:Allah

{{further|Ilah}}

File:Component letters in Allah.svg |hamzat waṣl ({{lang|ar|همزة وصل}}) |lām |lām |shadda ({{lang|ar|شدة}}) |alif khunjāriyah ({{lang|ar|ألف خنجرية}}) |hāʾ}}]]

The etymology of the word Allāh has been discussed extensively by classical Arab philologists.D.B. Macdonald. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "Ilah", Vol. 3, p. 1093. Most consider it to be derived from a contraction of the Arabic definite article al- and {{transliteration|ar|ALA|ilāh}} "deity, god" to {{transliteration|ar|ALA|al-lāh}} meaning "the deity, the God". Indeed, there is evidence of "the interchangeability of al-ilāh and allāh in early Arabic poetry even when composed by the Christian ʿAdī ibn Zayd.{{cite book|last1=Sinai|first1=Nicholas|title=Rain-Giver, Bone-Breaker, Score-Settler: Allāh in Pre-Quranic Poetry|date=2019|publisher=American Oriental Society|location=Atlanta, GA|isbn=978-1-948488-25-9|page=7}} The majority of scholars accept this hypothesis. A minority hypothesis, seen with more skepticism, is that the term is a loanword from Syriac Alāhā.Gerhard Böwering. Encyclopedia of the Quran, Brill, 2002. Vol. 2, p. 318{{Cite book|last=Reynolds|first=Gabriel Said|title=Allah: God in the Qur'an|date=2020|publisher=Yale university press|isbn=978-0-300-24658-2|location=New Haven|page=14}}

Grammarians of the Basra school regarded it as either formed "spontaneously" (murtajal) or as the determined form of lāh (from the verbal root lyh with the meaning of "lofty" or "hidden"). Other Muslims scholars proposed that the term derives from wilah (the object of mystery) since the nature of God is a mystery and incomprehensible for humans.Ibrahim, Zakyi. "To Use “God” or “Allah”?." American Journal of Islam and Society 26.4 (2009): v.{{cite book |translator1-first=Gibril Fouad |translator1-last=Haddad |first=ʿAbd Allah |last=ibn ʿUmar al-Baydawi |date=2016 |title=The Lights Of Revelation And The Secrets Of Interpretation |publisher=Beacon Books and Media Limited |isbn=978-0-9926335-7-8}}{{rp|p=162}}

The use of Allah as the name of a deity appears as early as the first century. An inscription using the Ancient South Arabian script in Old Arabic from Qaryat al-Fāw reads, "to Kahl and {{smallcaps|lh}} and ʿAththar" ({{smallcaps|b-khl w-lh w-ʿṯr}}).{{cite book|last1=Sinai|first1=Nicholas|title=Rain-Giver, Bone-Breaker, Score-Settler: Allāh in Pre-Quranic Poetry|date=2019|publisher=American Oriental Society|location=Atlanta, GA|isbn=978-1-948488-25-9|page=12}}

Cognates of the name "Allāh" exist in other Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Aramaic.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 and Eloah, the word Allah is used by all Arabic-speaking Muslims, Christians, Jews, and other monotheists. The corresponding Aramaic form is ʼElāh ({{lang|arc|אלה}}), but its definite form is {{transliteration|arc|ʼElāhā}} ({{lang|arc|אלהא}}). It is written as {{lang|syc|ܐܠܗܐ}} ({{transliteration|arc|ʼĔlāhā}}) in Biblical Aramaic and {{lang|syc|ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ}} ({{transliteration|syc|ʼAlāhā}}) in Syriac, both meaning simply "God".[http://cal1.cn.huc.edu The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon] – Entry for ʼlh {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018045941/http://cal1.cn.huc.edu/ |date=18 October 2013 }} The unusual Syriac form is likely a phonetic adaptation of the Arabic.{{cite book|last1=Sinai|first1=Nicholas|title=Rain-Giver, Bone-Breaker, Score-Settler: Allāh in Pre-Quranic Poetry|date=2019|publisher=American Oriental Society|location=Atlanta, GA|isbn=978-1-948488-25-9|page=8}}Kiltz, David. "The Relationship between Arabic Allāh and Syriac Allāha." Der Islam 88.1 (2012): 47.

{{See also|Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia}}{{Middle Eastern deities}}

Regional variants of the word Allah occur in both pagan and Christian pre-Islamic inscriptions.{{cite book|last=Hitti|first=Philip Khouri|title=History of the Arabs|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1970|pages=100–101}} According to Marshall Hodgson, it seems that in the pre-Islamic Arabia, some Arab Christians undertook pilgrimages to the Kaaba, a pagan temple at that time, honoring Allah there as the God Creator.Marshall G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization, University of Chicago Press, p. 156

The Syriac word {{lang|syc|ܐܠܗܐ}} ({{Transliteration|syr|ʼĔlāhā}}) can be found in the reports and the lists of names of Christian martyrs in South Arabia,{{Cite web|url=http://www.syriaca.org/work/254|title=The Himyarite Martyrs (text) —}}{{Cite book|title=James of Edessa the hymns of Severus of Antioch and others." Ernest Walter Brooks (ed.), Patrologia Orientalis VII.5 (1911)., vol: 2, p. 613|pages=ܐܠܗܐ (Elaha)}} as reported by antique Syriac documents of the names of those martyrs from the era of the Himyarite and Aksumite kingdomsIgnatius Ya`qub III, The Arab Himyarite Martyrs in the Syriac Documents (1966), Pages: 9-65-66-89

In an inscription of Christian martyrion dated to 512, references to al-ilah ({{lang|ar|الاله}}){{Cite book|title=M. A. Kugener, "Nouvelle Note Sur L'Inscription Trilingue De Zébed", Rivista Degli Studi Orientali, pp. 577-586.}} appear in both Arabic and Aramaic. The inscription opens with the phrase "By the Help of al-ilah".Adolf Grohmann, Arabische Paläographie II: Das Schriftwesen und die Lapidarschrift (1971), Wien: Hermann Böhlaus Nochfolger, Page: 6-8Beatrice Gruendler, The Development of the Arabic Scripts: From the Nabatean Era to the First Islamic Century according to Dated Texts (1993), Atlanta: Scholars Press, Page:

Archaeological excavations have led to the discovery of ancient pre-Islamic inscriptions and tombs made by Arab Christians in the ruins of a church at Umm el-Jimal in Northern Jordan, which initially, according to Enno Littmann (1949), contained references to Allah as the proper name of God. However, on a second revision by Bellamy et al. (1985 & 1988) the five-verse inscription was retranslated: "(1)This [inscription] was set up by colleagues of ʿUlayh, (2) son of ʿUbaydah, secretary (3) of the cohort Augusta Secunda (4) Philadelphiana; may he go mad who (5) effaces it."James Bellamy, "Two Pre-Islamic Arabic Inscriptions Revised: Jabal Ramm and Umm al-Jimal", Journal of the American Oriental Society, 108/3 (1988) pp. 372–378 (translation of the inscription) "This was set up by colleagues/friends of ʿUlayh, the son of ʿUbaydah, secretary/adviser of the cohort Augusta Secunda Philadelphiana; may he go mad/crazy who effaces it."Enno Littmann, Arabic Inscriptions (Leiden, 1949){{Cite book|title=The Type and Spread of Arabic Script|last=Daniels|first=Peter T.|year=2014}}

Irfan Shahîd quoting the 10th-century encyclopedic collection Kitab al-Aghani notes that pre-Islamic Arab Christians have been reported to have raised the battle cry "Ya La Ibad Allah" (O slaves of Allah) to invoke each other into battle.Irfan Shahîd, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century, Dumbarton Oaks Trustees for Harvard University-Washington DC, page 418. According to Shahid, on the authority of 10th-century Muslim scholar Al-Marzubani, "Allah" was also mentioned in pre-Islamic Christian poems by some Ghassanid and Tanukhid poets in Syria and Northern Arabia.Irfan Shahîd, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century, Dumbarton Oaks Trustees for Harvard University-Washington DC, Page: 452A. Amin and A. Harun, Sharh Diwan Al-Hamasa (Cairo, 1951), Vol. 1, Pages: 478-480Al-Marzubani, Mu'jam Ash-Shu'araa, Page: 302

Different theories have been proposed regarding the role of Allah in pre-Islamic polytheistic cults. According to the Quran commentator Ibn Kathir, Arab idolaters considered Allah as an unseen God who created and controlled the Universe. Pagans believed worship of humans or animals who had fortunate occurrences in their life brought them closer to God. Pre-Islamic Meccans worshiped Allah alongside a host of lesser gods and those whom they called the "daughters of Allah." Islam forbade worship of anyone or anything other than God.{{Cite book|last=IslamKotob|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uTJoiXp3pS4C|title=Tafsir Ibn Kathir all 10 volumes|publisher=IslamKotob|language=en}} Some authors have suggested that polytheistic Arabs used the name as a reference to a creator god or a supreme deity of their pantheon.Zeki Saritopak, Allah, The Qu'ran: An Encyclopedia, ed. by Oliver Leaman, p. 34 The term may have been vague in the Meccan religion.L. Gardet, Allah, Encyclopaedia of Islam, ed. by Sir H.A.R. GibbGerhard Böwering, God and his Attributes, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, ed. by Jane Dammen McAuliffe

According to one hypothesis, the Kaaba was first dedicated to a supreme deity named Allah and then hosted the pantheon of Quraysh (360 idols) after their conquest of Mecca, about a century before the time of Muhammad. Some inscriptions seem to indicate the use of Allah as a name of a polytheist deity centuries earlier, although the exact nature of this usage remains unclear. Some scholars have suggested that Allah may have represented a remote creator god who was gradually eclipsed by more particularized local deities.{{cite book|author=Jonathan Porter Berkey|title=The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800|url=https://archive.org/details/formationofislam0000berk|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-58813-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/formationofislam0000berk/page/42 42]}}{{cite book|author=Daniel C. Peterson|title=Muhammad, Prophet of God|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9zpbEj0xA_sC&pg=PA21|date=26 February 2007|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-0754-0|page=21}} There is disagreement on whether Allah played a major role in the Meccan religious cult.{{cite book|author=Francis E. Peters|title=Muhammad and the Origins of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0OrCo4VyvGkC&pg=PA107|year=1994|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1875-8|page=107}} No iconic representation of Allah is known to have existed.{{cite book|author=Irving M. Zeitlin|title=The Historical Muhammad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sbhJJ7AOLL4C|date=19 March 2007|publisher=Polity|isbn=978-0-7456-3999-4|page=33}} Muhammad's father's name was Abd Allah ibn Abd al Muttalib meaning "the slave of Allāh". The interpretation that Pre-Islamic Arabs once practiced Abrahamic religions is supported by some literary evidence, being the prevalence of Ishmael, whose God was that of Abraham, in pre-Islamic Arab culture.The Treasury of literature, Sect. 437The Beginning of History, Volume 3, Sect.10The Collection of the Speeches of Arabs, volume 1, section 75

{{main|God in Islam}}

{{see also|Names of God in Islam}}

In contrast with pre-Islamic Arabian polytheism, as stated by Gerhard Böwering, God in Islam does not have associates and companions, nor is there any kinship between God and jinn. Pre Islamic Arabs believed in a blind, powerful, unstoppable and insensible fate over which man had no control. This was replaced with the Islamic belief of a powerful yet benevolent and merciful God's control over man's life. According to Francis Edward Peters, "The Qur'ān insists, Muslims believe, and historians affirm that Muhammad and his followers worship the same God as the Jews ({{Qref|29|46}}). The Qur'an'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 Israelites.F.E. Peters, Islam, p.4, Princeton University Press, 2003

Since the first centuries of Islam, Arabic-speaking commentators of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faith used the term Allah as a generic term for the supreme being.Thomas, Kenneth J. "Allah in Translations of the Bible." The Bible Translator 52.3 (2001): 301-306. Saadia Gaon used the term Allah interchangeably with the term ʾĔlōhīm. Theodore Abu Qurrah translates theos as Allah in his Bible, as in John 1:1 "the Word was with Allah". Muslim commentators likewise used the term Allah for the Biblical concept of God. Ibn Qutayba writes "You cannot serve both Allah and Mammon.". However, Muslim translators of the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia rarely translated the Tetragrammaton, referring to the supreme being in Israelite tradition, as Allah. Instead, most commentators either translated Yahweh as either yahwah or rabb, the latter corresponding to the Jewish custom to refer to Yahweh as Adonai.

Most Qur'an commentators, including al-Tabari (d. 923), al-Zamakhshari (d. 1143/44), and al-Razi (d. 1209), regard Allah to be a proper noun.Ibrahim, Zakyi. "To Use "God" or "Allah"?." American Journal of Islam and Society 26.4 (2009): i-vii. While other names of God in Islam denote attributes or adjectives, the term Allah specifically refers to his essence as his real name ({{Transliteration|ar|ism'alam li-dhatih}}). The other names are known as the 99 Names of Allah ({{transliteration|ar|ALA|al-asmā' al-ḥusná}} lit. meaning: 'the best names' or 'the most beautiful names') and considered attributes, each of which represents a distinct characteristic of Allah.{{cite book|last=Bentley|first=David|title=The 99 Beautiful Names for God for All the People of the Book|publisher=William Carey Library|date=September 1999|isbn=978-0-87808-299-5}} All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name.{{cite book|last=Murata|first=Sachiko|year=1992|title=The Tao of Islam: a sourcebook on gender relationships in Islamic thought|location=Albany NY USA|publisher=SUNY|isbn=978-0-7914-0914-5}} Among the 99 names of God, the most famous and most frequent of these names are "the Merciful" (ar-Raḥmān) and "the Compassionate" ({{transliteration|ar|ALA|ar-Raḥīm}}), including the previously mentioned above al-Aḥad ("the One, the Indivisible") and al-Wāḥid ("the Unique, the Single").

According to Islamic belief, Allah is the most common word to represent God,Böwering, Gerhard, God and His Attributes, Encyclopaedia of the Qurʼān, Brill, 2007. and humble submission to his will, divine ordinances and commandments is the foundation of the Muslim faith. "He is the only God, creator of the universe, and the judge of humankind." "He is unique ({{transliteration|ar|ALA|wāḥid}}) and inherently one ({{transliteration|ar|ALA|aḥad}}), all-merciful and omnipotent." No human eyes can see Allah till the Day of Judgment.{{Cite web|title=The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Translation|url=https://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=6&verse=103|access-date=2021-04-11|website=corpus.quran.com}} The Qur'an declares "the reality of Allah, His inaccessible mystery, His various names, and His actions on behalf of His creatures." Allah does not depend on anything.{{Cite web|title=112. Surah Al-Ikhlaas or At-Tauhid – NobleQuran.com|url=https://noblequran.com/surah-al-ikhlaas-or-at-tauhid/|access-date=2021-04-11|language=en-US}} Allah is not considered a part of the Christian Trinity.{{Cite web|title=The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Translation|url=https://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=5&verse=73|access-date=2021-03-30|website=corpus.quran.com}} God has no parents and no children.{{Cite web|title=The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Translation|url=https://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=112&verse=3|access-date=2021-03-30|website=corpus.quran.com}}

The attributes of Allah Almighty are described in this way in the Ayat al-Kursi of Surah al-Baqarah in the Holy Quran.

ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْحَىُّ ٱلْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُۥ سِنَةٌۭ وَلَا نَوْمٌۭ ۚ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُۥٓ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِۦ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَىْءٍۢ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِۦٓ إِلَّا بِمَا شَآءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَـُٔودُهُۥ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْعَظِيمُ ٢٥٥

"Allah! There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him, the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who could possibly intercede with Him without His permission? He ˹fully˺ knows what is ahead of them and what is behind them, but no one can grasp any of His knowledge—except what He wills ˹to reveal˺. His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of both does not tire Him. For He is the Most High, the Greatest."{{Cite web |title=Surah Al-Baqarah - Ayatul Kursi |url=https://quran.com/en/ayatul-kursi |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=Quran.com |language=en}}

The concept correlates to the Tawhid, where chapter 112 of the Qur'an (Al-'Ikhlās, The Sincerity) reads:Arabic script in Unicode symbol for a Quran verse, U+06DD, page 3, [http://www.evertype.com/standards/iso10646/pdf/09419-encode-koranic.pdf Proposal for additional Unicode characters]

قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ۝ ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ۝ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ ۝ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌۢ ۝١

:۝ Say, God is one God;

:۝ the eternal God:

:۝ He begetteth not, neither is He begotten:

:۝ and there is not any one like unto Him.Sale, G AlKoran

In a Sufi practice known as {{Transliteration|ar|dhikr Allāh}} (Arabic: ذِكر الله, lit. "Remembrance of God"), the Sufi chants and contemplates the name Allah or other associated divine names to Him while regulating his or her breath.Carl W. Ernst, Bruce B. Lawrence, Sufi Martyrs of Love: The Chishti Order in South Asia and Beyond, Macmillan, p. 29

File:Istanbul, Hagia Sophia, Allah.jpg" in the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey]]

File:Dcp7323-Edirne-Eski Camii Allah.jpg in Edirne, Turkey]]

The Islamic tradition to use Allah as the personal name of God became contested in contemporary scholarship, including the question, whether or not the word Allah should be translated as God.Andreas Görke and Johanna Pink Tafsir and Islamic Intellectual History Exploring the Boundaries of a Genre Oxford University Press in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies London {{ISBN|978-0-19-870206-1}} p. 478 Umar Faruq Abd-Allah encouraged English-speaking Muslims to use God instead of Allah for the sake of finding "extensive middle ground we share with other Abrahamic and universal traditions".

Most Muslims use the Arabic phrase Insha'Allah (meaning 'if God wills') untranslated after references to future events.Gary S. Gregg, The Middle East: A Cultural Psychology, Oxford University Press, p.30 Muslim devotional practices encourage beginning things with the invocation of Basmala (meaning 'In the name of God').Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Islamic Society in Practice, University Press of Florida, p. 24 There are certain other phrases in praise of God that are commonly used by Muslims and left untranslated, including "subhan'allah" (Glory be to God), "Alhamdulillah" (Praise be to God), "Shahada" (There is no deity but God) or sometimes "{{Transliteration|ar|lā ilāha illā inta/ huwa}}" (There is no deity but You/ Him) and "Takbir" (God is the Most Great) as a devotional exercise of remembering God (dhikr).M. Mukarram Ahmed, Muzaffar Husain Syed, Encyclopaedia of Islam, Anmol Publications PVT. LTD, p. 144

The Christian Arabs of today have no other word for "God" than "Allah".{{cite book|author1=Lewis, Bernard|author2=Holt, P. M.|author3=Holt, Peter R.|author4=Lambton, Ann Katherine Swynford|title=The Cambridge history of Islam|publisher=University Press|location=Cambridge, Eng|year=1977|page=32|isbn=978-0-521-29135-4}} Similarly, the Aramaic word for "God" in the language of Assyrian Christians is {{Transliteration|am|ʼĔlāhā}}, or {{Transliteration|am|Alaha}}. (Even the Arabic-descended Maltese language of Malta, whose population is almost entirely Catholic, uses Alla for "God".)

Arab Christians have used two forms of invocations that were affixed to the beginning of their written works. They adopted the Muslim {{transliteration|ar|ALA|bismillāh}}, and also created their own Trinitarian {{transliteration|ar|ALA|bismillāh}} as early as the 8th century. The Muslim {{transliteration|ar|ALA|bismillāh}} reads: "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful." The Trinitized {{transliteration|ar|ALA|bismillāh}} reads: "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God." The Syriac, Latin and Greek invocations do not have the words "One God" at the end. This addition was made to emphasize the monotheistic aspect of Trinitarian belief and also to make it more palatable to Muslims.Thomas E. Burman, Religious Polemic and the Intellectual History of the Mozarabs, Brill, 1994, p. 103

The word Allāh is generally pronounced {{IPA|[ɑɫˈɫɑː(h)]}}, exhibiting a heavy {{Transliteration|ar|lām}}, {{IPA|[ɫ]}}, a velarized alveolar lateral approximant, a marginal phoneme in Modern Standard Arabic. Since the initial alef has no hamza, the initial {{IPA|[a]}} is elided when a preceding word ends in a vowel. If the preceding vowel is {{IPA|/i/}}, the {{Transliteration|ar|lām}} is light, {{IPA|[l]}}, as in, for instance, the Basmala.{{Cite news|url=https://www.arabic-for-nerds.com/2018/06/16/how-do-you-pronounce-allah-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-correctly/|title=How do you pronounce "Allah" (الله) correctly?|date=16 June 2018|work=ARABIC for NERDS|access-date=16 June 2018|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617092853/https://www.arabic-for-nerds.com/2018/06/16/how-do-you-pronounce-allah-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-correctly/|archive-date=17 June 2018}}

The history of the name Allāh in English was probably influenced by the study of comparative religion in the 19th century; for example, Thomas Carlyle (1840) sometimes used the term Allah but without any implication that Allah was anything different from God. However, in his biography of Muḥammad (1934), Tor Andræ always used the term Allah, though he allows that this "conception of God" seems to imply that it is different from that of the Jewish and Christian theologies.William Montgomery Watt, Islam and Christianity today: A Contribution to Dialogue, Routledge, 1983, p.45

Languages which may not commonly use the term Allah to denote God may still contain popular expressions which use the word. For example, because of the centuries long Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula, the word {{lang|es|ojalá}} in the Spanish language and {{lang|pt|oxalá}} in the Portuguese language exist today, borrowed from Andalusi Arabic {{transliteration|xaa|law šá lláh}}{{cite book|title=Diccionario de la lengua española|date=2022|publisher=Real Academia Española - ASALE|edition=23.6 electronic|url=https://dle.rae.es/ojal%25C3%25A1|access-date=24 April 2023|language=es|chapter=ojalá}} similar to {{transliteration|ar|inshalla}} ({{langx|ar|إِنْ شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ}}). This phrase literally means 'if God wills'.Islam in Luce López Baralt, Spanish Literature: From the Middle Ages to the Present, Brill, 1992, p.25 The German poet Mahlmann used the form "Allah" as the title of a poem about the ultimate deity, though it is unclear how much Islamic thought he intended to convey.

Some Muslims retain the name "Allāh" untranslated in English, rather than using the English translation "God".F. E. Peters, The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition, Princeton University Press, p.12

{{main|Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur v. Menteri Dalam Negeri|2010 attacks against places of worship in Malaysia}}

File:Vocabularium, ofte Woordenboek, in 't Duytsch en Maleys (IA vocabulariumoft00dancgoog).djvu, Justus Heurnius, and Caspar Wiltens in 1650 recorded {{lang|ms|Allah}} as the translation of the Dutch word {{lang|nl|Godt}}.|link=File:Vocabularium,_ofte_Woordenboek,_in_'t_Duytsch_en_Maleys_(IA_vocabulariumoft00dancgoog).djvu%3Fpage=77]]

File:GKKA Banjarmasin.jpg. {{lang|id|Allah}} is the word for "God" in the Indonesian language - even in {{lang|id|Alkitab}} (Christian Bible, from {{langx|ar|الكتاب|translit=al-kitāb|label=none}} = the book) translations, while {{lang|id|Tuhan}} is the word for "Lord".]]

File:Seremban-Annunciation-feast-3808.jpg also use the word {{lang|zlm|Allah}} for "God".]]

Christians in Malaysia and Indonesia use {{lang|ms|Allah}} to refer to God in the Malaysian and Indonesian languages (both of them standardized forms of the Malay language). Mainstream Bible translations in the language use {{lang|ms|Allah}} as the translation of Hebrew {{transliteration|hbo|Elohim}} (translated in English Bibles as "God").Example: [http://alkitab.sabda.org/verse.php?book=Mat&chapter=22&verse=32&search=allah&scope=all&exact=off Usage of the word "Allah" from Matthew 22:32 in Indonesian bible versions (parallel view) as old as 1733] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131019125828/http://alkitab.sabda.org/verse.php?book=Mat&chapter=22&verse=32&search=allah&scope=all&exact=off |date= 19 October 2013 }} This goes back to early translation work by Francis Xavier in the 16th century.The Indonesian Language: Its History and Role in Modern Society Sneddon, James M.; University of New South Wales Press; 2004The History of Christianity in India from the Commencement of the Christian Era: Hough, James; Adamant Media Corporation; 2001 The first dictionary of Dutch-Malay by Albert Cornelius Ruyl, Justus Heurnius, and Caspar Wiltens in 1650 (revised edition from 1623 edition and 1631 Latin edition) recorded {{lang|ms|Allah}}" as the translation of the Dutch word {{lang|nl|Godt}}.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3GcTAAAAQAAJ&q=allah|title=Justus Heurnius, Albert Ruyl, Caspar Wiltens. "Vocabularium ofte Woordenboeck nae ordre van den alphabeth, in 't Duytsch en Maleys". 1650:65|access-date=14 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022172808/https://books.google.com/books?id=3GcTAAAAQAAJ&v=onepage&q=allah&f=false|archive-date=22 October 2013|year=1650|last1=Wiltens|first1=Caspar|last2=Heurnius|first2=Justus}} Ruyl also translated the Gospel of Matthew in 1612 into the Malay language (an early Bible translation into a non-European language,

But compare:

{{cite book|last1=Milkias|first1=Paulos|chapter=Ge'ez Literature (Religious)|title=Ethiopia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DtIRbpUNp_oC|series=Africa in Focus|location=Santa Barbara, California|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2011|page=299|isbn=978-1-59884-257-9|access-date=15 February 2018|quote=Monasticism played a key role in the Ethiopian literary movement. The Bible was translated during the time of the Nine Saints in the early sixth century [...].}}

made a year after the publication of the King James VersionBarton, John (2002–12). The Biblical World, Oxford, UK: Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-415-27574-3}}.North, Eric McCoy; Eugene Albert Nida ((2nd Edition) 1972). The Book of a Thousand Tongues, London: United Bible Societies.), which was printed in the Netherlands in 1629. Then he translated the Gospel of Mark, published in 1638.{{Cite web|url=http://sejarah.sabda.org/sejarah/bio_ruyl.htm|title=Sejarah Alkitab Indonesia / Albert Conelisz Ruyl|website=sejarah.sabda.org}}{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/514364/Albert-Cornelius-Ruyl|title=Encyclopædia Britannica: Albert Cornelius Ruyl|encyclopedia=Britannica.com|access-date=14 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019171117/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/514364/Albert-Cornelius-Ruyl|archive-date=19 October 2013}}

For a time it became illegal for non-Muslims to use "Allah" after the country experienced a social and political upheaval in the face of the word being used by Malaysian Christians and Sikhs. The government of Malaysia in 2007 prohibited usage of the term {{lang|zlm|Allah}} in any other but Muslim contexts, but the Malayan High Court in 2009 overturned the law, ruling it unconstitutional. While {{lang|ms|Allah}} had been used for the Christian God in Malay for more than four centuries, the contemporary controversy was triggered by usage of {{lang|zlm|Allah}} by the Roman Catholic newspaper The Herald. The government appealed the court ruling, and the High Court suspended implementation of its verdict until the hearing of the appeal. In October 2013 the court ruled in favor of the government's ban.{{cite news|title=No more 'Allah' for Christians, Malaysian court says|first=Simon|last=Roughneen|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2013/1014/No-more-Allah-for-Christians-Malaysian-court-says|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|date=14 October 2013|access-date=14 October 2013}} In early 2014 the Malaysian government confiscated more than 300 bibles for using the word to refer to the Christian God in Peninsular Malaysia.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25578348|title=BBC News - More than 300 Bibles are confiscated in Malaysia|publisher=BBC|date=2 January 2014|access-date=14 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125052310/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25578348|archive-date=25 January 2014|url-status=live}} However, the use of {{lang|zlm|Allah}} is not prohibited in the two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=87900|title=Catholic priest should respect court: Mahathir|newspaper=Daily Express|date=9 January 2014|access-date=10 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110085352/http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=87900|archive-date=10 January 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/03/29/worship-without-hindrance/|title=Worship without hindrance|author1=Jane Moh|author2=Peter Sibon|newspaper=The Borneo Post|date=29 March 2014|access-date=29 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329094134/http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/03/29/worship-without-hindrance/|archive-date=29 March 2014|url-status=live}} The main reason it is not prohibited in these two states is that usage has been long-established and local Alkitab (Bibles) have been widely distributed freely in East Malaysia without restrictions for years. Both states also do not have similar Islamic state laws as those in West Malaysia. The ban was overturned in 2021.[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10620032 Sikhs target of 'Allah' attack], Julia Zappei, 14 January 2010, The New Zealand Herald. Accessed on line 15 January 2014.[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11139915 Malaysia court rules non-Muslims can't use 'Allah'], 14 October 2013, The New Zealand Herald. Accessed on line 15 January 2014.[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-religion-idUSBREA010C120140102 Malaysia's Islamic authorities seize Bibles as Allah row deepens], Niluksi Koswanage, 2 January 2014, Reuters. Accessed on line 15 January 2014. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-religion-idUSBREA010C120140102]

In reaction to some media criticism, the Malaysian government has introduced a "10-point solution" to avoid confusion and misleading information.{{cite web|url=http://aliran.com/web-specials/bahasa-malaysia-bibles-10-point-solution/|title=Bahasa Malaysia Bibles: The Cabinet's 10-point solution|date=25 January 2014}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/01/24/Najib-Kalimah-Allah/|title=Najib: 10-point resolution on Allah issue subject to Federal, state laws|newspaper=The Star|date=24 January 2014|access-date=25 June 2014}} The 10-point solution is in line with the spirit of the 18- and 20-point agreements of Sarawak and Sabah.{{cite web|url=http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/02/24/My-take-on-the-Allah-issue-10point-solution-is-key-to-managing-the-polarity/|title=The 'Allah'/Bible issue, 10-point solution is key to managing the polarity|author=Idris Jala|work=The Star|date=24 February 2014|access-date=25 June 2014|author-link=Idris Jala}}

File:Flag of Iraq.svg|Flag of Iraq with the Takbir written on it

File:Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg|Flag of Saudi Arabia with the Shahada written on it

File:Flag of the Taliban.svg|Flag of Afghanistan with the Shahada written on it

File:Flag of Iran.svg|Flag of Iran with "Allah" written on it

File:Allah name in different languages.pngs]]

The word {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Allāh}} is always written without an aleph to spell the {{transliteration|ar|ALA|ā}} vowel. This is because the spelling was established before Arabic spelling started regularly using {{transliteration|ar|ALA|alif}} to spell {{transliteration|ar|ALA|ā}}. However, in vocalized spelling, a Dagger alif is added on top of the shadda to indicate the pronunciation.

In the pre-Islamic Zabad inscription,{{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=17 March 2005}}

God is referred to by the term {{lang|ar|الاله}}, that is, alif-lam-alif-lam-ha. This presumably indicates {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Al-'ilāh}} means "the god", without {{transliteration|ar|ALA|alif}} for ā.

Many Arabic type fonts feature special ligatures for Allah.

• [http://www.smi.uib.no/ksv/ArabicFonts.html Arabic fonts and Mac OS X] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310022047/http://www.smi.uib.no/ksv/ArabicFonts.html |date=10 March 2008 }}
• [http://www.smi.uib.no/ksv/ArabicProgsx.html Programs for Arabic in Mac OS X] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006005022/http://www.smi.uib.no/ksv/ArabicProgsx.html |date=6 October 2013 }}

Since Arabic script is used to write other texts rather than Koran only, rendering {{transliteration|ar|ALA|lām}} + {{transliteration|ar|ALA|lām}} + {{transliteration|ar|ALA|hā'}} as the previous ligature is considered faulty which is the case with most common Arabic typefaces.

{{lquote|This simplified style is often preferred for clarity, especially in non-Arabic languages, but may not be considered appropriate in situations where a more elaborate style of calligraphy is preferred.

:—SIL International{{cite web|title=Scheherazade New|url=//software.sil.org/scheherazade/design/|website=SIL International|access-date=4 February 2022}}}}

Unicode has a code point reserved for {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Allāh}}, {{Unichar|fdf2}}, Unicode of Allah https://unicodeplus.com/U+FDF2

in the Arabic Presentation Forms-A block, which exists solely for "compatibility with some older, legacy character sets that encoded presentation forms directly";UnicodeThe Unicode Consortium. [https://www.unicode.org/faq/middleeast.html#5 FAQ - Middle East Scripts] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001110649/http://www.unicode.org/faq/middleeast.html#5 |date=1 October 2013 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/UFB50.pdf|title=Unicode Standard 5.0, p.479, 492|access-date=14 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428184606/http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/UFB50.pdf|archive-date=28 April 2014}} this is not recommended for new text. Instead, the word {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Allāh}} should be represented by its individual Arabic letters, while modern font technologies will generate the desired ligature.

The calligraphic variant of the word used as the emblem of Iran is encoded in Unicode, in the Miscellaneous Symbols range, at code point

U+262B Farsi Unicode

https://unicodeplus.com/U+262B (☫). The flags that include the word are also present in the regional indicator symbols of Unicode: 🇮🇶, 🇸🇦, 🇦🇫, 🇮🇷, 🇺🇿.

• Abdullah (name)
• Allah as a lunar deity
• Emblem of Iran
• Ismul Azam
• Names of God

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|title=The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary|publisher=Harper Collins|year=2015|isbn=978-0-06-222762-1|url=https://archive.org/details/thestudyquran_201909/mode/2up|editor1-first=Seyyed Hossein|editor1-last=Nasr|editor2-first=C.K.|editor2-last=Dagli|editor3-first=Maria Massi|editor3-last=Dakake|editor4-first=J.E.B.|editor4-last=Lumbard|editor5-first=M.|editor5-last=Rustom|url-access=registration|author-link=Seyyed Hossein Nasr}}
• The Unicode Consortium, Unicode Standard 5.0, Addison-Wesley, 2006, {{ISBN|978-0-321-48091-0}}, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080304160907/http://www.unicode.org/book/aboutbook.html About the Unicode Standard Version 5.0 Book]

• [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Allah Allah Qur'ān], in Encyclopædia Britannica Online, by Asma Afsaruddin, Brian Duignan, Thinley

{{sisterlinks|d=Q234801|c=Category:Allah in calligraphy|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|s=no|wikt=no|species=no}}

{{Wikisource}}

• [http://www.searchtruth.com/Allah/99Names.php Names of Allah with Meaning on Website, Flash, and Mobile Phone Software]
• [http://www.sultan.org/articles/god.html Concept of God (Allah) in Islam]
• [http://www.islam-info.ch/en/Who_is_Allah.htm The Concept of Allāh According to the Qur'an] by Abdul Mannan Omar
• [http://www.muslim.org/islam/allah.htm Allah, the Unique Name of God]

; Typography

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080310022047/http://www.smi.uib.no/ksv/ArabicFonts.html Arabic Fonts and Mac OS X]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131006005022/http://www.smi.uib.no/ksv/ArabicProgsx.html Programs for Arabic in Mac OS X]

{{Islam topics|state=collapsed}}

{{Names of God}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Arabian deities

Category:Arabian gods

Category:Islamic terminology

Category:Middle Eastern gods

Category:Names of God