Why I don't think its right to translate "Allah" as "the god"
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I see a lot of people translate Allah as "the god" (lower case G). It kind of annoys me because this isn't what the word says literally at all. Yes, al-lah is a contraction of al-illah but when we look at the history of the word, we can see that Allah never meant simply "the god", and that's not what it literally says.
We know that the word "allah" predates islam. The mushrik idol worshipers were also using the term "allah" before the concept of "one God" was ever popular. Therefor it's illogical to assume that the word allah should be translated as "the god", when mushriks who worshipped many gods were still using the term "allah" to refer to their main god.
Therefor, its logical to conclude that the term allah is not simply a contraction of "the god", but it's actually a contraction of the phrase "the highest god". Allah was the title given to the highest god that the mushriks worshiped. The monotheistic God decided to usurp this terminology and use it to refer to himself, because it was a familiar term to the Arabs already. Allah wasnt a proper name, it was title. But then it BECAME a proper name, once it was usurped.. Because Allah is not simply the highest god, he's the ONLY god.
It's really ridiculous to translate something literally when the word does not explicitly state that it means "the god". If God wanted to be called "the god", he would have called himself "al illah", instead of Allah (yes, I know in 1143 He does refer to himself as 'illah".
An analogy would be the English translation "how come". If you translated it literally, it wouldn't make much sense, but it's a contraction of the phrase "how did it come to pass". Whenever you contract words together, usually a few implied words in between are also dropped. Arabic language (especially in the Quran) is famous for dropping implied words that can be derived from the context. It would be ignorant to assume that the title "allah" does not have any other words dropped out of it, especially when we can see from the history of the word even people who worshiped many gods were using the term "allah" previous to Islam! Therefor it's impossible that this term simply meant "the god", it actually meant "the highest god"... And therefor it's really wrong to translate it as "the god", as it has taken the form of a new word all together. The more accurate translation of Allah would be "God" (capital G).
English language is made out of French, Spanish, German, and Latin words, all smashed together to create new words and new meanings. It would be ignorant to then try to dissect them into literal translations when the etymology shows otherwise.
Another pet peeve of mine is when people translate "malaika" (angels) as "controllers".. This isn't a literal translation either, they only have similar roots. Also, the term malaika was not invented by God either, it was in use before the Quran...
People read too far into things.
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I see a lot of people translate Allah as "the god" (lower case G). It kind of annoys me because this isn't what the word says literally at all. Yes, al-lah is a contraction of al-illah but when we look at the HISTORY of the word, we can see that Allah never meant simply "the god", and that's not what it literally says.
We know that the word "allah" PREDATES islam. The mushrik idol worshipers were also using the term "allah" BEFORE the concept of "one God" was ever popular. Therefor it's illogical to assume that the word allah should be translated as "the god", when mushriks who worshipped MANY gods were still using the term "allah" to refer to their MAIN god.
Therefor, its logical to conclude that the term allah is not simply a contraction of "the god", but it's actually a contraction of the phrase "the HIGHEST god". Allah was the title given to the HIGHEST god that the mushriks worshiped. The monotheistic God decided to usurp this terminology and use it to refer to himself, because it was a familiar term to the Arabs already. Allah wasnt a proper name, it was title. But then it BECAME a proper name, once it was usurped.. Because Allah is not simply the HIGHEST god, he's the ONLY god.
It's really ridiculous to translate something literally when the word does not explicitly state that it means "the god". If God wanted to be called "the god", he would have called himself "al illah", instead of Allah.
An analogy would be the English translation "how come". If you translated it literally, it wouldn't make much sense, but it's a contraction of the phrase "how did it come to pass". Whenever you contract words together, usually a few implied words in between are also dropped. Arabic language (especially in the Quran) is FAMOUS for dropping implied words that can be derived from the context. It would be ignorant to assume that the title "allah" does not have any other words dropped out of it, especially when we can see from the history of the word even people who worshiped MANY gods were using the term "allah" previous to Islam! Therefor it's impossible that this term simply meant "the god", it actually meant "the HIGHEST god"... And therefor it's really wrong to translate it as "the god", as it has taken the form of a new word all together. The more accurate translation of Allah would be "God" (capital G)
English language is made out of French, Spanish, German, and Latin words, all smashed together to create new words and new meanings. It would be ignorant to then try to dissect them into literal translations when the etymology shows otherwise.
Another pet peeve of mine is when people translate "malaika" (angels) as "controllers".. This isn't a literal translation either, they only have similar roots. Also, the term malaika was not invented by God either, it was in use before the Quran...
People read too far into things.
My understanding of "Allah" Is to mean, The Supreme Deity, The only Deity worthy of worship, or as you said the Highest God. The understanding of the meaning of "Allah" goes beyond the linguistics. I've also heard that "Allah" can not be pluralized or given gender (god, gods and goddess come from the root "ilah" not "Allah"
If my understanding is correct (I am in no way a linguist or a scholar) "Allah" is far superior than "god", "God" or even "The God".
Yusuf Estes talks a lot about this.
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If my understanding is correct (I am in no way a linguist or a scholar) "Allah" is far superior than "god", "God" or even "The God".
Yusuf Estes talks a lot about this.
I'm not a linguist or scholar either.. I don't even know Arabic.. That's just my understanding from what limited knowledge I have.
Can you give a link to the Yusuf Estes articles / speeches? Thanks.
BTW, I agree. Arabic can never be fully translated into English, nothing is exactly equivalent when you change languages.
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I'm not a linguist or scholar either.. I don't even know Arabic.. That's just my understanding from what limited knowledge I have.
Can you give a link to the Yusuf Estes articles / speeches? Thanks.
BTW, I agree. Arabic can never be fully translated into English, nothing is exactly equivalent when you change languages.
http//www.islamtomorrow.com/allah.asp
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It says
What's so respectful about 'He'?I prefer not use "He" or "Him", however I think he means it is better than saying something like "it".
I just say "Allah" or "Allah's" (for example Allah's will) in any place where you would normally put him, he, her, she, his, etc. Even if it sounds repetitive.