Editing Allah (section)

==History of usage==
=== Pre-Islamic Arabia ===
{{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.<ref name="Robin304"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Hitti|first=Philip Khouri|title=History of the Arabs|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1970|pages=100–101}}</ref> 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.<ref>Marshall G. S. Hodgson, ''The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization'', [[University of Chicago Press]], p. 156</ref> 

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,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.syriaca.org/work/254|title=The Himyarite Martyrs (text) —}}</ref><ref>{{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)}}</ref> as reported by antique Syriac documents of the names of those martyrs from the era of the [[Himyarite]] and [[Aksumite]] kingdoms<ref>Ignatius Ya`qub III, The Arab Himyarite Martyrs in the Syriac Documents (1966), Pages: 9-65-66-89</ref>

In an inscription of Christian martyrion dated to 512, references to al-ilah ({{lang|ar|الاله}})<ref name=Kugener>{{Cite book|title=M. A. Kugener, "Nouvelle Note Sur L'Inscription Trilingue De Zébed", Rivista Degli Studi Orientali, pp. 577-586.}}</ref> appear in both Arabic and Aramaic. The inscription opens with the phrase "By the Help of al-ilah".<ref>Adolf Grohmann, Arabische Paläographie II: Das Schriftwesen und die Lapidarschrift (1971), Wien: Hermann Böhlaus Nochfolger, Page: 6-8</ref><ref>Beatrice 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:</ref>

Archaeological excavations have led to the discovery of ancient [[pre-Islamic Arabia|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."<ref>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."</ref><ref>Enno Littmann, Arabic Inscriptions (Leiden, 1949)</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Type and Spread of Arabic Script|last=Daniels|first=Peter T.|year=2014}}</ref>

[[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.<ref>Irfan Shahîd, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century, Dumbarton Oaks Trustees for Harvard University-Washington DC, page 418.</ref> 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 [[Tanukhids|Tanukhid]] poets in [[Syria]] and Northern [[Arabia]].<ref>Irfan Shahîd, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century, Dumbarton Oaks Trustees for Harvard University-Washington DC, Page: 452</ref><ref>A. Amin and A. Harun, Sharh Diwan Al-Hamasa (Cairo, 1951), Vol. 1, Pages: 478-480</ref><ref>Al-Marzubani, Mu'jam Ash-Shu'araa, Page: 302</ref>

Different theories have been proposed regarding the role of Allah in pre-Islamic [[Polytheism|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."<ref name="auto"/> Islam forbade worship of anyone or anything other than God.<ref>{{Cite book|last=IslamKotob|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uTJoiXp3pS4C|title=Tafsir Ibn Kathir all 10 volumes|publisher=IslamKotob|language=en}}</ref> Some authors have suggested that polytheistic Arabs used the name as a reference to a [[creator god]] or a supreme deity of their [[Pantheon (religion)|pantheon]].<ref name="EoI"/><ref>Zeki Saritopak, ''Allah'', The Qu'ran: An Encyclopedia, ed. by Oliver Leaman, p. 34</ref> The term may have been vague in the [[Mecca|Meccan religion]].<ref name="EoI">L. Gardet, ''Allah'', Encyclopaedia of Islam, ed. by [[Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb|Sir H.A.R. Gibb]]</ref><ref name="GodEoQ">Gerhard Böwering, ''God and his Attributes'', Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, ed. by [[Jane Dammen McAuliffe]]</ref> 

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]].<ref name="Robin304"/> 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.<ref name="Robin304"/> Some scholars have suggested that Allah may have represented a remote creator god who was gradually eclipsed by more particularized local deities.<ref name= Berkey>{{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]}}</ref><ref name="Peterson2007">{{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}}</ref> There is disagreement on whether Allah played a major role in the Meccan religious cult.<ref name= Berkey/><ref name= Peters107>{{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}}</ref> No iconic representation of Allah is known to have existed.<ref name= Peters107/><ref name="Zeitlin33">{{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}}</ref> Muhammad's father's name was [[Abd Allah ibn Abd al Muttalib|{{transliteration|ar|DIN|ʿAbd-Allāh}}]] meaning "the slave of Allāh".<ref name="GodEoQ"/> 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.<ref>The Treasury of literature, Sect. 437</ref><ref>The Beginning of History, Volume 3, Sect.10</ref><ref>The Collection of the Speeches of Arabs, volume 1, section 75</ref>

=== Islamic period ===
{{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]].<ref name="EoQ"/> 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.<ref name="Britannica"/> According to [[Francis Edward Peters]], "The [[Quran|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 [[Israel]]ites.<ref name="Peters1">F.E. Peters, ''Islam'', p.4, Princeton University Press, 2003</ref>

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.<ref name="auto1">Thomas, Kenneth J. "Allah in Translations of the Bible." The Bible Translator 52.3 (2001): 301-306.</ref> [[Saadia Gaon]] used the term ''Allah'' interchangeably with the term ''[[Elohim|ʾĔlōhīm]]''.<ref name="auto1"/> [[Theodore Abu Qurrah]] translates ''theos'' as ''Allah'' in his Bible, as in John 1:1 "the Word was with Allah".<ref name="auto1"/> Muslim commentators likewise used the term Allah for the Biblical concept of God. [[Ibn Qutayba]] writes "You cannot serve both Allah and Mammon.".<ref name="auto1"/> 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''.<ref name="auto1"/> 

Most Qur'an [[Tafsir|commentators]], including [[al-Tabari]] (d. 923), [[al-Zamakhshari]] (d. 1143/44), and [[Fakhr al-Din al-Razi|al-Razi]] (d. 1209), regard ''Allah'' to be a proper noun.<ref name="auto2">Ibrahim, Zakyi. "To Use "God" or "Allah"?." American Journal of Islam and Society 26.4 (2009): i-vii.</ref> 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}}).<ref name="auto2"/> The other names are known as the [[99 Names of God|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.<ref name="EncMMENA" /><ref name="Ben">{{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}}</ref> All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name.<ref name="Tao-Islam">{{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}}</ref> Among the 99 names of God, the most famous and most frequent of these names are "the Merciful" (''[[Rahman (name)|ar-Raḥmān]]'') and "the Compassionate" (''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|ar-Raḥīm}}''),<ref name="EncMMENA" /><ref name="Ben" /> 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,<ref name="EoQ">Böwering, Gerhard, ''God and His Attributes'', Encyclopaedia of the Qurʼān, Brill, 2007.</ref> and humble submission to his will, divine ordinances and commandments is the foundation of the Muslim faith.<ref name="Britannica"/> "He is the only God, creator of the universe, and the judge of humankind."<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="EncMMENA"/> "He is unique (''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|wāḥid}}'') and inherently one (''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|aḥad}}''), all-merciful and omnipotent."<ref name="Britannica"/> No human eyes can see Allah till the Day of Judgment.<ref>{{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}}</ref> The Qur'an declares "the reality of Allah, His inaccessible mystery, His various names, and His actions on behalf of His creatures."<ref name="Britannica"/> Allah does not depend on anything.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Allah is not considered a part of the Christian Trinity.<ref>{{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}}</ref> God has no parents and no children.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 

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."<ref>{{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}}</ref>

The concept correlates to the [[Tawhid]], where chapter 112 of the [[Quran|Qur'an]] ([[Al-Ikhlas|''Al-'Ikhlās'']], The Sincerity) reads:<ref>[[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]</ref><blockquote>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.<ref>[[Sale, G]] [[AlKoran]]</ref></blockquote>

In a [[Sufi]] practice known as {{Transliteration|ar|dhikr Allāh}} ([[Arabic]]: <big>ذِكر الله</big>, 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.<ref>Carl W. Ernst, Bruce B. Lawrence, ''Sufi Martyrs of Love: The Chishti Order in South Asia and Beyond'', Macmillan, p. 29</ref>

=== Present day ===
==== Islam ====
[[File:Istanbul, Hagia Sophia, Allah.jpg|thumb|Medallion showing "Allah [[Jalla Jalaluhu]]" in the [[Hagia Sophia]], [[Istanbul]], Turkey]]
[[File:Dcp7323-Edirne-Eski Camii Allah.jpg|thumb|Allah script outside the [[Old Mosque, Edirne|Old Mosque]] 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''.<ref>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</ref> [[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".<ref name="auto2"/>

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

==== Christianity ====
The [[Arab Christians|Christian Arabs]] of today have no other word for "God" than "Allah".<ref name="Cambridge">{{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}}</ref> 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 Church|Catholic]], uses ''Alla'' for "God".)

[[Arab Christians]] have used two forms of invocations that were [[affix]]ed to the beginning of their written works. They adopted the Muslim ''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|bismillāh}}'', and also created their own [[Trinity|Trinitarian]] ''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|bismillāh}}'' as early as the 8th century.<ref name="Thomas"/> 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 language|Syriac]], [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] invocations do not have the words "One God" at the end. This addition was made to emphasize the [[monotheism|monotheistic]] aspect of Trinitarian belief and also to make it more palatable to Muslims.<ref name="Thomas">Thomas E. Burman, ''Religious Polemic and the Intellectual History of the Mozarabs'', [[Brill Publishers|Brill]], 1994, p. 103</ref>