Any Evidences for 'Allah' Before Islam?

[Umar001]

Basically, I have discussions with a person who always brings up if there is any evidence for the name 'Allah' before the advent of Islam.

He states taht since it is G-ds name it should have been known to others.


Anyhow if anyone has any help on this topic it will be appriciated.

[Woodrow]

Basically, I have discussions with a person who always brings up if there is any evidence for the name 'Allah' before the advent of Islam.

He states taht since it is G-ds name it should have been known to others.


Anyhow if anyone has any help on this topic it will be appriciated.

Part one there is no time in the existance of mankind that Islam did not exist. Adam was the first human Muslim

Now the word Allah is found in both Ancient Hebrew and Early Aramaic. In the original Hebrew versions of the Bible, what little can be found. The word for God is always some variation of Allah.

Also keep in mind that Allah is not a name in the Western Concept of names. It is an attribute of God. It is Arabic and is actually Al-Lah and means "The Greatest" or the Highest. You will also find that al-lah is also used in Arabic as a descriptive adjective for things like describing the biggest or greatest of anything. In the English translation we Capitalise it when referring to God, However in Arabic there are no capital letters.

[Umar001]

I dont get it, a variation?

I dont have any ancient hebrew or early aramaic bibles and so forth, I need evidences of some kind bro.

so your saying Allah isnt a name it is an atribute of The Diety?

and that Al-Lah is used to describe the greatnes of other things?

[Woodrow]

I dont get it, a variation?

I dont have any ancient hebrew or early aramaic bibles and so forth, I need evidences of some kind bro.

so your saying Allah isnt a name it is an atribute of The Diety?

and that Al-Lah is used to describe the greatnes of other things?

I just realised that I am looking at Al-lah from a linguistic stand point rather then from the Islamic view. Here is a copied meaning more in line with the Islamic concept.

Islamic use of "Allāh"
From the point of view of traditional Islamic theology, Allāh is the most precious name of God because it is not a descriptive name like other ninety-nine names of God, but the name of God's own presence. Muslims believe that the name of Allah had existed before the time of Adam. It is the same God worshipped by Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and other prophets of Islam. In Islam, there is only one God and Muhammad is the last messenger. In the Qur'an, rabb is also one of the usual names of God.

The emphasis in Islamic culture on reciting the Qur'an in Arabic has resulted in Allāh often being used by Muslims world-wide as the word for God, regardless of their native language. Out of 114 Suras in the Qur'an, 113 begin with the Basmala ("Bismi 'llāhi 'r-rahmāni 'r-rahīm" بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم) which means "In the name of God, the most kind, the most merciful".

Muslims, when referring to the name of Allah, often add the words "Subhanahu wa Ta`ala" after it, meaning "Glorified and Exalted is He" as a sign of reverence, or "`Azza wa Jalla" (عز و جل). The entire religion of Islam is based on the idea of getting closer to God.[citation needed] Although commonly referred to as a "He", God is considered genderless, but there is no neuter gender to express this in the Arabic language. When Greek or other polytheistic deities are discussed in Arabic, it is customary to use the expression ilāh, a "deity" or "god"; sometimes the word ma`būd, literally meaning "worshipped [entity]", is used instead.

Taken from this page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allah

I'm discovering that my early studies of the Arabic language do not correspond with my study of Islam. And that words when used colloqualy in the language do not always keep with the Qur'anic meaning.

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[Woodrow]

I think it is best to point out that the common spoken Arabic does differ world wide, however the Arabic of the Qur'an is the same world wide.

The dialectal Arabic is secular and not necessarily conveying Islamic thought as not all Arabic speaking People are Muslim.

Colloquial Arabic" is a collective term for the spoken languages or dialects of people throughout the Arab world, which, as mentioned, differ radically from the literary language. The main dialectal division is between the North African dialects and those of the Middle East, followed by that between sedentary dialects and the much more conservative Bedouin dialects. Speakers of some of these dialects are unable to converse with speakers of another dialect of Arabic; in particular, while Middle Easterners can generally understand one another, they often have trouble understanding North Africans (although the converse is not true, due to the popularity of Middle Eastern—especially Egyptian—films and other media).

One factor in the differentiation of the dialects is influence from the languages previously spoken in the areas, which have typically provided a significant number of new words, and have sometimes also influenced pronunciation or word order; however, a much more significant factor for most dialects is, as among Romance languages, retention (or change of meaning) of different classical forms. Thus Iraqi aku, Levantine fīh, and North African kayen all mean "there is", and all come from Arabic (yakūn, fīhi, kā'in respectively), but now sound very different.

The major groups are:

Egyptian Arabic
Maghreb Arabic (Algerian Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, Tunisian Arabic, Maltese and western Libyan)
Levantine Arabic (Western Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian, and western Jordanian, Cypriot Maronite Arabic)
Iraqi Arabic (and Khuzestani Arabic) - with significant differences between the more Arabian-like gilit-dialects of the south and the more conservative qeltu-dialects of the northern cities
Gulf Arabic (Eastern Syrian, Kuwaiti, Saudi Arabian, Persian Gulf coast from Iraq to Oman including much of Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, and minorities on the other side)
Other varieties include:

Ḥassānīya (in Mauritania and western Sahara)
Andalusi Arabic (extinct, but important role in literary history)
Sudanese Arabic (with a dialect continuum into Chad)
Baharna Arabic (Bahrain, Saudi Eastern Province, and Oman)
Hijazi Arabic (west coast of Saudi Arabia, Northern Saudi Arabia, eastern Jordan, Western Iraq)
Najdi Arabic (Najd region of central Saudi Arabia)
Yemeni Arabic (Yemen to southern Saudi Arabia)

[Umar001]

Well thanks for the research bro

This still really doesnt help with the topic.

Salam Aleykum

[Woodrow]

Well thanks for the research bro

This still really doesnt help with the topic.

Salam Aleykum

Agreed but it sure helped me. I know someplace on the PC I have some old Hebrew script stored and it is translated into both Aramaic and Arabic. As soon as I find what file it is in I will post it.

[Umar001]

Insh'allah akhi, thank you for your patience with me.

And take your time also

Salam aleykum Wa rhametula Wa berekatu

[azim]

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Mat/Mat027.html

Matthew 27:46

Jesus [according to Matthew] says: -
Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?

Which is Hebrew for God, God, Why have you forsaken me?

The word 'Eli' is from Hebrew - meaning God. Jews still call God 'Eli'

It is the same root as Ilah, meaning diety.

Al-Ilah = The diety.

Al-Ilah becomes Allah.

There's plenty more evidence if you start going deeper in.

[Woodrow]

The Hebrew scripts I have are of no use for this as they refer more to the mechanics of the language and not for the meaning.

This may help a little tho.

Who is Allah


First of all, it is important to note that "Allah" is the same word that Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use for God. If you pick up an Arabic Bible, you will see the word "Allah" being used where "God" is used in English. This is because "Allah" is the only word in the Arabic language equivalent to the English word "God" with a capital "G". Additionally, the word "Allah" cannot be made plural or given gender (i.e. masculine or feminine), which goes hand-in-hand with the Islamic concept of God. Because of this, and also because the Qur'an, which is the holy scripture of Muslims, was revealed in the Arabic language, some Muslims use the word "Allah" for "God", even when they are speaking other languages. This is not unique to the word "Allah", since many Muslims tend to use Arabic words when discussing Islamic issues, regardless of the language that they speak. This is because the universal teachings of Islam - even though they have been translated in every major language - have been preserved in the Arabic language.



It is interesting to note that the Aramaic word "El", which is the word for God in the language that Jesus spoke, is certainly more similar in sound to the word "Allah" than the English word "God". This also holds true for the various Hebrew words for God, which are "El" and "Elah", and the plural form "Elohim". The reason for these similarities is that Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic are all Semitic languages with common origins. It should also be noted that in translating the Bible into English, the Hebrew word "El" is translated variously as "God", "God" and "angel"! This imprecise language allows different translators, based on their preconceived notions, to translate the word to fit their own views. The Arabic word "Allah" presents no such difficulty or ambiguity, since it is only used for Almighty God alone. Additionally, in English, the only difference between "God", meaning a false God, and "God", meaning the One True God, is the capital "G". In the Arabic alphabet, since it does not have capital letters, the word for God (i.e. Allah) is formed by adding the equivalent to the English word "the" (Al-) to the Arabic word for "God/God" (ilah). So the Arabic word "Allah" literally it means "The God" - the "Al-" in Arabic basically serving the same function as the capital "G" in English. Due to the above mentioned facts, a more accurate translation of the word "Allah" into English might be "The One -and-Only God" or "The One True God".

[Umar001]

This is definetly helping

But what im looking for is, basically, IF Islam didnt come about would the word Allah be known? Is there any evidences of theword Allah by jews or Christians before Mohammed became prophet peace be upon him.

[NahidSarvy]

In Semitic languages, the original root word for a divine being was *il-, which appears in all branches of the family.

It appears in Akkadian (Babylonian-Assyrian) as il-um, female ilat-um (-um is the same as Arabic al-). There was no god called simply Ilu in Akkadian, though - it was just a word for any god.

It appears in Aramaic-Syriac as Elah-a "God" from *il- + -âh- "great" (-a is the equivalent of Arabic al-

It appears in Hebrew as ha-El "God" < *il- and Elohim < *il-&#226;h- + -im. It is only used for the monotheistic divinity.

It appears in ancient Arabian (Northern and Southern) as han-ilahu, feminine han-ilatu; both appear as terms for any divinity (a god/dess) and as proper names (The God; The Goddess). Sometimes you find inscriptions that say "the god of Bosra is L&#226;h" or "the goddess of al-Hijr is L&#226;t" just like you find ones in Jordan that say "the god of Petra is "He-of-Vegetation (Dh&#251; l-Shar&#226;)".

In Arabic, it appears as both ilah "god" and as a proper name, L&#226;h (as in the Shah&#226;da, l&#226; ilaha ill&#226; al-L&#226;h.) We also know that L&#226;t - a war goddess - is also mentioned in the Qur'&#226;n along with 3Uzz&#226; - a protector and mother goddess. Along with "Fate", Man&#226;t, they are mentioned by name as false idols.

It is clear from all the various evidences that *Ilat- became *Il&#226;t- because of the parallel with *Il&#226;h-.

The 7unuf&#226;' and Ahlu l-Kit&#226;b appear to have identified L&#226;h as "God", which is exactly the cognate word anyway. North Arabian "pagan" religions were very strongly aniconic and monotheistic-oriented, although they paired the main divinity into a married pair. In Nabat&#230;a, the pair was 3Uzz&#226;' and Dh&#251; l-Shar&#226;; in other areas, it was L&#226;h-L&#226;t.

That is all for today, kiddos.

[Woodrow]

This is definetly helping

But what im looking for is, basically, IF Islam didnt come about would the word Allah be known? Is there any evidences of theword Allah by jews or Christians before Mohammed became prophet peace be upon him.

I have some doubt that we will find the word Allah per se, in any Language other then Arabic. We will find words that various languages would translate the Arabic word into. And similar words in languages related to Arabic.

Languages are not very precise, and when trying to translate to and from other languages things get changed. So what you need to find is what name in the oldest known scriptures would translate into the Arabic Allah. Best as I can find that would be the Hebrew Eli and/or variations.

Correlation here: We know that one of the earliest Prophets was Nuh, Which is an Arabic name. You will not find that name in any of the original texts as they are in Hebrew and the name there is Noah. There should be no doubt that Nuh and Noah are both the same person. Why should there be any problem with knowing that Eli and Allah are both the same Person?

[azim]

http://www.islam101.com/tauheed/Aior.htm

[united]

Read this by Ahmed Deedat. It is long but very informative and interesting.
http://jamaat.net/name/name.html

[Goku]

Jazak Allah Khair

[Umar001]

Well thanks for the help, I was looking for that Ahmed Deedat link.

I think the part in which the Alah is used is probably the closest I am going to get to it.

I don't think I have gotten my point across as to what I was actually trying to find but I guess thats me.

peaceeeeee

[Woodrow]

By definition Islam goes back to Adam and by projection it would go back to the first sapient Being Allah(swt) created. Be it Angel, Jinn, Man or something unknown to us. Islam is the submission to Allah(swt). Yes, Allah(swt) existed before Islam. But, Islam came into existence the instant Allah created any being capable of submission to Him(swt).

[Umar001]

Thanks for the reminder Woodrow brother.

I was just focousing on the Allah part, because although its a really insignificant point, I didnt know much about it.

Peace

[Hijrah]

There were people in the pre-islamic period whose name was Abdullah=Slave of Allah...

[IbnAbdulHakim]

tell him to explain what is islam. Islam is submission to GOD, therefore it existed from the time of Adam AS. Therefore islam was always existent but it got "PERFECTED" when Muhammad saws came.

:salamext:

[Umar001]

Argh, I still dont think I've made it clear.

This person believes Yahweh is G-d and so forth and that Allah is a different G-d.

so he has asked me if Allah is G-d to al the other prophets is there any mention of this name?? because muslims hold it to be His Name.

[Woodrow]

Argh, I still dont think I've made it clear.

This person believes Yahweh is G-d and so forth and that Allah is a different G-d.

so he has asked me if Allah is G-d to al the other prophets is there any mention of this name?? because muslims hold it to be His Name.

You are clear. It is just that we seem to be having difficulty in presenting something that would make sense to your friend. It is a language problem. Much of theOld Tetement was written in Hebrew. Allah would have been translated into the language of the people. An analogy would be an Englishman named John, is his name John or is it the Spanish Juan? They are both the same name. A name is deeper then the pronouniation or the spelling of a word.

[Hijrah]

Argh, I still dont think I've made it clear.

This person believes Yahweh is G-d and so forth and that Allah is a different G-d.

so he has asked me if Allah is G-d to al the other prophets is there any mention of this name?? because muslims hold it to be His Name.

According to many religion scholars, Allah derives from the hebre word el which comes from Elohim or something like that...visit islamtomorrow.com, there is an explanation of it I think

[NahidSarvy]

I posted this already, but I'm happy to repost. I'm a linguist, and this is what I know: it's not a borrowing, it's a cognate - a native word with cousins in related languages.

In Semitic languages, the original root word for a divine being was *il-, which appears in all branches of the family.

It appears in Akkadian (Babylonian-Assyrian) as il-um, female ilat-um (-um is the same as Arabic al-). There was no god called simply Ilu in Akkadian, though - it was just a word for any god.

It appears in Aramaic-Syriac as Elah-a "God" from *il- + -&#226;h- "great" (-a is the equivalent of Arabic al-

It appears in Hebrew as h&#226;-El "God" < *il- and El&#244;him < *il-&#226;h- + -im. It is only used for the monotheistic divinity.

It appears in ancient Arabian (Northern and Southern) as han-ilahu, feminine han-ilatu; both appear as terms for any divinity (a god/dess) and as proper names (The God; The Goddess). Sometimes you find inscriptions that say "the god of Bosra is L&#226;h" or "the goddess of al-Hijr is L&#226;t" just like you find ones in Jordan that say "the god of Petra is "He-of-Vegetation (Dh&#251; l-Shar&#226;)".

In Arabic, it appears as both ilah "god" and as a proper name, L&#226;h (as in the Shah&#226;da, l&#226; ilaha ill&#226; al-L&#226;h.) We also know that L&#226;t - a war goddess - is also mentioned in the Qur'&#226;n along with 3Uzz&#226; - a protector and mother goddess. Along with "Fate", Man&#226;t, they are mentioned by name as false idols.

It is clear from all the various evidences that *Ilat- became *Il&#226;t- because of the parallel with *Il&#226;h-.

The 7unuf&#226;' and Ahlu l-Kit&#226;b appear to have identified L&#226;h as "God", which is exactly the cognate word anyway. North Arabian "pagan" religions were very strongly aniconic and monotheistic-oriented, although they paired the main divinity into a married pair. In Nabat&#230;a, the pair was 3Uzz&#226;' and Dh&#251; l-Shar&#226;; in other areas, it was L&#226;h-L&#226;t.

[i_m_tipu]

:salamext: to muslim bro/sis

this can be help insAllaah

Is Allah Mentioned In Other Scriptures?
http://www.islamicboard.com/basics-i...tures.html#top

[scentsofjannah]

In aramaic they say ALLAHA and also ELAAH

this language was spoken by Prophet Isa(Jesus) peace be upon him

[scentsofjannah]

here the aramaic site

http://members.aol.com/assyrianme/ar...ch/church.html

if anyone watched the movie Passion of Christ

the man on the cross cried out 'ELAAHI ELAAHI' same as arabic

Mary was called MARYAM in the same movie.