Who is Allah?

The word Allah is a word that many of us (including Muslims) have never actually thought about where it comes from and what it means. And if we were asked this question, we would automatically say god. and that is the end of that.

But does Allah actually mean god?

The answer to that my dear readers is No. Allah is the name of the God.

lets start of with the dictionary definition of the word god:

1. an image of a deity; an idol.
2. any deified person or object.
3. one of several deities, esp. a male deity, presiding over some portion of worldly affairs.

now if you go to an Arabic dictionary and look for these things, you will find that the word they are under will be 'ilah'
Muslim use this word on a daily basis in the sentence 'La ilaha il allah'  which literally translates to; No god except Allah.

the word Allah originates from the word 'ilah'.
this word 'ilah' is just like any other Arabic word and can be made plural, masculine and feminine.
i.e the plural for the word 'ilah' is 'aliha' (gods). you can also change the word 'ilah' (god) to make goddess. but this word 'Allah' according the Arabic grammar, can not be a plural nor can it be given a gender.
in the English language, there is only one word for god and that is god. it doesn't mater which god you are talking about, it is still the same word. but when you are talking about the god of Abraham, Moses, David, or Jesus that is seen as the most supreme, you still only have the one world so what do you do? the answer is that you capitalise the 'g' and that way you get 'God'.

if you get a copy of the bible in Arabic, (which is possible because there are some Arab Christians) on the first page (Genesis 1) in English we know it says 'in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...' now in the Arabic bible, does it say 'ilah' or 'Allah' ?
the answer is 'Allah'.

so to conclude, Allah is the most perfect and unchangeable version of 'ilah' (god). so this name Allah is not just the name used for the God of the Muslims, it is also the God of the Christians and the Jews. if a christian or a Jew, says that Allah is not their God, you have to wonder, 'then who is your God?' for all monothiestic religions worship the same God.