Allah/AlIlah: Does 'Allah' have a meaning?

The

A modification to the final paragraph above:

Again, the context for 'ilah' is given in the Quran itself. 21:25 ('There is no ilah but I) makes it clear that there is One Ilah, no matter what the disbelievers say, and that should be enough for us. But fortunately we have an example:

In 5:73, the disbelievers are saying "Allah is third of three". Does that mean there exist more than one Allah? Or that there can be two references to Allah -- 'Allah who is One Ilah' and 'Allah who is third of three'?

The

At the moment I do believe Allah to be 'AlIlah/The Ilah'.

So Ilah, 'One Ilah' and 'The Ilah' have the same connotation -- God, One God, The God.

Now you don't think Allah is 'The Ilah,' what then do you propose Allah means? Does it mean anything?

**AhmedBahgat**

The

Forget translating a name, names can mean something. We don't translated Muhammad into English, but Muhammad means 'one who is praised' or 'praiseworthy'. Likewise, does Allah have any meaning?

**AhmedBahgat**

The

I agree that somebody named 'Muhammad' in Arabic should be referred to as 'Muhammad' in any other language. But Muhammad does mean something in Arabic.

If you take Allah as God's Name in Arabic (though Allah Alone can 'name' Himself) and then propose that it should not be translated in English or other languages then I think it's worth considering. However, I do feel 'Allah' should imply or mean something at least in Arabic, even if that meaning cannot be conveyed sufficiently in any another language.

**AhmedBahgat**

The

@ Well, if I mention Allah then I mentioned the name of the The only God
i.e. I mentioned the name of the Ilah Wahid

What you said above gives the impression that there are 'ilahs' other than 'Ilah Wahid'. But Allah Himself is very clear about the matter and says 'There is no Ilah except I". As such both Ilah and Ilah Wahid can only refer to the same Being.

What we have seen from the Quran so far is this:

That disbelievers do misuse the term 'ilah,' but the fact is that there are no multiple ilahs; there is only one Ilah.

Even the term 'Allah' is misused. Some say Allah has son or daughters or that He is "third of three". Of course, this does not mean that there are multiple Allahs; it is just that the disbelievers misuse the term.

In effect, we have established that in the true context (and not the disbelievers'), Ilah, One Ilah and Allah refer to the same One Being.

Let me now move to the verses that I talked about earlier. I start with 43:84:

And it is He who in heaven is Ilah and in earth is Ilah; He is the All-wise, the All-knowing.

If we understand Ilah as God, what the verse is saying is that "He is God in the heavens and in the earth."

My next verse is 6:3:

He is Allah in the heavens and the earth; He knows your secrets, and what you publish, and He knows what you are earning.

If we say Allah does not mean "The Ilah," or that it has no meaning and is only a label, then the verse merely explains that "He is Allah in the heavens and in the earth," which is obscure and explains nothing.

On the other hand, if we understand Allah as 'The Ilah/God,' then we get the following understanding: "He is the God in the heavens and in the earth". This is exactly what 43:84 says, and fits in with the context of both the verse perfectly.

In effect, Allah as merely a label does not give a context to 6:3, while Allah as 'The God' gives it a direction and a context that is reinforced by 43:84.

The

I will not be around (at least won't be able to log in) for the next few days. I will reply to any post (and give an example to clarify my take on 6:3, if needed) when I log back in. Take care.

**AhmedBahgat**

**AhmedBahgat**

The

Looks like the trip got delayed, so I will stick around some more.

@ But Ilah cannot be the same as Ilah Wahid, how can two words equal one word? Impossible
Ilah means god
Ilah Wahid means: God alone, or One God

Read correctly, buddy. I said Ilah and Ilah Wahid refer to the same being, not that they are one word.

If you think that Ilah is somebody other than Allah, then you contradict the Quran when God says, "There is no Ilah but I".

@I am really not concern what the disbelievers and even the believers say, what I am talking about is only a linguistic issue, it has nothing to do with what the people say

I am not concerned with what you say, rather with what the Quran says. The Quran tells us that Only Allah is Ilah, and it gets settled there. If you believe that there is an Ilah other than Allah, then find a verse for it.

@That is not a misuse, rather associating partners with Allah

"Allah is third of three" is plain English. Unless you also believe "Allah is third of three," then these are two different usage of Allah.

@ so all other verses where Lut, Ismael and Foron names are menioned, have no context to you?

I was expecting this argument where you would compare Allah with human names.

Consider this scenario: A man named Ismael, who is the king of certain country.

Now if he says "I am Ismael of this country" it doesn't make sense. On the other hand, if he says "I am King of this country" it does make sense.

Let us go a step further and say that his name is Malik rather than Ismael. Again, if he says "I am Malik of this country," where Malik means King, then it makes sense. But if Malik does not mean King, and is a meaningless name or label, then "I am Malik of this country" is an equally meaningless sentence. The same goes when you say Allah is a Name or label with no meaning and apply it to 6:3.

You had said that your "strongest argument" is that AlIlah can refer to a man-made "god". But only the disbelievers believe that there exists Ilah other than Allah. In essence, rather than following the erroneous concept of the disbelievers that there is an Ilah other than Allah and split hairs over it, we should listen to what the Quran says. I believe the Quran takes precedence, but you are trying to make an appeal to chirography, so we will look into that.

Whether Allah is a "combination" of Al and Ilah or not is the case you want to argue. Go ahead and talk about it, buddy.

**AhmedBahgat**

The

@ Why you are debating me in the subject then?

To prove me wrong?

You were the one who misunderstood Ilah and started this thinking that you had something in there.

The Quran says that only Allah is "Ilah". If you find a verse where Allah has appointed an Ilah other than himself then present it. Else you are simply pussyfooting around by appealing to what disbelievers say. The disbelievers say "Allah is third of three". Imagine a disbeliever making it a "linguistic" pretext to contradict what the Quran clearly says.

@ If you are going to repeat the same ignorance that Allah (Arabic word) is the compositions of the two Arabic words (Al + Ilah), then I am asking you what happened to the first Alif in the word Ilah? Why it is omitted?

Stop being a pussyfooter. Get yourself educated on the matter and see what the opinion of Arab linguists is on the matter at hand.

Coming to the "missing alif" do you think this is the only known case? Can you present the calligraphy for lillah (li Allah)?

**AhmedBahgat**