NETHERLANDS: Breda Bishop Tiny Muskens, who once worked as a missionary in Indonesia, has proposed that the Dutch Catholics just as Christians already do in other countries without significant Muslim populations.
Radio Netherlands reports that Bishop Muskens says his country should look to Indonesia, where the Christian churches already pray to Allah. It is also common in the Arab world: Christians and Muslims Arabs use the word Gods and Allah interchangeably.
Speaking on the Dutch TV program Network on August 13, Bishop Muskens says it could take another 100 years but eventually the name Allah will be used by the Dutch churches. And that will promote rapprochement between the two religions.
Muskens doesn’t expect his idea to be greeted with much enthusiasm. The 71-year-old bishop, who will soon be retiring due to ill health, says God doesn’t mind what he is called. God is above such “discussion and bickering”. Human beings invented this discussion themselves, he believes, in order to argue about it.
More than 30 years ago Bishop Muskens worked in Indonesia and, there, God was called Allah, even in Catholic churches. The Dutch should learn to get on spontaneously with different cultures, religions and behavior patterns:
“Someone like me has prayed to Allah yang maha kuasa ( Almighty God ) for eight years in Indonesia and other priests for 20 or 30 years. In the heart of the Eucharist, God is called Allah over there, so why can’t we start doing that together?”
In the Arab world God is called Allah. The long history of Christianity in the Arab world led to the development of a rich Christian-Islamic theological vocabulary, which makes God a normal equivalent to Allah. Both Muslims and Christians use the word in the Middle East.
Apart from Allah, the term ar-Rabb ( the Lord ) is also widely used, although this appears far more often in the Arab version of the Bible than in the Qur’an. In the Islamic context, references to ar-Rabb are normally found in the possessive form, such as Rabbi ( My Lord ). Interestingly the word Allah was already in use by Christians in the preIslamic period. ---- Catholic Resources. August 26 2007 Comment: If this will bring about peace among the citizens of the world, so be it - we are after all praying to the very same God. A rose by any other name smells just as sweet. God is Allah and Allah is God and we are His children. He loves us all. anon
More than 30 years ago Bishop Muskens worked in Indonesia and, there, God was called Allah, even in Catholic churches. The Dutch should learn to get on spontaneously with different cultures, religions and behavior patterns:
“Someone like me has prayed to Allah yang maha kuasa ( Almighty God ) for eight years in Indonesia and other priests for 20 or 30 years. In the heart of the Eucharist, God is called Allah over there, so why can’t we start doing that together?”
In the Arab world God is called Allah. The long history of Christianity in the Arab world led to the development of a rich Christian-Islamic theological vocabulary, which makes God a normal equivalent to Allah. Both Muslims and Christians use the word in the Middle East.
Apart from Allah, the term ar-Rabb ( the Lord ) is also widely used, although this appears far more often in the Arab version of the Bible than in the Qur’an. In the Islamic context, references to ar-Rabb are normally found in the possessive form, such as Rabbi ( My Lord ). Interestingly the word Allah was already in use by Christians in the preIslamic period. ---- Catholic Resources. August 26 2007 Comment: If this will bring about peace among the citizens of the world, so be it - we are after all praying to the very same God. A rose by any other name smells just as sweet. God is Allah and Allah is God and we are His children. He loves us all. anon
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