Are the LORD and Allah the Same?

Some people teach that the LORD and Allah are one and the same, while others simply say that the two are similar. The following differences between the LORD and Allah show that they are not the same, but that they are very different.

Key differences:

1. The LORD has a Son, and they are one. Allah has no son, and to say that he has a son is considered blasphemous by Muslims.

1. The Lord offers salvation by grace through faith, not by works. Allah offers salvation by faith and works, weighing the good works against the bad.

1. Scripture calls Jesus “Lord,” affirming that he is God. The Qurʾān denies the divinity of Jesus, saying that he was a man who worshiped Allah as his god and creator.

1. Scripture teaches that there is one God and that he is three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Qurʾān teaches that there is one god, Allah, and that he is a singular being in the most literal sense.

1. Moses and the prophets regularly refer to the LORD as the God of Israel. Muhammad never refers to Allah as the God of Israel.

1. Allah is never called JEHOVAH, a sacred name that comes from the Hebrew root hä-yäh, a verb denoting “to be, to exist.” The name Jesus ultimately comes from this same root word. The name Allah is probably a contraction of the Arabic al-Ilāh (“the god”).

Another distinction between the LORD and Allah is their books:

God gave the Scriptures by telling people what to write and by moving them with his Spirit. This began at mount Sinai with the LORD and a Hebrew named Moses, and concluded in the first century with the Lord’s apostles, all of whom were descendants of Jacob.

According to Islamic tradition, the words of the Qurʾān were revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel in the early 7th century. Unlike Moses and the apostles, Muhammad is said to be a descendant of Ishmael.

In conclusion, the LORD is not the same as Allah, and those who try to unify the two do so in vain.

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Four interesting side notes:

1. Derived from the verb qaraʾa (“to read,” “to recite”), the word Qurʾān means “reading” or “recitation.”

1. The Qurʾān is 56% the length of all the apostles’ writings combined, and approximately 14% the length of the whole word of God, from Genesis to Revelation.

1. The Qurʾān never says that martyrs will receive 72 virgins in paradise. This comes from the Ḥadith, the collected sayings and teachings attributed to Muhammad.

1. Muhammad’s full name is Abū al-Qāsim Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim. The word ibn means “son of.”

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References:

1. “Jesus.” The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary: Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically, I A-O, Oxford University Press, 1971, p. 1507.

2. Ringgren, Helmer, Sinai, Nicolai. “Qurʾān.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Nov. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Quran.

3. Afsaruddin, Asma. “Allah.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Oct. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Allah.

4. Warraq, Ibn. “Virgins? What Virgins?” The Guardian, Guardian News & Media Limited, 11 Jan. 2002, www.theguardian.com/books/2002/jan/12/books.guardianreview5.