Back Allah ACE Allah Afrikaans አላህ Amharic الله (كلمة) Arabic الله (كلمة) ARY আল্লাহ Assamese Alá AST Аллагь AV अल्लाह AWA Allah Azerbaijani
Allah (/ˈælə, ˈɑːlə, əˈlɑː/;[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]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
10-pointwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).