Does The Church Equate God And Allah?

[Called2theCross]

In class at my Catholic school, my religion teacher said that it was okay to say "Allah" when praying because God and Allah are the same God. I disagreed, rationalizing that both Catholics and Muslims are monotheistic, but Allah is not necessarily exactly the same as God. I tried to look it up in the Catechism, but the only passage I could locate addressing that matter was very ambiguous:

[b]841[/b] The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."

[Pontifex]

Technically speaking, there is nothing wrong with using the word Allah for God. The word Allah is an Arabic word that means God.

However, considering that 99.9% of the people who use this word are muslims, who deny the Sonship of Jesus and his divinity, it is a word that is charged with meaning beyond its translation. It immediately generates a whole system of belief, one that we as Catholics do not totally agree with.

Therefore, I do not think it is wise nor ecumenical to use the word Allah for God. It is confusing and unnecessary.



Fr. Pontifex

[Laudate_Dominum]

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