I was reading the Holy Quran last week and I came across this verse:
This verse is in the voice of the angel Gabriel on behalf of Allah.
And it immediately struck me as being unusual. Why, you might ask?
I know Abrahamic names to be theophoric.
What is theophoric?
Islam holds that God's name is Allah and that the "People of the Book" - the old Hebrews and Christians called God by that name. By Allah.
Jews and Christians have used all type of titles to address God -- El, Elohim, Elohai, Elohei, Adonai, Abba
But they contend that God revealed his name to be "I Am" or the tetragrammaton YHWH or Yahweh.
So this is a point of divergence between "People of the Book" and Islam.
Islam: God's name is Allah
Judeo-Christians: God's name is Yahweh
The striking thing about this Quranic verse is this:
It is in the active voice of Gabriel on behalf of Allah and is 1) speaking the name of Zakariyya and 2) named the soon-to-be prophet, Yahya.
There are two problems.
Zakariyya comes from the Hebrew "Zachariah" and is theophoric for "Yahweh remembers".
Yahya, or the English "John", in Hebrew is Yahonan or Yehia. Yahonan means "Yahweh is gracious". Yehia means "Yahweh Lives."
If the Holy Quran says "there is no God but Allah" and the Holy Quran is the direct word of Allah, why is Allah using names that bestow praise to Yahweh?
Especially when there are theophoric names for Allah.
Like Abdullah, which means "slave of Allah".
Or Ataullah, which means "gift of Allah".
Why would Allah give the Prophet John the Baptist (Yahya) a name that praises Yahweh and not Allah?
I started to do some more digging....
The Quran speaks of a man name Isa/Esa (English Jesus).
Isa/Esa comes from the Hebrew "Yeshua" which means "to save".
"Yeshua" etymologically comes from "Yehoshua" which is theophoric for "Yahweh is Salvation".
Why does Isa/Esa, such a big character, mentioned so prominently throughout the Quran, contain the name of Yahweh and not Allah?
There is also Ilyas (English Elijah), which comes from the Hebrew Eliyahu.
Eliyahu is theophoric for "My God is Yahweh".
This name makes it clear that God's name is Yahweh and the Holy Quran specifically mentions this name.
How could your holy scripture, that supposedly comes from Allah himself, use the name of Ilyas - "My God is Yahweh" and not "My God is Allah"?
That's not all.
The Hadiths mentions "Yusha" (English Joshua) which in Hebrew is Hoshea and is theophoric for "Yahweh is Lordly".
Other biblical names include:
Micaiah - Who is like Yahweh
Obadiah - Servant of Yahweh
Isaiah - Yahweh is salvation
Jeremiah - Yahweh will raise
Zaphaniah - Protected by Yahweh
Joel - Yahweh is God
To reiterate:
Muslims mention that God's name is Allah and has always been. And that all the Holy Prophets called God by that name.
If that is so, why do all these Abrahamic names, these very holy names, why do they all praise Yahweh?
Why does the Quran, that comes directly from Allah, bestow names that praise Yahweh, for instance in the verse proclaiming Yahya?
Allah seems to have some confusion about his name. Or the author of the Quran did not know what these names meant when he swiped them from their sources to include in his book.
Can any Muslim explain?
@The Hon. Stringer Bell You seem to be a smart but submissive Muslim.
Can you offer your take?
This verse is in the voice of the angel Gabriel on behalf of Allah.
And it immediately struck me as being unusual. Why, you might ask?
I know Abrahamic names to be theophoric.
What is theophoric?
Islam holds that God's name is Allah and that the "People of the Book" - the old Hebrews and Christians called God by that name. By Allah.
Jews and Christians have used all type of titles to address God -- El, Elohim, Elohai, Elohei, Adonai, Abba
But they contend that God revealed his name to be "I Am" or the tetragrammaton YHWH or Yahweh.
So this is a point of divergence between "People of the Book" and Islam.
Islam: God's name is Allah
Judeo-Christians: God's name is Yahweh
The striking thing about this Quranic verse is this:
It is in the active voice of Gabriel on behalf of Allah and is 1) speaking the name of Zakariyya and 2) named the soon-to-be prophet, Yahya.
There are two problems.
Zakariyya comes from the Hebrew "Zachariah" and is theophoric for "Yahweh remembers".
Yahya, or the English "John", in Hebrew is Yahonan or Yehia. Yahonan means "Yahweh is gracious". Yehia means "Yahweh Lives."
If the Holy Quran says "there is no God but Allah" and the Holy Quran is the direct word of Allah, why is Allah using names that bestow praise to Yahweh?
Especially when there are theophoric names for Allah.
Like Abdullah, which means "slave of Allah".
Or Ataullah, which means "gift of Allah".
Why would Allah give the Prophet John the Baptist (Yahya) a name that praises Yahweh and not Allah?
I started to do some more digging....
The Quran speaks of a man name Isa/Esa (English Jesus).
Isa/Esa comes from the Hebrew "Yeshua" which means "to save".
"Yeshua" etymologically comes from "Yehoshua" which is theophoric for "Yahweh is Salvation".
Why does Isa/Esa, such a big character, mentioned so prominently throughout the Quran, contain the name of Yahweh and not Allah?
There is also Ilyas (English Elijah), which comes from the Hebrew Eliyahu.
Eliyahu is theophoric for "My God is Yahweh".
This name makes it clear that God's name is Yahweh and the Holy Quran specifically mentions this name.
How could your holy scripture, that supposedly comes from Allah himself, use the name of Ilyas - "My God is Yahweh" and not "My God is Allah"?
That's not all.
The Hadiths mentions "Yusha" (English Joshua) which in Hebrew is Hoshea and is theophoric for "Yahweh is Lordly".
Other biblical names include:
Micaiah - Who is like Yahweh
Obadiah - Servant of Yahweh
Isaiah - Yahweh is salvation
Jeremiah - Yahweh will raise
Zaphaniah - Protected by Yahweh
Joel - Yahweh is God
To reiterate:
Muslims mention that God's name is Allah and has always been. And that all the Holy Prophets called God by that name.
If that is so, why do all these Abrahamic names, these very holy names, why do they all praise Yahweh?
Why does the Quran, that comes directly from Allah, bestow names that praise Yahweh, for instance in the verse proclaiming Yahya?
Allah seems to have some confusion about his name. Or the author of the Quran did not know what these names meant when he swiped them from their sources to include in his book.
Can any Muslim explain?
@The Hon. Stringer Bell You seem to be a smart but submissive Muslim.
Can you offer your take?
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