Why do you say Allah and not God?

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I use the word Allah because I speak arabic. My christian friends also say Allah. Allah simply means God in arabic. So why do non-arab muslims say Allah and not just God in their native language? :?
Allah isn't God's name is it? So why say Allah? Is there a particular reason?
Just curious...
 
Good thread sis!
I have always wondered why people say Allah if they are non-arab
Im not Arab but in my language God means 'Ilah' so i say 'Ilah' most of the time but i do also say Allah and God too!
 
:sl:
I use the word Allah because I speak arabic. My christian friends also say Allah. Allah simply means God in arabic. So why do non-arab muslims say Allah and not just God in their native language? :?
Allah isn't God's name is it? So why say Allah? Is there a particular reason?
Just curious...
God, god, gods

The Name Allah is not one word but a small phrase, a statetement of tawhid.

its equivalant English phrase would be: The(One)God < a mouthful compared to "Allah" (الله )
Al:The
illah: a god, any god, a deity, anything that is worshipped by man.

it is used by Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, in reference to "The(One)God"
 
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God, god, gods

The Name Allah is not one word but a small phrase, a statetement of tawhid.

its equivalant English phrase would be: The(One)God < a mouthful compared to "Allah" (الله )
Al:The
illah: a god, any god, a deity, anything that is worshipped by man.

But:

by writing God with a capital G instead of god, isn't it like saying that there is only one God?
God --> Allah or al-ilah
god --> ilah
gods --> the plural of al-ilah is al aliha and Allah is derived from al-ilah.

So what's the difference?

I've always wondered about this...
 
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yeah but since Allah is derived from al-ilah "The God" it has a plural which is al-aliha "The gods".
could you show me where you are taking me:confused:

regardless of what al-aliha are (I do not care one jot about them, whoever they might be); Al-Illah is contracted to Allah, which is translated as The(one)God (unless I misunderstood the Original Post)
 
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But:

by writing God with a capital G instead of god, isn't it like saying that there is only one God?
God --> Allah or al-ilah
god --> ilah
gods --> the plural of al-ilah is al aliha and Allah is derived from al-ilah.

So what's the difference?

I've always wondered about this...
it seems from your edit that you are up to something, so I'll take your leave for now until Woodrow is online lest some ban-happy kiddy disables me again after just one day

edit: how does one use a capital G in spoken English?
 
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it seems from your edit that you are up to something, so I'll take your leave for now until Woodrow is online lest some ban-happy kiddy disables me again after just one day

I'm not. I just thought that my reply before the edit wasn't clear. I'm just asking out of curiosity.
 
:sl:

This is what Dr. Zakir Naik says about the question:
Why do Muslims prefer calling God Almighty as ‘Allah’ then the English word God, because the Arabic word ‘Allah’ is a pure word. The English word God, it can be played around with. If you add an ‘s’ to God, it becomes ‘Gods’, ‘plural of God’. You can not add an ‘s’ to Allah. There is nothing like plural Allah. Allah is one...(Arabic)... ‘Say he is Allah one and only’. If you add a ‘dess’ to God, it becomes ‘Goddess’, ‘a female god’. There is nothing like female Allah or male Allah. Allah has got no gender. If you have a god with a capital ‘G’, it becomes true God. If you have a god with a small ‘g’ it becomes fake god. In Islam we have only one true Allah. We do not have any false Allah, only true Allah. If you add father to god, it becomes ‘godfather’. He is my godfather. He is my guardian. You can not add an abba to Allah or a father to Allah. There is nothing like ‘Allahabba’ or ‘Allahfather’ in Islam. If you add a mother to god, it becomes Godmother. You can not add a mother to Allah or an ‘ammi’ to Allah. There is nothing like ‘Allahammi’ in Islam. If you put a tin before God, it becomes ‘Tingod’, ‘fake God’. In Islam there is nothing like ‘Tin Allah’. Allah is pure. It is unique, you can call him by any name, but it should be a beautiful name. I hope that answers the question.

Source
 
Bro doorster, perhaps I misunderstood you. When you said "god, God, gods" you meant that you don't say God because it has a plural while Allah doesn't?
Is that why we use Allah instead of God?

If you add father to god, it becomes ‘godfather’. He is my godfather. He is my guardian. You can not add an abba to Allah or a father to Allah. There is nothing like ‘Allahabba’ or ‘Allahfather’ in Islam. If you add a mother to god, it becomes Godmother. You can not add a mother to Allah or an ‘ammi’ to Allah. There is nothing like ‘Allahammi’ in Islam. If you put a tin before God, it becomes ‘Tingod’, ‘fake God’. In Islam there is nothing like ‘Tin Allah’. Allah is pure. It is unique, you can call him by any name, but it should be a beautiful name. I hope that answers the question.

Yeah, I guess it makes sence. thx.
 
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Bro doorster, perhaps I misunderstood you. When you said "god, God, gods" you meant that you don't say God because it has a plural while Allah doesn't?
Is that why we use Allah instead of God?



Yeah, I guess it makes sence. thx.
jazakillah khair. do not worry about me, I am very easily confused. wa salaam
 
I read in a book (I can't remeber the name of the book) that the name Allah is chosen by Allah to address Allah subhanahu wata'ala. Is this not correct?
 
It's become a kind of standardised Islamic term almost hasn't it? In urdu the word "khuda" is used to mean God.
 
I do not use God, because of the origin of the word and because the word god has many un-Godlike conontations for me. I also feel the fullness of the name Allaah(swt) expresses His attributes better.
 
Good thread sis!
I have always wondered why people say Allah if they are non-arab
Im not Arab but in my language God means 'Ilah' so i say 'Ilah' most of the time but i do also say Allah and God too!

:sl: Do you mean Somali, because we say Ilahay. :?
 
Well "Allah" is Allah's first name out of His 99 beautiful attribues (+more). I think it's just a universal thing. OHHHHH I just remembered we had a discussion about this at the Masjid.
Alright well the word "god" in English can be.. played around with, if that's what you want to call it. For example, you can add a "s" and make it plural. You can add a "dess" at the end, and make it feminine. However, in Arabic, there is no way you can pluralize it or feminize it. No way to play around with it. Hope that helped. :)
 
Well "Allah" is Allah's first name out of His 99 beautiful attribues (+more). I think it's just a universal thing. OHHHHH I just remembered we had a discussion about this at the Masjid.
Alright well the word "god" in English can be.. played around with, if that's what you want to call it. For example, you can add a "s" and make it plural. You can add a "dess" at the end, and make it feminine. However, in Arabic, there is no way you can pluralize it or feminize it. No way to play around with it. Hope that helped. :)

Ohhhh right. Yeah that makes sense. JazakAllah Khair.:happy:
 
Wa iyakum.
Oh I just decided to skim through the comments and I realized someone already said the same thing I did. xD :$ Sorry.
 
Haha.. so they did. No problem. I have a habit of skipping to the ends of threads anyways.
 
salam
sorry guys but Allah is the name of the Lord of the universe and He and mentioned it in the quran about himself and His prophet peace be upon him mentioned it in the ahadeeth.
Even though there is nothing wrong with saying God.
 
What is "Laa ilaha illallah."?
In Arabic the way to write Laa ilaha illallah is " لا اله الا الله "
See the ا (alif) in the word Allah there? The Alif could be erase, but why was it written in there? Because it is Alif lam makrifat, means that what Muslim meant by the word "Allah" is definite, not indefinite and not abstact (Nakirah).

That means Allahu Ta'ala is only the Creator, the Cherisher, the Sustainer, and the One God who owns the Asma'ul Husna which He made known through His Kitab, and through His messengers, and which He keep inside His knowledge which is Ghaib (not known but by Him).

If the writing is like this " لا اله الا لله " the alif before the lafazh Allah is erase, then it is becoming Allah the abstract, which won't be Al Ilah, the word Allah was derived from Al Ilah " ال اله" not "اله" the rule in Arabic is that when the word written the form of Nakirah means abstract, while when written in the form of Makrifat (with Al : ال) means that it is a DEFINITE noun (Isim).

So forever, Islam will never worship duality of Allah as one or Oneness of Allah in duality, or Trinity of Allah in 1 or oneness of Allah in Trinity.
Only Allah the Al Ilah, Ilah means 1 God, if 2 God: Ilahaini.


Assalamu'alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh (May peace, development, safe from guile, and Allah's mercy and His blessings be upon thee).
 
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