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Bismillaher Rehmanir Raheem
Allah or God?
Allah Subhanahu ,the proper name of our Creator, Sustainer, Cherisher is not the same as the God of the Bible, but fundamentally different. The concept of Allah is that He is single, He does not beget nor is He begotten. He has no father nor son, and He alone is to be worshipped. But inseparable annotation to the word God is that He has a son and the concept of trinity is attached to it. God is an English word and it is fundamentally used and was introduced by Christians. Thus the meaning of trinity (Holy Father, Holy Son and the Holy Ghost) is attached to the word God.
We Muslims believe that Allah is absolutely and uniquely One. He has no family and He alone is the worthy of worship. So if One uses the word God, the question may arise "which god?" The Father or the Son or the Holy Ghost or other deities?
The connotations of the word God are absolutely unsuitable for Allah. Now let us have a look at the meaning of God as mentioned in the Oxford dictionary?
1. The being or spirit that is worshiped and is believed to have created the universe.
2. A being or spirit who is believed to have power over a particular aspect of nature or he is believed to represent a particular quality. For example, Mars the Roman god of war, rain god or Greek gods.
3. A person who is adored and admired by other people. For example to the fans that person is a god.
4. Anyone who becomes obsessed with something which becomes his sole focus in life. For example, being obsessed with money. It becomes that person's god.
5. God-child--- a child that is assigned to a "godparent" at a Christian baptism ceremony who becomes responsible for teaching him Christianity
6 God-daughter---- a female god child.
7. Goddess—a female god.
8. A female loved and admired by other people is also called goddess. For example a screen goddess (an actress).
9. God-father--- a male godparent.
10. Powerful mafia is also called godfather.
11. God-like--- a person like god or a god in some qualities.
None of the meanings of word God according to oxford English dictionary is suitable for Allah. The first meaning was close to the correct meaning but the word spirit is problematic. Allah is not a spirit; He is indeed the Creator of spirit.
Our Ulema have even objected to the use of the word Mian (Allah-mian) for Allah even though one of the meanings of word ,Mian, can be attributed to Allah Almighty but other meanings of the word are insulting to the status of Almighty Allah. Word Mian should not be used for Allah as this word has three meanings, two of the meanings are Muhaal (impossible), Mian means Master, husband, and pimp (who manages prostitutes). The last two meanings cannot be attributed to Allah ,therefore to use this word is prohibited" 4)
Hazrat Mufti Ahmad Yar Khan Naeemi writes:"names of Allah are Towqifi, it means Allah must be remembered with only those names which are proven from Shariah. One cannot give a name to Allah from his own side, therefore one cannot call Allah as Ram, Permaishwar or God. Because these names are not proven from Shariat, yes one can translate His attributes in any language, for example, Khuda (self-existent), sustainer, pure Allah. These words are not the names of Allah rather these words are the translations of the attributes of Allah (Tafseer Naeemi, Vol 1, p. 34)
Allah is the Supreme Being who created the entire universe and rules it absolutely uniquely. There is no likeness to Him and there is not another second to Him. In fact, if anyone forms some sort of mental imagination of Him, then that is not Him since there is nothing like Him and therefore He is beyond human imaginations.
The word "Allah" has never been used for anything other than that Supreme Being. It only refers to that one Absolute Power, the Lord of entire universe. There is no plural to this word, nor is there any gender associated with it. It is completely pure from any contaminations in its use. And therefore, it is consistent with the Uniqueness that characterizes the Lord of the universe.
On the contrary, "God" is a masculine word which has a feminine form "goddess" and plural "gods". All of these forms are used in multitudes of traditions in various cultures. Presently, the word "god" has been contaminated so much that it is found in many others usage as well, which are absolutely immoral like a sex god or sex goddess (man or woman who has excessive sex, or have multiple sexual partners).
The word "Allah" is so close, loving, comforting, and inseparable from the experience of faith that no other word can substitute it.
The word Allah, according to several Arabic dictionaries, means "the Being Who comprises every attributes of perfection", i.e. the Being Who is perfect in every way (in His knowledge, power etc.), and possesses the best and the noblest qualities imaginable in the highest degree.
Word Allah is unique and not a translation of any other word. Contrary to popular belief, the word Allah is NOT derived from al-ilah (al meaning 'the', and ilah meaning 'god').
Had it been so, then the expression ya Allah ('O Allah!') would have been ungrammatical, because according to the Arabic language when you address someone by the vocative form ya followed by a name/title, the al ('the') must be dropped from the name/title. For example, you cannot say ya ar-rabb but must say ya rabb (for 'O Lord'). So if the word Allah was al-ilah ('the God'), we would not be able to say: ya Allah, which we do.
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.The word Allah was never applied to any being other than The Almighty. The pre-Islamic Arabs used it to refer to the Supreme Being, and never applied it to any of the other things they worshipped. Other names of Almighty used by mankind, such as "lord", "god", " etc. have all also been used for human beings other than Almighty Allah. They have meanings which refer to some particular attribute of Allah, but "Allah" is the name which refers to the Being Himself as His personal name.
The name `Allah', is pure and unique, unlike the English word `God', which has many derivatives.
If you add `s' to the word God, it becomes `Gods', that is the plural of God. Allah is one and singular, there is no plural of Allah. If you add `ess' to the word God, it becomes `Goddess' that is a feminine God. There is nothing like male Allah or female Allah. Allah has no gender. If you add the word `father' to `God' it becomes `God-father'. God-father means someone who is a guardian. There is no word like `Allah-father'. If you add the word `mother' to `God', it becomes `God-mother'. There is nothing like `Allah-mother' in Islam. Allah is a unique word. If you prefix tin before the word God, it becomes tin-God i.e., fake God. Allah is a unique word, which does not conjure up any mental picture nor can it be played around with.
Allah is the proper name of the One Who exists necessarily by Himself comprising all the excellent Divine names and attributes of perfection. Allah is One and Unique. He has no son, partner, or equal. He is the sole Creator and Sustainer of the universe. Every creature bears witness to His Oneness, Divinity, and Ruboobiyyah, and to the uniqueness of His attributes and names. His essence does not resemble any other essences. There is none like unto Him.
Compiled, edited and adapted by Khalid Latif, www.thekhalids.org
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