I have heard (particularly on this board by knowledgeable Dopers) that the word Allah is simply the Arabic term for “God”.
Therefore, it stands to reason, that Arab Christians (and Jews) would use it as well, right?
So is the assertion correct? And therefore, do Arabs of different religions use the word as interchangeably as the word “God” in English (yes, yes, bearing in mind that we all have slightly different views on precisely what the term means)?
Educate me on this please.
Yep. It is the word for God in Maltese as well.
Yep.
This I can’t speak to directly, not being a reader of Arabic. But we have a few posters that do and no doubt one will be along presently.
I have no direct evidence.
But I do know that, by derivation, Allah means, “the God,” as in the title one gives to the One True God, in contrast to how one might reference deities of other faiths in whom one does not believe.
It is not a name except by extension, the way that capital-G God in English references specifically the Jewish and Christian concepts of the God known to Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, but might equally well be used by a monotheistic panentheistic Neopagan to reference his quite different God.
That said, it is the common term for God the Holy Trinity in Arabic-speaking Orthodox Churches. I know a couple of American Antiochan Orthodox of Levantine (not specifically Arab) descent who inform me that in the quasi-original Arabic-language liturgies, as opposed to English-language liturgies, of their church, Allah is the name used for the God who is identical in concept to the one in whom Russian Orthodox believe, complete with hesychasm, the overshadowing of the Panagia, and all the details.
Is that sufficient evidence to satisfy you? I imagine I could Google out cites supporting either side of any argument, but in this case, I thought straight presentation of information and a third-person anecdotal cite would be the appropriate evidence.
I’ve always learned that Allah is the Arabic name for God. Two of my professors who taught our Arabic class said this was so. They were both Arab Christians from Bethlehem in “Occupied Palestine”.
And it is true that Allah is also the name of God in Maltese. (It stands to reason as Maltese is another dialect of Arabic, and is the only dialect of Arabic to be written in the Latin alphabet!)
One of my friends is an Arab-American whose family left the Middle East partially due to fear of religious persecution for their Christian beliefs. The American-born generation usually says “God”, but I’ve only ever heard the parents say “Allah”.
In speaking Arabic, I was taught that Allah is the Arabic word for God. In speaking Arabic, you would not insert the English word “God” while praying, though you might use the English word “God” if you’re discussing things with your non-Arabic-speaking friends.
Islam talks of the “99 Names of God”, but the generic word for “God”, (Allah) is a proper translation. For Arab Moslems,Christians or Jews, the generic word for “God” is Allah.
The Arabic language has a rich vocabulary all its own, and though they’ve had to incorporate many foreign words into their language, when talking of “God” they say Allah.
baab=door
Haliib=milk
finjaan=cup
Allah=God
Whether baab,Haliib,finjaan or Allah, we’re all talking about the same thing.
Many Arabs in Lebanon are Maronite Catholics, and yes, they refer to God as “Allah,” which is very likely a variation on “El,” one of the names used by ancient Israelites for God.
As I understand, it’s a contraction of Al Ilah, the first word being the definite article and the second the generic term for god, which is as you note a cognate on El. (BTW, it was not merely Israelites but most of the peoples of the ancient Mediterranean shoreline who worshipped El in one conceptualization or another. For many, however, he was chief god of a polytheistic pantheon.)