02-06-2008, 05:33 PM
Hi Christina,
Whether or not "Allah" is etymologically a contraction of "al-ilah" in Arabic (there is some speculation/controversy around that), but that fact remains that linguistically it's the cognate of the Aramaic Alaha or the Akkadian Ilu or the Hebrew Eloah.
The most important thing is that this title was used by Arabs when they were Christians and Jews (before Islam). See for instance the Zebed inscription from the church of Mar Sargis in Syria, where a trilingual inscription in Aramaic, Greek and Arabic is found above the altar area (the term "Allah" occurs there). This is from 512 AD, way before Islam. In that church and city there was a mixed population of Arameans, Greeks and Arabs. The Arabic script is the old Nabatean.
Also, in the Arabic writings of the CoE before Islam arrived, we had communities in Yemen and Arabia and elsewhere, and they used this name.
So there's nothing really "Islamic" about the name "Allah", it was a term used by Arab Christians to refer to the God of Israel. Islam has unfortunately claimed the name as its own, which is really a historic travesty.
Ultimately, all these terms (Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic) come from the ancient Akkadian "Il" or "El", after all every Semite came from the ancient Akkadian stock.
Whether or not "Allah" is etymologically a contraction of "al-ilah" in Arabic (there is some speculation/controversy around that), but that fact remains that linguistically it's the cognate of the Aramaic Alaha or the Akkadian Ilu or the Hebrew Eloah.
The most important thing is that this title was used by Arabs when they were Christians and Jews (before Islam). See for instance the Zebed inscription from the church of Mar Sargis in Syria, where a trilingual inscription in Aramaic, Greek and Arabic is found above the altar area (the term "Allah" occurs there). This is from 512 AD, way before Islam. In that church and city there was a mixed population of Arameans, Greeks and Arabs. The Arabic script is the old Nabatean.
Also, in the Arabic writings of the CoE before Islam arrived, we had communities in Yemen and Arabia and elsewhere, and they used this name.
So there's nothing really "Islamic" about the name "Allah", it was a term used by Arab Christians to refer to the God of Israel. Islam has unfortunately claimed the name as its own, which is really a historic travesty.
Ultimately, all these terms (Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic) come from the ancient Akkadian "Il" or "El", after all every Semite came from the ancient Akkadian stock.