be with god: 01/27/21

الأربعاء، 27 يناير 2021

Islam forbids erecting structures over graves, and commands that any such structures should be knocked down. But it is permitted to put a marker on the grave so that the family and friends of the deceased will know where it is. However, this marker should not be a structure or anything else that is not allowed in sharee’ah.

1 – With regard to the prohibition on erecting structures over graves, the evidence for that is as follows.

It was narrated that Jaabir said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade plastering over graves, sitting on them and erecting structures over them.

Narrated by Muslim, 970.

Al-Shawkaani said:

The phrase “erecting structures over them: indicates that it is haraam to build anything over a grave.

Al-Shaafa’i and his companions made the following distinction: if the structure is built on the property of the person who builds it, it is makrooh, and if it is in a public graveyard, it is haraam.

But there is no evidence for making this distinction.

Al-Shaafa’i said: I saw the imams in Makkah ordering that what had been built (over graves) was to be knocked down.

The hadeeth of ‘Ali also indicates that such structures should be destroyed.

Nayl al-Awtaar, 4/132; the view of al-Shaafa’i is mentioned in al-Umm, 1/277

The hadeeth of ‘Ali referred to will be quoted below.

With regard to the command to knock down structures that have been built over graves, that is proven in the Sunnah.

It was narrated that Abu’l-Hayaaj al-Asadi said: ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib said to me: “Shall I not send you on the same mission as the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent me? Do not leave any statue without erasing it, and do not leave any raised grave without leveling it.” (Narrated by Muslim, 969).

Al-Shawkaani said:

The words “do not leave any raised grave without leveling it” means that the Sunnah is that a grave should not be made very high, and there should be no differentiation between those who were virtuous and those who were not virtuous.

It seems that making a grave higher than the amount that is permitted is haraam. This was clearly stated by the companions of Ahmad and a group of the companions of al-Shaafa’i and Maalik.

The view that it is not haraam because the earlier and later generations did that without anyone denouncing that action, as Imam Yahya and al-Mahdi said in al-Ghayth, is not correct, because the most that can be said is that they kept quiet about it, and keeping quiet does not count as evidence if it has to do with matters which are not definitive, and the prohibition of making graves high is not definitive.

The making graves high that is mentioned in the hadeeth especially includes the domes and shrines that are built over graves, and the taking of graves as places of worship. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed those who do that. (Nayl al-Awtaar, 4/130).

With regard to it being permissible to mark a grave with something permissible, there is evidence in the Sunnah which explains that.

It was narrated from Katheer ibn Zayd al-Madani that al-Muttalib said: When ‘Uthmaan ibn Maz’oon died, his bier was brought out and he was buried, then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered a man to bring a rock but he was not able to carry it. So the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stood up and rolled up his sleeves. Katheer said: al-Muttalib said: the one who narrated that to me from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: it is as if I can see the whiteness of the arms of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) when he rolled up his sleeves. Then he carried it and placed it at the head (of the grave), and said, “From this I will recognize the grave of my brother, and I can bury those among my family who die near him.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood, 3206)

The isnaad of this hadeeth was classed as hasan by al-Haafiz ibn Hajar in al-Talkhees al-Habeer, 2/133).

Ibn Qudaamah said:

There is nothing wrong with marking a grave with a stone of a piece of wood. There is nothing wrong with a man marking a grave so that he will know where it is. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) marked the grave of ‘Uthmaan ibn Maz’oon. Al-Mughni, 2/191

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But Allah name sounds different from the Hebrew Yahweh

Responses to Christians

‏١٤‏ س

But Allah name sounds different from the Hebrew Yahweh

Allah name in Arabic bibles

The sections of this article are:

1-  But "Allah" sounds different from the Hebrew "Yahweh"!
2-  How can a title beginning with "the" be a name? Yahweh, also means "the Eternal", which means "Al-Samad" in Arabic. It's just a title!
3-  "Yahweh" wasn't even the first thing GOD Almighty was addressed with in the Bible!
4-  So why then does the Arabic Bible use "Allah" and "Yahweh" for GOD?
5-  Why did Jesus choose to say the Aramaic "Eloi" to the Hebrew speaking people?
6-  This excellent article shows from Hebrew sources that Genesis 1:1 said "Allah".  It proved from Hebrew sources with images that GOD Almighty's original Holy Name was indeed "Allah".
7-  Hebrew "Allaah" is the closest word to "Allah" and it means Allah.

One thing that many non-Hebrew speaking Jews and Christians mistake about is the name of GOD Almighty in the Bible.  "Yahweh" in Hebrew means "The LORD" or the "The GOD".  It is not a name.  Let us look at the following quotations from Christian and Jewish resources:

"Judaism teaches that while God's name exists in written form, it is too holy to be pronounced.  The result has been that, over the last 2000 years, the correct pronunciation has been lost."   (Mankind's Search for GOD, p. 225).

Here we clearly see that the pronunciation for the original name for GOD Almighty had been lost, and the Jews have no idea what the exact pronunciation is from their Holy Scriptures and resources.

"About 3,500 years ago, God spoke to Moses, saying: 'Thus shall you speak to the Israelites: The LORD [Hebrew: YHWH], the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you: This shall be My name forever, this My appellation for all eternity.'   (Exodus 3:15; Psalm 135:13)"  (Mankind's Search for GOD, p.225).

"....the four Hebrew consonants YHWH (Yahweh) that in their Latinized form have come to be known over the centuries in English as JEHOVAH."   (Mankind's Search for GOD, p.225).

So the word "YHWH" or "Yahweh" or "Jehovah" is not the ORIGINAL name, but the appellation (title) for the Almighty GOD.  This is perfectly fine, because Jews, Christians and Muslims call on to GOD Almighty as "The LORD" or "The GOD", which means "Yahweh" or "Jehovah" in Hebrew and "Al-Rab" in Arabic.  "Al-Rab" in Arabic and "Yahweh" in Hebrew and the other translations in all other languages are indeed GOD Almighty's title.   But they are NOT His original Name!

Let us look at what Exodus 3:15 and Psalm 135:13 from the NIV Bible say:  "God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, `The LORD [Notice that they didn't write Jehovah.  "The LORD" in only a title], the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.  (From the NIV Bible, Exodus 3:15)"

"Your name, O LORD, endures forever, your renown, O LORD, through all generations.  (From the NIV Bible, Psalm 135:13)"

So as we clearly see from the above Verses from the NIV Bible, the original name for GOD Almighty is not "Yahweh".  The title "The LORD" is only a title and a nickname (if you will) that we give to GOD Almighty.  But "Yahweh" is definitely NOT THE ORIGINAL NAME for GOD Almighty.

"Allah" on the other hand is a name.  It is the name of GOD Almighty.   Below, you will see ample proof from the Aramaic language that the name of GOD Almighty was indeed "Allah". 

How can a title beginning with "the" be a name?

Beside the crystal-clear proofs above about Yahweh or Jehovah being just a title or "appellation" (Exodus 3:15) for GOD Almighty, I would like to raise this simple question, and simple common-sense test:

How can any title that begins with "the" be a name?

If I call you "the man", as it is a common slang for a person to be called that here in the US, would that really make your name "the man"? 

A Christian just recently told me that in Hebrew, Yahweh not only means "The LORD" or the "The GOD", but it also means "The Eternal" (according to the New Dictionary of the Bible).  That is all perfect with me.

The Eternal, Yahweh or Jehovah, means "Al-Samad" in Arabic.  Allah Almighty called Himself "Al-Samad" in the Noble Quran (Noble Verse 112:2).  I am willing to address Allah Almighty from now on by the "Al-Samad" title (Yahweh in Hebrew) and not by "Allah Almighty" (His Holy Name) if that is going to make Christians understand Islam and embrace it!

How difficult is it to comprehend that a title beginning with "the" can never be a name!  Let alone being an original name! 

"Yahweh" was not even the first thing GOD Almighty was addressed with in the Bible!

Some Christians still insist that GOD Almighty's original Holy Name was Yahweh.   They rely on Exodus 3:15 to prove this nonsense.  I clearly proved in the section above that "Yahweh" in Exodus 3:15 was only a title and not a name, and it means "The LORD", "The GOD" and the "The Eternal" (according to the New Dictionary of the Bible).

Now, let us assume for a second that "Yahweh" is a name, which is really ridiculous since its English translation starts with "the".   This still does not prove that GOD Almighty's original name is Yahweh!  Exodus 3:15 that Christians are so big on using was revealed to Prophet Moses peace be upon him.   How many years are there between Adam and Moses peace be upon them? Probably thousands!  If not even millions!

So according to the Christians' logic, GOD Almighty was Nameless from the time of Adam until the time of Moses where He, the Almighty, supposedly had finally found Himself and His identity.  Correct?  Wrong!  That is all a bunch of nonsense!

GOD Almighty's original Holy Name is clearly "Allah" or "Elaw"!   Like I said above, when Jesus peace be upon him was put on the cross, he cried to GOD Almighty and said "Eloi", which is derived from "Elaw" or "Allah".  He did not say "Yahwahoi"!

Therefore, any Christian who decides to act stubborn and reject the crystal-clear fact that GOD Almighty's original Holy Name was indeed "Allah", because of fearing that it would prove Islam to be the faith of Truth, is guilty of sinning against GOD Almighty!

So why then does the Arabic Bible use "Allah" and "Yahweh" for GOD?

A Christian raised this question:  Why do Arabic Bibles use "Yahweh" for GOD, if "Yahweh" was not GOD Almighty's original Name?

Well first, the Arabic Bible uses both "Allah" and "Yahweh".   Please see attached images from the Arabic Bible showing the use of the word "Allah" for GOD Almighty.  It is important to know that "Yahweh" is not an Arabic word.   Just like "The LORD" is also not Arabic either.  The proper translation for "Yahweh" in the Arabic Bible should have been "Al-Samad" for "The Eternal", or "Al-Rab" for "The LORD", depending on which word they wish to choose, since Yahweh means both.

So, them inserting the word "Yahweh" in the Arabic Bible is stupid and self-contradicting, because if you choose to call GOD Almighty "Yahweh" in Arabic and force the Hebrew word into Arabic, then you cannot call Him "Allah" at the same time!  Calling GOD Almighty "Al-Samad" or "Al-Rab" for Yahweh would have been a different thing and contradiction-free.

So, my response is:  The Arabic theologians need a basic lesson in Arabic and Hebrew!

An addition from brother Yusuf; may Allah Almighty always be pleased with him:

"The newest edition by the International Bible Society starts out "fi al-Bid'i khalaqa ALLAH al-samawati wal-ardha." The normal word for God, moreover, is "Allah," in the Christian dialects of Arabic as well as in the Jewish dialects....

"(Brother Yusuf telling a Christian) Who said we aren't? You said "Allah" wasn't the word for God in the Bible. It starts out right at the beginning and continues throughout. And then you select out a single verse, ignoring the rest of the entire Bible, OT as well as NT. The verse you quoted is also rendered in English as Yahweh, not God; so what is your point? We are talking about the normal designation for the One True God.

You ignored, moreover, that this is also the case in the Christian and Jewish dialects of Arabic. It is also the case in the Christian liturgies, as for instance in the Maronite liturgy. What more do you want? God is Allah; Allah is God, and Allah should be translated, not transliterated."

To further prove my point, let us look at Genesis 2:4:

"This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.  When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens-  (From the NIV Bible, Genesis 2:4)"

So, as you can clearly see, "Yahweh" is clearly a title that means "The LORD" and not a Name for GOD Almighty.

Why did Jesus choose to say the Aramaic "Eloi" to the Hebrew speaking people?

Why did Jesus sacrifice Hebrew and spoke the Aramaic "Eloi" despite the fact that the people around him were Jewish and spoke Hebrew?  Because Jesus peace be upon him knew that GOD Almighty's Holy Name is Allah, and Eloi (my GOD) is derived from it.  The Hebrew "Yahweh" (the LORD or the Eternal) was made mandatory for the Jews only.  As shown in the first section of the article, the Jews because of their inability to pronounce GOD Almighty's Holy Name properly were commanded by GOD Almighty to call Him as "The LORD":

"Judaism teaches that while God's name exists in written form, it is too holy to be pronounced. The result has been that, over the last 2000 years, the correct pronunciation has been lost."  (Mankind's Search for GOD, p. 225).

Here we clearly see that the pronunciation for the original name for GOD Almighty had been lost, and the Jews have no idea what the exact pronunciation is from their Holy Scriptures and resources.

But the reason why Jesus called unto GOD Almighty in Aramaic, despite the fact that everyone spoke Hebrew and the Law of the Jews was written in the Hebrew language is because Jesus wanted to call GOD Almighty in the Highest and Most perfect form.

Addressing GOD Almighty as "The LORD" or Yahweh would have been only proper to the Hebrew speaking people, the Jews, but not to the Gentiles and all the non-Jewish people and generations after that.

Hebrew "Allaah" is the closest word to "Allah" and it means Allah:

The following was given to me by Denis; may Allah Almighty guide him to Islam.

The closest Hebrew word to the Arabic Allaah (alif-lam-lam-ha) would be the Hebrew Allah (alef-lamed-lamed-heh), which is used by Hebrew speaking Muslims, and has been used by Arabic Jews. For examples of the Hebrew equivalent of Bismillaah (which is Bshem Allah)

That is the closest possible Hebrew word to the Arabic Allah. It is the exact same word, and it has been part of Hebrew for at least 15 centuries (though I do concede it was almost certainly adopted from Arabic).

 "Allah" is GOD's Name, "Elaw" means "GOD" in Aramaic: How can they be the same?

This is the argument that I received:  How can the Arabic "Allah" equal to the Aramaic "Elaw", when "Allah" is only a Name for GOD Almighty in Arabic, while "Elaw" actually means "GOD"?  "Allah" does not mean "GOD" in Arabic, does it?

The response is actually quite simple:  "Elaw", or "ilah" in both Aramaic and Arabic respectively are derived from the mother word "Allah".   In Islam, GOD Almighty has 99 Names/Attributes:  Most Merciful, The Great, Most Gracious, etc...  "Allah" is one of those Holy Names/Attributes.   Muslims often refer to GOD Almighty as "Allah", because it is not only His Holy Name, but it also means that He is the Supreme GOD.  

That is why some English translators of the Noble Quran such as Abdullah Yusuf Ali (may Allah Almighty bless him and rest his soul.  Ameen) translate "Allah" in the Arabic Quran as "God" in the English translation for some Noble Verses.

To further prove that "Allah" in Arabic means the Supreme GOD Almighty, let us read the following Noble Verses:

"Say: He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.  (The Noble Quran, 112:1-4)"

This is how these Noble Verses are translated in the Abdullah Yusuf Ali English translation.  Notice that he used "God" for "Allah".  The Noble Verses in Arabic are as follows:

"Qul huwa Allah ahad, Allah al-samad; lam yalid wa lam yuwlad; wa lam yakun lahu qufuwan ahad.  (The Noble Quran, 112:1-4)"

These Noble Verses clearly prove that "Allah" means Supreme GOD in Arabic, because they start with "Say he is Allah..."  Notice that it did not say "Say his name is Allah...", even though GOD Almighty's Holy Name is "Allah".  But the "Say he is Allah..." quote clearly indicates that "Allah" here is a DESCRIPTION or an ATTRIBUTE to GOD Almighty, and not just a personal Name.  This clearly proves that "Allah" means the Supreme GOD Almighty in Arabic.  There are other Noble Verses that I can present from the Noble Quran that would further prove this point, but I think Noble Verses 112:1-4 are sufficient enough.

When a person embraces Islam, he/she would say:

"I bare witness that there is no GOD but Allah, and Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger."

The "no GOD but Allah" means that Allah Almighty is the supreme GOD.  Many gods and idols exist in the world.  People took idols for worship as the far eastern Hindus and Buddhists do.  Others took GOD Almighty's creation such as fire and the sun as gods such as the Zoroastrians and others.  Others even took humans and worshiped them such as the Egyptians during Pharaoh's time, and the modern Trinitarians worshiping Jesus, the Son of Mary peace be upon him and her.

So, gods did and still exist today and will always exist.  It is part of our human nature to worship idols in a hope to get closer with GOD Almighty Himself, the Supreme GOD Almighty.  But man does not need to go through any god, because The Most Supreme GOD of all, Allah Almighty, exists and had always existed, and He is close to us and He listens to our Prayers:

"When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.   (The Noble Quran, 2:186)" 

So, there is no need for us to associate any partners with Allah Almighty to worship Him.  We can worship Him directly without any idols or mediators.  Please Google What is the Wisdom of Islam? to learn more about the Oneness of Allah Almighty in the Noble Quran.

The words "elaw" in Aramaic, and "ilah" in Arabic are words that were derived from the root word "Allah".  Allah Almighty is the GOD of the Universe, and He is the Supreme GOD.  When Jesus cried to GOD Almighty "Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?" in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34, he said "My God my God why have you forsaken me?" in English translation.  "Eloi" is derived from "Elaw", and the latter is derived from "Allah".

Conclusion:

The Aramaic "Elaw" and the Arabic "Allah" are the same.  The Aramaic "Elaw" is derived from the Arabic "Allah", and it means "GOD".  "Allah" in Arabic also means "GOD", the Supreme GOD Almighty.  You can easily see the close similarity in their pronunciation.

Bibliography:

1- Mankind's Search for GOD.
Publishers:  Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, INC.
International Bible Student Association.
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.

--
Prepared by Mohamad Mostafa Nassar- Australia.

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Arrogance is not only a sign of insecurity, it's a sign of immaturity. Mature and fully-realized persons can get their points across, even emphatically without demeaning or intimidating others.