{"id":188,"date":"2012-01-27T18:23:18","date_gmt":"2012-01-27T23:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/commonwordcommonlord\/?p=188"},"modified":"2012-01-27T18:30:04","modified_gmt":"2012-01-27T23:30:04","slug":"santorum-and-the-god-of-abraham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/santorum-and-the-god-of-abraham\/","title":{"rendered":"Santorum and the God of Abraham"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful\u00a0<\/span><\/em>
\n<\/span>
\nIt seems that former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum’s presidential run is running out of steam.\u00a0According to the Huffington Post<\/a>, Santorum is “taking a pause from Florida campaigning just days before the Tuesday primary that even he expects to deal him a third consecutive loss.” Yet, despite the fact that he is likely not going to become President of the United States, there is something he said while campaigning in South Carolina that intrigued (and amused) me.\u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nAt a town hall meeting before the South Carolina vote,\u00a0Santorum asked a crowd<\/a>: “Where do you think this concept of equality comes from? It doesn’t come from Islam. It doesn’t come from the East and Eastern religions…It comes from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that’s where it comes from.” He meant that, if people want equality, then they must live by God’s rules since the concept of equality “doesn’t come from Islam” but from “the God of Abraham.” This begs the question: which rules are God’s rules and who is say what those rules are? But, I digress…<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, his statement was quite telling because it is painfully obvious that Santorum has absolutely no idea that the God of Islam is the very same God of Abraham<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0Islam has always maintained that Muslims worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the Hebrew Prophets. In fact, Islam is nothing less than\u00a0the religion of Abraham himself<\/em>, as outlined numerous times in the Quran: “And lastly, we have inspired thee [O Muhammad, with this message,] “Follow the creed of Abraham, who turned away from all that is false and was not of those who ascribe divinity to aught besides God.” (16:123).<\/span>
\nYes, many Muslims call God by His Arabic name “Allah,” but so do Arab Christians. In fact,\u00a0open up an Arabic Bible<\/a>, and the name for God is none other than “Allah.” Why,\u00a0even Jesus Christ himself called God “Allah.”<\/a>\u00a0If someone wants to become “Leader of the Free World,” I would expect that he or she would know that Muslims worship the same God as Christians and Jews. That’s pretty basic information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I take Mr. Santorum at his word that he loves and worships the God of Abraham. So do I. That should be our point of reference; that should be our point of convergence. No, we don’t worship the same way, but that is totally irrelevant. The fact that we both call upon the God of Abraham makes us brothers, and as brothers, it should move to bring us together to help make our country better. Presumably, that is why is running for President: to make our country better. So why the divisiveness over the God of Abraham, Who should always be a force for unity and brotherhood.<\/p>\n

The same should go for all Americans of faith (and it should extend to those who do not profess an “official faith” or any faith at all). Our common love and worship of the God of Abraham should bring us together. It is what the Lord our God wanted for us. Why not heed Him?
\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful\u00a0 It seems that former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum’s presidential run is running out of steam.\u00a0According to the Huffington Post, Santorum is “taking a pause from Florida campaigning just days before the Tuesday primary that even he expects to deal him a third consecutive loss.” Yet, despite…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,65],"tags":[274,28,9,275,11,276,272,6,271,273,178],"class_list":["post-188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-common-word","category-american-islam","tag-abraham","tag-bible","tag-god","tag-isaac","tag-islam","tag-jacob","tag-primary","tag-quran","tag-rick-santorum","tag-south-carolina","tag-unity"],"yoast_head":"\nSantorum and the God of Abraham - Common Word, Common Lord<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Santorum and the God of Abraham - Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful\u00a0 It seems that former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum’s presidential run is running out of steam.\u00a0According to the Huffington Post, Santorum is “taking a pause from Florida campaigning just days before the Tuesday primary that even he expects to deal him a third consecutive loss.” Yet, despite…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/santorum-and-the-god-of-abraham\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-27T23:23:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-01-27T23:30:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hesham A. 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Hassaballa","description":"Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago doctor and writer. He has written extensively on a freelance basis, being published in newspapers across the country and around the world. He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow\" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, \u201cWhy I Love the Ten Commandments,\u201d was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition. 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