but then spoke about cross in the same manner as the OT golden calf.

Lies About Allah

From Christian Ph.D. Robert Morey

Quran proves - "Allah" is NOT a 'moon god':
"And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Do not bow down (prostrate) to the sun nor to the moon, but only bow down (prostrate) to "Allah" Who created them, if you (really) worship Him." [Noble Quran 41:37]

The Christian acquaintance who sent me a copy of Morey's booklet also sent me five questions related to this subject. I will attempt to answer them below:

Question 1:
What is the significance of the crescent moon in Islam?

Answer:
The Quran answers this question before you asked it. Read this verse:

"They ask you about the new moons. Say: These are signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for the pilgrimage." [Noble Quran 2:189]

Question 2:
Why does Islam follow a lunar calendar?

Answer:
In both the Bible and the Quran religious festivals are regulated by the lunar calendar. Jews and Muslims have kept to these regulations which they believe to be from God. Why does Christianity follow a solar calendar?

Question 3:
Why is the feast of Ramadan marked by the appearance of the crescent moon?

Answer:
I think you mean the fast of Ramadan. God commanded Muslims in the Quran to fast from dawn to sunset during the month called Ramadan (see Quran 2:185, 187). The beginning and end of the month is determined by the crescent (2:189) based on the instruction of God's Messenger, on whom be peace.

Why this method and not another is not for us to say but for God and His Messenger to prescribe. However, I find it an efficient method. It is a universally applicable method, and it allows for Ramadan to move through all the seasons. This allows believers to have the pleasure of worshipping God by fasting in all the various seasons: one year in the summer, some years later in the winter.

Question 4:
Why does the Quran place the Sabians on the same level with Jews and Christians when scholars have clearly proven that the Sabians were involved in the moon cult?

Answer:
I am not aware that the Quran has placed the Sabians on the same level with Jews and Christians. Perhaps you have in mind the following verse:

"Those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians and Sabians, whoever believes in "Allah" and the Last Day and do righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord. On them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve."
[Noble Quran 2:62; also 5:69]

This verse, however, does not place the Sabians on the same level as the Jews and Christians except in a particular context. The verse speaks of four distinct communities, and offers all four the opportunity to fear not nor grieve if only they would believe in "Allah" and the Last Day and do right. The four communities are:

the Believers (i.e., the Muslims)
the Jews
the Christians
the Sabians

While they are all offered the same opportunity for improvement, nothing, is said in this verse about the validity of the existing faiths of these four communities. Otherwise the Jews and Christians who are criticized in the Quran for their deviations will not be placed on the same level with the believers. The matter becomes clear when you realize that believers here does not mean saved persons but those who ostensibly belong to the community of Muslims. They, as well as the other three groups, must do the following to be saved: believe in "Allah", believe in the Last Day, and do right. Doing right, according to the Quran, includes following every teaching of Muhammad.

Question 5:
Did the Meccans worship the true God since they recognized "Allah"? Was "Allah" one of the gods of the Ka'bah?
And if so, where did the Meccans derive the recognition and the name of "Allah" from?

Answer:
First, "Allah" was not one of the 360 idols which were in the Ka'bah, although Morey has claimed this without evidence. When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) entered Makkah victorious he went into the Ka'bah and broke the idols therein.

Second, the word "Allah" has been used all along for the name of "God" in the Arabic Bible for Jews and Christians alike. The proof is easy to verify; simple go to any hotel or motel on the earth and look in the drawer next to the bed and take out the complimentary Bible, placed there by the Giddeons and then look on page 5 or 6 where they list the examples of translations they have made into other languages. The second example given is for Arabic speakers. The verse is from the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 16. Everyone knows this one; "For God so loved the world, " and the word in Arabic for "God" is "Allah." Then if you have a Bible in Arabic, look on page one in Genesis, and you will find the word "Allah" 17 times.

Next, the word for "God" to the Arabs, ever since the time of Abraham (peace be upon him) has been "Allah" and He is to them, the Lord of the Ka'bah (the black box in the center of the Holy Sanctuary in Makkah). He was the unseen God whom they would call upon when in distress. Yes, they worshipped the true God but their worship was not purely for Him. They also worshipped other gods thinking that they would act as intermediaries between them and the true God Allah.

The Arabs know of Allah because Abraham visited Makkah and together with his son Ishmael laid the foundation of the Ka'bah. The descendants of Ishmael retained some of the worship rites and beliefs from Abraham. This included their knowledge of the true God Allah.

Elsewhere we have shown conclusively that the true god, "El" of the Bible is the same as "Allah" of the Quran.

What is His Name? by Sheikh Ahmed Deedat

This book is also available under the title, ‘Atnatu – A Novel Concept of God.’

Say: “Call upon Allah or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call upon Him (it is well): for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. (Holy Quran 17:110)

CHAPTER ONE: BELIEF IN GOD UNIVERSAL

WHAT IS HIS NAME?

At the end of my public talk on the subject – “MUHAMMAD (PBUH) the Natural Successor to CHRIST (PBUH)” at question time, a Christian Missionary posed the question: “What is His Name?” Meaning thereby as to the name of God. I stood up to answer. But before I opened my mouth, he spoke into the mike, provided for questioning, that he would answer his own question. I said, “You posed the question so the obligation is on me to reply to your question”. He said, “Yes, but I will answer the question.” (Laughter in the audience). He was actually begging for an opportunity to be heard. Where else on earth would he get such a large audience, and that at the Muslim’s expense, to preach. I said, “Carry on!” (Give him enough rope to hang himself). After some rambling, he concluded that the name of God was “JESUS CHRIST!”


It was not the time, at that meeting; nor is it expedient here to discuss the subject fully – “IS JESUS GOD?” It is enough, for the moment, to say that in the language of Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (Peace be upon them all) the name of God Almighty is ALLAH! Proof will be provided in Chapter 4.


Belief in God is ingrained in the nature of man. As long as man existed on earth, the knowledge of God Almighty also co-existed. As Professor Max Fuller in his Hibbert Lectures said:


“RELIGION IS NOT A NEW INVENTION. IT IS, IF NOT AS OLD AS THE WORLD, AT LEAST AS OLD AS THE WORLD WE KNOW. THERE NEVER WAS A FALSE GOD NOR WAS THERE EVER A FALSE RELIGION, UNLESS YOU CALL A CHILD A FALSE MAN. ALL RELIGION, SO FAR AS I KNOW THEM, HAD THE SAME PURPOSE. ALL WERE LINKS IN A CHAIN WHICH CONNECTS HEAVEN AND EARTH, AND WHICH HELD, AND ALWAYS WAS HELD, BY ONE AND THE SAME HAND.”


This is truly a very charitable attitude; truly Islamic. Allah subha nahu wa ta-aala (God Almighty) tells us in the Holy Quran:


And there never was a people without a warner having lived among them (in the past). (Holy Quran 35: 24)


But thou art truly a warner and to every people a guide. (Holy Quran 13:7)


GOD NOT PARTIAL


If God Almighty is not partial to His creatures with regard to material blessings like – fresh-air, rain, sun-shine etc., why should He be partial in regard to His spiritual blessings (The Guidance of God)? He has not been partial! There is no nation or language group on earth who does not know God by some name. This knowledge was given by the Creator Himself through the lips of His chosen messengers. The names of a very few of these messengers we know, the rest have been lost or clouded in superstition.


Though all theology (knowledge of God) originated with God, mankind played fast and loose with those pure and holy concepts, adding frills and adornments where no embellishments was needed – it despoiled the language. In the words of Mrs. Ellen G. White, a “prophetess” of the 7th Day Adventist Movement, in her Bible Commentary it is said:


“LEARNED MEN HAD IN SOME INSTANCES CHANGED THE WORDS, THINKING THAT THEY WERE MAKING IT PLAIN, WHEN IN REALITY THEY WERE MYSTIFYING THAT WHICH WAS PLAIN.”


In the Religious Annals of the world, the Jewish and Christian Scriptures called the Holy Bible abound with graphic examples of portraying God after man’s own pattern:


IMPERFECT DESCRIPTIONS OF GOD


LIKE A MAN (Genesis 11:5)
“And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.”

MOSES SEES GOD’S BACK PARTS? (Exodus 33:23)
“And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”


WRESTLES WITH JACOB (Genesis 32:28)
“And He (God) said, thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and has prevailed.”


LIKE ONE DRUNK (Psalm 78:65)
“Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.”


REGRETS MAKING MAN (Genesis 6:6)
“And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”


SMELLS SWEET FLAVOUR (Genesis 8:21)
“And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart…”


A CROUCHING LION (Numbers 24:9)
“He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up?”


DEVOURING FIRE (Exodus 24:17)
“And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.”


RESTED AND REFRESHED (Exodus 31:17)
” … in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested AND WAS REFRESHED.”


Out of the encyclopaedia of 73 Books of the Roman Catholics and 66 Books of the Protestants called the “BIBLE”, endless number of quotations can be culled to fill a book larger than this publication to illustrate man’s various imperfect descriptions of God. The above examples will suffice, I hope.


In the realm of the spirit, no nation has had as much opportunities as the children of Israel. And despite repeated warnings to the effect that: ‘THY GOD IS A JEALOUS GOD, HE SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GOD BEFORE HIM, NOT EVEN OF THE LIKENESS OF THE THINGS ON EARTH, OR IN THE HEAVENS ABOVE, OR IN THE WATERS BENEATH THE SEA … (Exodus 20:3-5), they took the golden calf for worship, and again and again reverted into idolatry. Nor is the bulk of Christendom any freer from this taint. Visit St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, or St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome and you will have very little to distinguish them from the Temple of Somnath in India. It is a question of Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.3 You do not really have to go to England or Italy to verify my statement. Why not an inspection in loco to an Anglican or a Roman Catholic Cathedral in your own home town!

CHAPTER TWO: THE CONCEPTS

In the religious terminology of the world, we will find that every “son of man” in his own way, in his own dialect has given some beautiful attributive name for the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth.

THE ZULU CONCEPT

In our own country, South Africa, the Zulus, a very virile and militant people – a nation akin to the Qureish of pre- Islamic Arabia – have given a name to God Almighty – uMVELINQANGI. This word when properly articulated in its own dialect, sounds identical to the Arabic word Walla-hu-gani, meaning – “And Allah is Rich” (Bounteous). It also sounds like “Allegany” of the Red Indians of North America (Remember their ALLEGANY mountain). The origin or real meaning of the word “Allegany,” is not commonly known to the American people. But ask any Zulu as to who or what this uMvelinqangi is and he will surely explain to you in Zulu:
HAWU UMNIMZANI! UYENA, UMOYA OINGCWELE. AKAZALI YENA, FUTHI AKAZALWANGA; FUTHI, AKUKHO LUTMO OLU FANA NAYE.”
Believe me, this is almost a word for word translation of Sura Ikhlas, Chapter 112 of the Holy Quran:
Say: He is Allah the One and Only; Allah the Eternal Absolute; He begetteth not nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him. (Holy Quran 112: 1-4)

ALMOST ISLAMIC

Now, compare the above verses with my free translation of what the Zulu actually said:
“Oh Sir! He is a pure and Holy Spirit, He does not beget and He is not begotten, and further there is nothing like Him.”
Every African tribe, South of the Zambesi River, that is, in Southern Africa, have given different names to the Almighty – Tixo, Modimo, uNkulunkulu, etc., and each and every African language group will take pains to explain the same pure and holy concept as the Zulu. It is to the glory of the African nations that though they had no written languages, and hence no written records, therefore not being able to recount the names of their respective prophets, yet not a single one of the tribes ever stooped down to worshipping idols or images of either of men or animals, until the White man first introduced his religion and gave the African his anthropomorphic concept of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, and brought the African down to bowing before the statues of Jesus, Mary, St. Joseph, St. Christopher and so on.
Out of the dozens of African tribes inhabiting this part of the world, not a single one of them ever made “umfanegisos” (images) of their God. Yet they were capable of carving out of wood, elephants and lions, and reproducing men and women also, in clay. Besides, the Zulus also had some knowledge of metallurgy. When questioned an old Zulu as to the reason, why the Africans did not make umfanegisos of their Gods, he replied, “How could we make images of Him (God Almighty) when we know that He is not like a man, He is not like a monkey, or an elephant or a snake: He is not like anything we can think of or imagine. He is a pure and Holy Spirit.”

LIKE THE ARABS

This term, uMVELINQANGI, though well known to the Zulus, was not commonly used. Again they were like the pagan Qureish of Pre-Islamic Arabia who knew the name Allah, but passed Him by, because they felt that He was too High, too Pure, too Holy to be approached, so they went for their substitutary and imaginary gods – their Al-Lats, AI-Uzzas and Al-Manats and a hundred besides. The Zulus too would not call upon uMvelinqangi directly, but he was better than the Arab of the Ayyam-ul-jahiliyya (days of ignorance), because he did not go after false gods; he only invoked the spirits of his ancestors to intercede with uMvelinqangi on his behalf, exactly as the Catholics do in invoking the Virgin Mary and the Saints.

The more common term used by the Zulus for their God is uNKULUNKULU which literally means – the Greatest of the Great or the Mightiest of the Mighty (Almighty). More colloquially when taking oath, they would exclaim “iNkosi phe-Zulu” meaning – the Lord Above (knows), or the God in Heaven (knows), or Heaven knows, that I am speaking the truth. The word “zulu” in the language of the Zulu literally means High Heaven, and they consider themselves to be superior to the numerous other tribes of Southern Africa, being in this respect like the Qureish among the dwellers of the desert before Islam.

CONCEPT FROM THE EAST

The Hindi word for God Almighty is PRAMATMA. In Sanskrit, the language of ancient India, “Atma” meant the soul, and “Pram-atma” meant the Great and Holy Soul, or the Holy Spirit, which is really a beautiful description of the “Father” in Heaven. The Bible says, “God is Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Not in form, shape or size, but in SPIRIT.
Despite his pantheistic interpretation of the Divinity, the name the Hindu gives the Supreme Being, in his classical language, is OM (Aum), which means Guardian or Protector. A very suitable attribute about which the Muslim can have no misgivings.

CONCEPT FROM THE WEST

The Anglo/Saxon and the Teuton in their own and other allied European languages call their object of worship “GOD” or words of similar sound and import, i.e.
God in English;
Got in Afrikaans (the language of the descendants of the Hollandse people in South Africa);
Gott in German; and
Gudd in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian languages.

The ancient Phoenicians called their God – ALLON – (not far from Allah if we could only hear it articulated), and the Canaanites ADO. The Israelites not only shared the word EL with the original people of Palestine, but borrowed the name of their chief deity – ADO and turned it into ADONAI, and everywhere the four-letter word YHWH occurred in their Holy Scriptures, they read “Adonai” instead of “Yahuwa.” You will not fail to notice the resemblance between the Jewish Adonai and the heathen Adonis. ADONIS was a “beautiful godling loved by Venus” in the Greek pantheon.

THE LATIN CONCEPT

In the Latin-dominated languages of Western Europe, where Latin had remained dominant in learning and diplomacy for centuries, the chief term used for God is DEUS:
Deus in Portuguese;
Dieu in French;
Dio in Italian;
Dies in Spanish;
Dia in Scotch and Irish; and
Duw in Welsh.
Surprisingly in all the languages above, Deus and all the similar sounding words mean heaven.
Moulana Vidyarthi, in his monumental work – “Muhammad in World Scriptures,” devotes a hundred pages to the names of God in the different languages. And out of a list of 155 attributive names, over 40 of them use the word “Heaven” or the “Above,” in their language in describing God. Though the Muslim chants the Asma-ul-husna (the most beautiful names), 99 as derived from the Holy Quran with the crowning name, ALLAH; “Heaven” is not one of those ninety-nine attributes. Symbolically, heaven may be described as the abode of God, and in the words of Wordsworth in Tintern Abbey:
WHOSE DWELLING IS THE LIGHT OF SETTING SUNS, AND THE ROUND OCEAN AND THE LIVING AIR, AND IN THE BLUE SKY, AND IN THE MIND OF MAN: A MOTION AND A SPIRIT THAT IMPELS ALL THINKING THINGS, ALL OBJECTS OF ALL THOUGHTS, AND ROLLS THROUGH ALL THINGS.

CONCEPT FROM BEYOND THE FAR EAST
Among all the 155 tantalizing names of God in the various tongues, the one that tickled me most was – “A-T-N-A-T-U!” – and this I have adopted as a title of my book, instead of the original title promised – “What is His Name!” for this present publication.

[b]WHAT IS SO FUNNY OR SO NOVEL ABOUT ATNATU?[b]

The aborigine of South Australia calls his God “Atnatu” because some philosopher, poet or prophet had programmed him, that the Father in Heaven is absolutely free from all needs; He is independent; He needs no food nor drink. This quality, in his primitive, un-inhibited language, he conversely named ATNATU, which literally meant “the One without an anus – the One without any flaw” – i.e. the One from Whom no impurity flows or emanates. When I started sharing this novel idea with Hindu, Muslim and Christian friends, without exception, their immediate reaction was one of mirth, they giggled and laughed. Most of them not realizing that the joke was on them. The boot was on the other foot. Though the word “anus” is a very small word, only four letters in English, most people have not heard it. One is forced to use the colloquial substitute which I hesitate to reproduce here, nor will I use the same in public meetings because of people’s hypersensitivity – because in the words of Abdullah Yusuf All, people “HAD PERVERTED THEIR LANGUAGE ONCE BEAUTIFUL, INTO JARGONS OF EMPTY ELEGANCE AND UNMEANING FUTILITY.”
Therefore to ease the situation, in a round-about-way let us say that where you have an “input,” you must allow for an “output.” The one who eats, must have the call of nature – the toilet or the bush – and our primitive friend smelt the need, which he could never attribute to his Creator. Therefore, he called his God – ATNATU! ‘The one without the excretory system or its tail end’.

GOD EATS NOT!

This novel concept of God by primitive man, is not really altogether novel. God Almighty conveys the same truth to mankind, as in His Last and Final Revelation – The Holy Quran – but in a language so noble, so sublime, as befitting its Author. But because of its very finesse, and refined manner of expression we have overlooked the Message. We are commanded to say to all those who wish to wean us from the worship of the One True God -
Say: “Shall I take for my protector any other than Allah the Maker of the heavens and the earth? And He is that feedeth but is not fed.”
In other words, we are made to declare that – “WE WILL NOT TAKE ANYONE AS OUR LORD AND PROTECTOR, OTHER THAN ALLAH, WHO IS THE WONDERFUL ORIGINATOR OF THE UNIVERSE.” And if any have misgivings about his so called “man-gods” or “god-men,” then bring him down to earth, for our God is the One who feeds but is not fed. He is not, in need of food. Does your man-god eat? Or doesn’t he? If he does, then he MUST submit to the call of nature – OUR GOD EATS NOT! How simple the logic, yet how stupendous the argument. Alas! We need primitive man to remind us of the potency of our weapons. We have lost the art or the knack of propagation, because for a good many centuries we have stopped preaching Islam to those around us.
The Christians are knocking at our doors. Only the spiritually blind and the “ostriches” in our midst cannot see. Kuwait had just one Arab Christian family about fifty years ago. Today there are 35 Churches in that little country. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian sect which originated in the U.S.A. a hundred years ago, are claiming that the 2nd largest group of Jehovah’s Witnesses outside their country of origin, is the Muslim country of Nigeria.
In Indonesia, the largest Muslim populated country in the world, there are over 6000 full-time Christian missionaries (Muballighs), not priests, parsons or ministers attached to their respective Churches, but propagators (Crusaders) of their Faith to the non-Christians – harassing “the heathen,” as they call them. These Christians missionaries have more private air-strips of their own than the Indonesian Government has. They have mission ships that anchor off the islands, because Indonesia is a country of over 2000 islands, which have no harbor or docking facilities. They invite the native for refreshment and entertainment on board the ship and subtly initiate them into their blasphemy. In their operation code named “over-kill,” they are aiming to make Indonesia a Christian Nation by the turn of the century. Of the over 60,000 missionaries raising dust throughout the world, more than half of them occupied in Africa. Africa the only Muslim continent today, is now being assailed by these modern day Crusaders who aim at making it a Christian continent, this again, by the turn of the century. Our armor, sword and shield in this battle of Faiths are in the Quran, we have been chanting it for centuries to accumulate sawab (spiritual blessings) only; but now we must bring them forth into the battle field.

DID JESUS EAT FOOD?

Christ the son of Mary was no more than an Apostle; many were the Apostles that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth makes His Signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth! (Holy Quran 5:75)
The House of Islam acknowledges that Jesus Christ, the son of Mary was one of the mightiest of Messengers of God. It acknowledges that he was born miraculously, without any male intervention; that he was the Messiah; that he gave life to the dead, by God’s permission; and that he healed the blind and the lepers, by God’s permission – BUT DID HE NOT EAT FOOD?
“And they gave him (Jesus) a piece of broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he (Jesus) took it, and did eat before them.” – (Luke 24:42-43)
Further, the mother of Jesus was a woman of truth, a pious and saintly woman – BUT DID SHE NOT EAT FOOD? Can’t you see the implications? Do we need an Australoid (the aborigine of South Africa) to remind us? Indeed, we do! In this battle for the hearts and minds of people, we need his “Atnatu.” In his simple rustic language, in his childish puerile way, he is telling the world that his God eats not. That the one who eats can never be his God, because he would not be ATNATU. Our primitive brother had no inhibitions. He called a spade a spade.

[b]THE “MOHAMMEDANS”?[b]
The Westerner is an adept at concocting names. When he invented the incandescent lamp, he called his light-bulbs or globes, “MAZDA LAMPS”. Mazda happens to be the “god of light” of the Zoroastrians. In South Africa today, the European is making a great success with the sale of his “RAMA” Margarine. Rama happens to be the “man-god” of a substantial number of our population here. The white man calls himself, Christian, because he is a worshipper of Christ. He calls the worshipper of Buddha a Buddhist, and with the same logic he calls the Muslim a “Mohammedan” presuming that he is a worshipper of Muhammad. But the fact of the matter is, there is no such creature among the thousand million Muslims of the world.
Let us assume that there were such a lunatic, a worshipper of Muhammad (May the Blessings of Allah be upon him) who would in his misguided zeal be called a “Mohammedan.” Now if this so-called “Mohammedan,” in his zeal, went among the primitives of South Australia and with all fan-fare preached his “Mohammedenism,” urging this poor, backward nation, and asked them to accept Muhammad as their god. You could then well imagine this child of nature asking our deluded brother, “Was Muhammad ‘Atnatu’?” The answer will of course be, “No!;” even from our lunatic. What about the heroes and heroines of the world who are worshipped today by the millions of civilized men and women in our own day?
Present your candidates one by one to the native – Why don’t you try with your real or imagined “man-gods” or “goddesses” – and he will hit you for a “sixer” (over the boundary, as in cricket) every time with his “boomerang,” with his “ATNATU!” Is he not higher in his concept of God than the millions in Europe and America, and in Asia and Africa?

PROGRESS IN REGRESSION!

Just picture the American who lands on the moon, and his tribe who sit at home monitoring happenings on the lunar surface and also in the world by means of their satellites, like “gods” with a finger on every pulse. Marvelous, isn’t it? Remember the Bay of Bengal Tragedy? The Americans warned Pakistan about the impending tidal wave. Remember the Ramadaan War in 1973? The Americans warned Israel that the Arabs were on the move. But neither heeded the warning. These same Americans, despite all their depravity wield a power greater than all the “man-gods” put together. Yet this mighty nation and their counterparts in Europe and the world, are worshipping men and monkeys – Nay! The very devil himself! (“The Satan Cult”) How is, this possible?
But Satan made (to the wicked) their own acts seem alluring: he is also their patron today. (Holy Quran 16:63)
Hero and Hero-worshipping is ingrained in man. If he will not worship God, then he will worship something else. But worship he must. What can be better than a handsome man or a beautiful woman, who is one of his own kind? Anthropomorphism, a system in which man conceives of God after his own likeness is traditional. It is modern as well as ancient. Mankind thinks of God as one like himself, in his own image. Does not the Christian Bible say, in the very first chapter of the very first Book?
“And God said, Let us make man in our own image…” (Genesis 1:26)
As to the word “image,” God is not talking about a physical, human likeness, which is not far from a certain family of apes. Little wonder that Darwin claimed that the monkeys are our ancestors! No! We are made in the spiritual image of the Beneficent. We are one with Him in attributes. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, ‘IMBUE THYSELF WITH DIVINE ATTRIBUTES.” As Allah is Holy, we must be holy. As He is just, justice being his attribute, we must imbibe justice. As He is Merciful, we must portray mercy, and so on with each of the 99 attributes of God from the Book of Allah – The Holy Quran. None can be one with God physically, because He is not a physical Being.

THE THREE HYPOSTASES OF THE TRINITY

The poor benighted Christians misunderstood the word “image” as well as the word “us” in the preceding quotation at the very beginning of the Bible. Christians interpret the word “us” to imply the existence of a combination of “Father, Son and Holy Ghost” of their Holy Trinity. They fail to realize that in Hebrew as well as in Arabic there are two types of plurals. There is a plural of numbers as well as that of respect and honor. Here is a plural of honor which you might not have noticed: – the quotation from the Holy Quran about Jesus and his mother, observe the words – “SEE! HOW CLEAR WE MAKE FOR THEM OUR MESSAGES.” No Muslim ever understood by these plurals, a plurality in the Godhead, neither did any Christian Arab or Jew. Ask any Jew who knows Hebrew as to the number of gods in his Hebrew “US” from the first chapter of his Torah, and he will confirm without any hesitation what I am telling you.

THE GODS OF APARTHEID

The deluded souls among mankind not only imagined God in their own likeness physically, but they also gave him a racial bias and racial characteristics:
“ETHIOP GODS HAVE ETHIOP LIPS BRONZE CHEEKS AND WOOLLY HAIR; THE GRECIAN GODS ARE LIKE THE GREEKS AS KEEN-EYED, OLD AND FAIR.” – (Anonymous)
The Greeks and the Romans jettisoned their Minervas, Appolos and Hercules’ and opted for the newest of “man-gods” two thousand years ago, namely, Jesus Christ. These Romans became the pioneers of their mythology couched in a fresh garb to the nations of Western Europe who were tiring of their Thors and Wodenses and so took on the new creed with alacrity.
In turn the Europeans inflicted their tri-theology on their colonies. They gave a man-god, more handsome than the “gods” of the natives. And look how they have transformed him in pictures, sculptures and in the movies. He has blond hair, blue eyes, handsome angular features like those of Jeffrey Hunter in the film “King of Kings.” But no! He does not look anything like the Jew with his proverbial polly-nose. The new “god” is more English/German/Scandinavian, in his bone structure. A white, “man-god,” as against a blue “man-god.” (Rama and Krishna are usually painted blue in Hindu religious pictures). Compare the portraittures and you will pity the subjected people for falling “out of the frying pan into the fire.”

MUSLIMS’ DUTY

We Muslims really have done nothing for the benighted millions of the world. We should rescue them from their shirk, or else they will take us down with them to perdition, here as well as in the hereafter. There are many millions more worshiping man-gods today on Allah’s good earth, than those worshipping the one true God – Allah subha-nahu-wa-ta aala. The miseries in the Muslim world exist because of our utter neglect in sharing the Din-ul-lah (The Religion of God) with the nations of the world. Propagation of the Faith is the Awwal (the first) Fard (obligation) of the Muslim. Discount this Pillar of Islam at your own peril. You know that Allah’s whip makes no noise. How can you play your part! Simply by memorizing a single verse of the Holy Quran. The one from page 15 of this booklet. Write it down on a piece of cardboard, together with its meaning, and memorize the words of Allah with the meaning – phrase by phrase – as you see it, and do not let the card go out of your pocket or your handbag until you have transferred it into your God-given computer, the brain. With just this one verse, and with the aborigine’s boomerang (his “Atnatu”) you are set to rout every breed of anthropomorphism inflicting Allah’s creatures. This is your privilege and the destiny of Islam. Allah says:
…That He may make It (ISLAM) prevail over all (FALSE) religion, however hateful this may be to those who ascribe divinity to other than Allah. (Holy Quran 61:9)
Do you really believe Allah’s promise?
…THE PROMISE OF ALLAH IS TRUE… (Holy Quran 4:122)

CHAPTER THREE: WHO IS JEHOVAH?
Astonishing as it may sound, it is an admitted fact that prior to the sixteenth century, the word “Jehovah,” was unheard of. Whenever the origin of this word appeared in its true Hebrew form in Jewish Scriptures (read from right to left as in Arabic) Yet, Huh, Wav, Huh; or Y.H.W.H. these four letters were preceded by a substitute word “Adonai,” to warn the reader that the following word was not to be articulated. The Jews took meticulous care in repeating this exercise in their “Book of God” six thousand, eight hundred and twenty-three times – interpolating the words “Adonai” or “Elohim.” They sincerely believed that this awesome name of God was never to be pronounced. This prohibition was no ordinary affair: it called for a penalty of death on one who dared to utter it, and this taboo has been more successful than all the “DO’s” and “DON’T’s” of the Ten Commandments put together.
If Jehovah is the name of God Almighty, and if the 27 Books of the New Testament were inspired by Him, then it is an anomaly of the highest order, that He (Jehovah) signally failed to have His Own Name recorded in “His Word” (N.T.) the Christian addition to the Jewish Bible. The Christians claim that they have in their possession over twenty-four thousand so-called “originals” of their Holy Writ in the Greek language, and yet not a single parchment has “Jehovah” written in it. Curiously this “name of God” (?) has been sacrilegiously replaced by the Greek words ky’ri.os and the.os’, which mean ‘Lord’ and ‘God.’ Yet, miracle of miracles – Alleluya! - no devil or saint has been able to eliminate the word “ALLAH” from the so-called New Testament of the Christians.


NEW FANGLED DOCTRINES
A hundred years ago, all of a sudden, more than a hundred new cults and denominations of Christendom mushroomed in the United States of America. The Seventh Day Adventists, the Christian Scientists, the Mennonites, the Christiadelphins, The Jehovah’s Witnesses and the like. The founder of the last named cult, a Judge Rutherford, about whom the orthodox Christians say that he was no “Judge.” This Judge was a voracious book-worm and a prolific writer. He stumbled across the word “Jehovah” which tickled him immensely, and he made a religion out of it.
Judge Rutherford, followed by Charles T. Russell created a new “church,” which in its system of organization and administration is second to none in the world. There is very much we Muslims can learn from their enthusiasm and methodology. Read, “Thirty Years a Watchtower Slave” by Schelin. It is not their theology I am enamoured with but their modus operandi (the way they operate). Read, how this incorrigible sect came very close to conquering Germany before Hitler. Read, about their second come-back in West Germany. Think, why they are making a most concerted effort in Nigeria. Will the system or religion that prevails in Nigeria, be ultimately the norm of the rest of Africa! This giant is the hero of the majority of the African people south of the Sahara. Muslims must reflect.

VIRILE SECT
The “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” have made the most phenomenal progress of all the religious sects of the past hundred years, on a percentage basis. The Bahaies are moving at a snails-pace in comparison, actually receding in ratio with the other Christian off-shoots. These “Witnesses” are the fittest in their fight against the other Christians as well as against the Muslims. Simply because they program themselves five times a week in their “Kingdom Halls,” and what they learn they implement during the week-ends. We Muslims are supposed to be “programmed” five times a day in our daily Salaat, but we have lost the true purpose of this Pillar of Islam. Our Salaat is for earning Sawaab (spiritual blessings) only.
They have made the word JEHOVAH famous. They knock at people’s doors, asking the question – “What is His Name?” The orthodox Christian replies – “God.” They say, “God is not a name, it is an object of worship. What’s His Name?” “Father,” says the orthodox as a second try. “Is your father God?” Of course not! So what is His Name? “JEHOVAH! is His Name,” says the “Witness” to both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. He has become a professor of this one word. He has made it into a religion.

THE “TETRAGRAMMATON”
Why not for a change ask him, a question or two. Ask him where he got the word Jehovah from? He will surely reply – “From the Holy Bible.” What does it say? Does it spell out the word J-e-h-o-v-a-h? “No,” he will reply. “There is a ‘tetragrammaton’ in the Bible from which the word Jehovah is derived.” What is a tetragrammaton? No one seems to have heard this highly mystical term. In the University of Illinois in the U.S.A. I asked a gathering of students and lecturers whether any one had heard this jaw-breaker! Not one of them knew its meaning! But every Jehovah’s Witness seems to know, even the commonest of them. They have really specialized – ours is a world of specialization. They are Professors of the one word – Jehovah.
What then is a “tetragrammaton!” The Jehovah’s Witness replies, “Y H W H!”
“No!” “What I want to know from you is, what does the word tetragrammaton mean?” You will find him most reluctant in explaining. Either he does not really know, or he is feeling embarrassed in replying. “Tetra,” in Greek means FOUR, and “grammaton,” means LETTERS. It simply means “a four letter word.”
Can you read into Y H W H the word Jehovah? I cannot. “No!”, says the Jehovah’s Witness, “we ought to add vowels to these four consonants to produce the sound. Originally, both Hebrew and Arabic were written without the vowel signs The native of each language was able to read if even without those vowels. Not so the outsider, for whose benefit the vowels were invented.

THE “J” SICKNESS
Let us add the vowels as the “Witness” suggests. YHWH becomes YeHoWaH. Juggle as you like but you can never materialize Jehovah! Ask him, from which hat he drew his “J”. He will tell you that “this is the ‘popular’ pronunciation from the 16th century.” The exact sound of the four letters YHWH is known neither to the Jews nor to the Gentiles, yet he is ramming JEHOVAH down everyone’s throats. The European Christians have developed a fondness (sickness) for the letter “J” They add J’s where there are no Jays. Look!
Yael he converts to Joel
Yehuda to Juda
Yeheshua to Joshua
Yusuf to Joseph
Yunus to Jonah
Yesus to Jesus
Yehowa to Jehovah
There is no end to the Westerner’s infatuation for the letter “J.” Now in the busy streets of South Africa, he charges people who carelessly cross them for “jay-walking,” but nobody charges him for converting Jewish (Yehudi) names into Gentile names.
The letters Y H W H occur in the Hebrew (Jewish) Scriptures 6,823 times, boasts the Jehovah’s Witness, and it occurs in combination with the word “Elohim;” 156 times in the booklet called Genesis alone. This combination YHWH/ELOHIM has been consistently translated in the English Bible as “Lord God,” “Lord God,” Lord God,” ad infinitum.

COMMON ORIGIN
What is YHWH; and what is ELOHIM? Since the Jews did not articulate the word YHWH for centuries, and since even the Chief Rabbis would not allow the ineffable to be heard, they have forfeited the right to claim dogmatically how the word is to be sounded. We have to seek the aid of the Arab to revive Hebrew, a language which had once died out. In every linguistic difficulty recourse has to be made to Arabic, a sister language, which has remained alive and viable. Racially and linguistically, the Arabs and the Jews have a common origin, going back to Father Abraham.
Note the startling resemblance between the languages, very often the same sounding words carry identical meaning in both.
HEBREW ; ARABIC ; ENGLISH
Elah ; Ilah ; god
Ikhud ; Ahud ; one
Yaum ; Yaum ; day
Shaloam ; Salaam ; peace
Yahuwa ; Ya Huwa ; oh he
YHWH or Yehova or Yahuwa all mean the very same thing. “Ya” is a vocative and an exclamatory particle in both Hebrew and Arabic, meaning Oh! And “Huwa” or “Hu” means He, again in both Hebrew and Arabic. Together they mean Oh He! So instead of YHWH ELOHIM, we now have Oh He! ELOHIM.