Bring it on - Is 'Allah' a common noun?
- Thu 18 Feb, 2010 9:32 pm Post subject: Is 'Allah' a common noun?
A website that I came across makes an amusing (albeit retarted) claim: that 'Allah' or 'God' is a common noun. The reason for such an imbecile claim is apparently faith -- looks like the Bibliolator's Bible tells him that 'YHWH' (yeah, consonants, not even Yahweh) is the proper name of God. As such, faith necessitates the dude to live out the rest of his existence as a jerk.
However, it must be clearly understood that neither “god” nor “God” is a “proper noun”; rather they are both “common nouns”, referring to someone: in the case of “god”, to any deity; and in the case of “God”, to a specific deity. The common noun “man” is a way of referring to someone without using his name; likewise, using the common noun “God” is a way of referring to that unique One, without using His name.
What are valiant Bibliolator has probably always struggled with is using a dictionary. I will put up Mr. Webster's entry for 'proper noun':
: a noun that designates a particular being or thing, does not take a limiting modifier, and is usually capitalized in English - called also proper name
The definition could be called a little tricky (or forced to appear tricky), but as far as 'Allah' is concerned it should not be a problem. Then why does our valiant Bibliolator take a tumble? Possibly this is why:
If someone called a person “man” they would be correct, but generic. And if someone called him “Robert” they would also be correct, but personal. Now let’s talk about God….
When we refer to “God”, the term is true and acceptable. However “God” is not His name, just as “man” is not my name. I have a name by which those who know me can call me. To others, I might be referred to as “that man”. Names are more intimate.
It is hard to follow the gibberish there, but what he seems to be saying is that God has a Name, and only that Name can be called a proper noun, and all other references are merely common nouns.
It's a lame attempt, but what makes it worse is the motivation behind the attempt -- faith. The dude is not employing any agrument other than along the lines of "Bible tells us YHWH is God's only Name". And once he has concluded that God's only Name is 'YHWH,' he is convinced that 'YHWH' alone is a proper noun, and all other references are common nouns. What probably fails to tickle him is that the Quran doesn't mention YHWH.
Coming back to 'Allah' or 'God,' we are making a specific reference. The dude draws a false parallel and forces a false analogy (how common is this practice) between 'man' and 'God'. A man is one among many men, but God is only One.