In Arabic language whether you are Christian or Muslim or Jewish, to refer to the Only One God you say Allah (الله).
Etymologically, the name Allah is a contraction of the Arabic al-Ilāh, “The God” (The Only God). The name’s origin can be traced to the earliest Semitic writings in which the word for God is Il, El, or Eloah, the latter two used in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Allah is the standard Arabic word for The Only God and is used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews as well as by Muslims.
But let us now look at the linguistic of the word Allah. It in itself is a beauty of the Arabic language, because the word in Arabic does not mean just god. Just in case you thought it did, it doesn't. Because we have a word in Arabic for the word in English god, its called Ilah (إله), that's the word.
But when we speak about the One and Only God, the one that's to be worshipped, the God of Adam and Eve; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of Moses; and the Only One God that became Man Jesus Christ; and the God of Mohammed, we are talking about essentially, the Only One God that's worthy to be worshipped, no other god.
Now, what would be the proof for this? I realized that we did have a lot of detractors who would say: "no, no, no, that's not true I don't believe it".
Let's get a proof, from the English translation of the Bible. That's a good place to start. But let's make a step back before: if you pick up a Bible translated in Arabic from the original Hebrew and Greek, from Genesis to Revelation the Name of God is of course written as Allah (الله).
For example:
لانه هكذا احب الله العالم حتى بذل ابنه الوحيد لكي لا يهلك كل من يؤمن به بل تكون له الحياة الابدية. (تكوين 1)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1)
That's what it says, In the beginning Allah created the heavens and the earth...
And going forth:
لانه هكذا احب الله العالم حتى بذل ابنه الوحيد لكي لا يهلك كل من يؤمن به بل تكون له الحياة الابدية. (يوحنا 3:16)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
That's what it says, For Allah so loved the world...
So just as it's the God for, the Children of Israel, in Arabic language, and it's the God of the Arabs who are Christians, it's also the same God for the Muslims.
The word is Allah (الله).
Why Allah? Why is it important to have this particular word and why don't we have it in English?
Now I want to come again to the etymology of the word. As I said above it comes from the word Ilah (إله) and Ilah means god. But god is defined as what? Anything that's worshipped whether it be something you can see or you don't see, something you can touch or not touch, something you can hear or not hear. A god could be anything. A god could be a rock, a stick, a stone, a bone. A god could be something that you can make with your hands. A god can be something you can use your imagination for. It could be a human being. A god could be anything, g,o,d, god could be anything. But there is no word in English for Allah, so when you translate the word Allah to be god you've actually diminished the meaning for Allah.
In the English language they only have one word, god; little g,o,d,. It means something worshipped, it could be, idols, images, pictures, statues, it could be human beings, it could be anything. This is gods little g,o,d,s. But when you mean the God you have to capitalize the g, you have to make a big G.
Now what happens if you're going to start the sentence, with the word God? You have to make a big G anyway, don't you? So you wouldn't know if it was... God big God or god a little god, just any o God. You wouldn't know.
Also, whenever you're speaking to someone they can't se the letters. So when you say, "God ..." Which God? What God are you talking about?
In Arabic though it's clear when you say Ilah ok he's talking about a god. And Allah is, an Ilah, but He's also al-Ilah, the only Ilah. And when you say Allah, this firms it up and there's no doubt in anybody's mind that you're talking about the One and Only God, the God of Adam and Eve; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of Moses; and the Only One God that became Man Jesus Christ; and the God of Mohammed. We are talking about essentially, the Only One God that's worthy to be worshipped, no other god.
So having understood all of this, we can now safely in Arabic say:
أشهد أن لا اله إلا الله
I testify that there is no other god but God.
(@GiuseppeCapparelli) 🔯🔥
