Is YHWH referred to in the Quran?

𝐈𝐬 𝐘𝐇𝐖𝐇 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧 ?

Mohamad Mostafa Nassar

Twitter@NassarMohamadMR

There are Christians who tend to make a point that the Bible mentions in Exodus 3:14 that the name of God is “Yahweh” or “Jehovah” (depending on where one puts the vowels) but this name does not appear in the Qur’an.

Hence they claim that the Qur’an cannot be the Word of God and Prophet Muhammed ﷺ cannot be a Messenger of God, because there is no reference to the personal name of God which appears in the Old Testament 6823 times.

𝐘𝐇𝐖𝐇 (𝐘𝐚𝐡𝐰𝐞𝐡) 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞

Let’s first read the concerned verse in the Bible in context:
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. – [Exodus 3:13-15]

The Hebrew word that is translated as “I AM” in English, is YHWH (known as the Tetragrammaton) which commonly the Christians read as Yahweh or Jehovah by inserting vowels. The Hebrew form of YHWH is as below:
יהוה
The objection that Christians raise is that as we see in Exodus 3:15, God says that this is his name forever thus they say if Prophet Muhammed ﷺ was a Messenger of Allah then he should have made some reference to this personal name of God, Yahweh/Jehovah, to prove that he is really a Messenger of God.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐘𝐇𝐖𝐇

“Yahweh” and “Jehovah” are two pronunciations formed by humans much later. Although the Jewish Encyclopedia labels the word “Jehovah” to be a philological impossibility, the Christian world tends to use this pronunciation till this day.

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐘𝐇𝐖𝐇, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:

“According to a Rabbinic tradition, the real pronunciation of Jehovah ceased to be used at the time of Simeon the Just, who was, according to Maimonides, a contemporary of Alexander the Great. At any rate, it appears that the name was no longer pronounced after the destruction of the Temple.”

Moreover, we are also informed by the same encyclopedia that “the modern Jews are as uncertain of the real pronunciation of the Sacred name as their Christian contemporaries” [emphasis added]. Hence one thing has been made apparent neither the Jews nor the Christians know the true pronunciation of this word. This word was considered to be ineffable by the Jews and thus with time, people lost the knowledge of its true pronunciation.

𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐇𝐖𝐇 (𝐘𝐚𝐡𝐰𝐞𝐡)

As it was made apparent that we do not know how to pronounce the word “YHWH”, we must now look and understand what this word means so as to get an understanding of the word itself. The Jewish Encyclopedia informs us that the meaning of the name “YHWH” is “‘He who is self-existing, self-sufficient’, or, more concretely, ‘He who lives’” [emphasis added]. Hence in simplest of terms “YHWH” means The Living and Self-Subsisting.

𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐘𝐇𝐖𝐇?

Up till now, two things have been made clear; the real pronunciation of the word is not available and that the meaning of this word is “self-existing and self-sufficient”, in short “He who lives”. So now it must be established whether Jesus did use the name Yahweh in any place. The only verse that Christendom can quote to try to prove that Jesus used this word is in the Gospel of John which is as below:

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” – [John 8:58]

As we see that the verse consists of the phrase “I am”, the Christians say that Jesus has used the word YHWH. So let us take a look at the Greek version of the verse as we all know that the biblical manuscripts with the Christian world are in the language Greek although there is no concrete evidence that Jesus knew this language.

The words translated as “I am” are: ἐγώ εἰμί
Transliterated as: egō eimi
Pronounced as: eg-o’ i-mee’

So the words used here are “ego eimi” which simply means “I am” – a means of designating oneself. Not only “ego eimi” simply means “I am” as one would use “I am” in their everyday talk in the English language, “ego eimi” is no where near to the meaning of YHWH which is seen above to mean The Living, Self Subsisting. So not only does this not sound anything like the proposed pronunciation of the word YHWH, it does not even carry the meaning of the word.

𝐖𝐚𝐬 “𝐞𝐠𝐨 𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐢” 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬?

The term “ego eimi” which simply means “I am” is used in numerous places in the Bible and there are instances when this term is used by people other than Jesus. Just to give a quick example, the blind man whom Jesus cured uses the same words as well in the Gospel of John:

Some said This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he. – [John 9:9]

Do note the deception which the Christian world uses. In the Greek manuscripts, there is no “he” in the text. The verse ends at “I am”. The same phrase “ego eimi” is used in Greek texts.

𝐃𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 “𝐡𝐞” 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐬, “𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧” 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞:

Others said — `This is he;’ and others — `He is like to him;’ he himself said, — ‘I am [he].’ – [Young’s Literal Translation of John 9:9]

Notice that the term “he” is placed in parenthesis because this word is not present in the biblical manuscripts. Any form of term that is not in the text being translated should be written in parenthesis to convey the meaning and not cause deception such that people would believe that it is part of the original text.

So by using the phrase “ego eimi” was the blind man suggesting that he was YHWH?

Obviously NOT and NO Christian would dare to claim that he was. So then why did he use the term “ego eimi”?

𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 “𝐈 𝐚𝐦” 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞.

Similarly, there are other examples in the Bible that prove that this phrase “ego eimi” was not used only by Jesus and it certainly does not hold the meaning of YHWH as seen earlier.

If, however, Christendom wants to claim that “ego eimi” refers to “YHWH”, the personal name of God, they have to accept that when traveling from Hebrew to Greek, the word was not used as “YHWH” (Yahweh) but an alternate word(s) was used “ego eimi” which was a reference to the actual name YHWH.

𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐐𝐮𝐫’𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐇𝐖𝐇?

So far we have learned 4 points which I will list so as to refresh all that we have learned so far:

The actual pronunciation of YHWH is lost.
YHWH means “Self-Subsisting”, or “The Living”.
Jesus did not use the term “YHWH”.
Christians cannot deny that traveling from Hebrew to Greek another term was used to refer to YHWH.

Thus we see that the Qur’an should have a reference to the term YHWH rather than having the term “YHWH” as the Qur’an was revealed in Arabic and not Hebrew. The golden question thus would be was any such reference made to the term “YHWH” in the Quran or by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ?
The answer is a definite “YES”.

We have learned so far that the meaning of the term “YHWH” is The Living, Self Subsisting, and although the term “Allah” is used in the Quran, this word simply means “The God”.
However, we know that Islamic teachings inform us of 99 names (attributes) of Allah and the Quran informs us that to Allah belongs the most beautiful names and we can call him by any of these beautiful names:

He is Allah, the Creator, the Evolver, the Bestower of Forms (or Colours). To Him belong the Most beautiful names: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, doth declare His Praises and Glory: and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. – [Quran 59:24]

Say: “Call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call upon Him, (it is well): for to Him belong the Most beautiful names. Neither speak thy Prayer aloud, nor speak it in a low tone, but seek a middle course between.” – [Quran 17:110]

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰:

Al-‘Adl – The Just, The Equitable
Al-‘Afuw – The Pardoner
Al-‘Asim – The Protector
Ad-Dafi` – The Remover of Tribulations
Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem – The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Just like these above-mentioned beautiful names of Allah we also learn of two other names which combined are read as Hayyul-Qayyum:

𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐲𝐮𝐥-𝐐𝐚𝐲𝐲𝐮𝐦 – 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

YHWH – The Living, Self-Subsisting
Here it has been proven that there is a clear reference to the name YHWH in the Qur’an which crumbles the Christian stand that Islam has no reference to the name YHWH and thus Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is not the Messenger of Allah.

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐲𝐮𝐥-𝐐𝐚𝐲𝐲𝐮𝐦

One of the verses which have Allah referred to by the name Hayyul-Qayyum is in Ayat-ul-Qursi (The Verse of the Throne). Ayat-ul-Qursi has multitude of benefits but apart from Ayat-ul-Qursi having its benefits, this verse with “Hayyul-Qayyum” mentioned in it was referred to by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as the “greatest”:

Ubayy bin Ka’b said: Allah’s Messenger (May peace be upon him) said: O Abu’ al-Mundhir, do you know the verse from the Book of Allah which, according to you, is the greatest? I said: Allah and His Apostle (May peace be upon him) know best.

He again said: Abu’l-Mundhir, do you know the verse from the Book of Allah which, according to you, is the greatest? I said: “Allahu La ilaha illa Huwal Hayyul Qayyum.” Thereupon he struck me on my breast and said: May knowledge be pleasant for you, O Abu’l-Mundhir! – [Sahih Muslim, Book 4, #1768]

In another narration, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ heard the man use “Hayyul-Qayyum” in his supplication and the Prophet ﷺ said that he has supplicated using Allah’s Greatest Name:

Narrated by Anas Ibn Malik: I was sitting with the Apostle of Allah ﷺ and a man was offering prayer. He then made supplication: O Allah, I ask Thee by virtue of the fact that praise is due to Thee, there is no deity but Thou, Who showest favour and beneficence, the Originator of the Heavens and the earth, O Lord of Majesty and Splendour, O Living One, O Eternal One.

The Prophet ﷺ then said: He has supplicated Allah using His Greatest Name, when supplicated by this name, He answers, and when asked by this name He gives. – [Abu Dawood, Book 2, #1490]
Yet another hadith to show the importance stressed by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ on the Hayyul-Qayyum:

Narrated by Asma’ daughter of Yazid: The Prophet (pbuh) said: Allah’s Greatest Name is in these two verses: “And your deity is one deity; there is no deity but He, the Compassionate the Merciful,” and the beginning of Surah Al ‘Imran, A.L.M. “Allahu La ilaha illa Huwal Hayyul Qayyum.”– [Abu Dawood, Book 2, #1491]

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

With the grace of Allah, it can be seen that there is a clear reference to YHWH in the Quran. This reference is much stronger than what the Christians claim to be a reference to YHWH in the New Testament. The word “ego eimi” is in no way the Greek word for YHWH nor does it hold the meaning of YHWH. However as seen, there is a clear reference to the term YHWH in the Quran as well as the Hadith.

The Quran gives us many beautiful names of Allah, some of which have been mentioned above, and a Muslim can call upon Allah with any of his beautiful names unlike the followers of the Bible who do not even know how to pronounce the ‘personal name’ revealed to them. Indeed much of the truth in those books is lost just like the pronunciation of YHWH is lost and the Quran is sent to restore that which is lost – The Criterion.

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡

Al-Ghani – The Self-Sufficient, The Rich Beyond Need
Al-Awwal – The First
Al-‘Aakhir – The Last
Al-Barr – The Source of All Goodness
Al-Baaqi – The Everlasting One
Al-Haqq – The Truth
Al-Khaliq – The Creator
Al-Kafi – The Sufficient One
Ash-Shahid – The Witness

Credit: Ebrahim Saifuddin