Question:
I was wondering if the word Allah is Arabic for God or if it is actually His name? I keep getting mixed answers. The jews call Him Elohim, so I assume the word Allah is Arabic for God? Please help me, it keeps bothering me when I don’t know.
Answer:
Assalamu alaikum,
Yes, the word Allah is Arabic for God and that is why pre-Islamic Muslims used that word as well. You probably remember that the Prophet’s own father was known as Abd-Allah, or Abdullah, so it was a common name by which God was known to the Arabis. Another way of looking at is also that Christians in the Middle East also refer to God as Allah.
That being said, we also say that the name Allah is one that Allah Himself chose for us to refer to Him. He chose Muhammad (pbuh), an Arab man, to be the final Messenger and for the Quran to be revealed in Arabic.
So in a way it is both Arabic for God, but it is also a name chosen by Allah to be used by the nation of Muhammad (pbuh), the seal of Prophets, the nation of the Last Days.
And Allah and His Prophet know better.
Hajj Khalid Aboulela
