Allah

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[[Image:Allah.svg|thumb|right|200px|An example of ''{{ArabDIN|allāh}}'' written in simple [[Arabic calligraphy]].]]
{{Otheruses}}
:''This article is about the Arabic word "Allah". See [[God in Islam]] for the Islamic conception of God.''
{{Arabicterm|'''الله'''|Allāh|God}}

'''''Allah''''' ({{lang-ar|الله}}, ''{{ArabDIN|Allāh}}'', {{IPA2|ʔalˤːɑːh}}) is the standard [[Arabic language|Arabic]] word for "[[God]]".<ref name="Britannica"/> The term 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''); another theory traces the etymology of the word to the [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] Alāhā.<ref name="EoI"/>

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">"Allah", ''Encyclopedia of Islam''</ref>

The concepts associated with the term ''Allah'' (as a deity) though differed from tradition to tradition. In pre-Islamic Arabia, Allah was not the sole divinity, had associates and companions, sons and daughters. There was also a kind of kinship of between Allah and the [[Genie|jinn]]. <ref name="GodEoQ"/> In Islam, Allah is the pivot of the Muslim faith who is [[Tawhid|only God]], all-merciful and omnipotent, transcendent [[Creator deity|creator of the universe]], and the judge of humankind.<ref name="EncMMENA"/><ref name="Britannica"/> As the Arab Christians today have no other word for 'God' than 'Allah'<ref name="Cambridge"/>, they for example use terms Allāh al-ab (الله الآب) meaning God the father, Allāh al-ibn (الله الابن) mean God the son, and Allāh al-ruh al koudous (الله الروح القدس) meaning God the Holy Spirit. There are both similarities and differences between the concept of God as portrayed in the Qur'an and the Hebrew Bible. <ref name="Peters1"/> The Qur'an also rejects the [[Trinity|Trinitarian]] conception of God as three persons in one substance (see [[Trinity]]).<ref name="Britannica-Islam"/>

==Etymology==
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''), L. Gardet states.<ref name="EoI"/> Another theory traces the etymology of the word to the Aramaic Alāhā.<ref name="EoI">Encyclopaedia of Islam, ''Allah''</ref>. [[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 [[Alaha|''ˀAlâhâ'' or ''ˀĀlōho'']] in [[Syriac language|Syriac]].<ref name="cal">[http://cal1.cn.huc.edu The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon] - Entry for ''ˀlh''</ref>.

According to Gerhard Böwering, 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 ''al-Lāt'' (“the deity” in the feminine form). <ref name="EoQ"/>

==Usage==
[[Image:Dcp7323-Edirne-Eski Camii Allah.jpg|thumb|150px|Allah script outside [[Eski Cami]] (The Old Mosque) in [[Edirne]], [[Turkey]].]]
[[Image:Allahmedal.jpg|thumb|Medallion showing 'Allah' in [[Hagia Sophia]], [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].]]

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> Allah is the pivot of the Muslim faith, Britannica Encyclopedia states. <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"/>

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. The most famous and most frequent of these names are "the Merciful" (''al-rahman'') and "the Compassionate" (''al-rahim'').<ref>{{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"/>

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 really true in it the full sense.<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> On the other hand, 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"/>

===Other===
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-ruh al ghodus'' (الله الروح القدس) meaning [[Holy Spirit|God the Holy Spirit]] (See [[God in Christianity]] for the Christian concept of God).

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>

=== Cross-religion comparison ===
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 must remain doubtful. <ref name="EoQ"/>

====Islamic vs pre-Islamic Arabian conceptions====
According to Gerhard 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 name="Britannica-Islam"/>

====Islamic vs Jewish conceptions====
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 Britannica Encyclopedia <ref name="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.</blockquote>

====Islamic vs Christian conceptions====
Islam vigorously rejects the Christian belief that God is three persons in one substance (see [[Trinity]]). According to Britannica Encyclopedia, in [[Islamic concept of God|Islamic conception of God]], no intermediaries between God and the creation exists and God's presence is believed to be everywhere, and yet he is not incarnated in anything.<ref name="Britannica-Islam"> "Islam." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, p.3 </ref>

==Typography==
{{Cleanup|date=December 2007}}
From "printing." Encyclopædia Britannica.2007.Encyclopædia Britannica, p.3 "But knowledge of the typographic process does not seem to have succeeded, as papermaking techniques had, in reaching Europe from China. It would seem that typography was assimilated by the Uighurs who lived on the borders of Mongolia and Turkistan, since a set of Uighur typefaces, carved on wooden cubes, has been found that date from the early 14th century. It would be surprising if the Uighurs, a nomadic people usually considered to have been the educators of other Turco-Mongolian peoples, had not spread the knowledge of typography as far as Egypt. There it may have encountered an obstacle to its progress toward Europe, namely, that, even though the Islamic religion had accepted paper in order to record the word of Allah, it may have refused to permit the word of Allah to be reproduced by artificial means.

The word ''Allāh'' is always written without an [[aleph|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 ''[[shadda]]h'' to indicate the pronunciation.

One exception may be in the pre-Islamic [[History of the Arabic alphabet#Pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions|Zabad inscription]],<ref>{{cite web
| title=Zebed Inscription: A Pre-Islamic Trilingual Inscription In Greek, Syriac & Arabic From 512 CE
| url=http://www.islamic-awareness.org/History/Islam/Inscriptions/zebed.html
| publisher=Islamic Awareness
| date=[[March 17]] [[2005]]
}}
</ref> where it ends with an ambiguous sign that may be a lone-standing ''h'' with a lengthened start, or may be a non-standard conjoined ''l-h'':-
* {{lang|ar| الاه }}: This reading would be ''Allāh'' spelled phonetically with ''alif'' for the ''ā''.
* {{lang|ar| الاله }}: This reading would be ''Al-'ilāh'' = "the god" (an older form, without contraction), by older spelling practice without ''alif'' for ''ā''.

In ''[[Abjad numerals]]'', the numeric value of {{lang|ar|الله }} is [[66 (number)|66]].

===Unicode===
[[Unicode]] has a codepoint reserved for ''Allāh'', {{lang|ar|ﷲ}} = U+FDF2.
This character according to the official Unicode specification is a ligature of ''alif-lām-lām-shadda-(superscript alif)-hā'' ({{script|Arab|اللّٰه}} U+0627 U+0644 U+0644 U+0651 U+0670 U+0647).
There is, however some confusion arising from the fact that Arabic typography usually features a ''llāh'' glyph without the preceding alif, which only occurs phrase-initially (or with {{ArabDIN|hamzatu l-waṣl}} {{script|Arab|آ}} in Qur'anic orthography). Consequently, the majority of [[Arabic Unicode]] fonts do not conform with the specification and have a glyph without the alif at this position (e.g. those provided by [http://www.linotype.com/2517/arabicfonts.html Linotype], the great majority of those licensed to or developed by [http://www.microsoft.com/typography/links/FontPortal.aspx?PID=8 Microsoft], those of [http://www.arabeyes.org Arabeyes.org], [[SIL]]'s [http://scripts.sil.org/ArabicFonts Lateef] and the fonts of [http://www.crulp.org CRULP] developed in Pakistan),
while others have the prescribed form with alif (e.g. [http://scripts.sil.org/ArabicFonts SIL's Scheherazade], [http://www.tdc.org/news/2006Results/AdobeArabic.html Adobe Arabic] distributed with the Middle-Eastern version
of the [http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html Adobe Reader 7], [[Arial Unicode MS]], and [http://sakkal.com/type/typesetting.html Arabic Typesetting], distributed with [http://www.microsoft.com/typography/VOLT.mspx VOLT] and with [http://www.microsoft.com/office/editions/prodinfo/language/proofingtools.mspx Microsoft Office Proofing Tools 2003]).

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|☫}}).

==See also==
{{Wikisource}}{{Commons+cat|Allah}}
* [[Ilah]]
* [[Names of God]]
* [[99 Names of God in the Qur'an]]
* [[Tawhid]]
* [[Termagant]]

==External links==
* [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]
* [http://cf.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H433&Version=KJV Strong's Concordance H433 "Eloah" (See Gesenius's Lexicon commentary).]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Islam topics|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Allah| ]]
[[Category:Aqidah]]
[[Category:Names of God]]
[[Category:Islam| ]]
[[Category:Islamic mythology]]

[[af:Allah]]
[[ar:الله (إسلام)]]
[[az:Allah]]
[[bn:আল্লাহ]]
[[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]]
[[hr:Alah]]
[[id:Allah]]
[[is:Allah]]
[[it:Allah]]
[[he:אללה]]
[[kn:ಅಲ್ಲಾಹ]]
[[ka:ალაჰი]]
[[ku:Allah]]
[[lv:Dievs islāmā]]
[[lt:Alachas]]
[[hu:Allah]]
[[ml:അല്ലാഹു]]
[[mt:Alla]]
[[ms:Allah]]
[[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]]