Allah
Allah is the
Arabic term for
"God" in
Abrahamic religions, and is the main term for the deity in
Islam.
Most Arabic-speaking
Muslims,
Christians and
Jews (including the
Teimanim, several communities and some
Sephardim) use "Allah" as the proper noun for 'God.' "Allah" is found in the
Qur'an and in Arabic and
Indonesian translations of the
Bible. In the
Qur'an, it refers to
The Only God.
Outside the Arab world,
Allah is associated with
Islam, and is used to refer specifically to the
Islamic concept of God. It is the same as the Jewish conception of God
[[1]][[2]] , but differs from the
Trinitarian Christian conception of a single God.
Islamic scholars often translate
Allah directly into English as 'God', especially
Qur'an Alone Muslims. Other scholars feel that
Allah should not be translated arguing that
Allah is the term for
"The God" in a glorified pronunciation. This is a significant issue when
translating the Qur'an.
Most
linguists believe that the term
Allāh () is derived from a contraction of the Arabic words
al (the) and
' (deity, masculine form) - al-ilāh meaning "the god". Also, one of the main pagan goddesses of pre-Islamic Arabia, Allāt (al + ' +
at, or 'the goddess'), is cited as being
etymologically (though not synchronically) the feminine linguistic counterpart to the grammatically masculine Allāh. If so, the word
Allāh is an abbreviated title, meaning 'the deity', rather than a name.
Both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars often translate Allāh directly into
English as 'God'; and Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians refer to God as Allāh. However, some Muslim scholars feel that "Allāh" should not be translated, because they perceive the Arabic word to express the uniqueness of "Allāh" more accurately than the word "god", which can take a plural "gods", whereas the word "Allāh" has no plural form. This is a significant issue in
translation of the Qur'an.
Centuries before Muhammad, the word "Allah" was used by pagan tribes in the Arabian peninsula to signify the chief deity in the
Kaaba in Mecca. Along with Allah, the pre-Islamic Arabs believed in a host of other gods, such as
Hubal and 'daughters of Allāh' [the three daughters associated were
al-Lāt,
al-`Uzzah, and
Manah]" (Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend,
"The Facts on File", ed. Anthony Mercatante,
New York,
1983, I:61). (Pre-Islamic Jews referred to their supreme creator as
Yahweh or
Elohim.) This view of Allah by the pre-Islamic pagans is viewed by Muslims as a later development having arisen as a result of moving away from Abrahamic monotheism over time since the building of the
Kaaba. In the
Quran,
Mohammad orally transmits a rebuttal to this common belief at the time in the verse
"17:40 Has then your Lord (O Pagans!) preferred for you sons, and taken for Himself daughters among the angels? Truly ye utter a most dreadful saying!". Secular historians, meanwhile, have postulated that monotheism is the result of an evolution from
henotheism, the belief in a supreme deity as well as various lesser divinities. (See
Judaism.) The pagan Arabians also used the word "Allāh" in the names of their children;
Muhammad's father, who was born into pagan society, was named "`Abdullāh", which translates "servant of Allāh". "`Abdullāh" is still used for names of Muslim and non-Muslim Arabs. Pre-Islamic Christians also used the word, as testified by the
Zabad inscription.
The
Hebrew word for deity,
El (אל) or
Elōah (אלו", rarely אל"), was used as an
Old Testament synonym for
Yahweh (י"ו"), which is the proper name for God according to the
Tanakh. The
Aramaic word for God is אל"א
Elāhā (
Biblical Aramaic) and ܐܠܗܐ
Alāhā (
Syriac), which comes from the same Proto-
Semitic word (
*ʾilâh-) as the Arabic and Hebrew terms;
Jesus is described in
Mark 15:34 as having used the word on the cross, with the ending meaning "my", when saying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (transliterated in Greek as ἐλωι
elō-i). One of the earliest surviving translations of the word into a foreign language is in a
Greek translation of the
Shahada, from 86-96 AH (
705-
715 AD), which translates it as (
ho theos monos) [
3], literally "the lone god".
The word
Allāh is always written without an
alif to spell the
ā vowel. This is because the spelling was settled before Arabic spelling started habitually using
alif to spell
ā. However, in vocalized spelling, a small diacritic
alif is added on top of the
shaddah to indicate pronunciation. One exception is in the pre-Islamic
Zabad inscription, where it is spelled الاه.
Unicode has a
glyph reserved for
Allah, = U+FDF2, which can be combined with an alif to yield the post-consonantal form, , as opposed to the full spelling
alif-lām-lām-hā which may be rendered slightly differently, in particular featuring a diacritic
alif on top of the
shadda. In this, Unicode imitates traditional Arabic typesetting, which also frequently featured special
llāh types.
Also In
Abjad numerals,
The Name Of Allah (الله) numeric value is
66.The word Allah had been used in the Arabic tongue in the Jahleyyah period (time period before Islam), and Arabic classical poetry contains that word.
The calligraphic variant of the word used as the
Coat of arms of Iran is encoded in
Unicode, in the
Miscellaneous Symbols range, at codepoint U+262B ().
From the point of view of traditional
Islamic
theology, Allāh is the most precious name of God because it is not a descriptive name like other
ninety-nine names of God, but the name of God's own presence. Muslims believe that the name Allah existed before the time of
Adam, and that Allah is the same God worshipped by
Adam,
Noah,
Abraham,
Moses,
Jesus,
Muhammad and other
prophets recognized by the Qur'an. In the Qur'an,
rabb (English: Lord) is also one of the usual names of God.
The emphasis in Islamic culture on reciting the
Qur'an in
Arabic has resulted in
Allāh often being used by
Muslims world-wide as the word for
God, regardless of their
native language. Out of 114
Suras in the
Qur'an, 113 begin with the
Basmala ("Bismi 'llāhi 'r-rahmāni 'r-rahīm" بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم) which means "In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful".
Muslims, when referring to the name of Allah, often append the phrase "Subhanahu wa Ta`ala", sometimes abbreviated SWT, (english: "Glorified and Exalted is He") as a sign of reverence. "`Azza wa Jalla" (عز و جل) is also sometimes appended in this way. The entire religion of
Islam is based on the idea of getting closer to God. Although commonly referred to as a "He", God is considered genderless, but there is no
epicene gender to express this in the Arabic language. When Greek or other
polytheistic deities are discussed in Arabic, it is customary to use the expression
ilāh, a "deity" or "god"; sometimes the word
ma`būd, literally meaning "worshipped [entity]", is used instead.
Uses of "Allāh" in phrases
There are many
phrases that contain the word Allāh:
*
La ilaha illallah (لآ اِلَـهَ اِلاَّ لله) (There is no god but God)
*
Allāhu Akbar (الله أكبر) (God is most great/God is the greatest / God is Greater)
*
A'ūzu billāhi min ash shaitāni r rajīmi (أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم) (I seek refuge in God from Satan, the accursed)
*
Bismi-llāh (بسم الله) (In the name of God)
*
In shā' Allāh (إن شاء الله) (If God is willing):
etymological origin of the
Spanish interjection "Ojalá" (
Old Spanish, "Oxalá") and
Portuguese interjection "Oxalá", both meaning
"May it be so" or
"God-willing"
*
Yā Allāh (يا الله) (Oh God!)
*
Wa-llāh (By God):likely etymological origin of the Spanish and Portuguese
exclamation "
Olé!".
*
Mā shā' Allāh (ما شاء الله) ([Look at] what God has willed!)
*
Subħān Allāh (سبحان الله) (Glory be to God)
*
al-ħamdu li-llāh (الحمد لله) (All praise be to God)
*
Allāhu A`alam (الله أعلم) (God knows best)
*
Jazāka llāhu khayran (جزاك الله خيراً) (May God reward you for your deeds)"Allāh" appears in a stylized form on the
flag of Iran, in the phrase "Allāhu Akbar" on the
flag of Iraq, and as part of the
shahādah on the
flag of Saudi Arabia.
"Allah" is not correctly used as a man's name. See
Arabic name#Mistakes made by Europeans and other non-Arabs.
The name
Allah was used in pre-Islamic times by
Pagans within the
Arabian peninsula to signify the supreme creator. Also, 'Allah' was the Moon God worshipped by many Arabic tribes, including Muhammad's own. Pre-Islamic (as well as Islamic-era) Jews referred to God as
Adonai(as well as
El,
YHWH, and other names). (God is also referred to as
Elohim, literally "the Gods", in the
Tanakh, possibly implying polytheistic roots). The pagan Arabs recognized "Allah" as the supreme God in their
pantheon (as was
El in the
Cana'anite pantheon); along with Allah, however, the pre-Islamic Arabs believed in a host of other gods, such as
Hubal and 'daughters of Allah' (the three daughters associated were
al-Lat,
al-`Uzzah, and
Manah) (Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend,
"The Facts on File", ed. Anthony Mercatante,
New York,
1983, I:61). This view of Allah by the pre-Islamic pagans is viewed by Muslims as a later development having arisen as a result of moving away from
Abrahamic monotheism over time. Some of the names of these pagan gods are said to be derived from the descendants of Noah, whom later generations first revered as saints, and then transformed into gods. The pagan Arabians also
used the word "Allah" in the names of their children;
Muhammad's father, who was born into pagan society, was named "`Abdullah", which means "servant of Allah". "`Abdullah" is still used for names of Muslim and non-Muslim Arabs.
The
Hebrew word for deity,
El (אל) or
Elōah (אלו"), was used as an
Old Testament synonym for the
Tetragrammaton (י"ו"), which is the proper name of God according to the
Hebrew Bible. The
Aramaic word for God is
alôh-ô (
Syriac dialect) or elâhâ (Biblical dialect), which comes from the same Proto-
Semitic word (
*ʾilâh-) as the Arabic and Hebrew terms;
Jesus is described in
Mark 15:34 as having used the word on the cross, with the ending meaning "my", when saying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (transliterated in Greek as
elō-i).
One of the earliest surviving translations of the word
Allah into a foreign language is in a
Greek translation of the
Shahada, from 86-96 AH (
705-
715 AD), which translates it as
ho theos monos[
4], literally "the one god". Also the cognate
Aramaic term appears in the Aramaic version of the
New Testament, called the
Pshitta (or Peshitta) as one of the words Jesus used to refer to God, e.g., in the sixth
Beatitude, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see
Alaha." And in the Arabic Bible the same words: "طُوبَى لأَن'قِيَاءِ ال'قَل'بِ، فَإِنَّهُم' سَيَرَو'نَ الله"
The Nation of Gods and Earths, one of the many sects created as the result of black separatist movements in the United States, holds that the word "Allah" is the name of the original black man and stands for "Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head". [
5] [
6], which is an English abbreviation. As the word
Allah is universally understood to be an Arabic term, those familiar with the origins and history of
Arabic and
English would consider this a
false etymology. This concept also differs dramatically from mainstream Islam thought which strictly opposes any attempt to portray Allah as a human or in any other way.
The
Bahá'í Faith, whose
scriptures are primarily written in
Arabic and
Persian, also uses
Allah to mean God, though typical practice is to use the customary word for God in the language being spoken. In certain specific uses
Allah is not translated, rather the whole Arabic phrase is used. The chief example of this would be the customary Bahá'í greeting
Alláh'u'abhá, which is commonly translated as
God is the All Glorious.They also believe that Allah should not have any pictures drawn of him.
*
Alaha*
Elohim*
God*
Islam*
Qur'an*
99 Names of God*
Muhammad*
Monotheism*
- The Concept of Allah according to the Qur'an*
- For Mainstream/Traditional Classical Islamic Teachings*
- An Orthodox Traditional Islamic Information Website*
ServantsofAllah.org - For those who desire to be in the servitude of Allah
