Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?

This question is not just a theological debate. It shapes how we understand Islam, Christianity, and even world history. Many people today, including well-meaning Christians, confidently say, “Yes, Muslims and Christians worship the same God — only in different ways.” At first glance, this seems reasonable. After all:

• Both Christians and Muslims claim to follow the “God of Abraham.”
• Both are monotheistic — meaning both believe in the existence of only one God.
• Both reject idols and statues as objects of worship.
• Both use similar titles for God — Christians call Him “God,” while Muslims call Him “Allah.” Since “Allah” is simply the Arabic word for “God,” doesn’t that prove Muslims worship the same God as Christians?

But is this surface-level similarity enough to declare that both religions worship the same God?

To answer this seriously, we must go deeper.

Throughout history, false religions have often used the name of the true God while changing His nature. In the Bible, when the Israelites made the golden calf, they said it represented Yahweh (Exodus 32:4-5). But God condemned this as idolatry. Why? Because changing God’s nature, even if using His name, is false worship.

In Hosea 2:17, God promised to remove the names of false gods from His people’s mouths, even though they claimed those gods were the same as Him.

What does this teach us? Names are not enough. The identity and character of the god being worshiped matter.

In Arabic-speaking Christian churches, the word “Allah” is indeed used for “God.” This is simply because “Allah” is the Arabic word for God in general usage. Arabic-speaking Christians use “Allah” to refer to the true God of the Bible — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

However, Muslims do not use the word “Allah” in that way. In Islam, “Allah” is not just a general term for God. It refers to a specific deity described in the Qur’an. The question is not what the word “Allah” means, but who “Allah” is.

This is where the problem arises. When we study:

• The historical origin of the Islamic concept of Allah
• The character of Allah as revealed in the Qur’an
• The relationship between Allah and his followers
• The role of Jesus Christ in relation to Allah

It becomes clear that Allah of Islam is not the God of the Bible.

In fact, the Islamic concept of Allah traces back to pre-Islamic pagan worship in Arabia, where “Allah” was known as the moon god, chief of many idols worshiped at the Kaaba in Mecca. The Quraysh tribe — Muhammad’s tribe — worshiped Allah before Islam was founded. Islam did not introduce Allah as a new concept; rather, it redefined him while rejecting all other idols. This history is often unknown or denied by modern Muslims.

The Bible’s God — known as Yahweh (יהוה) in Hebrew — is entirely distinct in nature, character, and revelation from the Qur’anic Allah.

Therefore, the question is not “Do both religions believe in one god?” but “Who is the god they believe in?”

In this study, we will carefully examine:

• The pagan origins of Allah as a moon deity.
• The transformation of Allah from a pagan idol to Islam’s supposed “one god.”
• The comparison between Allah’s character and the true God of the Bible.
• The misunderstanding Muslims have about what Christians actually believe.
• Whether the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the same as Allah.

This question matters eternally. Because if you worship a false god, your prayers are not heard.

Isaiah 45:5 says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.”

Let’s now begin, not with opinions, but with facts: historical, theological, and scriptural.

Let’s discover who Allah really is.

The Pagan Origins of Allah

Many Muslims believe that Allah is simply the Arabic word for the One True God. However, history tells a different story. Before Islam, the Arabs were polytheists. The Kaaba in Mecca, which today is Islam’s holiest site, was once a center of pagan worship. Over 360 idols were kept inside the Kaaba. Among these idols, one name stood out: Allah.

Who Was Allah Before Islam?

In pre-Islamic Arabia, Allah was known not as the only god, but as a high god—the “chief deity” of a pagan pantheon. He was believed to have daughters: Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat. These daughters are mentioned even in the Qur’an itself (Surah 53:19-20), though later verses dismiss their worship.

The Muslim historian Ibn Ishaq, whose writings form the earliest biography of Muhammad, confirms this. Pre-Islamic Meccans worshiped Allah, but not as monotheists. Allah was seen as a distant creator god, while daily prayers and offerings were directed to lesser gods and goddesses (Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah).

The Qur’an also acknowledges this:

“If you asked them, ‘Who created the heavens and the earth?’ they would surely say, ‘Allah.’” (Surah 29:61)

Even though they acknowledged Allah as the creator, they were still polytheists. This shows that the pre-Islamic Allah was part of a polytheistic framework, not the One True God as claimed by Muslims today.

Allah as the Moon God

Many scholars argue that Allah was originally associated with the moon. This theory stems from multiple evidences:

• Archaeological evidence from South Arabia (e.g. temples in Qataban, Hadhramaut, and Marib) shows worship of a moon god named Ilah or Wadd. Ilah literally means “god” in Arabic, and the definite article “Al-” (meaning “the”) was attached, forming Al-Ilah, which over time contracted into Allah.
• The crescent moon, now used as a symbol of Islam, was historically the symbol of this moon god. While Muslims argue that the crescent is merely cultural, the continued use of a pagan religious symbol in Islam’s identity raises questions.
• The Kaaba itself, before Islam, was a center of moon worship. Pagan Arabs would fast during certain lunar months and time their rituals with moon phases.
• Ancient inscriptions from Nabataean and Sabaean sites depict moon symbols alongside mentions of Ilah.

Notably, the famous scholar Ditlef Nielsen and archaeologist Hugo Winckler supported this view in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Though some modern scholars challenge the direct identification of Allah as a moon god, the connection between moon worship and the formation of Allah’s name remains well-supported.

The Daughters of Allah

Pre-Islamic Arabs believed Allah had three daughters:

1. Al-Lat – connected with the sun.
2. Al-Uzza – associated with the planet Venus.
3. Manat – goddess of fate.

In Surah 53:19-20, these goddesses are mentioned by name:

“Have you considered Al-Lat and Al-Uzza, and Manat, the third, the other?”

Initially, Muhammad reportedly acknowledged them as intercessors before Allah (known as the infamous Satanic Verses incident, referenced by al-Tabari in his Tafsir). Later, this was abrogated, and Muhammad claimed Satan had deceived him.

This incident proves that:

• Allah was worshiped alongside these goddesses.
• Islam itself acknowledges this historical reality, though it later attempted to suppress it.

Response to Modern Muslim Claims

Modern Muslims argue that Allah simply means “God” in Arabic, as even Arab Christians use this word for God. However, linguistic use doesn’t erase historical origins. The fact that a word means “God” today doesn’t prove that its earlier meaning was the same.

Additionally, Muslims deny the moon god theory, claiming the crescent moon is just a cultural symbol adopted later. But they fail to explain why Islam’s holiest place (the Kaaba) was previously used for moon-centered rituals, and why its calendar is based entirely on lunar months, following pre-Islamic practices.

Even the Hajj pilgrimage and fasting rituals during Ramadan were inherited from pre-Islamic lunar traditions.

Summarizing the Problem

• Allah was worshiped before Muhammad, within a pagan polytheistic system.
• He was associated with moon worship.
• His daughters were worshiped alongside him.
• The Qur’an itself acknowledges the pre-Islamic worship of Allah.

Therefore, to claim that Allah is the eternal One True God, while ignoring his historical pagan background, is to rewrite history.

The Kaaba’s Pagan History

The Kaaba is the most sacred site in Islam today. Every Muslim faces it during prayer and is required, if able, to journey there at least once in their lifetime for the pilgrimage called Hajj (Qur’an 3:97). However, the Kaaba’s history predates Islam by centuries. What many Muslims are unaware of — or simply never told — is that the Kaaba was originally a pagan shrine, used in the worship of multiple deities long before Muhammad.

Before the rise of Islam, the Kaaba was not associated with the worship of the one God, nor was it linked to Abraham in any historical source outside of Islamic tradition. Instead, it was the religious center of pagan Arab tribes. Historians, both Muslim and non-Muslim, agree that 360 idols were housed inside and around the Kaaba. Each idol represented a different god or goddess, worshipped by the various Arab clans.

Among these deities were Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat, referred to as the “daughters of Allah” in the Qur’an itself (Surah 53:19-20). These goddesses were considered intercessors, standing between humans and Allah. Allah, in pre-Islamic Arabia, was not unique to Islam — he was known as the chief god of the Quraysh tribe, considered distant and unknowable, approached through lesser gods.

The custodianship of the Kaaba belonged to Muhammad’s own tribe, the Quraysh. Ibn Ishaq and al-Tabari, respected early Muslim historians, document how the Quraysh profited from pilgrimages to the Kaaba, where pagan rituals were performed, sacrifices were made, and prayers were offered to various idols. The Kaaba itself was revered, but its purpose was entirely polytheistic.

Rituals that modern Muslims perform during Hajj were originally pagan in nature. The circumambulation of the Kaaba, known as tawaf, was done by the pagan Arabs as they worshipped their idols. The running between the hills of Safa and Marwa (Qur’an 2:158), the drinking from the Zamzam well, and the kissing of the Black Stone were all rituals practiced by idolaters long before Islam. Even the Qur’an acknowledges that Safa and Marwa were places of pre-Islamic rituals, though it reassigns their purpose without denying their history.

Perhaps the most significant relic is the Black Stone (al-Hajar al-Aswad), set into the eastern corner of the Kaaba. Pre-Islamic Arabs venerated sacred stones, often seeing them as embodiments of their gods or as objects of celestial origin. The Black Stone is likely a meteorite fragment, worshipped long before Muhammad’s time. Islamic sources report that Muhammad himself kissed the Black Stone during Hajj. Even Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph, is recorded as saying:

“No doubt, I know that you are a stone and can neither benefit anyone nor harm anyone. Had I not seen Allah’s Messenger kissing you I would not have kissed you.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari 1597)

This admission reveals that Islam retained certain pagan rituals while redefining their meanings.

When Muhammad conquered Mecca in 630 AD, he entered the Kaaba and ordered the destruction of all idols (Sahih al-Bukhari 2478). The Kaaba was then dedicated to Allah alone. Yet, while the objects of worship were removed, the structure, the Black Stone, and many pagan rituals remained intact, albeit given new Islamic meanings.

Muslims are taught that the Kaaba was originally built by Abraham and Ishmael, as claimed in Qur’an 2:125-127 and 3:96. However, there is no historical evidence from Jewish, Christian, or pre-Islamic Arab sources to support this narrative. Abraham’s life, as recorded in Genesis, involves no journey to Arabia and no building of a structure like the Kaaba. The connection is purely theological, asserted centuries later without corroborating records.

In reality, the Kaaba’s history points clearly to pagan origins. It functioned as the religious hub for idol worship, presided over by the Quraysh tribe. Islam did not construct the Kaaba; it inherited it, cleansed it of its idols, and redefined its purpose. Yet its past cannot be erased.

In summary, the Kaaba — today seen as the center of Islamic monotheism — began as a pagan temple, its rituals rooted in idol worship. Islam preserved its form while changing its religious focus.

into how Allah is described compared to how God is revealed in the Bible, it becomes clear that these are two fundamentally different beings. Not just in small theological details — but in their very nature, character, and relationship to mankind.

Comparing Allah with the God of the Bible

The Nature of God’s Love

In Christianity, love is not just something God does; it is who He is.

• “God is love.” (1 John 4:8)
• “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
• Jesus taught: “Love your enemies… so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:44-45)

God’s love is unconditional and sacrificial. He loves humans not because they are obedient, but because love is His nature. His love seeks out the lost (Luke 15:4-7). His love does not wait for people to become good, but reaches out to them while they are still sinners.

In contrast, Allah’s love in Islam is strictly conditional.

• Allah does not love unbelievers (Qur’an 3:32).
• Allah does not love sinners or wrongdoers (Qur’an 2:190).
• Allah only loves those who are righteous and pure (Qur’an 2:222; 9:4).

In Islam, Allah is praised for being ar-Rahman (the Merciful) and ar-Raheem (the Compassionate), yet these are acts of mercy he chooses to give. Love is not presented as Allah’s essential nature. The Qur’an never says “Allah is love.”

This difference is not minor. In the Bible, God’s love is the starting point of His relationship with humanity. In Islam, Allah’s love is a reward given after obedience.

Relationship: Father or Master?

In Christianity, God is repeatedly called Father:

• Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father who art in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9)
• Believers are called “children of God” (John 1:12).
• Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

The Fatherhood of God shows His desire for closeness, relationship, and love.

In Islam, Allah is never called Father. The Qur’an explicitly denies that Allah has any sons or family (Qur’an 112:3). In Islam, Allah is Rabb — the Master. Humans are ‘abd — slaves. While the Qur’an says Allah is “closer than your jugular vein” (Qur’an 50:16), this refers to Allah’s knowledge, not His relational presence.

Thus, in the Bible, God is a loving Father who calls us His children.

In Islam, Allah is a distant Master who calls humans His slaves.

The Trinity: Misunderstood and Misrepresented

The Qur’an assumes Christians worship three gods. It even mentions wrongly that Christians took Jesus and Mary as two gods alongside Allah:

• “And [beware the Day] when Allah will say, ‘O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, “Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah”?’” (Qur’an 5:116)

Yet Christians never believed Mary was a deity.

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is this:

• One God.
• Revealed in three Persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.

This is not three gods, but one God in three distinct persons — a deep mystery, but not polytheism.

Each Person of the Trinity is fully God:

• The Father is God (Philippians 1:2).
• The Son is God (John 1:1, John 20:28).
• The Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4).

They are not three parts of God, nor three separate gods. This teaching is rooted in Scripture and affirmed by Christians from the earliest centuries.

Islam rejects this, calling it shirk (associating partners with Allah). Yet ironically, pre-Islamic Arabs practiced actual shirk, worshiping daughters of Allah — al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat (Qur’an 53:19-20). The true God of the Bible is One in essence but exists as Father, Son, and Spirit.

God’s Desire to Save

In the Bible, God actively seeks after lost people:

• Jesus said: “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
• God desires “all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)
• He does not desire that anyone should perish (2 Peter 3:9).
• The Good Shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep to find the one that is lost (Luke 15:4-7).

God in the Bible takes the initiative. He sacrifices Himself to save. He suffers to redeem.

In contrast, in Islam:

• Allah guides whom he wills and misleads whom he wills (Qur’an 14:4).
• There is no depiction of Allah seeking the lost or sacrificing himself.
• Human effort (obedience) and Allah’s choice of mercy determine salvation.

Allah in the Qur’an is distant and arbitrary. He commands submission but does not seek personal relationship.

Forgiveness and Sacrifice

In Christianity, God forgives sin through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

• “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22)
• Jesus said, “This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)

God’s justice demands a price for sin. God’s love paid that price Himself.

In Islam, Allah forgives based on repentance and deeds. No sacrifice is needed. In fact, the idea of God sacrificing anything is rejected as unnecessary.

Yet the Bible teaches that God’s justice and love meet at the cross — where Jesus bore the punishment for sin.

The God of the Bible:

• Is love itself.
• Is a Father who desires closeness.
• Seeks and saves the lost.
• Forgives through sacrifice.
• Is One God revealed as Father, Son, and Spirit.

Therefore, Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God. To claim otherwise is to blur the truth.

Theological Consequences of Worshiping a Different God

This isn’t just an academic debate or philosophical question. Whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God affects your salvation, your relationship with God, and your eternity.

In Christianity:

• God is not just a Master. He is a Father who loves His children (Matthew 6:9).
• He does not demand human efforts to earn His approval. Instead, He offers grace, freely given through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9).
• God Himself came down to rescue mankind (John 1:14).
• His nature is personal and relational: “God is love” (1 John 4:8).
• He adopts believers as His children (Romans 8:15-17).
• His love is so great that while humans were still sinners, Christ died for them (Romans 5:8).
• Eternal life is a gift to those who trust in Jesus (John 3:16).

In Islam:

• Allah is strictly a Master, not a Father. Humans are His slaves (‘abd in Arabic).
• Relationship with Allah is based on submission (Islam literally means submission).
• Forgiveness depends on Allah’s arbitrary will and human deeds (Surah 3:185).
• Allah does not guarantee forgiveness nor a relationship of love.
• Allah is called “the Merciful,” but mercy is conditional and without personal relationship.

The Qur’an outright rejects the Fatherhood of God:

• “It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son.” (Qur’an 19:35)
• “Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begets not, nor is He begotten.” (Qur’an 112:1-3)

And directly denies Jesus’ divinity:

• “Christ Jesus the son of Mary was no more than a messenger.” (Qur’an 5:75)
• “They say: Allah has begotten a son. Glory be to Him!” (Qur’an 2:116)

This matters because the Bible teaches that salvation comes only through Jesus, the Son of God:

• “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (John 14:6)
• “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:12)

To reject the Son is to reject the Father:

• “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” (1 John 2:23)

Muslims pray to Allah thinking they are praying to the God of Abraham. But the identity of Allah as described in the Qur’an is fundamentally incompatible with the God of the Bible:

• Allah denies the Son.
• Allah is not Father.
• Allah does not offer grace through sacrifice.

Thus, Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God.

As Jesus warned:

• “And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3)

It is knowing the true God through Jesus that saves — not just believing in a higher power, and not through prayers to an unknowable master.

Without the Son, there is no eternal life.

Conclusion: NOT THE SAME GOD!

The question “Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?” cannot be answered by simply pointing to linguistic similarities or historical claims. It is a question of identity, character, and truth.

Historically, Allah — as presented in Islam — did not originate from biblical tradition. Before Muhammad, Allah was one of the pagan deities worshipped in Arabia, connected to moon god traditions and the Kaaba idols, including Hubal. While Islam later redefined Allah as the sole god, his roots were polytheistic and pagan. This Allah was not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was not the God who revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush, saying “I AM” (Exodus 3:14).

Theologically, Allah and the God of the Bible are fundamentally different.

• The God of the Bible is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — three persons, one being, eternally unified. The Qur’an rejects this, misunderstanding the Trinity itself (Qur’an 5:116) and portraying it as polytheism.
• The Bible reveals God as Father — personal, relational, and loving. Jesus teaches us to pray “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9). Allah, by contrast, explicitly denies being a father (Qur’an 5:18) and forbids associating any partners or sons with himself (Qur’an 112:3).
• The Bible presents salvation as a gift of grace through Christ’s atoning sacrifice (Ephesians 2:8-9). Allah offers only law, submission, and judgment, with no mediator, no sacrifice, and no personal relationship.

Scripturally, the Qur’an not only misrepresents biblical doctrines but actively denies them. It rejects the Sonship of Jesus (Qur’an 9:30), the crucifixion (Qur’an 4:157), and the concept of God as Father. Islam claims continuity with the Bible yet denies its core message.

Practically, Muslims and Christians do not pray to the same God. Using the word “God” or “Allah” does not mean the same being is worshipped. Worship is defined by content, not labels.

• Jesus said: “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
• The Apostle John writes: “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” (1 John 2:23)

According to the Bible, if a person rejects the Son, they do not have the Father. Islam rejects the Son. Therefore, Islam does not lead to the God of the Bible.

This is not hatred. This is truth.

To love Muslims is to tell them the truth.

If you are Muslim reading this, the invitation is clear:

• Know the true God, who calls Himself Father.
• Come to the Son, Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for you.
• Receive the Holy Spirit, the Comforter and Helper, who will live within you and guide you into all truth.

The Bible says:

• “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
• “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12)
• “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

In Christ, you are not a servant trying to earn your place. You are a child welcomed home.

The decision is yours.

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Historical and Scholarly Sources

• Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World – Patricia Crone & Michael Cook, Cambridge University Press, 1977
  A critical exploration of Islam’s early development, including Jewish and pagan influences.
• Mecca: From Before Genesis Until Now – Dan Gibson, Independent Academic Publisher, 2011
  Discusses the historical origins of Mecca, Nabataean influence, and Islamic sacred geography.
• The History of the Arabs – Philip K. Hitti, Palgrave Macmillan, various editions
  Details pre-Islamic Arabian religion, including worship of al-Lat, al-Uzza, Manat, and Hubal.
• The Archeology of World Religions – Jack Finegan, Princeton University Press, 1952
  Explores archaeological findings of pre-Islamic Arabian religious practice.
• The Rise of Islam – W. Montgomery Watt, Edinburgh University Press, 1970
  Analyzes the socio-religious environment of Arabia before and during Muhammad’s life.
• Pre-Islamic Deities in Arabia – Encyclopaedia of Islam, Brill Publishers, multiple volumes
  Details Hubal, al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat as significant Arabian deities.
• In the Shadow of the Sword – Tom Holland, Doubleday, 2012
  Investigates the origins of Islam within the late antique world.

Islamic Historical Sources

• Sirat Rasul Allah – Ibn Ishaq
• Kitab al-Asnam (Book of Idols) – Hisham ibn al-Kalbi
• Tafsir al-Tabari
• Tafsir al-Jalalayn
• Sahih al-Bukhari & Sahih Muslim (Hadith Collections)