the meaning of "ALLAH"?
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The key phrase in 2240 is 'ismu Allah'--'Name of God'
And nowhere in the Qur'an is God called YHWH. So we can safely ignore Albion's post above this wink
But wait! Could this be YHWH (or something similar) in the Qur'an?
1121
Qul Huwa Allahu ahadSay, He is God, the One.
...oops sorry, wrong reasoning. My fault. I thought Huwa=YHWH. But on closer examination truns out that it's just a 'He'.
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Peace,
For me, Allah is originated from al-ilah which becomes alilah then allah.
In english, maybe linguistically it is not correct but I prefer to say the God instead of God, The God is closer to Allah and
more accurate than God .Fore more information Le dieu, en arabe al-lah (French site)
- And He is the God, there is no god but He. To Him belongs all praise in the first and in the last, and judgment belongs with Him, and to Him you will be returned.
Wa huwa Allahu la ilaha illa huwa lahu alhamdu fee al-oola waal-akhiratiwalahu alhukmu wa-ilayhi turjaAAoona
I think there is no god but He is a good definition for ALLAH
= LA / There is no
= ilah / God / divinity
= illa / but/except
= Hu / He
The God knows best
- And He is the God, there is no god but He. To Him belongs all praise in the first and in the last, and judgment belongs with Him, and to Him you will be returned.
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Peace be upon you,
Allah = the God.
It is not a name, it is a descriptioon like the rest of the God's descriptions. The God is above DEFINITIONS(that which seperates the HWOLE into parts).
the word "god" is like saying the word "governor"
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In english, maybe linguistically it is not correct but I prefer to say the God instead of God.
And this makes all the difference...since we all have the desire to show reverence in the best and most complete way possible. Which is ultimately the best and most complete answer to the original question.
As to that pesky grammar, my French is entirely pitiful and mostly forgotten these days, but I think your language uses articles more than English. We're somewhat less sophisicated in structure, so we drop "the," "a" and "an" for a lot of nouns.
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As for your comment, idolfree, I disagree. While "god" and "governor" are both common nouns, "God" (with a capital G) is a proper noun and refers to Allah.
I might say that Pataki is the governor of New York, but when I refer to him with his full and proper title, he is Governor Pataki (with a capital G). Which is the point I was trying to make about using "the" in front of "God." The governor of NY isn't as specific as Governor Pataki--one is more general than the other. That capital letter carries a lot of meaning in English and is, therefore, quite descriptive.
While how we each refer to God is an individual spiritual choice, I am surprised at the number of errors in most English translations of the Quran. Does anyone know why the publishers are so careless? Paperback mystery novels have fewer mistakes. As a writer, I wouldn't let even a brochure go out with so many errors, since they indicate to everyone who reads the brochure, "This information isn't important enough to proofread and correct." Why then such carelessness with a far more important publication such as the Quran?
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Salaamun alaikum,
an alternative approach I would suggest is. Rather than bring English (my mother tongue) to the Quraan, lets bring Al-Quraan to English.
Take the word 'Allah'. Sure you can translate the word to god, God, The God, Gott, Deus, Theos, Khuda, Bhagwaan, Tuhaan etc etc. Allah is the most mentioned name in al-quraan, btw.
My approach is, use the word as an unknown, like 'x'. As you go along in your reading, slowly impregnate 'x' with meaning. For example
These are among the (precepts of) wisdom, which thy Lord has revealed to thee. Take not, with Allah, another object of worship (ilaahan akhara), lest thou shouldst be thrown into Hell, blameworthy and rejected (17/49)
So here, we can see a role of Allah is as giver of wisdom, previously explained in 17/23-38. So this helps 'impregnate' our understanding of the word 'Allah'.
Al-Quraan is a very theo-centric book. If we read it as such, imho, we could come to a better understanding.
thanks and peace.
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Greetings,
It appears that you don't understand. God has beautiful names. Call God, the Almighty, or the Creator or any other beautiful name of God, it is the same. You are still calling God.
Anwar Azim
Allah is thus a proper name, not derived from anything, and the Al is inseparable from it. The word al-ilah (the god) is a different word.
".. monasteries, churches, synagogues, and masjids - where the name of GOD (Allah) is mentioned frequently"
Please prove for us that "Allah" (proper Name according to your source) is mentioned frequently in churches, monasteries and synagogues....
Mosques are the only place out of those four where the NAME of God (Yehweh) is NOT mentioned.
David prophesied
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (Psalms 11826).You've been fooled by looking at a wrong translation of the hebrew word (YHWH). The hebrew word for Lord is adon not YHWH. Now I will give the proper translation
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of YHWH (Yahweh, yehovah)"
The hebrew datagram "YHWH" (Yehweh) can not be translated into any other language, it is Gods personal name and no one knows what it means.
Isa 428 I am Yahweh that is my name and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images"
Exodus 202 "I am Yahweh your God (Elohim)"
..
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Peace be upon you Sytalls,
Idolfree1
the word "god" is like saying the word "governor"Sytalls
As for your comment, idolfree, I disagree. While "god" and "governor" are both common nouns, "God" (with a capital G) is a proper noun and refers to Allah.I didn't write with a capital "G". Please read what I wrote above. But I will still address your statements to see if we can reason together to an agreement based on weighing evidence.
You state that "God with capital G" refers to Allah. Is "Allah" something different than "The God" that it can REFER to the other? These are just two different languages, both DESCRIBING the same thing. The God says by WHATEVER description you call Him, to Him belongs the best DESCRIPTIONS. The God is not a THING seperate from other things in order to be NAMED/DEFINED, the God is the GOVERNING INTELLIGENCE.
I might say that Pataki is the governor of New York, but when I refer to him with his full and proper title, he is Governor Pataki (with a capital G). Which is the point I was trying to make about using "the" in front of "God." The governor of NY isn't as specific as Governor Pataki--one is more general than the other. That capital letter carries a lot of meaning in English and is, therefore, quite descriptive.
Again, please note that I did not use capitol "G" in my statement, so does my point still stand? I agree that THE indicates that there is ONE in particular, thats why it is THE God (Al+Ilah). I was informed that in Arabic, when you add Al + Ilah, the grammar changes it to Allah.
But again, I am saying that the word "god" is not a title, it is a description, just like "being" and "Supreme Being".
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Salam Saladin, all,
i have this question . according to the freeminds translation of the Koran , the word Allah mean ?the God? . but the word for god is ?ilah? . so ?the God? should be ?al-ilah?.
So ilah means God . then what is the meaning of ?ALLAH? ? is ALLAH the name of God(ILAH) as I have heard sunnis say .? what do u think ?In "pre-quranic" rock inscriptions in Arabia, there are versions with the hamza ("al-ilah") and without the hamza ("al-lah"), all of which may have meant "the deity" or "the deity (previously mentioned)". Hence, analyses of "pre-quranic" rock inscriptions have concluded that al-lah and al-ilah/"the god" are equivalent (For example, see Guillaume, A., Islam, Harmondsworth Penguin, 1956.).
More importantly, in the great reading we clearly see that allah is used to mean al-ilah/the god. See for example 63
- ...wa huwa allah fi al-samawati ...
- ...and he is the god in the heavens ...
I hope this helps.
Peace and all best wishes,
Ayman
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and peace to you, idolfree...
My apologies. I did misunderstand what you were saying. D In fact, I was so far off base that I thought you were picking too words that started with "g" instead of trying to relate the word "god" to "governor." This is what happens when the brain gets locked into a position.
In response to what I think you're saying (not making any assumptions this time), the word "godlike" is a description, an adjective. God is a name (a proper noun), where "god" is a common noun.
I guess the best way to explain what I see when "the" is used before God is this way...taking this out of the realm of spiritual matters for the moment....let's say you have a friend who is named Rock (? okay, his parents were so excited to have a baby that they got a little crazy when it came time to pick a name). The mention of the name Rock conjures up certain feelings and images associated with your friend. Which is quite different when you mention "the rock in the driveway" or "a rock in the driveway." Use of "the" automatically means there is more than one rock, and you are only trying to make a distinction between the rock you are talking about and all other rocks. But Rock (with a capital "R"), well, he means more to you than a mere pebble.
In English, when you say "The God," you are implying that God is one among many other gods. Even if your intention is to show greatness, using "the" only implies greatness among all other gods. And there are no other gods but God.
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Peace be upon you Sytalls,
In English, when you say "The God," you are implying that God is one among many other gods. Even if your intention is to show greatness, using "the" only implies greatness among all other gods. And there are no other gods but God.
Yes, one among many is correct. We see proof of this in the reading(quran) where the God asks "have you seen him to takes his own ego for a god?". Also with the other descriptions such as Creator where the God says that he is the BEST OF CREATORS (plural), indicating that we all have the ability to create, but the God is the Best. We have ALL of the God's attributes within us because we are part of the Whole.
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Greetings with peace,
Check this out...
114 1 Qul aAAoothu birabbi alnnasi
1142 Maliki alnnasi
1143 Ilahi alnnasiThe third says "Ilahi alnnasi" --> god of the men!! It mentions "ilah" and not "allah"! What is the big deal about God not being god?
Anwar Azim
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Peace all.
Okay, idolfree...I get exactly what you're saying now. Thank you.
It's only a point of communication and clarity, wakas.
And my concern is not for those here, but for those who may be reading, have questions and cannot (for whatever reasons) ask them. There are also non-Muslims, who may benefit from a clearer understanding of such things, since language can sometimes be a barrier. I'm amazed at the number of people who are still ignorant about Islam, using terms like Judeao-Christian because they think we Muslims should be lumped in with the Buddhists.
So if someone, out on the street, asks me why one Muslim says "Allah" while another says "the God" and yet another says "God," I'd like to be informed enough to be able to answer that question...in hopes that someone's heart may open up just enough to let a beautiful seed get planted. D