Allah or Krishna: No Difference

[Nonson]

Hare Krishna
Assalam-u-alaikum

Kindly accept my obesiances unto your lotus feet.

I would like to answer your questions as per my own limited capacity and unlimited grace of Gaudiya acaryas and Sri Sri Radha-Krsna allows me.

We all know that religion is entirely centered upon conception of God. There is no meaning to religion without God and since the entire religion is build upon the idea of God so lets first look into conception of God as per Islam and Sanatan-Dharma.


"Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this non-dual substance brahman, paramatma, and bhagavan."

(Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.11)

This is the Vedic conception of God. God is refered to as Absolute Truth in Vedas. This verse from Bhagavatam states that Absolute Truth is called by three different names by the transcendentalists. These three names are actually three different conceptions of the same Absolute Truth that a transcendentalists has in proportion with his spiritual realization.


>>What is Brahman?


Brahman is nothing but the impersonal spiritual effulgence which is full of dazzling light. Hence is called brahmajyoti.

Vedic literature states:

This brahmajyoti effulgence is described in detail in several mantras of the Mundaka Upanisad (2.2.10-12):


"In the spiritual realm, beyond the material covering, is the unlimited Brahman effulgence, which is free from material contamination. That effulgent white light is understood by transcendentalists to be the light of all lights. In that realm there is no need of sunshine, moonshine, fire or electricity for illumination. Indeed, whatever illumination appears in the material world is only a reflection of that supreme illumination. That Brahman is in front and in back, in the north, south, east and west, and also overhead and below. In other words, that supreme Brahman effulgence spreads throughout both the material and spiritual skies."


Lord Krishna in Holy Gita describes this as follows-

" But those who fully worship the unmanifested, that which lies beyond the perception of the senses, the all-pervading, inconceivable, fixed and immovable--the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth--by controlling the various senses and being equally disposed to everyone, such persons, engaged in the welfare of all, at last achieve Me. "

(Holy Gita 12.3-4)


Now lets see what Al-Quran has to say about this:

"Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The Parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: Lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light! Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light: Allah doth set forth Parables for men: and Allah doth know all things. "

(24.35)

" He is the First and the Last, the Evident and the Immanent: and He has full knowledge of all things. " (57.3)

"No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things. "(6.103)

Last words goes like this-

wa Huwal Latiiful-Khabiir...

Latiif means fine and subtle. He is so fine that He is imperceptible to senses. Hence no vision can grasp Him. So no one can see Him. This is certainly the description of impersonal effulgence of God.


>> What is Parmatma ?

Paramatma means "the Supreme Self" or "the Supreme Soul," (atma means "self or soul," and parama means "transcendental, absolute or supreme"). Usually, paramatma is translated as "the Supersoul."

What Vedas speak about it:

" Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul. " ( BG 13.23)


"Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes and faces, and He hears everything. In this way the Supersoul exists."

" The Supersoul is the original source of all senses, yet He is without senses. He is unattached, although He is the maintainer of all living beings. He transcends the modes of nature, and at the same time He is the master of all modes of material nature."

" The Supreme Truth exists both internally and externally, in the moving and nonmoving. He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. Although far, far away, He is also near to all. "

" Although the Supersoul appears to be divided, He is never divided. He is situated as one. Although He is the maintainer of every living entity, it is to be understood that He devours and develops all. "

" He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone's heart."

(BG 13.14-18)


" I am the Self, O Gudakesa, seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings. " (BG 10.20)

>> This Self refered to the Supersoul and not the individual soul.

"Both the Supersoul [Paramatma] and the atomic soul [jivatma] are situated on the same tree of the body within the same heart of the living being, and only one who has become free from all material desires as well as lamentations can, by the grace of the Supreme, understand the glories of the soul." (Katha Upanisad 1.2.20).


Furthermore both the Katha Upanisad and Svetasvatara Upanisad confirm this:


"Although the two birds are in the same tree, the eating bird is fully engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the fruits of the tree. But if in some way or other he turns his face to his friend who is the Lord and knows His glories--at once the suffering bird becomes free from all anxieties."


Now lets see what Al-Quran has to say-

Allah enters into everyone's hearts:

"Say: "If I am astray, I only stray to the loss of my own soul: but if I receive guidance, it is because of the inspiration of my Lord to me: it is He Who hears all things, and is (ever) near." (34.50)


"It was We Who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein. " (50.16)


" And He is with you wheresoever ye may be. And Allah sees well all that ye do. "(57.4)


" But We are nearer to him than ye, and yet see not,"(56.85)


".....He has full knowledge of the secrets of (all) hearts. "(57.6)


"............ and know that Allah cometh in between a man and his heart,......"(8.24)


>> What is Bhagavan ?

The word Bhagavan means "the person who possesses all the divine attributes or opulences (bhaga)," all wealth, all power, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge, and all renunciation to an infinite degree.

Bhagavan refers to the Personality of Godhead. According to Vedic philosophy and Al-Quran as we have seen, that God is impersonal absolute light or all-pervasive Supersoul. But both of them don't end the description here. They continue like this:


Al-Quran:

Remember I quoted a verse 24.35 where it was written Allah is light but then it was immediately said that Allah possesses light.

Let me reproduce the relevant portion of the verse-

First part says:

Allaahu Nuurus....

Allah is light

Then it continues

Masalu Nuurihii......

Nuurihii means "His light".

So Allah is not only light but also possesses light.

Allah has personal relationships:

He guides- (24.35)&(7.155)

He punishes- (7.156) & (8.52) (7.165) (8.16)

He protects and takes care- (2.257)(6.102)

He teaches- (2.282)

He remembers-(2.152)

Allah has personal feelings:

Allah loves-(3.159)(9.100)(9.117)

Allah reciprocates with His personal devotees- Story about the messenger of God, Joseph that Allah narrated to the Holy Prophet Mohammad.(12.4-101)

Certainly all this requires senses,mind and intelligence to be displayed hence we should at least start to think that Allah is a person also.

Allah has personal desires:

10.107,2.40-41.

Allah has personal memory:

2.152,58.7,20.52

Allah has personal features:

10.21,10.32,10.60,12.100,12.98,14.47,20.5, 22.40,22.60,4.147,40.12

Allah plays different personal parts:

2.257,3.98,10.109,11.107,12.66, 13.16, 20.114, 22.78, 33.52, 2.233,35.31,59.23,59.24,6.57

Allah has personal will:

5.17,19.35,85.16

Allah is the living one:

2.255,40.65,2.20,22.40

Allah has personal faculty of speech:

2.30,12.3

Allah has personal faculty of hearing:

2.224,24.21

Allah has personal faculty of sight:

2.233,34.11

Allah has personal identity:

51.56-57

Allah has personal knowledge:

24.35,6.59

Allah is the best person[Bhagavan]

8.30,22.58

Allah has a face:

6.52,13.22,18.28,30.38,30.39,2.115,28.88,55.26-27

Allah has hands:

39.67,38.75,3.73,67.1,48.10,5.67

Allah has an IMAGE:

16.60.

" It is He Who begins (the process of) creation; then repeats it; and for Him it is most easy. To Him belongs the loftiest similitude (we can think of) in the heavens and the earth: for He is Exalted in Might, full of wisdom. "(30.27)

So according to Holy Quran Allah has a form whcih is Absolute, Spiritual, infallible, most beautiful and transcendental to all kind of material conceptions, free from even a tinge of material contamination.

This is the form which possess light. And this is the person who knows the deepest secrets of our hearts.

Although Holy Quran just gives an idea that God ultimately possesses a form but the Vedic literature just gives more details of this form giving the specific information.

Now lets see what Vedic literature has to say:

" Krishna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes." (Brahma Samhita 1)

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati a great devotee and spiritual master write in purport to this verse-Krishna is the exalted Supreme entity having His eternal name, eternal form, eternal attribution and eternal pastimes. The very name "Krishna" implies His love-attracting designation, expressing by His eternal nomenclature the acme of entity. His eternal beautiful heavenly blue-tinged body glowing with the intensity of ever-existing knowledge has a nude in both His hands. As His inconceivable spiritual energy is all-extending, still He maintains His all-charming medium size by His qualifying spiritual instrumentals. His all-accommodating supreme subjectivity is nicely manifested in His eternal form. The concentrated all time presence, uncovered knowledge and inebriating felicity have their beauty in Him. The mundane manifestive portion of His own Self is known as all-pervading Paramatma, Isvara (Superior Lord) or Vishnu (All-fostering). Hence it is evident that Krishna is sole Supreme Godhead. His unrivaled or unique spiritual body of super excellent charm is eternally unveiled with innumerable spiritual instrumentals (senses) and unreckonable attributes keeping their signifying location properly, adjusting at the same time by His inconceivable conciliative powers. This beautiful spiritual figure is identical with Krishna and the spiritual entity of Krishna is identical with His own figure.


" I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock's feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids. "(BS 30)


" I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, round whose neck is swinging a garland of flowers beautified with the moon-locket, whose two hands are adorned with the flute and jeweled ornaments, who always revels in pastimes of Lowe, whose graceful threefold-bending form of Syamasundara is eternally manifest. "(BS 31)


"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lords whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane."

(BS 32)


"I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Krsna], who is the original person--absolute, infallible, without beginning. Although expanded into unlimited forms, still the same original, the oldest, and the person always appearing as a fresh youth. Such eternal, blissful, all-knowing forms of the Lord are usually understood by the best Vedic scholars, but they are always manifest to pure, unalloyed devotees." (BS 33)


" He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore. "(BS 35)


"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is the absolute substantive principle being the ultimate entity in the form of the support of all existence whose external potency embodies the thr eefold mundane qualities, viz., sattva, rajas and tamas and diffuses the Vedic knowledge regarding the mundane world." (BS 41)


"The Supreme Lord is the controller of all other controllers, and He is the greatest of all the diverse planetary leaders. Everyone is under His control. All entities are delegated with particular power only by the Supreme Lord; they are not supreme themselves. He is also worshipable by all demigods and is the supreme director of all directors. Therefore, He is transcendental to all kinds of material leaders and controllers and is worshipable by all. There is no one greater than Him, and He is the supreme cause of all causes."

"He does not possess bodily form like that of an ordinary living entity. There is no difference between His body and His soul. He is absolute. All His senses are transcendental. Any one of His senses can perform the action of any other sense. Therefore, no one is greater than Him or equal to Him. His potencies are multifarious, and thus His deeds are automatically performed as a natural sequence." (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.7-8)


Again in the svetasvatra Upanisad

"In the material world Brahma, the primeval living entity within the universe, is understood to be the supreme amongst the demigods, human beings and lower animals. But beyond Brahma there is the Transcendence who has no material form and is free from all material contaminations. Anyone who can know Him also becomes transcendental, but those who do not know Him suffer the miseries of the material world."


"I know that Supreme Personality of Godhead who is transcendental to all material conceptions of darkness. Only he who knows Him can transcend the bonds of birth and death. There is no way for liberation other than this knowledge of that Supreme Person.


"There is no truth superior to that Supreme Person because He is the supermost. He is smaller than the smallest, and He is greater than the greatest. He is situated as a silent tree, and He illumines the transcendental sky, and as a tree spreads its roots, He spreads His extensive energies." Svetasvatara Upanisad(3.8-9)


"I offer my respectful obeisances to Sri Krishna, whose form is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss, who is the rescuer from distress, who is understood by Vedanta, who is the supreme spiritual master, and who is the witness in everyone's heart."(Gopal Tapani Upanisad 1.1)


" One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He is luminous like the sun and, being transcendental, is beyond this material nature. "(BG 8.9)


Visnu Purana(1.9.69):

"Whoever comes before You, be he a demigod, is created by You, O Supreme Personality of Godhead."


" Although fixed in His abode, the Personality of Godhead is swifter than the mind and can overcome all others running. The powerful demigods cannot approach Him. Although in one place, He controls those who supply the air and rain. He surpasses all in excellence." (Isopanisad 4)


"The Supreme Lord walks and does not walk. He is far away, but He is very near as well. He is within everything, and yet He is outside of everything."(Isopanisad 5)


"Such a person must factually know the greatest of all, the Personality of Godhead, who is unembodied, omniscient, beyond reproach, without veins, pure and uncontaminated, the self-sufficient philosopher who has been fulfilling everyone's desire since time immemorial. "

(Isopanisad 8)

Srila Prabhupada writes in His purport to the above verse-

Here is a description of the transcendental and eternal form of the Absolute Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord is not formless. He has His own transcendental form, which is not at all similar to the forms of the mundane world. The forms of the living entities in this world are embodied in material nature, and they work like any material machine. The anatomy of a material body must have a mechanical construction with veins and so forth, but the transcendental body of the Supreme Lord has nothing like veins. It is clearly stated here that He is un-embodied, which means that there is no difference between His body and His soul. Nor is He forced to accept a body according to the laws of nature, as we are. In materially conditioned life, the soul is different from the gross embodiment and subtle mind. For the Supreme Lord, however, there is never any such difference between Him and His body and mind. He is the Complete Whole, and His mind, body and He Himself are all one and the same.


These are the few verses from the Vedic literature that describes the Transcendental form of Person of God.

So we see that Al-quran tells that Allah is light and Vedic literature confirms this as well. Then we see that Al-Quran says Allah possesses light. Similarly Vedic scripture says:

"And I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is the constitutional position of ultimate happiness, and which is immortal, imperishable and eternal. "

(BG 14.27)

Here Lord Krishna says that the all pervading dazzling impersonal spiritual effulgence is nothing but glow of Transcendental Personality. So Allah or Krishna's Transcendental Personality's glow constitutes impersonal Brahman.

This is further verified in Brahma Samhita:

" I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the nondifferentiated Brahman mentioned in the Upanisads, being differentiated from the infinity of glories of the mundane universe appears as the indivisible, infinite, limitless, truth."(Text 40)


" O my Lord, sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and exhibit Yourself to Your pure devotee. "

(Isopanisad 15)


In the prayers of Kunti in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.8.18) it is said that the Lord is covered by the curtain of yoga-maya and thus ordinary people cannot understand Him. Kunti prays: "O my Lord, You are the maintainer of the entire universe, and devotional service to You is the highest religious principle. Therefore, I pray that You will also maintain me. Your transcendental form is covered by the yoga-maya. The brahmajyoti is the covering of the internal potency. May You kindly remove this glowing effulgence that impedes my seeing Your sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, Your eternal form of bliss and knowledge."



As Allah's Nur is the light of all luminaries similarly it has been stated by

Vedic literature that Krishna's effulgence is light of all lights as verified in the verses from upanisads and Gita stated above.

So now we can safely conclude that God is a Person, Supreme Person possesing transcendental body which is knowledge absolute, never subjected to decay, always youthful. This body is absolute as there is no difference between the mind, body and spirit. Everything in connection with Him is Absolute spirit.

Now lets consider Parmatma. Although Al-Quran states that this very same transcendental form is present in everyone's heart as the Supersoul Vedic literature talks about this Supersoul as the plenary expansion of the Transcendental personality of Supreme which dwells in all living entities.

In the Narada-pancaratra this is confirmed in this way:

"By concentrating one's attention on the transcendental form of Krsna, who is all-pervading and beyond time and space, one becomes absorbed in thinking of Krsna and then attains the happy state of transcendental association with Him."

Krsna consciousness is the highest stage of trance in yoga practice. This very understanding that Krsna is present as Paramatma in everyone's heart makes the yogi faultless. The Vedas confirm this inconceivable potency of the Lord as follows:

"Visnu is one, and yet He is certainly all-pervading. By His inconceivable potency, in spite of His one form, He is present everywhere. As the sun, He appears in many places at once."

So although being one without a second the very same transcendental personality appears in the innumerable hearts as many just as one sun appears in many places at once. He is able to do this by dint of His inconcievable potency and since His personality is beyond space and time He can expand Himself into another form and yet remain the same person manifested differently in various forms:

Although Al-Quran covers information regarding God but Vedas goes in Detail explaining that very same personality of Go has expanded Himself into infinite number of forms-

"The one Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternally engaged in many, many transcendental forms in relationships with His unalloyed devotees."

(Puruso-bodhini upanisad)


"The light of one candle being communicated to other candles, although it burns separately in them, is the same in its quality. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda who exhibits Himself equally in the same mobile manner in His various manifestations."(Brahma Samhita text 46)


One must understand that Personality of Supreme who is known as Krishna, Allah...

is beyond space and time, uncontaminated, self-effulgent and absolute. When He exhibits Himself in innumerable forms then it is not that He has divided His one form into infinite pieces but each and every form is that same absolute truth Himself. They are all one and same. The example of vaidurya stone is given in this regards. This stone remains the same yet changes it's color. Hence Personality of God remains the same yet manifests infinitely different appearnces. This It is not that one form is a seperate person than other; they are all one and the same Supreme Personality just differently manifested. For us due to our conditioned existence it is very difficult to understand that how can God who is one without a second remain same absolute while simultaneously exhibit infinte number of forms. The answer is that He has inconcievable transcendental energy through which He expands Himself[His person] into different forms yet remain the same. Note He has expanded Himself into innumerable forms and not divided Himself into innumerable forms. Therefore He is God Himself in any of His form. Logically thinking since Supreme is an unlimited Person therefore it is sensible to accept that He possesses infinite number of forms. There is no limit to Him in any respect. Just as He has inifinite number of names He possesses infinite forms. Supreme Lord Krishna states this as follows:

"Lord Krishna says: There are others, who are purified and cultured souls, who by understanding my different forms as myself, as one personality in various forms and features, worship me according to their spiritual understanding and convictions following the rules of worship as given in the Vedas."

But originally the form of God is that which resembles Lord Krishna transcendental triple bending form. These forms of one and same Supreme Lord Krishna are identical with person of Lord Rama, Lord Vishnu. Not Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma. What is the state of Lord Brahma in comparison to Lord Krishna is spoken by Lord Brahma Himself:

http://www.bhagavadgita.org/Incarnat...nation-61.html

So now you must be convinced that Al-Quran when refers to Allah is only refering to the person Krishna Himself. Certainly there cannot be two different person with same description and paraphernalia.

Further more look at another amazing similarity---

"(We take our)Color from Allah. Who is better than Allah at coloring?"(2.138)

Sibgat the root meaning of this word is color. Allah possesses beautiful dark color.

Actually Allah being the source of everything it is no wonder that some color of this material world should resemble His.

Although His color is not material which I shall explain in a moment. From the above verse if Arabs analogously resembles the color of God then we can safely conclude that color of God is a beautiful dark complexion. But God has been described as full of dazzling effulgence and no dark color in this world is dazzling. This seems contradictory. Actually there is no contradiction if we realize that this dark color of Allah is spiritual but not material. Being a spiritual color it is transcendental to perception and mind and can afford to throw out flashing effulgence. Similarly Krishna is famous as syamsundara or one whose complexion is darkish but at the same time is full of most dazzling splendor. See this verse:


" I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Syamasundara, Krishna Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love." (Brahma Samhita 38)


Srila Bhaktisiddhanta saraswati writesin the purport to this verse-

The Syamasundara form of Krishna is His inconceivable simultaneous personal and impersonal self-contradictory form. True devotees see the form in their purified hearts under the influence of devotional trance. The form Syama is not the blue color visible in the mundane world but is the transcendental variegated color affording eternal bliss, and is not visible to the mortal eye. On a consideration of the trance of Vyasadeva as in the sloka, bhakti-yogena manasi etc., it will be clear that the form of Sri Krishna is the full Personality of Godhead and can only be visible in the heart of a true devotee, which is the only true seat in the state of trance under the influence of devotion. When Krishna manifested Himself in Vraja, both the devotees and non- devotees saw Him with this very eye; but only the devotees cherished Him, eternally present in Vraja, as the priceless jewel of their heart. Nowadays also the devotees see Him in Vraja in their hearts, saturated with devotion although they do not see Him with their eyes. The eye of devotion is nothing but the eye of the pure unalloyed spiritual self of the Jiva. The form of Krishna is visible to that eye in proportion to its purification by the practice of devotion. When the devotion of the neophyte reaches the stage of bhava-bhakti the pure eye of that devotee is tinged with the salve of love by the grace of Krishna, which enables him to see Krishna face to face. The phrase "in their hearts" means Krishna is visible in proportion as their hearts are purified by the practice of devotion. The sum and substance of this sloka is that the form of Krishna, who is Syamasundara, Natavara (Best Dancer), Muralidhara (Holder of the Flutes) and Tribhanga (Triple-bending), is not a mental concoction but is transcendental, and is visible with the eye of the soul of the devotee under trance.


Hence the Brahman just being the transcendental effulgence of spiritual body of Lord represents Absolute Truth partially. Parmatma being plenary expansion of the very spiritual absolute form of Lord is a partial representation of Supreme Personality situated in everyone's heart. Highest conception therefore of Absolute truth is Supreme Person who contains the infinite formless magnitude in His form as His own spiritual energy and expands Himself as Superself in everyone. So it is the Personality of Godhead who makes Himself partially represented by all pervading effulgence being rays of His spiritual body and hence nondifferent from His very person just like Sun rays being emanation from sun are nondifferent from the sun planet itself. Then this same person makes Himself partially present in everyone's heart as the supersoul. So it is the Bhagavan who is both origin of brahman and Parmatma who is to be worhsipped. One should not think here that Absolute truth is has equally divided itself in the form of Brahman,parmatma and bhagavan. But rather Absolute truth is only Bhagavan Himself. Parmatma on virtue of being partial representation of that Absolute truth Bhagavan is partial representation of Absolute truth and similarly the dazzling effulgence being a spiritual energy of Absolute truth is a partial representation of it only. Only Bhagavan who is Absolute Truth itself is the complete perfection and complete manifestation of Absolute Truth possessing superexcellently beautiful form. Since this form is unrivaled and incomparable and other than whom no truth exists is called Allah due to this reason. Because this very form of the Supreme Person is full in all opulences unto infinite degree it is called Krishna meaning the All-attractive one. Vedas further argue that anyname to belong to Supreme Lord must be indicated by the word Krishna otheriwse it doesn't belongs to the absolute truth. The reason is that since the word krishna means all-attractive one and any name of God irrespective of the language, culture etc.. always attracts in one or the other way. The basic nature of each and every name of God is that it attracts one or in other word that it is indicated by krishna.

Bhagavan is thus the personal God aspired to and worshiped by the devotees of monotheistic religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and Hinduism.


SO MY DEAR BROTHER MUHAMMAD I HUMBLY REQUEST AT YOUR LOTUS FEET THAT YOU AT LEAST START TO THINK OF THE SIMILARITY IN THE PERSON OF ALLAH AND KRISHNA AS DESCRIBED IN AL-QURAN AND VEDIC LITERATURE YOUR DOUBTS WILL AUTOMATICALLY MELT AWAY AND YOU WOULD KNOW THE CORRECT WAY INSHALLAH!!!!!

Towards the end I beg for mercy and forgiveness if I have knowingly or unknowingly hurt anyone's sentiments. I being a servant of all servants of Krishna accept all religions that professes love unto Supreme as the only way for perfect liberation bonafide.


All glories to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga

Your Servant Always

OM TAT SAT

[kazanova3]

nonson i wounder how you read and don't understand what you read .i think you are not educated will for such debate like this any wise person in this world who read honestly to understand cann knew that islam is the true religion and THE HOLLY QURA'N IS THE LAST BOOK REVEALD TO HUMANITY BESIDE THIS YOU ARE SO STUIPED AND UNDERSTAND NOTHING IN RELIGIONS OTHER WISE YOU AT LEAST KNEW THE DEFFERENCESS BETWEEN OTHER RELIGIONS BUT IT SEEMS THAT TILL THIS MOMENT YOU ARE SHOOTING LIKE KIDS ??????AMONG THOUSANDS OF EVEDENCES I BROUGHT FOR YOU TO SHOW YOU THE RIGHT AND THE FALSE IT SEEMS THAT YOU ARE STILL BLIND ,BLIND IN HEART ,EYES AND MIND....STOP YOUR STUPIDITY AND BE UN OPEN MIND AND READ I TOLD YOU BEFORE PLS.READ UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU READ THEN COME TO DEBATE PEOPLE WITH FULL RESPECT.AFTER MANY PROVES I BROUGHT I FOUND I BROUGHT IT TO PERSON WHO IS NOT EDUCATED WILL TO DEBATE.....GO AGAIN AND READ WHAT I WROTE ALSO READ WHAT YOU WROTE TO ME YOU WILL FIND THAT YOU ARE CLOSED MIND AND BLIND FROM FACTS WHICH IS CLEAR TO YOU AS THE SUN IN THE SKY .AND FACTS CAN'T BE COVERD BY STUIPED PEOPLE............BY BYBYBY

[kazanova3]

"O My Lord! Increase me in knowledge!" - Qur'an 20:114
Who is Allah?
by Abu Iman 'Abd ar-Rahman Robert Squires
╘ 1998, 1999, 2000 - MUSLIM ANSWERS, P. O. Box 1227, Windermere, FL 34786 - U. S. A.



Some of the biggest misconceptions that many non-Muslims have about Islam have to do with the word "Allah". For various reasons, many people have come to believe that Muslims worship a different God than Christians and Jews. This is totally false, since "Allah" is simply the Arabic word for "God" - and there is only One God. Let there be no doubt - Muslims worship the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus - peace be upon them all. However, it is certainly true that Jews, Christians and Muslims all have different concepts of Almighty God. For example, Muslims - like Jews - reject the Christian beliefs of the Trinity and the Divine Incarnation. This, however, doesn't mean that each of these three religions worships a different God - because, as we have already said, there is only One True God. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all claim to be "Abrahamic Faiths", and all of them are also classified as "monotheistic". However, Islam teaches that other religions have, in one way or another, distorted and nullified a pure and proper belief in Almighty God by neglecting His true teachings and mixing them with man-made ideas.
First of all, it is important to note that "Allah" is the same word that Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use for God. If you pick up an Arabic Bible, you will see the word "Allah" being used where "God" is used in English. (Click here to see some examples of the word "Allah" in the Arabic Bible.) This is because "Allah" is the only word in the Arabic language equivalent to the English word "God" with a capital "G". Additionally, the word "Allah" cannot be made plural or given gender (i.e. masculine or feminine), which goes hand-in-hand with the Islamic concept of God. Because of this, and also because the Qur'an, which is the holy scripture of Muslims, was revealed in the Arabic language, some Muslims use the word "Allah" for "God", even when they are speaking other languages. This is not unique to the word "Allah", since many Muslims tend to use Arabic words when discussing Islamic issues, regardless of the language which they speak. This is because the universal teachings of Islam - even though they have been translated in every major language - have been preserved in the Arabic language.

It is interesting to note that the Aramaic word "El", which is the word for God in the language that Jesus spoke, is certainly more similar in sound to the word "Allah" than the English word "God". This also holds true for the various Hebrew words for God, which are "El" and "Elah", and the plural form "Elohim". The reason for these similarities is that Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic are all Semitic languages with common origins. It should also be noted that in translating the Bible into English, the Hebrew word "El" is translated variously as "God", "god" and "angel"! This imprecise language allows different translators, based on their preconceived notions, to translate the word to fit their own views. The Arabic word "Allah" presents no such difficulty or ambiguity, since it is only used for Almighty God alone. Additionally, in English, the only difference between "god", meaning a false god, and "God", meaning the One True God, is the capital "G". In the Arabic alphabet, since it does not have capital letters, the word for God (i.e. Allah) is formed by adding the equivalent to the English word "the" (Al-) to the Arabic word for "god/God" (ilah). So the Arabic word "Allah" literally it means "The God" - the "Al-" in Arabic basically serving the same function as the capital "G" in English. Due to the above mentioned facts, a more accurate translation of the word "Allah" into English might be "The One -and-Only God" or "The One True God".

More importantly, it should also be noted that the Arabic word "Allah" contains a deep religious message due to its root meaning and origin. This is because it stems from the Arabic verb ta'allaha (or alaha), which means "to be worshipped". Thus in Arabic, the word "Allah" means "The One who deserves all worship". This, in a nutshell, is the Pure Monotheistic message of Islam. You see, according to Islam, "monotheism" is much more than simply believing in the existence of "only One God" - as seemingly opposed to two, three or more. If one understands the root meaning of the word "Allah", this point should become clear. One should understand that Islam's criticism of the other religions that claim to be "monotheistic" is not because they are "polytheistic" in the classic sense, but because they direct various forms of worship to other than Almighty God. We will discuss the meaning of worship in Islam below, however, before moving on it should be noted that many non-Muslims are unaware of the distinction between simply believing in the existence of only One God and reserving all worship for Him alone. Many Christians are painfully unaware of this point, and thus you often find them asking how Muslims can accuse the followers of Jesus, peace be upon him, of being "polytheists" when they were all "monotheistic Jews". First of all, it should be clarified that the word "polytheist" doesn't really sound right in this context, since to many it implies simply believing in the existence of more than one God. So in an Islamic context, "associators", "man-worshippers" or "creature worshippers" might be more accurate and appropriate terms - especially since Christians believe Jesus to be both "100% God and 100% man", while still paying lip-service to God's "Oneness". However, as we're previously touched upon, what is really at the root of this problem is the fact that Christians - as well as the members of other religions - don't really know what "monotheism" means - especially in the Islamic sense. All of the books, articles and papers that I've read which were written by Christians invariably limit "monotheism" to believing in the existence of "One Sovereign and Creator God". Islam, however, teaches much more than this.

Suffice it to say that just because someone claims to be a "monotheistic" Jew, Christian or Muslim, that doesn't keep them from falling into corrupt beliefs and idolatrous practices. Many people, including some Muslims, claim belief in "One God" even though they've fallen into acts of idolatry. Certainly, many Protestants accuse Roman Catholics of idolatrous practices in regards to the saints and the Virgin Mary. Likewise, the Greek Orthodox Church is considered "idolatrous" by many other Christians because in much of their worship they use icons. However, if you ask a Roman Catholic or a Greek Orthodox person if God is "One", they will invariably answer: "Yes!". This lip-service, however, does not stop them from being "creature worshipping" idolaters. The same goes for Hindus, who just consider their gods to be "manifestations" or "incarnations" of the One Supreme God.

Everyone should be aware of the fact that throughout the long history of the "Abrahamic Faiths", there have people who, while believing in "One God", have adopted beliefs and practices that completely nullify their claim to "monotheism". This is the Muslim view of Christians. We're well aware of the fact that they claim belief in "One God" with their lips, but this doesn't mean that they don't nullify their claim in other ways. This is because many people simply haven't been taught everything that Pure Monotheism entails. From an Islamic point of view, "monotheism" can be nullified in many ways. For example, simply believing that it is permissible to rule by Western "liberal" and "democratic" laws in lieu of the Divinely Revealed Law of Almighty God makes one a "polytheist". Certainly, a person who does such a thing, whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim, doesn't ever believe that there is another Almighty Creator and Sovereign Lord. However, for all practical purposes, such a person has take another "god", whether they choose to admit it or not. In this way they are associating partners with Almighty God (Arabic: shirk), and thus become a "polytheist" in a practical sense, regardless of their lip-service to "monotheism". This holds true even if the person doesn't believe what they are doing is "worship". For example, Roman Catholics who pray to the Virgin Mary will staunchly deny that they are "worshipping" her. They instead call it "adoration" or some other watered-down term. However, from an Islamic point of view, what is worship if not this? Islam teaches that prayer and supplication are the marrow of worship, so if one directs their prayers to an intermediary (even if the pray is "ultimately" meant for God), then what is left of worship? Additionally, how can someone who believes in Almighty God follow man-made laws instead of God's Law, without admitting that they've begun worshipping other than God? Do they know better than God?

Additionally, the Old Testament makes it perfectly clear that making a "graven image" of any created thing (not to mention ones which are supposed to "represent" Almighty God) is prohibited. Please see Exodus 20:4-6, Leviticus 26:1 and Deuteronomy 4:16, 23, 25, 5:8 and Nehemiah 9:6 for some statements in regards to this point. Without addressing the issue that Christians commonly violate the unambiguous commandment not to even "make" representations of anything that is in the "heavens above or on the earth beneath", these verses not only teach that worshipping idols is prohibited, but also that Almighty God is eternally distinct from His creation and thus nothing in His creation can represent Him. To believe otherwise is to be a de facto idol worshipper - even if one claims belief in one, and only one, "True God". In Exodus 20:4-6 and Deuteronomy 4:16, Almighty God - who is a "Jealous God" - makes it perfectly clear that He is distinct from His creation.

By giving such clear and merciful guidance to human beings, God is establishing a universal and eternal Truth for the benefit of mankind. This eternal Truth is the bedrock of religious guidance, since once people begin to believe that Almighty God mixes with or can be represented by His creation, they can be duped into believing almost anything. Once someone accepts that God has become "incarnate" in His creation, or that someone or something is a "manifestation" - and thus representation - of Him, the floodgates are open and "Truth" becomes a matter of subjective guesswork. Once the first and most basic concept is violated - regardless of how complicated and sophisticated the rationale for it might be - it is very easy to fall further and further away from the Eternal Truth of Pure Monotheism. In the final analysis, it is not a question of whether God is capable of becoming a man, but rather a question of whether one bases their beliefs about God on clear, unambiguous and authentic guidance. Once it is left up to the human mind to decide what Almighty God can and cannot do, the stage is set for misguidance to take root. Human speculation about God only ends up leading to misguidance and despair, since no clear conclusions can ever be reached. For example, is God capable of creating an object so heavy that He is incapable of moving it? If not, does that mean that He is incapable? It is because of misguided questions like this that Islam clearly teaches that mankind should only say about God what He has said about Himself. This means all of our ideas about God must be based on Revelation - not human speculation. In short, the final prophet of Islam - Muhammad - was sent by Almighty God to preach the same Pure Monotheism that was practiced by Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus - peace be upon them all. This Pure Monotheism means not only believing that there is only One God in existence, but realizing that He is transcedent above His creation and that all worship is due to Him alone.

Before concluding, we should probably address the practice of those Muslims who insist on using the Arabic word "Allah" even when speaking English. Even though this practice certainly is not to be condemned when it is done around those who understand the meaning of the Arabic word "Allah", it is my experience - both during my years as a non-Muslim and my years as a Muslim - that such a practice can (and usually does) breed misunderstanding. It seems that often times, many of the Muslims who use the word "Allah" in lieu of the word "God", even when trying to attract people to Islam, are unaware of the severe misunderstandings that many non-Muslims have about Islam (and the distorted way which Islam has been portrayed in the West). Insisting on using the word "Allah" only fuels the flames of misunderstanding - so there's no good reason to do it. I've often wondered what value some Muslims think that using the word "Allah" adds to the Pure Message that they are trying to convey. ( . . . and I'm still waiting for an answer!) Unfortunately, those Muslims who insist on using the word "Allah" even when addressing non-Muslims who are unfamiliar with Islam and the Arabic language, do both a disservice to themselves and their religion. Unfortunately, this practice is usually based on the false assumption - by a non-native speaker of English - that the word "God" in English is incapable of expressing a pure and proper belief in Almighty God. This is certainly false. If someone says that the English word "God" cannot be used to express the Pure Islamic Belief in Tawhid, they are wrong not because they don't understand Tawhid, but simply because they don't understand the English language. Many people who insist on using the Arabic word "Allah" usually don't realize this, because in reality, they are not so much affirming the word "Allah" as they are rejecting the word "God" as unsuitable - based on incorrect assumptions. For someone to assume that the word "God" presupposes a certain theological point-of-view (such as the Trinity) is simply Wrong - and that's Wrong with a capital "W". To say the word "God" should be rejected because it can be changed into "god", "gods" or "goddess" is illogical because each of these words has a distinctive meaning and a distinctive spelling - at least to someone who knows how to speak English correctly. Using the same logic, I can demonstrate that the root letters "ktb" can be used to form the Arabic words "kitab" (book), "maktabah" (library), "maktab" (office) and "kaatib" (writer), but does that mean that these words have the same meaning? Do Arabic-speaking people go through life confusing libraries with writers and offices with books (both in conversation and in reality)? I think not! This is not to mention the fact that if the Arabic "Al-" was put in front of these words in order to make them definite, confusion would be even less likely! So the logic in both cases is the same, and this is because even though the same letters are used in "God" and "god", these two words have two different meanings in the English language. The capital "G" implies something different than the small "g" - and anyone who denies this simply doesn't know how to speak the English language.

In concluding this point, it should be mentioned that Arabic-speaking Muslims who believe in Pure Tawhid, Arabic-speaking Christians, the idol worshippers of Mecca and (so-called) Muslims who believe in "Wahdat al-Wujud" all use the word "Allah". However, does this guarantee all of them proper belief in "Allah"? Certainly not, because if they have a corrupt concept of "Allah" it doesn't matter what word they use!

This brings us to a more important point: It should be clearly understood that what Islam is primarily concerned with is correcting mankind's concept of Almighty God. What we are ultimately going to be held accountable at the end of our life is not whether we prefer the word "Allah" over the word "God", but what our concept of God is. Language is only a side issue. A person can have an incorrect concept of God while using the word "Allah", and likewise a person can have a correct concept of God while using the word "God". This is because both of these words are equally capable of being misused and being improperly defined. As we've already mentioned, using the word "Allah" no more insinuates belief in the Unity of God than the use of the word "God" insinuates belief in the Trinity - or any other theological opinion. Naturally, when God sends a revelation to mankind through a prophet, He is going to send it in a language that the people who receive it can understand and relate to. Almighty God makes this clear in the Qur'an, when He states:

"Never did We send a Messenger except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people in order to make (things) clear to them."
(Qur'an, Chapter 14 - "Abraham", Verse 4)
As Muslims, we think that it is unfortunate that we have to go into details on such seemingly minor issues, but so many falsehoods have been heaped upon our religion, that we feel that it is our duty to try to break down the barriers of falsehood. This isn't always easy, since there is a lot of anti-Islamic literature in existence which tries to make Islam look like something strange and foreign to Westerners. There are some people out there, who are obviously not on the side of truth, that want to get people to believe that "Allah" is just some Arabian "god", and that Islam is completely "other" - meaning that it has no common roots with the other Abrahamic religions (i.e. Christianity and Judaism). To say that Muslims worship a different "God" because they say "Allah" is just as illogical as saying that French people worship another God because they use the word "Dieu", that Spanish-speaking people worship a different God because they say "Dios" or that the Hebrews worshipped a different God because they sometimes call Him "Yahweh". Certainly, reasoning like this is quite ridiculous! It should also be mentioned, that claiming that any one language uses the only the correct word for God is tantamount to denying the universality of God's message to mankind, which was to all nations, tribes and people through various prophets who spoke different languages.
Before closing, we would like everyone to be aware of the fact that some Christian missionary organizations print English literature intended to teach Christians about Islam which say such things as: "Allah is the god of the Muslims" and that "Muhammad came to get people to believe in the god Allah" - implying that "Allah" is some sort of false "god". However, when these same organizations print literature in the Arabic language, hoping to lead Arabic-speaking Muslims "to Christ", they use the word "Allah" for God. It seems that if they were on the side of truth, they would not have to resort to such inconsistencies. And on an even more ridiculous note . . . there are also missionary organizations that exceed this in ignorance (or deceit) by writing books that call on Muslims to give up their belief in "Allah", and instead worship the "Lord" Jesus, "the Son of God". Besides making it abundantly clear that they are outside the community of Pure Monotheism, the people who write such material don't even realize that if they wrote such a pamphlet in Arabic, it would be self-contradictory. This is because in an Arabic Bible Jesus is the "Son of Allah"! If an Arabic-speaking person gave up the worship of "Allah", they would have no God to worship, since "Allah" is simply the Arabic word for God!

Before we conclude, however, we would like to ask our readers to ask themselves what they think the reasons are behind all of these lies? If Islam was just some false religion that didn't make any sense, would so many people, from Western scholars to Christian missionaries, have to tell so many lies about it? The reason is that the Ultimate Truth of Islam stands on solid ground and its unshakable belief in the Unity of God is above reproach. Due to this, Christians can't criticize its doctrines directly, but instead make up things about Islam that aren't true so that people lose the desire to learn more. If Muslims were able to present Islam in the proper way to people in the West, it surely might make many people reconsider and re-evaluate their own beliefs. It is quite likely that Christians, when they find out that there is a universal religion in the world that teaches people to worship and love God, while also practicing Pure Monotheism, would at least feel that they should re-examine the basis for their own beliefs and doctrines.

[Nonson]

Kazanova,

You are an ignorant towel head, pushing the dung of a worshipper of the Moon. You call him a prophet. That in and of itself is the ultimate degree of stupidity. But what can one expect of a person who walks around in a sheet? I'm sure you know the type of garbage you've labelled, and I believe it to be very accurate. The real point is, however, that you are a mindless idiot. You are not even capable of a 7-year old's language and you come here wanting to teach adults lessons. Get lost dung-pusher, or I will have you removed from Ukraine.com.

Nonson
1.14.01

[kazanova3]

WILL NONSON YOU ARE GOING TO REMOVE ME FROM UKRAINE.COM WHY JUST BECAUSE YOU DEAFETED MAN///// BE UN OPEN MIND.TONIGHT I BROUGHT TO YOU THOUSANDS OF EVEDENCESS WHY YOU SAID I WILL REMOVE YOU FROM UKRAINE.COM WHY .IT IS VERY NICE CLUB ..WITHER YOU REMOVE ME OR NOT FACTS STAY FOR EVER.........WHY YOU DON'T READ TO UNDERSTAND???

[Nonson]

You are too ignorant for anyone to bother. There are people looking for people like you.

Your brothers are killing more babies, as of today.

[kazanova3]

nonson don't be soo angree from truth why? you are human and you have mind TO READ ,THINK AND ANSWER.SO BREAK THE ICE..AND ASK GOD (ALLAH)TO SHOW YOU THE RIGHT PATH.AND DON'T HATE ANY .RESPECT OTHERS SO THEY RESPECT YOU .....READY TO DEBATE THEN GO AND READ WHAT I WROTE THEN COME TO DEBATE.....BUT WHEN YOU READ ,READ CARFULLY TO UNDERSTAND...DON'T LET YOUR HATE TO ISLAM REPLY WITHOUT READING MASSEGES AND AFTER UNDERSTAND ,REVIEW RESORCES THEN YOU CAN DEBATE .OTHERS.BY BY BY..