Allah
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225826734
2008-07-15T16:09:06Z
Hakeem.gadi
342229
added pronunciation
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[[Image:Allah-eser.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Name of ''{{ArabDIN|Allāh}}'' written in [[Arabic calligraphy]] by 17th century Ottoman artist Hâfız Osman]]
{{Otheruses}}
{{about|the Arabic word "Allah"|the Islamic conception of God|God in Islam}}
{{Arabicterm|'''الله'''|Allāh|God}}
'''''Allah''''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: <span=2 style="font-size: 15pt">الله</font>, ''{{ArabDIN|Allāh}}'', {{IPA2|ʔalˤːɑːh}} {{Audio|Ar-allah.ogg|pronunciation}}) is the standard [[Arabic language|Arabic]] word for "[[God]]".<ref name="Britannica"/> While the term is best known in the [[Western world|West]] for its use by [[Muslim]]s as a reference to God, it is used by Arabic-speakers of all [[Abrahamic]] faiths, including [[Christian]]s and [[Jew]]s, in reference to "God".<ref name="EncMMENA"> Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa, ''Allah'' </ref><ref name="Britannica"> "Allah." [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica</ref><ref name="Columbia">[[Columbia Encyclopedia]], ''Allah''</ref> The term was also used by [[pagan]] [[Mecca]]ns as a reference to the creator-god, possibly the supreme deity in [[pre-Islamic Arabia]].<ref name="EoI">L. Gardet, "Allah", ''Encyclopedia of Islam''</ref>
The concepts associated with the term ''Allah'' (as a deity) differ among the traditions. In [[pre-Islamic Arabia]] amongst [[pagan]] Arabs, ''Allah'' was not the sole divinity, having associates and companions, sons and daughters, a concept strongly opposed by [[Islam]]. In Islam, ''Allah'' is the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name. All other divine names are believed to refer back to the one God.<ref name="Tao-Islam">{{Citation
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| title =The Tao of Islam : a sourcebook on gender relationships in Islamic thought
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}}</ref> ''Allah'' is unique, the [[Tawhid|only God]], transcendent [[Creator deity|creator of the universe]] and omnipotent.<ref name="EncMMENA"/><ref name="Britannica"/> Arab Christians today, having no other word for 'God' than ''Allah'',<ref name="Cambridge"/> use terms such as ''Allāh al-Āb'' ('''الله الآب''') "God the Father". There are both similarities and differences between the concept of God as portrayed in the Qur'an and the Hebrew Bible.<ref name="Peters1"/>
[[Unicode]] has a codepoint reserved for ''Allāh'', {{lang|ar|'''ﷲ'''}} = U+FDF2.<ref name="Uni"/> Many Arabic type fonts feature special ligatures for Allah.<ref name="Typ1"/>
==Etymology==
[[Image:Allahmedal.jpg|thumb|Medallion showing 'Allah' in [[Hagia Sophia]], [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].]]
The term ''Allāh'' is most likely derived from a [[contraction]] of the Arabic article ''[[al-]]'' and ''{{ArabDIN|[[ʾilāh]]}}'' "deity, god" to ''{{ArabDIN|al-lāh}}'' meaning "the [sole] deity, God" (''ho theos monos'').<ref name="EoI"> L. Gardet, ''Allah'', Encyclopaedia of Islam</ref> Another theory traces the etymology of the word to the [[Aramaic]] Alāhā.<ref name="EoI"/> [[Cognates]] of the name "Allāh" exist in other [[Semitic languages]], including [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]].<ref name="Columbia"> Columbia Encyclopaedia says: Derived from an old Semitic root referring to the Divine and used in the Canaanite El, the Mesopotamian ilu, and the biblical Elohim, the word Allah is used by all Arabic-speaking Muslims, Christians, Jews, and other monotheists.</ref> The corresponding [[Aramaic]] form is אֱלָהָא ''ˀĔlāhā'' in [[Biblical Aramaic]] and ܐܰܠܳܗܳܐ ''ˀAlâhâ'' or ''ˀĀlōho'' in [[Syriac language|Syriac]].<ref name="cal">[http://cal1.cn.huc.edu The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon] - Entry for ''ˀlh''</ref>
The contraction of ''[[al-]]'' and ''{{ArabDIN|[[ʾilāh]]}}'' in forming the term ''Allāh'' (“the deity” in the masculine form) parallels the contraction of ''[[al-]]'' and ''{{ArabDIN|[[ʾilāha]]}}'' in forming the term ''Allāt'' (“the deity” in the feminine form).<ref name="EoQ"/>
==Usage in Arabic==
=== Pre-Islamic Arabia ===
In pre-Islamic Arabia, Allah was used by Meccans as a reference to the creator-god, possibly the supreme deity.<ref>See Qur'an {{cite quran|13|16|style=nosup|expand=no}} ; {{cite quran|29|61-63|style=nosup|expand=no}}; {{cite quran|31|25|style=nosup|expand=no}}; {{cite quran|39|38|style=nosup|expand=no}})</ref> Allah was not the sole divinity and the notion of the term may have been vague in the Meccan religion.<ref name="EoI"/> Allah had associates and companions, whom [[Jahiliyyah|pre-Islamic]] Arabs considered as subordinate deities. Meccans held that a kind of kinship existed between Allah and the [[Genie|jinn]].<ref>See Qur'an {{cite quran|37|158|style=nosup|expand=no}})</ref> Allah had sons<ref>See Qur'an ({{cite quran|6|100|style=nosup|expand=no}})</ref> and the local deities of [[al-Uzza|al-ʿUzzā]], [[Manāt]] and [[Allāt]] were his daughters.<ref>See Qur'an ({{cite quran|53|19-22|style=nosup|expand=no}} ; {{cite quran|16|57|style=nosup|expand=no}} ; {{cite quran|37|149|style=nosup|expand=no}})</ref> The Meccans possibly associated angels with Allah.<ref>See Qur'an ({{cite quran|53|26-27|style=nosup|expand=no}})</ref><ref name="GodEoQ"/> Allah was invoked in times of distress.<ref>See Qur'an {{cite quran|6|109|style=nosup|expand=no}}; {{cite quran|10|22|style=nosup|expand=no}}; {{cite quran|16|38|style=nosup|expand=no}}; {{cite quran|29|65|style=nosup|expand=no}})</ref><ref name="GodEoQ"> Gerhard Böwering, ''God and his Attributes'', Encyclopedia of the Qur'an</ref> Muhammad's father name was ʿAbdallāh meaning the “servant of Allāh.”<ref name="GodEoQ"/>
===Muslims===
{{main|God in Islam}}
{{main|99_Names_of_God_in_the_Qur'an}}
In Islam, Allah is the name of the nameless God,<ref name="EoQ"> Böwering, Gerhard, ''God and His Attributes'', Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, Brill, 2007.</ref> the pivot of the Muslim faith.<ref name="Britannica"/> "He is the [[Tawhid|only God]], transcendent [[Creator deity|creator of the universe]], and the judge of humankind."<ref name="EncMMENA"/><ref name="Britannica"> Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, ''Allah'' </ref> "He is unique (''wahid'') and inherently one (''ahad''), all-merciful and omnipotent."<ref name="Britannica"/> The Qur'an insists upon "the reality of Allah, His inaccessible mystery, His various names, and His actions on behalf of His creatures."<ref name="Britannica"/>
[[Image:Dcp7323-Edirne-Eski Camii Allah.jpg|thumb|150px|Allah script outside [[Eski Cami]] (The Old Mosque) in [[Edirne]], [[Turkey]].]]
According to the tradition of Islam there are [[99 Names of God]] (''al-asma al-husna'' lit. meaning: "The best names") each of which evoke a distinct characteristic of Allah.<ref name="Ben">{{cite book |last=Bentley |first=David |coauthors= |title=The 99 Beautiful Names for God for All the People of the Book |publisher=William Carey Library |year=1999 |month=Sept. |isbn=0-87808-299-9 }}</ref><ref name="EncMMENA"/> All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name.<ref name="Tao-Islam"/> Among the 99 names of God, the most famous and most frequent of these names are "the Merciful" (''al-rahman'') and "the Compassionate" (''al-rahim'').<ref name="Ben"/><ref name="EncMMENA"/>
Most Muslims use the untranslated Arabic phrase "insha' Allah" (meaning "God willing") after references to future events.<ref>Gary S. Gregg, ''The Middle East: A Cultural Psychology'', Oxford University Press, p.30</ref> Muslim discursive piety encourages beginning things with the invocation of "basmAllah".<ref> Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, ''Islamic Society in Practice'', University Press of Florida, p.24</ref>
Muslims are recommended to repeat phrases like "Subhan-Allah" (Holiness be to God), "Ahlamdo-Lillah" (Praise be to God), "La-il-la-ha-il-Allah" (There is no deity but God) and "Allah-o-Akbar" (God is great) as a devotional exercise of remembering God (zikr).<ref>M. Mukarram Ahmed, Muzaffar Husain Syed, ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'',Anmol Publications PVT. LTD, p.144</ref> In a [[Sufi]] practice known as ''zikr Allah'' (lit. remembrance of God), the Sufi repeats and contemplates on the name ''Allah'' or other divine names while controlling his or her breath.<ref>Carl W. Ernst, Bruce B. Lawrence,'' Sufi Martyrs of Love: The Chishti Order in South Asia and Beyond'', Macmillan, p.29</ref>
===Others===
Arabic-speakers of all [[Abrahamic]] faiths, including [[Christian]]s and [[Jew]]s, use the word "Allah" to mean "God".<ref name="Columbia"/> The Christian Arabs of today have no other word for 'God' than 'Allah'.<ref name="Cambridge">{{cite book |author=Lewis, Bernard; Holt, P. M.; Holt, Peter R.; Lambton, Ann Katherine Swynford |title=The Cambridge history of Islam |publisher=University Press |location=Cambridge, Eng |year=1977 |pages=32 |isbn=0-521-29135-6 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> Arab Christians for example use terms ''Allāh al-ab'' (الله الآب) meaning [[God the Father|God the father]], ''Allāh al-ibn'' (الله الابن) mean [[Son of God|God the son]], and ''Allāh al-rūḥ al qudus'' (الله الروح القدس) meaning [[Holy Spirit|God the Holy Spirit]] (See [[God in Christianity]] for the Christian concept of God).
[[Arab Christian]]s have used two forms of invocations that were [[affix]]ed to the beginning of their written works. They adopted the Muslim ''basm-allah'', and also created their own Trinitized ''basm-allah'' as early as the eight century CE.<ref name="Thomas"/> The Muslim ''basm-allah'' reads: "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful." The Trinitized ''basm-allah'' reads: "In the name of Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God." The [[Syria]]c, [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] invocations do not have the words "One God" at the end. This addition was made to emphasize the [[monotheism|monotheistic]] aspect of Trinitian belief and also to make it more palatable to Muslims.<ref name="Thomas">Thomas E. Burman, ''Religious Polemic and the Intellectual History of the Mozarabs'', [[Brill Publishers|Brill]], 1994, p.103</ref>
According to [[Marshall Hodgson]], it seems that in the pre-Islamic times, some Arab Christians made pilgrimage to the [[Kaaba]], a pagan temple at that time, honoring Allah there as God the Creator.<ref> Marshall G. S. Hodgson, ''The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization'', [[University of Chicago Press]], p.156 </ref>
==Other usage==
=== English and other European languages ===
The history of the word "Allāh" in [[English language|English]] was probably influenced by the study of [[comparative religion]] in 19th century; for example, [[Thomas Carlyle]] (1840) sometimes used the term Allah but without any implication that Allah was anything different from God. However,[[Tor Andræ]]'s biography of Muhammad (1934) always used the term Allah though he "allows that this is 'a conception of God', seems to imply that it is different from the Jewish and Christian conceptions." By this time Christians were also becoming accustomed to retaining the Hebrew term "[[Yahweh]]" untranslated (it was previously translated as 'the Lord').<ref name="Watt45">William Montgomery Watt, ''Islam and Christianity today: A Contribution to Dialogue'', [[Routledge]], 1983, p.45 </ref>
Languages which may not commonly use the term ''Allah'' to denote a deity may still contain popular expressions which use the word. For example, because of the centuries long [[Al-Andalus|Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula]], the word [[Insha'Allah|ojalá]] (Arabic: إن شاء الله) today exist in the [[Spanish language]], borrowed from [[Arabic]]. This phrase literally means "God willing" (in the sense of "I hope so").<ref> Islam in Luce López Baralt, ''Spanish Literature: From the Middle Ages to the Present'', [[Brill Publishers|Brill]], 1992, p.25</ref>
Some Muslims leave the name "Allāh" untranslated in English.<ref> F. E. Peters, ''The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition'', [[Princeton University Press]], p.12</ref> Sometimes this comes from a zeal for the Arabic text of the Qur'an and sometimes with a more or less conscious implication that the God that Jews and Christians worship is not completely true in its details.<ref name="Hodgson"> Marshall G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization, University of Chicago Press, p.63</ref> Conversely, the usage of the term Allah by English speaking non-Muslims in reference to the God in Islam, Marshall G. S. Hodgson says, can imply that Muslims are worshiping a mythical god named 'Allah' rather than God, the creator. This usage is therefore appropriate, Hodgson says, only for those who are prepared to accept its theological implications.<ref name="Hodgson"/>
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One of the earliest surviving translations of the word ''Allāh'' into a foreign language is in a [[Greek language|Greek]] translation of the [[Shahada]], from 86-96 AH (705-715 AD), which translates it as ''ho theos monos'',<ref>A Bilingual Papyrus Of A Protocol - Egyptian National Library Inv. No. 61, 86-96 AH [http://www.islamic-awareness.org/History/Islam/Papyri/enlp1.html]</ref>
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=== Comparative religion ===
Some western scholars have suggested that Muhammad used the term Allah in addressing both pagan Arabs and Jews or Christians in order to establish a common ground for the understanding of the name for God, a claim Gerhard Böwering says is doubtful.<ref name="EoQ"/> According to Böwering, in contrast with Pre-Islamic Arabian [[polytheism]], God in Islam does not have associates and companions nor is there any kinship between God and [[Genie|jinn]].<ref name="EoQ"/> Pre-Islamic pagan Arabs believed in a blind, powerful, inexorable and insensible fate over which man had no control. This was replaced with the Islamic notion of a powerful but provident and merciful God.<ref>''[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]''</ref>
According to [[Francis Edwards Peters]], "The [[Qur'an]] insists, Muslims believe, and historians affirm that [[Muhammad]] and his followers worship the same God as the Jews ({{cite quran|29|46|style=nosup|expand=no}}). The Quran's Allah is the same Creator God who covenanted with [[Abraham]]". Peters states that the Qur'an portrays Allah as both more powerful and more remote than [[Yahweh]], and as a universal deity, unlike Yahweh who closely follows [[Israel]]ites.<ref name="Peters1"> F.E. Peters, ''Islam'', p.4, Princeton University Press, 2003 </ref> According to the Encyclopædia Britannica:
<blockquote>God, says the Qur'an, “loves those who do good,” and two passages in the Qur'an express a mutual love between God and man, but the [[Judeo-Christian]] precept to “love God with all thy heart” is nowhere formulated in Islam. The emphasis is rather on God's inscrutable sovereignty, to which one must abandon oneself. In essence, the “surrender to Allah” (Islam) is the religion itself.<ref name="Britannica"/></blockquote>
==Typography==
[[Image:Coat of arms of Iran.svg|right|130px|thumb|<center>Islamic Republic Coat of Arms, since 1979.]]
[[Unicode]] has a codepoint reserved for ''Allāh'', {{lang|ar|'''ﷲ'''}} = U+FDF2.<ref name="Uni">''Unicode Standard 5.0'', p.479,492 [http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/UFB50.pdf]</ref>
This character according to the official Unicode specification can be decomposed to ''alif-lām-lām-heh'' ({{script|Arab|الله}} U+0627 U+0644 U+0644 U+0647).<ref> Unicode Character 'Arabic ligature Allah isolated form' (U+FDF2) [http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/fdf2/index.htm] </ref>
Arabic type fonts often have special ligatures for ''[A]llāh'' and omit the initial alif.<ref name="Typ1">
*[http://www.smi.uib.no/ksv/ArabicFonts.html Arabic fonts and Mac OS X]
*[http://www.smi.uib.no/ksv/ArabicProgsx.html Programs for Arabic in Mac OS X]</ref>
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 ({{unicode|☫}}).<ref>''Unicode Standard 5.0'', p.209,210 [http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2600.pdf]</ref> The [[Coat of arms of Iran]] appears at the center of the flag of Iran. It can be understood as either a stylized design of the word Allah, as a representation of the globe, or as two crescents.<ref> Encyclopædia Britannica, ''flag of Iran''</ref>
==Abjad numerals==
[[Abjad numerals|Abjad]] is an ancient numerical system in the Arabic-speaking world. In this system each of the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet represent the units, tens and hundreds up to and including 1000.<ref> M J L Young, J D Latham, R B Serjeant, ''Religion, Learning and Science in the 'Abbasid Period'',Cambridge University Press, p.254</ref> The numerical value of the letters of Allah ({{lang|ar|الله }}) according to the traditional Arabic abjad system adds up to [[66 (number)|66]].<ref> The Journal of the Numismatic Society of India, 1939, p.86</ref>
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
==References==
* The Unicode Consortium, ''Unicode Standard 5.0'', Addison-Wesley, 2006, ISBN 0321480910, [http://unicode.org/book/aboutbook.html]
==See also==
{{Wikisource}}
* [[Ilah]]
* [[Names of God]]
* [[99 Names of God in the Qur'an]]
* [[Tawhid]]
* [[Termagant]]
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons+cat|Allah}}
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01316a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia - Allah]
* [http://www.islam-info.ch/en/Who_is_Allah.htm The Concept of Allāh according to the Qur'an] by Abdul Mannan Omar
* [http://cf.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H433&Version=KJV Strong's Concordance H433 "Eloah" (See Gesenius's Lexicon commentary).]
; Typography
*[http://www.smi.uib.no/ksv/ArabicFonts.html Arabic fonts and Mac OS X]
*[http://www.smi.uib.no/ksv/ArabicProgsx.html Programs for Arabic in Mac OS X]
{{Islam topics|state=collapsed}}
[[Category:Allah| ]]
[[Category:Arabian deities]]
[[Category:Arabic loanwords]]
[[Category:Aqidah]]
[[Category:Islam]]
[[Category:Islamic mythology]]
[[Category:Names of God]]
[[Category:Creator deities]]
[[af:Allah]]
[[ar:الله (إسلام)]]
[[az:Allah]]
[[bn:আল্লাহ]]
[[bar:Allach]]
[[bs:Allah]]
[[br:Allah]]
[[bg:Аллах]]
[[ca:Al·là]]
[[cs:Alláh]]
[[cy:Al-lâh]]
[[da:Allah]]
[[de:Allah]]
[[dv:ﷲ]]
[[et:Allah]]
[[es:Alá]]
[[eo:Alaho]]
[[fa:الله]]
[[fr:Allah]]
[[gl:Alá]]
[[ko:알라]]
[[hi:अल्लाह]]
[[id:Allah]]
[[is:Allah]]
[[it:Allah]]
[[he:אללה]]
[[jv:Allah]]
[[kn:ಅಲ್ಲಾಹ]]
[[ka:ალაჰი]]
[[ku:Allah]]
[[lt:Alachas]]
[[hu:Allah]]
[[mk:Алах]]
[[ml:അല്ലാഹു]]
[[mt:Alla]]
[[ms:Allah]]
[[nl:Allah]]
[[nds-nl:Allah]]
[[ja:アッラーフ]]
[[no:Allah]]
[[nn:Allah]]
[[uz:Alloh]]
[[pl:Allah]]
[[pt:Alá]]
[[ro:Allah]]
[[ru:Аллах]]
[[sq:Allahu]]
[[scn:Allah]]
[[simple:Allah]]
[[sd:الله]]
[[sk:Alah]]
[[sl:Alah]]
[[so:Allaah]]
[[sr:Алах]]
[[fi:Allah]]
[[sv:Allah]]
[[ta:அல்லாஹ்]]
[[tt:Allah]]
[[th:อัลลอฮ์]]
[[tg:Оллоҳ]]
[[tr:Allah]]
[[uk:Аллах]]
[[ur:اللہ]]
[[zh:安拉]]