Arabic word for God
The word 'Allah' in thuluth calligraphy
Allah (;[1] [2] [3] Arabic : ٱللَّٰه , romanized : Allāh , IPA: [ʔaɫ.ɫaːh] ⓘ ) is the common Arabic word for God . In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam .[4] [5] [6] The word is thought to be derived by contraction from al -ilāh , which means "the god", and is linguistically related to the Aramaic words Elah and Syriac ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ (ʼAlāhā) and the Hebrew word El (Elohim ) for God.[7] [8]
The word Allah has been used by Arabic people of different religions since pre-Islamic times.[9] The pre-Islamic Arabs worshipped a supreme deity whom they called Allah, alongside other lesser deities.[10] Muhammad used the word Allah to indicate the Islamic conception of God . Allah has been used as a term for God by Muslims (both Arab and non-Arab), Judaeo-Arabic -speaking Jews , and Arab Christians [11] after the terms "al -ilāh " and "Allah" were used interchangeably in Classical Arabic by the majority of Arabs who had become Muslims. It is also often, albeit not exclusively, used in this way by Bábists , Baháʼís , Mandaeans , Indonesian and Maltese Christians, and Sephardi Jews ,[12] [13] [14] as well as by the Gagauz people .[15] Similar usage by Christians and Sikhs in Peninsular Malaysia has recently led to political and legal controversies.[16] [17] [18] [19]
^ "Allah" . Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary .
^ "Allah" . Oxford Learner's Dictionaries .
^ "Definition of ALLAH" . www.merriam-webster.com . 18 March 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024 .
^ "God" . Islam: Empire of Faith . PBS. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2010 .
^ "Islam and Christianity", Encyclopedia of Christianity (2001): Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews also refer to God as Allāh .
^ Gardet, L. "Allah" . In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam Online . Brill Online. Retrieved 2 May 2007 .
^ Zeki Saritoprak (2006). "Allah" . In Oliver Leaman (ed.). The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia . Routledge . p. 34. ISBN 978-0-415-32639-1 .
^ Vincent J. Cornell (2005). "God: God in Islam". In Lindsay Jones (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion . Vol. 5 (2nd ed.). MacMillan Reference USA. p. 724.
^ Christian Julien Robin (2012). Arabia and Ethiopia. In The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity . OUP USA. pp. 304–305. ISBN 978-0-19-533693-1 .
^ Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow (2004). "Allah". The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend . Facts on File. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-4381-2685-2 .
^ Merriam-Webster. "Allah" . Merriam-Webster . Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2012 .
^
"Allah." Encyclopædia Britannica . 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica
^ Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa, Allah
^ Willis Barnstone, Marvin Meyer The Gnostic Bible: Revised and Expanded Edition Shambhala Publications 2009 ISBN 978-0-8348-2414-0 page 531
^ Carl Skutsch (2005). Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities . Routledge. p. 480.
^ Sikhs target of 'Allah' attack , Julia Zappei, 14 January 2010, The New Zealand Herald . Accessed on line 15 January 2014.
^ Malaysia court rules non-Muslims can't use 'Allah' , 14 October 2013, The New Zealand Herald . Accessed on line 15 January 2014.
^ Malaysia's Islamic authorities seize Bibles as Allah row deepens , Niluksi Koswanage, 2 January 2014, Reuters. Accessed on line 15 January 2014. [1]
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