Is Allah a proper name or a common noun ?
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Salamun alaykum
Perhaps this question has been asked many times before , but I am asking it again for myself and for the new brothers and sisters who switched over from Muhammadanism to Islam according to The Qur'an who are regular live discussion partners in a chatroom . I have seen it many times in this forum that Allah is from "al ilah" etc , however I am hoping that Brother Wakas , Ayman or Sister Samia can help us with this query . ( The reason I ask this , is the new guys only speak Indonesian ) .
Thank you all
almarh0m
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I do not think language will help here, so I am just like any other non-Arabic speaker on this issue. The difference might be that I can say that there is no other word in Arabic that share the particulars of a word such as "al-ilah" being "allah" when we mean God.
In my opinion, it's not a proper name, and so "allah" who is the god of all people, is given translatable "names" across different languages (not across religions). If we believe that it's a proper name, I am afraid I would think that khoda is the name of the persian/urdu speaking people; Dieu is the name of the god of phrancophones; Allah is the name of the God of Arabophones (including Arab Christians) and so on. I know some names undergo some changes across languages, but they just submit to the rules of the language they are translated into (such as Elizabeth Arabic= alysabat ;D); but this is not the case with the different names given to God. -
Apart from linguistics, why will a unique being have a proper name if nothing is like it. Allah and all his other names are simply titles reflecting his attributes. Proper names are used only if we have more than one of the same kind as to differentiate them from each other. But God is an abstract absolute entity so giving him a proper name is meaningless.
Judaism has a proper noun for God -Yahweh- ie. because Judaism is actually a henothiestic religion which means that Yahweh is not the only god, but there are other gods governing other nations and they are all brothers under Elohim. So here the proper noun Yahweh is required to differentiate the God of Israel from the gods of the Ammonites, Hittites, Amorites like Chemosh, Marduk etc.
It is interesting to note that absolute monotheism is also found in Zoroastrianism, thats why the Creator has no proper noun but he is called Ahura Mazda or 'The Wise Lord'.
Therfore, if your god has a proper noun, know that you are either worshipping an idol, a human, or a god in a pantheon.
Peace,
Rami
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Say ?O people of the Scripture, let us come to a common understanding between us and between you; that we do not serve except God/Allah, and do not set up anything at all with Him, and that none of us takes each other as patrons beside God/Allah.? If they turn away, then say ?Bear witness that we have submitted.?
And do not argue with the people of the Scripture except in the best manner; except for those who are wicked amongst them; and say ?We believe in what was revealed to us and in what was revealed to you, and our god/ilah and your god/ilah is the same; to Him we submit.?
