“Allah” and “Yahweh” refer to fundamentally different conceptions of God. Allah is one God who exists as one person. Yahweh, however, is one God who exists as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Furthermore, Allah is a transcendent being and is impossible to know in a personal way. Yahweh, by contrast, is not only transcendent but also immanent. This means he enters his creation and develops a personal relationship with his created beings (Jesus is the ultimate example of his immanence). 

There’s confusion about the word “Allah.” Recently, a commentator claimed that “Allah” is just the Arabic word for God, and that it doesn’t specifically refer to a different god. Her reasoning? “Arabic-speaking Christians pray to ‘Allah.’” Is that true? Yes and no. Some nuance is needed. Here are four points to understand.

First, “Allah” is a word for God when speaking in Arabic. As someone who has worked with Arabic-speaking Christians in the Middle East for over a decade, I often hear my brothers and sisters in Christ refer to God as “Allah.” They are not referring to the Islamic notion of God, though. Rather, it’s just the Arabic word for God.

As an Assyrian-speaking Christian, I use the word “Allaha” when I say “God” in my language. You probably recognize how similar that word is to “Allah.” Both Assyrian and Arabic are Semitic languages and therefore have some similar words. When I say “Allaha,” I’m not referring to the Islamic notion of God, nor does my family infer anything Islamic when they hear me use the term (unless we’re talking about Muslims and their conception of God).

The fact that Arabic-speaking Christians say “Allah,” then, is not proof that the word “Allah” is always interchangeable with “God.” It’s normal for Christians to use “Allah” to refer to God when they are speaking in Arabic.  

Second, “Allah” is not a general word for God when speaking in English. When it comes to speaking in English, the situation is different. When an American (or other English speaker) hears “Allah,” they reasonably conclude it implies the Islamic notion of God. Why? Because no one except a Muslim says “Allah” when speaking in English.

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