WHY IS ALLAH INFERIOR TO JEHOVAH?
Muslims claim to worship the same god as Abraham did. They claim that Allah is a continuity of the God of the Bible. Is their claim true? There are many irrefutable evidences to prove why Allah is not the God of the Holy Bible. He is certainly not Jehovah. However, in this article we will focus on one vital piece of evidence that conclusively proves why Allah is not Jehovah. While Jehovah is Almighty, Allah is an inferior god. The Qur’an itself provides sufficient evidences to substantiate this inferior position of Allah. It clearly teaches that Allah is vastly inferior to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Unlike Muslim apologists, we do not use deception nor do we distort the Word of God to validate our claim:
2 Corinthians 4:2: We have renounced the shameful, underhanded things by not walking with cunning or adulterating the word of God. But we make the truth manifest by recommending ourselves to every human conscience in the sight of God.
When men swear, they do so to establish an oath. They swear to give their oath the power of a greater source. Thus, the act of swearing involves the invoking of something greater than the one swearing. The Holy Bible substantiates this universally recognized truth:
Hebrews 6:16: “For men verily swear by the greater, and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation”
The swearing of a divine oath is an invocation to God to witness the genuineness of the sworn statement. The underlying principle of an oath is to invoke God to witness the truthfulness of the one swearing the oath. That is why it is universal for the one swearing an oath to raise his or her hand towards the heavens in recognition of God’s heavenly position.
Well, what about God? How does God swear? Since God is the Supreme Being, there is no one above or greater than him. Neither is anyone equal to him. Therefore, each time God swears in the Bible, he swears by himself since there is none greater for him to swear by. For example, when Jehovah promised Abraham to bless the nations of the earth through his offspring, he guaranteed it with an oath. Since there is no one higher or greater than Jehovah, he swore by himself:
Genesis 22:16-18: “‘By myself I swear,’ declares Jehovah …And by means of your offspring all nations of the earth will obtain a blessing for themselves because you have listened to my voice.’”
Centuries later, when recounting the above account in the Christian Greek Scriptures, Jehovah maintained this same divine standard. Proving that he does not change his divine principles with the passing of time, the Holy Bible states:
Hebrews 6:13: “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself.”
An oath is basically an appeal to a Supreme Being to act as a witness to the truth of the sworn statement. In view of the fact that Jehovah is Almighty God, he cannot swear by another. Doing so would nullify the very basis for swearing an oath since everything else is inferior to him. When we understand this fundamental truth, we can see why it is logically consistent for Jehovah to swear only by himself:
Isaiah 45:23: “By myself I have sworn. The word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness.”
Jeremiah 22:5: “By myself I do swear,” declares Jehovah.
It is unthinkable for the Almighty to swear by anyone or anything. The fact that Jehovah swears by himself proves he is above all others. This makes perfect sense since it will be blasphemous for the Creator to appeal to his creation to certify the validity of his promises. Having established this basic truth, let us now compare Allah with Jehovah. We will begin by considering an important teaching in Islam that is vital to our discussion.
THE SIN OF SHIRK
According to the Qur’an, the worst sin that a Muslim can ever commit is the sin of “shirk.” In Islamic terminology, “shirk” means associating partners with Allah. Associating partners with Allah is viewed as idolatry and polytheism in the teachings of Islam. It is an unpardonable sin:
Surah 4:48: Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgives anything else, to whom He pleases; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed. (Yusuf Ali)
There are a number of ways a Muslim can commit shirk. It does not mean that only when a Muslim worships other gods besides Allah he has committed the sin of shirk. Islam teaches that even swearing by something other than Allah is shirk. Therefore, if a Muslim were to swear by something other than Allah, he has committed the unpardonable sin of shirk. Numerous Islamic sources verify this teaching in Islam. In fact, Muhammad himself repeatedly taught this to his early followers.
Jami` At-Tirmidhi, Book 18, Hadith 1535:
Narrated Sa’d bin ‘Ubaidah: Ibn ‘Umar heard a man saying: “No by the Ka’bah” so Ibn ‘Umar said: “Nothing is sworn by other than Allah, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) say: ‘Whoever swears by other than Allah, he has committed disbelief or shirk.’”
In fact, any Muslim who swears by something other than Allah is judged as a polytheist by Muhammad.
Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 21, Number 3245:
Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar: Sa’id ibn Ubaydah said: Ibn Umar heard a man swearing: No, I swear by the Ka’bah. Ibn Umar said to him: I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) say: He who swears by anyone but Allah is polytheist.
As we can clearly see, Islam teaches that a Muslim must swear only by Allah and no one else. He cannot swear by anything which is of lesser value than Allah. Authoritative Islamic sources repeatedly warn Muslims about the seriousness as well as the importance of observing this teaching of Allah and Muhammad. Provided below are some of the most recognized Islamic sources in the Muslim world.
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 177:
Narrated ‘Umar: The Prophet said, “If anybody has to take an oath, he should swear only by Allah.”
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Hadith 129:
Allah’s Apostle called them saying: “Verily! Allah forbids you to swear by your fathers. If one has to take an oath, he should swear by Allah or otherwise keep quiet.”
Sahih Muslim, Book 015, Hadith Number 4040:
Muhammad said: He who has to take an oath, he must not take oath but by Allah.
Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 21, Number 3242:
Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Do not swear by your fathers, or by your mothers, or by rivals to Allah; and swear by Allah only, and swear by Allah only when you are speaking the truth.
Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah, Zad-ul Ma’ad fi Hadyi Khairi-l ‘Ibad, Volume 4, p. 320:
An exclusive right for Allah, such as vowing, for example, should not be given to anyone or thing, except Allah alone. The Messenger of Allah said: “He who intends to swear, let him swear by Allah or keep silent.” He also said: “He who swears by other than Allah, will have committed Shirk.”
As can be noted, to swear by anything or anyone other than Allah is strictly forbidden in Islam. For a Muslim to do so means he is associating partners with Allah. Therefore, swearing by something other than Allah is shirk – the unpardonable sin in Islam. Having clarified what shirk means in Islam, let us turn our attention to Allah.
ALLAH COMMITS SHIRK
Since Allah is supposed to be the Greatest, the Qur’an accordingly teaches the following:
- Do not swear by anything other than Allah.
- Swear only by Allah.
Ironically, Allah does not seem to understand the underlying principle behind this fundamental law. In total violation against his own teachings in the Qur’an, Allah foolishly swears by a host of things. He swears by anything and everything. Throughout the Qur’an, he swears by both animate and inanimate things. Let us look at a few examples:
Surah 15:72: (I swear) upon your life, (O Muhammad) they were intoxicated and rampaging out of control. (Munir Munshey)
Surah 36:2: “I swear by the Qur’an full of wisdom” (Shakir)
Surah 51:1: “I swear by the wind that scatters far and wide.” (Ibid)
Surah 52:1-4: I swear by the Mountain, And the Book written in an outstretched fine parchment, And the House (Kaaba) that is visited, And the elevated canopy, And the swollen sea. (Ibid)
Surah 53:1: “I swear by the star when it goes down.” (Ibid)
Surah 68:1: “Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write.” (Ibid)
Surah 69:38-39: I swear by that which you see, And that which you do not see. (Ibid)
Surah 79:1: “I swear by the angels who violently pull out the souls of the wicked.” (Ibid)
Surah 84:16-18: I swear by the sunset redness, And the night and that which it drives on, And the moon when it grows full. (Ibid)
Surah 89:1-4: I swear by the daybreak, And the ten nights, And the even and the odd, And the night when it departs. (Ibid)
Surah 95:1-3: “I swear by the fig and the olive, And Mount Sinai, And this city made secure. (Ibid)
Surah 100:1: I swear by the runners breathing pantingly. (Ibid)
The above is only a partial list. These references are quite damaging for Islam. Let us analyze them carefully. Allah swears by the very things he is supposed to have created. Both the Qur’an and Muhammad clearly taught that when you swear by something other than Allah, you make that something a partner with Allah. Therefore, Allah has made himself partner to a host of things. For example, when Allah swears by the angels, the angels become Allah’s divine partners. Thus, Allah himself is guilty of committing shirk. As such, he is categorically a polytheist. We are not the ones saying this but Islam. How can you trust Allah when he does not honor his own teachings?
An oath is meant to increase the weight of a sworn statement. When Allah swears by something that is lesser in value than himself, he is actually weakening the value of his sworn statement. Therefore, he is actually decreasing the value of his oath. For instance, when Allah swears by the fig (Surah 95:1), he is either elevating the fig to the position of a deity or he is decreasing the value of his oath to the value of the fig. Either way it is wrong. When Allah’s promises are accompanied by oaths which are sworn to such trivial things, it leaves little to be trusted.
The absolute blasphemous nature of Allah can also be seen by the things he swears by in the Qur’an. In Surah 52:1-4, Allah swears by the Ka’ba. This Surah is an early Meccan Surah. At the time when Allah swore by the Ka’ba in these Qur’anic verses, it was still a pagan shrine housing 360 pagan idols. It defies logic as to why Allah would swear by a pagan shrine. Can you imagine the true God swearing by a pagan shrine? Also, in the following Qur’anic verses, Allah states:
Surah 69:38-39: I swear by that which you see, And that which you do not see.
Allah swears by everything that is seen and everything that is unseen. That means everything. And if Allah swears by absolutely everything, then everything becomes partner with Allah. Think about the implication of these Qur’anic verses. Allah swears by what we can see. This means idols, pigs, dogs, alcohol, garbage etc. Allah swears by all these things. We can add many more to this list but we are trying to be as polite as we can. Well, what about the things unseen? This would be things that are invisible to the human eye such as Satan, Jinn, Demons, Germs etc. What is damaging for Muslims is the fact that when Allah swears by these things, he is ascribing partners to himself. He is committing the unpardonable sin of shirk.
All these swearing by the creation has its origin in pagan nature worship. It is related to animism. In fact, it was customary for the pre-Islamic Arab polytheists who engage in nature worship to swear by the various elements of nature. And Allah was no different. This proves who Allah really is. The fact that Allah randomly swears by countless objects seriously undermines the claim that Islam originates from a monotheistic God. According to Muhammad’s own definition, Allah is a polytheist. While Jehovah swears by himself, Allah swears by anything and everything.
Islam itself recognizes that swearing by things other than the Creator is idolatrous. It is potentially an act of veneration. When God swears by his creation, it either elevates his creation to the level of God or even greater. Jehovah knows the damaging implication of such an act. It is for this very reason why Jehovah swears only by himself. It is simply impossible for him to act otherwise. He is the supreme Creator. In contrast, Allah fails to understand the damaging consequences of his action. When Allah swears by his creations, he actually becomes guilty of turning finite creatures into fellow gods who are comparable to him in greatness. The creations are made his equivalent. It is polytheism to the core. This highlights the difference between Allah and Jehovah. This proves that Allah and Jehovah cannot be the one and the same. Allah is an impostor. He simply cannot be the Almighty Creator.
Muslims must come to terms with the fact that Allah is inconsistent with his own teachings. If swearing by anything other than Allah is shirk, then why does Allah himself carry out the very act that he condemns? Would not his actions lead to confusion? The inconsistency of Allah proves that he cannot be the true God:
1 Corinthians 14:33: For the true God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.
When Jehovah swears by himself, his action is consistent with the undeniable truth that he is the supreme Creator. When comparing two currency notes to determine which one of the two is genuine, we should not focus on the similarities but on their differences. The true and the fake note may appear to be identical since the counterfeit is meant to be passed off as the real one. But when the notes are examined closely, it is the small differences that will aid us to distinguish the genuine from the counterfeit. It is the same with Jehovah and Allah. We need to focus on the differences between Jehovah and Allah. One of them is clearly a counterfeit. Ironically, the Qur’an itself helps us to identify who it is.
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