La ilaha illAllah - No God except Allah?

[Saint_Michael]

If Allah is the Arabic word for God, how does this phrase “La ilaha illAllah” make sense? ilaha means God in arabic, why don’t Muslims say La ilaha ill ilaha? That would translate there is no God but God. But the phrase La ilaha illAllah specifically names the Muslims God as ‘Allah’. We know from Jewish scripture God’s name is YHWH or Yahweh, not Allah. Allah was one of hundreds of God’s worshipped pre-Islam before Muhammed brought Islam to the Arabian peninsula.

I just found this very interesting as I always heard “there is no God but God”, and just assumed it would translate “there is no Allah but Allah”. I never realized Allah was the name of the Muslims God and not the word for God.

 

[Caesar]

Some of the Catholics in my school who come from the middle east call God “Allah-ha”.

 

[Saint_Michael]

Some of the Catholics in my school who come from the middle east call God “Allah-ha”.

The word for God in arabic is ilaha, if you are heaing allah-ha, chances are they are saying the word ilaha. But Muslims actually use the word Allah, and the phrase La ilaha illAllah, which translates there is no God but Allah. It’s interesting, I always thought Allah was just the Muslim word for God but it isn’t. I also didn’t know Allah was one of the many pagan Gods’ during Muhammed’s time.

 

[Caesar]

The word for God in arabic is ilaha, if you are heaing allah-ha, chances are they are saying the word ilaha. But Muslims actually use the word Allah, and the phrase La ilaha illAllah, which translates there is no God but Allah. It’s interesting, I always thought Allah was just the Muslim word for God but it isn’t. I also didn’t know Allah was one of the many pagan Gods’ during Muhammed’s time.

I had one of them write it out for me so I could see. They spell it in english as “Allah-ha”. I know, it’s kind of strange.

 

[dulcissima]

Allah is the Arabic word for God. When I took a semester of Arabic “La ilaaha illa Allaah” was translated “There is no God except God.” I agree.

 

[Saint_Michael]

Allah is the Arabic word for God. When I took a semester of Arabic “La ilaaha illa Allaah” was translated “There is no God except God.” I agree.

I think that is translated “there is no God except Allah”, Allah is the actual name of God. It would be equivalent to us saying “there is no God but Yahweh”.

 

[dulcissima]

No that is translated “there is no God except Allah”, Allah is the actual name of God. It would be equivalent to us saying “there is no God but Yahweh”.

That would be like saying God is a name when we distinguish it from god by capitalizing it. Allah comes from “illah” being compounded with the definite article “al” (meaning the). This is the way that God is distinguished from being one of many gods. He is The God. Essentially “illah” is god and “Allah” is God.

I guess I should have translated “La ilaaha illa Allaah” as being “There is no god except Allah.”

 

[dulcissima]

That would be like saying God is a name when we distinguish it from god by capitalizing it. Allah comes from “illah” being compounded with the definite article “al” (meaning the). This is the way that God is distinguished from being one of many gods. He is The God. Essentially “illah” is god and “Allah” is God.

I guess I should have translated “La ilaaha illa Allaah” as being “There is no god except Allah.”

Correction. “There is no god except God.”

 

[corvidae]

So the literal translation would be, There is no god but The God.

Ok, that makes sense
A lone Raven

 

[meedo]

Hello,

Thank you for asking questions you have about Islam.

Ok. The Word Allah is a Name . Its the name given to the God of Abraham in two languages .

Aramaic and Arabic. This word is not invented by Muslims. Nor was Muslims the sole users of thsi word to refer to the God of Abraham.

answers.com/topic/alaha

Some missionaries like to decieve by confusing two things togeather .

There was a pagan Idol in Arabia called ''AllaT . This was one idol among many idols in arabia and all of these idols were worshipped in the concept that they would intercede with the supreme God of Abraham ‘‘Allah’’

Now these are two different things. ‘‘AllaH’’ was not an idol . ‘‘AllaT’’ was !

The Question you should be asking, Is Allah the God of Abraham?

The answer is YES . And this is according to Aramaic language and Arabic language. This is the name that is given to him as a reference.

So the translation ’ There is no god but god ‘’ is incorrect. Allah is a name just like ‘‘John’’ is.

That is why arab christians AND Jews have no problem at all mentioning Allah as their lord as long as they are talking about the God of Abraham.

Its not a name founded by islam although it is the name God ordered the arabs to use as his reference in their language.

I hope i clarified.

salam

 

[dulcissima]

Hello,

Thank you for asking questions you have about Islam.

Ok. The Word Allah is a Name . Its the name given to the God of Abraham in two languages .

Aramaic and Arabic. This word is not invented by Muslims. Nor was Muslims the sole users of thsi word to refer to the God of Abraham.

answers.com/topic/alaha

Some missionaries like to decieve by confusing two things togeather .

There was a pagan Idol in Arabia called ''AllaT . This was one idol among many idols in arabia and all of these idols were worshipped in the concept that they would intercede with the supreme God of Abraham ‘‘Allah’’

Now these are two different things. ‘‘AllaH’’ was not an idol . ‘‘AllaT’’ was !

The Question you should be asking, Is Allah the God of Abraham?

The answer is YES . And this is according to Aramaic language and Arabic language. This is the name that is given to him as a reference.

So the translation ’ There is no god but god ‘’ is incorrect. Allah is a name just like ‘‘John’’ is.

That is why arab christians AND Jews have no problem at all mentioning Allah as their lord as long as they are talking about the God of Abraham.

Its not a name founded by islam although it is the name God ordered the arabs to use as his reference in their language.

I hope i clarified.

salam

I looked at your link and it does not say that Allah is a name. It just says that it means the One God. Is Allah really used as a name like John? I can not imagine that anyone would dare to call themself God.

You are correct though that Allah comes from the Aramaic, “Elaw” which also meant God. .

 

[Eden]

You are correct though that Allah comes from the Aramaic, “Elaw” which also meant God. .

I don’t think you’ll find unanimous agreement on that.

The Quran does not define the word “Allah”.

Muhammed’s family and tribe were pagans.

The Quran assumed that its readers would already be familiar with “Allah”.

Muhammed’s pagan father was named Abdullah (Abd+Allah).

Muhammed participated in the pagan ceremonies at Mecca.

Arabs worshipped the sun, moon and stars.

They built temples to the moon-god.

Some of the moon-god’s titles were: Sin, Hubul, Ilumquh and Al-ilah

“Allah” is derived from Al-ilah.

The pagan “Allah” was a high god in the pantheon of 360 gods and was worshipped at Mecca.

Pagans practiced the Pilgrimage, the Fast of Ramadan, running around the Kaaba seven times, kissing the black stone, shaving the head, animal sacrifices, running up and down two hills, throwing stones at the devil, snorting water in and out the nose, praying several times a day toward Mecca, giving alms, Friday prayers.

Muhammad commanded his followers to participate in these pagan ceremonies while the pagans were still in control of Mecca(Yusuf Ali, fn. 214, pg. 78).

Islam adopted these pagan religious rites (Yusuf Ali: fn. 223 pg. 80).

Al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat were called “the daughters of Allah”.

At one point, the Quran told Muslims to worship al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat. Sura 53:19-20.

Those verses were “abrogated” out of the present Qur’an and were called “The Satanic Verses”.

The crescent moon with several stars next to it is an ancient symbol of the moon-god and was never used as a religious symbol by Jews or Christians.

Here’s an interesting article: “Why Allah, Oh Why?”

islamreview.com/articles/whyallah.shtml

 

[Jeanette_L]

I have always been uncomfortable with people saying that we as Christians worship the same God as the Muslims. The God who revealed himself to us through the Jews in the Old Covenant of the Old Testament and ultimately through the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ and the New Covenant of the New Testament, doesn’t resemble at all the Allah of the Muslims. His characteristics are just not the same.

 

[dulcissima]

I don’t think you’ll find unanimous agreement on that.

The Quran does not define the word “Allah”.

Muhammed’s family and tribe were pagans.

The Quran assumed that its readers would already be familiar with “Allah”.

Muhammed’s pagan father was named Abdullah (Abd+Allah).

Muhammed participated in the pagan ceremonies at Mecca.

Arabs worshipped the sun, moon and stars.

They built temples to the moon-god.

Some of the moon-god’s titles were: Sin, Hubul, Ilumquh and Al-ilah

“Allah” is derived from Al-ilah.

The pagan “Allah” was a high god in the pantheon of 360 gods and was worshipped at Mecca.

Pagans practiced the Pilgrimage, the Fast of Ramadan, running around the Kaaba seven times, kissing the black stone, shaving the head, animal sacrifices, running up and down two hills, throwing stones at the devil, snorting water in and out the nose, praying several times a day toward Mecca, giving alms, Friday prayers.

Muhammad commanded his followers to participate in these pagan ceremonies while the pagans were still in control of Mecca(Yusuf Ali, fn. 214, pg. 78).

Islam adopted these pagan religious rites (Yusuf Ali: fn. 223 pg. 80).

Al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat were called “the daughters of Allah”.

At one point, the Quran told Muslims to worship al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat. Sura 53:19-20.

Those verses were “abrogated” out of the present Qur’an and were called “The Satanic Verses”.

The crescent moon with several stars next to it is an ancient symbol of the moon-god and was never used as a religious symbol by Jews or Christians.

Here’s an interesting article: “Why Allah, Oh Why?”

islamreview.com/articles/whyallah.shtml

Just like I wouldn’t go to an anti-Catholic site to learn the truth about Catholicism, I wouldn’t go to an anti-Islamic site to learn the truth about Islam. My Arabic professor was Jewish, and I have confidence in what I learned about the language in his class.

 

[Eden]

Just like I wouldn’t go to an anti-Catholic site to learn the truth about Catholicism, I wouldn’t go to an anti-Islamic site to learn the truth about Islam. My Arabic professor was Jewish, and I have confidence in what I learned about the language in his class.

We’re all entitled to form our own opinions. So, that is fine if you believe the source of the word to be Aramaic. I’m not convinced. The fact that the name “Allah” was used in the pagan religion that Muhammed grew up in and Kaaba was the place where this god was worshipped before the Angel Gabriel revealed Islam to him lends more credibility to the origin of the word being from that source than from Judaism. Muhammed’s first converts were pagan Arab nomads who would have been familiar with the Allah of their own beliefs, not the Yahweh of the Jewish people. I’m not saying that “Allah” in Islam is pagan today. We have many examples of pagan believes being incorporated into Christianity because they were familiar images that could be transformed into a new meaning that would fit the new faith. For instance, the pagans in Ireland were able to retain the symbol of the sun (the circle) in their Celtic crosses. So, I am not condemning the transfer of pagan symbols or believes into new faiths. I’m just pointing out that in this case, I believe the pagan Allah is the more likely source of the word.

 

[dulcissima]

We’re all entitled to form our own opinions. So, that is fine if you beleive the source of the word to be Aramaic. I’m not convinced. The fact that the name “Allah” was used in the pagan religion that Muhammed grew up in and Kaaba was the place where this god was worshipped before the Angel Gabriel revealed Islam to him lends more credibility to the origin of the word being from that source than from Judaism. Muhammed’s first converts were pagan Arab nomads who would have been familiar with the Allah of their own beliefs, not that of the Jewish people.

Sounds very similar to what some Evangelicals claim about Catholicism adopting Pagan customs.

I think I will trust the Church though, when it comes to my views on which God Muslims worship:

841 The Church’s relationship with the Muslims. “The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.”

 

[Eden]

Sounds very similar to what some Evangelicals claim about Catholicism adopting Pagan customs.

I think I will trust the Church though, when it comes to my views on which God Muslims worship:

841 The Church’s relationship with the Muslims. “The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.”

Again, you are accusing me of claiming that Muslims worship a pagan god. That is not what I said. I said the origin of the word “Allah” is more likely pagan. Then I gave you the example of the Celtic cross (which in popular Irish legend, St. Patrick incorporated the pagan circle, or symbol of the sun, into the cross to convert the Celts and changed the symbolism to that of God’s endless and eternal love for us). Is the Celtic cross pagan? No. It is merely the incorporation of a familiar symbol with a Christian symbol, thereby taking on a whole new meaning. Being of Irish ancestry, I am familiar with this old Irish myth about St. Patrick and I don’t think it in anyway makes Catholicism “pagan”. So, I still do not see how stating that the origin of the word “Allah” was more likely from Muhammed’s pagan beliefs than from Aramaic, a language his first converts would not have spoken. Don’t you think that it is more likely that pagan nomadic Arabs would have more readily embraced a new faith that retained some of their old symbols, symbols that now had a new meaning? Was Muhammed converting nomadic pagan Arabs or Jews? Think about his audience. So, why is it offensive to suggest that he likely used the old, familiar word “Allah” but in the new context of defining the one, true God?

 

[Saint_Michael]

Sounds very similar to what some Evangelicals claim about Catholicism adopting Pagan customs.

I think I will trust the Church though, when it comes to my views on which God Muslims worship:

841 The Church’s relationship with the Muslims. “The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.”

Well there’s very little doubt that the Catholic Church adopted some pagan customs and dates and changed the meaning from pagan worship to Monothesitic worship of Christ. Unless of course you really think Christ was born on the Winter solstice and St. John the Baptist on the summer solstice? (It should be added that Evangelicals still celebrate Christmas and Easter according to the Catholic teachings though so they’re full of it frankly, it’s a good argument against the restorationists too. If God restored his Church why are we still using the inaccurate dates of the Pagan feasts? Why weren’t the real dates restored too?)

I think you’re looking for a sinister motive in peoples posts that isn’t there, this is a sincere topic, and there’s little doubt that the Ka’ba was used by pagans, the hajj rituals were used by pagans pre-Muhammed etc… This doesn’t invalidate Islam if Muhammed used the rituals to spread montheism to the pagans of the Arabic peninsula.

 

[Eden]

Yes, Saint Michael. Christmas is another great example. The Church chose one of the biggest pagan festivals for the feast of Christmas as a bold statement that Christianity had superceded paganism. To say that by pointing that out, I am calling the Church pagan is just as off-base as accusing me of saying that Allah in Islam is a pagan god because the word came from paganism.

 

[dulcissima]

Again, you are accusing me of claiming that Muslims worship a pagan god. That is not what I said. I said the origin of the word “Allah” is more likely pagan. Then I gave you the example of the Celtic cross (which in popular Irish legend, St. Patrick incorporated the pagan circle, or symbol of the sun, into the cross to convert the Celts and changed the symbolism to that of God’s endless and eternal love for us). Is the Celtic cross pagan? No. It is merely the incorporation of a familiar symbol with a Christian symbol, thereby taking on a whole new meaning. Being of Irish ancestry, I am familiar with this old Irish myth about St. Patrick and I don’t think it in anyway makes Catholicism “pagan”. So, I still do not see how stating that the origin of the word “Allah” was more likely from Muhammed’s pagan beliefs than from Aramaic, a language his first converts would not have spoken. Don’t you think that it is more likely that pagan nomadic Arabs would have more readily embraced a new faith that retained some of their old symbols, symbols that now had a new meaning? Was Muhammed converting nomadic pagan Arabs or Jews? Think about his audience. So, why is it offensive to suggest that he likely used the old, familiar word “Allah” but in the new context of defining the one, true God?

You are correct. I wrongly assumed that you were implying that Muslims worship some god other than God. Perhaps that is because I have seen these “moon god” accusations all over the web and they are being made by people who are asserting that Christians and Muslims worship diffferent gods. As a Catholic, I can not believe this.

In re-reading what you actually wrote you state that there is no unanimous agreement on the origin of the word Allah. With that I would agree.