This episode features a fascinating Fox News debate between a Catholic priest and a Muslim Imam on a controversial proposal by a Roman Catholic bishop in the Netherlands: should Christians start calling God “Allah”? The discussion reveals a fundamental truth that many people in the West are unaware of — the word “Allah” is not exclusive to Islam but has been used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews for centuries to refer to the one true Creator.
Allah: The God of All Abrahamic Faiths
Imam Shamsi Ali explains that more than 20 million Arab Christians in the Middle East already use the word “Allah” when referring to God. The Arabic Bible itself uses “Allah” — “In the beginning, Allah created the heavens and the earth.” The word comes from the Semitic root shared across Arabic, Hebrew (Eloh), and Aramaic (Alaha) — the very language Jesus (peace be upon him) spoke. The attempt to associate the word “Allah” exclusively with terrorism is both historically ignorant and intellectually dishonest.
“More than 20 million Arab Christians in the Middle East already call God ‘Allah.’ Even some Jewish communities in Yemen use the word ‘Allah.’ The Arabic Bible reads: ‘In the beginning, Allah created the heavens and the earth.’ This is not a Muslim word — it is the Semitic word for the Creator.”
Key Takeaways from the Discussion
- The word “Allah” predates Islam and has been used by Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians for centuries
- Jesus spoke Aramaic, in which the word for God is “Alaha” — virtually identical to “Allah”
- Avoiding the word “Allah” because terrorists misuse it would be like avoiding the word “God” because of violence committed in God’s name throughout history
- Both the priest and the Imam agreed that if speaking Arabic, “Allah” is the correct and natural word for God
“Father Morris said: ‘If we are going to speak Arabic, use the word Allah. If I am speaking English and I am Christian, I am going to use the word God. I think it is very simple.’ Both sides agreed on this fundamental point.”
This segment is a valuable reminder that the name of God should unite, not divide. Muslims, Christians, and Jews all worship the same Creator — and the linguistic evidence across Semitic languages confirms this truth in a way that no amount of political rhetoric can obscure.
