Not God but Allah

Once, many years ago, BBC interviewed a leading Muslim scholar/authority. He started off by saying, "I do not believe in God. I know this may shock you - that a Muslim can say he does not believe in God. But I repeat, I do not believe in God. I believe only in Allah." He went on to argue that to a Muslim Allah means much more than what God would mean to a non-Muslim. I think this is the basic conviction a Muslim has about Islam - that no one but a Muslim can ever understand what it is to be religious. It is not for nothing that the leading Islamic theologist today, Dr. Zakir Naik, says that Islam is "confirmed" like 2 + 2 = 4, whereas other religions are not confirmed! However, there is an irony here. One would have supposed that with such a "confirmed" religion Muslims in general would have been a very contended lot being blissful in their world of Allah. But far from it. They are an agitated lot. The world still remains unconquered. And worse, violence is proving less and less an option. The only consolation is "Islam is the world's fastest growing religion". Let's hope it does not hit any road breakers.