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Do Jews and Muslims worship the same G-d? If so, do they understand G-d the same way? As a related point, is there any linguistic or theological connection between "Allah" and "Eloha" (or "Elohim")? Please explain.

Seth J
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Maxood
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    Maxood, welcome to Judaism.SE, and thanks very much for bringing your question here! Please note that in the context of this site, the interpretation of this question that's on-topic is something like "How does Judaism view Islam's understanding of God?" – Isaac Moses Feb 20 '12 at 14:45
  • Maxood, and @IsaacMoses, I tried to re-capture the original intent of the question with my new edit. Please feel free to further edit it if either one of you feels it does not meet either the originally intended question or the site's requirements. – Seth J Feb 21 '12 at 15:18
  • I'm not going to edit my answer, but Allah and El definitely are related in meaning. I'm not sure that was really part of the original question though.. – avi Feb 21 '12 at 17:49
  • I'm closing this as out of scope. – msh210 Feb 29 '12 at 16:52
  • Related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/28024 – msh210 Apr 18 '13 at 16:16
  • "Eloha" is not a word in Hebrew TTBOMK. – Double AA Mar 30 '16 at 19:33

1 Answers1

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In theory, Judaism and Islam worship the same Gd, since both religions believe that there is only one god.

However, in practice, the teachings of Islam and the teachings of Judaism are not always compatible.

The Rambam for instance writes some interesting and conflicting statements regarding Judaism and Islam.

On the one hand, Rambam states that Islam is monotheistic and there is no problem going to their mosques or interacting with them. However, Rambam also writes that it is forbidden to teach Torah to a Muslim because they believe that the Torah was corrupted. This is contrast with Christianity which the Rambam says is Avodah Zarah, however you are allowed to teach them Torah ,because they believe in the Truth of Moshe's words.

Secondly, I have heard from some Muslims that ideas about Gd that are acceptable to Jews, may not be acceptable to Muslims, and visa versa.

avi
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    If a Rabbi or a learned Jew can convince a Muslim that the Torah is uncorrupted, then why they cannot teach them about the Torah according to Rambam? – Maxood Feb 21 '12 at 09:16
  • @Maxood No idea. My point was only that there are differences of understandings. If a Muslim believed the Torah to be the one that Gd gave Moses, then they would have to not believe the writings of the Koran. – avi Feb 21 '12 at 09:39
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    Muslims do believe firmly that Torah was given to Moses and then it was lost and till Ezra gave it in oral form to the children of Israel. And then later on, the jewish clerics and Rabbis changed the law according to their discretion and preferences.Now if a Rabbi can convince a Muslim that the Torah is still uncorrupted, then why he cannot preach a Muslim about Judaism? – Maxood Feb 21 '12 at 10:07
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    @Maxood I don't know what Rambam would say about convincing a Muslim about the Purity of the Torah. In practice, I've never met anyone who has refused to teach people who are honestly seeking answers instead of reasons to persecute Jews. Regardless if they are Muslim, Christian, or Pagan. – avi Feb 21 '12 at 10:15
  • @Maxood, if a Muslim accepted that the Torah today remained uncorrupted, then he would not be a very good Muslim, since a core tenet of Islam is that the Qur'an is the uncorrupted truth, in contradistinction to the Torah. If he accepted that the Torah remains uncorrupted, I don't think the RaMBa"M would consider it wrong for the rabbi to teach him. – Seth J Feb 21 '12 at 15:21
  • @Maxood, orthodox Judaism generally deals with blanket rules which are not perfect 100% of the time, but are for the most part and is the better to assure that the law remains uncorrupted. – YDK Feb 21 '12 at 15:30
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    @YDK If we go through the essentials or fundamentals of both the books even today i.e. Torah and the Quran, we find huge similarities and very minor differences. There are some but both communities can dwell peacefully side by side. – Maxood Feb 23 '12 at 11:18
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    @Maxood, I agree that both communities can dwell peacefully side by side, but you asked "Now if a Rabbi can convince a Muslim that the Torah is still uncorrupted, then why he cannot preach a Muslim about Judaism?" My answer was that sometimes rationality cannot change a law in the same way that I must stop at a stop sign even if I am 100% sure that no one is around. If the law was up to every individual to decide, it would promote a corruption of the law. – YDK Feb 24 '12 at 00:22
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    @Maxood At this point, it might be worth asking a separate question about Rambam and teaching Muslims Torah. – avi Feb 24 '12 at 10:04
  • @YDK I am a Muslim and a student of comparative religion. Islam welcomes everyone when it come to preaching i.e. everyone and anyone with no discrimination of race or religion. – Maxood Feb 24 '12 at 13:27
  • @Maxood, you are choosing one area in which Islam teaches all and Judaism doesn't. That's like saying Judaism is not discriminatory because we accept converts even if they don't believe Muhammad was a prophet and Islam doesn't. We both are members of organized religions which have laws that sometimes have reasons to be discriminatory! – YDK Feb 26 '12 at 22:00
  • @YDK What about the notion of being a Jew and not believing in God at the same time, only because you are born to a Jewish mother or Jewish parents! So an atheist can also be a jew only because that person is born to jewish paresnt(s)! How?This is notion is something entirely based on racism. Do correct me if this is wrong. On the other hand Islam makes mandatory for every Muslim to believe in one God and to respect all the prohpets form Adam to Muhammad (May peace and blessings be upon all of them). – Maxood Feb 28 '12 at 11:03
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    I'm not following your "racism logic" nor do I understand how Islam "makes" Muslims believe in G-d. One is born into either religion with an obligation to believe in one G-d. In a different time and place, both would punish those who acted out their atheism or idolatry. No one can make a person believe something that he doesn't. – YDK Feb 28 '12 at 17:06
  • @avi Islam does not claim that Torah is corrupted when it was revealed by Allah on Moses(peace and blessengs be upon him)! Instead it says that later on it was corrupted by the Rabbis who misled the children of Israel. On the other hand in Cristianity, Saint Paul clearly declared that law in The Old Testament is not not needed to be followed. – Maxood May 14 '12 at 10:30
  • @Maxood I see absolutely no difference as to when you say it was corrupted. The point is, you say it was corrupted. Anything Judaism has to say about anything, any muslim who does not like the idea will say "pheh, it's just a corruption." And they will therefore learn nothing. Any Christian will say, "this was the word of Gd once" and think about it. – avi May 15 '12 at 09:00
  • @avi It is not upon the dicretion of any Muslim to accept or reject Torah (the current text) as a whole. The Quran explicitly states that the Torah (revealed to Moses(may peace and blessings be upon him)) was delibrately altered by Rabbis to earn worldly gains. Please check this verse here: http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=3&verse=78 – Maxood May 15 '12 at 10:05
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    @Maxood And that is why the Rambam says that you can't teach Torah to Muslims. What is your difficulty here? Jews obviously completely reject that line of the Quran and believe it to be completely incorrect. – avi May 15 '12 at 13:44