ALLAH

ALLAH: Arabic Supreme Being and the Almighty God worshipped by Muslims.

By all accounts ALLAH is merciful and just, but total commitment is required as he is considered to be the only true GOD, all others being false and fake. And definitely no pictures, please.

He has his own Holy Book of rules and regulations known as the Koran, or more correctly the Qur'an, which was dictated to his prophet Muhammed via an angel to the sound of bells somewhen in the 7th Century.

Now we have to confess we have a slight problem. The Qur'an advises: 'Reflect upon ALLAH's creation, but not upon his nature — or else you will perish'. This seems to indicate a deep need for privacy which we are reluctant to transgress. On the other hand, the Qur'an also says that the first thing ALLAH created was the intellect — and that 'a scholar is worth a thousand ignorant worshippers'. It's a tricky dilemma for us humble Godcheckers to grapple with, so we'll just stick to the facts.

ALLAH has 3,000 other names, 1,000 of which are only known to angels. Only the 99 'Most Beautiful Ones' appear in the Qur'an, another 300 in the Torah, 300 in the Psalms of David, 300 in the New Testament and another 1,000 we know not where. We think the Arabic world believed in the safety in numbers principle, being so involved in mathematics at the time.

Muslims believe that ALLAH is also the deity known as YAHWEH and/or JEHOVAH who is worshipped by Jews and Christians. Most Jews and Christians reject this idea, claiming that their own scripture is inviolate and cannot lead to a sequel, no matter how much of a best-seller it might turn out to be. (However, as that's precisely what Christianity did to the Old Testament, the argument does fall a little short.)

The main bone of Christian contention appears to be that Muslims deny the divinity of JESUS. (Naturally Judaism heartily agrees with that, despite their other theological differences with Islam.) But in fact JESUS does get a very good press in the Muslim world, being regarded as a Top Prophet along with MOSES, and of course Muhammed himself.

With these three religions it seems to us a case of 'so near and yet so far'. We throw our pens down in despair. If you have any queries, speak to the GOD of your choice, not us. We do not take sides in theological squabbles where monotheism is concerned.