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Concerns over Bibles containing ‘Allah’

2:21pm Saturday, 30th July 2011  

Dr Greg Clarke, Chief Executive Officer of Bible Society Australia

Recently, there have been some enquiries made to the Bible Society about the terms used for “God” in our Bibles. It seems a rumour has arisen that the Bible Society is replacing the word “God” with the word “Allah” in some publications. This is not the case. Let me explain.
 In Arabic, the word “allah” simply means “god” (in fact, it is derived from words for God such as “elohim” in the Hebrew Old Testament).
Before Islam existed as a religion, Arab Christians would pray to “allah” because that was their word for “God”.  So, in Arabic language versions of the Bible, it is not surprising or controversial to find the word “allah” used. It has always been that way.
But what about English Bibles? Somewhere, the rumour arose that the Bible Society is printing English Bibles using the word “Allah” instead of  “God”. This is not true. It is certainly not the case in Australia, and from my best research throughout the United Bible Societies network around the globe, no other Bible Society is doing this.
There is one English give-away Gospel of Matthew that does use Arabic words (including “Allah”), known as The Holy Injil (“injil” means “gospel”), but it is produced by a private company—Biblica—not the Bible Society.
My understanding is that this Gospel was developed by a former missionary who worked with Bengali-speakers from Bangladesh, for English-speaking audiences of Muslim background.
Those who are worried that the Bible Society is “surrendering” to Muslim pressure can relax. I feel no such pressure, nor would it affect our very professional approach to translation and publishing.
However, there is an important issue here for our prayers. In Malaysia, there is pressure on Christians not to use the word “Allah” in the Malay Bible, even though it has been used since the first Malay translation in 1629. Some people there are concerned that Christians are “trying to make Christianity attractive to Muslims”.
As those who believe Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, let us pray that our faith will indeed appeal to many who do not yet know the Lord.
If you have further concerns regarding Islam and Bible publishing, please feel free to contact Eternity and we can provide you with more information.
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