The unique phenomenon of the name “Allah” for the Creator of the Universe
Allah is the Arabic word for God. It is compounded of "Al", the definite article 'the', and "illah", meaning "god". Therefore, Allah literally means "The God" -- somewhat parallel to the capitalized "God" in English. The name Allah is used by Muslims world-wide, as well as Arabic-speaking Christians, Jews, and others.
It is written in Arabic as الله
From an Islamic point of view, Allah is the special name of God and is the most precious name because it is not a descriptive name like the other 99 Names of Allah, but the name of God's own presence. It is impossible to alter the word in Arabic; such as create a plural form (gods) or change the gender (goddess).
The Islamic concept of mankind's place in the universe hinges on the notion that God is the only true [reality]. There is nothing permanent other than God. God is considered eternal and "uncreated", whereas everything else in the universe is "created."
Allah is considered by Muslims to be omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. Islam teaches that other religions have, in one way or another, distorted and nullified a pure and proper belief in Almighty God by neglecting His true teachings and mixing them with man-made ideas.
Muslims do not try to draw or depict God in any way, according to Islamic belief it could lead to idol worship. Instead, we focus on His 99 Names and attributes that are stated in the Qur'an. Nearly one third of the book is used describing God's attributes and actions. Also, "hadith qudsi" are special recorded sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to Muslims where he quotes what God says to him. The 99 "Attributes" are frequently written in calligraphic Arabic as a permissible decoration, which adorns mosques and homes of Muslims.
The Oneness of Allah is best described in Surah Chapter 112 in four simple verses:
1. "Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;
2. Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
3. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;
4. And there is none like unto Him. " – Qur’an English Translation [112:1-4]
Here is an example of the name "Allah" written in simple Calligraphic Arabic:
Simply put, the name Allah is the unique name of the Lord, the Almighty Creator
of the cosmos. In Arabic, the name Allah is composed of four characters; they
are: Aleph, Lam, Lam and Haa. Allah is pronounced as Allahu when comes at the
beginning of a sentence.
The unique linguistic phenomenon of the name Allah:
From the linguistic point of view, the name Allah can give the same meaning if
we use:
• All of its four characters
• Three characters
• Two Characters
• Or the last character
To illustrate this unique phenomenon:
If we say Allah; it means the Great name of the Lord, the Creator.
If we deduct, subtract or take away the first letter Aleph, then we get three Characters
(Lam, Lam and Haa) which is pronounced as: Lillah and
means: To Allah.
If we deduct the first two letters Aleph and Lam, then we
get two Characters (Lam and Haa) which is pronounced as: Lahu and also means: To
Allah.
If we deduct the first three letters Aleph, Lam and Lam
then we get only one Character; the last one (Haa) which is pronounced as: hu
and it means: Him.
This unique linguistic phenomenon indicates that the name Allah can give the
same meaning by using all of its four characters, three characters, two
characters or one character.