Ilah

For the Belgian cartoonist, see Ilah (cartoons).
Gilded statuette of El from Ugarit,[1] Father of the Gods; explains the origin of the word Ilah.

ʾIlāh (Arabic: إله; plural: آلهة ʾālihat) is an Arabic term meaning "god". In Arabic, ilah refers to anyone or anything that is worshipped.[2] The feminine is ʾilāhat (إلاهة, meaning "goddess");[3] with the article, it appears as al-ʾilāhat (الإلاهة).[4] The Arabic word for God (Allāh) is thought to be derived from it (in a proposed earlier form al-Lāh) though this is disputed.[5][6] ʾIlāh is cognate to Northwest Semitic ʾēl and Akkadian ilum. The word is from a Proto-Semitic archaic biliteral ʔ-L meaning "god" (possibly with a wider meaning of "strong"), which was extended to a regular triliteral by the addition of a h (as in Hebrew ʾelōah, ʾelōhim). The word is spelled either إلٰه with an optional diacritic alif to mark the ā only in Qur'anic texts or (more rarely) with a full alif, إلاه.

The term is used throughout the Quran in passages discussing the existence of God or the beliefs in other divinities by non-Muslims. Notably, the first statement of the šahādah (the Muslim confession of faith) is "There is no god (ʾilāh) except the God (Allāh)."[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Negbi, Ora (1976). Canaanite Gods in Metal: An Archaeological Study of Ancient Syro-Palestinian Figurines. Tel Aviv University, Institute of Archaeology. pp. 48, 115.
  2. ^ Wehr, Hans (1979). A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-02002-2.
  3. ^ Akgunduz, Ahmed (15 April 2024). The Terms of Risala-i Nur Collection. IUR Press. p. 209. ISBN 9789491898389.
  4. ^ Kitto, John (1862). A Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature. Vol. 1. p. 241.
  5. ^ Zeki Saritoprak (2006). "Allah". In Oliver Leaman (ed.). The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 34. ISBN 9780415326391.
  6. ^ Vincent J. Cornell (2005). "God: God in Islam". In Lindsay Jones (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 5 (2nd ed.). MacMillan Reference USA. p. 724.
  7. ^ Hollenberg, David (20 October 2016). Beyond the Qur'an: Early Isma'ili Ta'wil and the Secrets of the Prophets. University of South Carolina Press. p. 116. ISBN 9781611176797.

Bibliography

  • Georgii Wilhelmi Freytagii, Lexicon Arabico-Latinum. Librairie du Liban, Beirut, 1975.
  • J. Milton Cowan, The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic. 4th edn. Spoken Language Services, Ithaca (NY), 1979.


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