High school recites Pledge in Arabic saying 'One Nation Under Allah'

[ABC in Georgia]

This was kind of interesting.
http://www.menorah.org/askpr18.html

I read that as well.

There must be a lot of people googling this question at the moment.

There is plenty of info out there on this topic!

[Rockntractor]

I read that as well.

There must be a lot of people googling this question at the moment.

There is plenty of info out there on this topic!

I have heard it addressed before, the Arabic language supposedly consists of only the words contained in the Quran which was written sometime after 632, it was compiled from oral tradition because Mohammad was illiterate which makes it more interesting. I have always heard and read that before Mohammad Allah was the name for one of the pagan gods worshiped previously by Arabs.

[Janice]

As far as I can recall Allah was the name for the Arab moon God long before Mohammed.

[noonwitch]

I think it is okay under certain circumstances. If the kids are taking arabic language classes, for example, the same way that kids take French or Spanish. Then it's like translating anything else to another language-a skill to be mastered to achieve a grade. I'm sure there are schools outside of metro Detroit that teach arabic as a second language, especially those that teach international business classes-those schools usually offer some asian languages, too, like Japanese or Cantonese.


I accept that the intention of using Allah for God is just that, using the arabic workd for God, the way one might use "krishna" as a generic word for God in India, although Krishna is just one of the Hindu pantheon.

[ABC in Georgia]

"The safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts”

~ C.S. Lewis

Although, in this case, some are able to see the signposts ... it will not make any difference, one way or the other!

[PeterS]

Outrage as high school recites Pledge in Arabic saying ´One Nation Under Allah´

Fury is brewing at Rocky Mountain High School, in Colorado, after a multicultural student group were encouraged to recite the Pledge of Allegiance over the loudspeaker in Arabic - replacing 'one nation under God' with 'one nation under Allah'.

Following Monday's pledge, Principal Tom Lopez has been inundated with complaints from outraged parents concerned that saying the Pledge in any language other than English is unpatriotic.

Standing by his controversial decision, Principal Lopez has said that despite the irate telephone calls and emails, he is not in any way or form trying to push an Islamic agenda at the Fort Collins school.

DailyMail.co.uk

We've lost our nation w/o one shot being fired.

This is so asinine it is almost not worth commenting on. As long as the translation equates to god what is the problem, or do you think god cares what language he is addressed in?

[Odysseus]

As far as I can recall Allah was the name for the Arab moon God long before Mohammed.

The information at the link is worth repeating:

1. There are factual errors here. The pre-Islamic use of “Allah” was widely used in the polytheistic Arab communities. The reason that “Allah” became a name for the Judeo-Christian Jehovah was that Christian missionaries in the Middle East (late 2nd century-600 A.D.) used the name “El-Ilah” or “Allah” for the Arabs to understand that Jehovah was above their other gods. The use of “Allah” by Arab Christians in the early centuries after Christ ascended is attributable to lax missionary language in their attempt to get the polytheistic Arabs to understand a monotheistic God. Mohammed simply co-opted “El-Ilah” or “Allah” after this to help bring Arab polytheists into monotheism.



2. Yes, Allah was used by pagan, pre-Islamic Arabs to refer to a specific idol, who had three daughters named Al'Lat, Manat, and 'Uzzah (or al-Uzzah). Muslims claim the Allah they worship is the same God that Christians and Jews worship - except in Malaysia, where it is against the law in this Muslim nation for any Christian literature to claim Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

There is vague ambiguity among Muslims, because Allah is the name of their God, and it is also a generic name for God. So if you ask them, does Hinduism have thousands of Allahs, they might say no, because there is just one Allah. Then you can ask what Hinduism has thousands of that they worship? They would say idols. Then what did the pre-Islamic Arabs worship that had three daughters named Al-Lat, Manat, and 'Uzzah? Why did Mohammed never explain to these same pre-Islamic Arabs who Allah was?

Mohammed's father was named 'Abdullah meaning "slave of Allah". A tribe of Jews was called 'Abdullah bin Salam in Bukhari vol.5 book 59 ch.13 no.362 p.241

It is true the Christians prior to Mohammed used the named "Allah" for the One True God. It may have come from the Semitic word for El. The people of Ugarit (in northern Phoenicia) also used the word "El" for God, and they used it for a specific deity in their pantheon.

Today, many Arabic Bibles use the name "Allah" for God. Other Arabic Bibles do not. Arabic-speaking Christians disagree about the best name to use today for God. Indonesian Bibles also use the word "Allah" for God.

So while I would not use the name "Allah" for God in English, I would not get too hung up on whether a particular Arabic-speaking Christian used the word Allah for God or not. However, we need to make it clear that regardless of names, Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God, any more than all religions that worship a Creator worship the same God. Likewise Muslims claim to honor Jesus, but it is a different Jesus than Christians have, not the Son of God.

When a Muslims tells me that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, one response I give is as follows:
Christians worship the Father. Do Muslims worship the Father. [No]
Christians worship Jesus, God the Son. Do Muslims worship Jesus, God the Son. [No]
Christians worship the Holy Spirit. Do Muslims worship the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Godhead. [No]

Who told you that Christians and Muslims worship the same God? Which part of the Trinity do Christians and Muslims both worship?

What is interesting is that there are parts of the pledge which are incompatible with Islam. Pledging allegiance to an inanimate object (the flag) smacks of idolatry. Pledging allegiance to the republic for which it stands is pledging allegiance to man-made law, which means that you are choosing it over Allah's law, or Sharia. Referring to "one nation" means that you are imposing borders between the faithful, which means that you oppose a single, unified Caliphate (the only legitimate means of government sanctioned by Allah), and liberty and justice for all includes infidels, who are not entitled to liberty and justice under Sharia. They should ask Hooper his opinion of the text of the pledge.