Along with Muslims, Christians and Jews believe in the one and only God, whose name in Arabic is Allah.
The root of this word is found in all Semitic languages, such as Syriac and Aramaic as well as in the Hebrew word Elohim found in the Old Testament. In the Arabic language, prior to Islam, it was possible to distinguish between “ilah”, god with a small “g” and “Allah”, God with a capital “G”, the absolute God, the one and only God as opposed to all the other so called “god[s]”.
The word “Allah” is formed when the Arabic article “al” is absorbed by the noun “ilah”. In other words, “Allah” was simply the name that Arabs, including Christian Arabs, along with Jews of the time, prior to the beginnings of Islam, used to identify God. It was a word in use prior to the birth of the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him.)
Islam simply adopted a word that pre-existed its birth and was already in use in both the pre-Muslim oral and written tradition. Islam did not invent the word “Allah”.
What has happened is that when Muslims translate the Koran into other languages or speak of God in other languages, they have not translated the Arabic word “Allah” into that language.
So for instance, if an Indonesian speaks of God he uses the Arabic word for God, “Allah”, when in fact he could use the Indonesian word “Tuhan”, just as say an Italian Muslim could use the word “Dio”, or a French Muslim “Dieu”. The custom of many Muslims to keep the word “Allah” in Arabic has become almost universal, even though it is not necessary.
As a result, the word “Allah” for most Muslims has taken on a personality and mystical significance of its own as if the word “Allah” refers only to the Muslim God and no one else has the right to use it. This presumes a Muslim monopoly on the use of the term, a view also held erroneously by many in the West: Muslims worship Allah; we worship God.
Both historically and linguistically this is incorrect. Christians, Jews and Muslims worship God, which in Arabic is translated as “Allah”, in French as “Dieu”, in Italian as “Dio”, in English as “God”, in Indonesian as “Tuhan” and so on across the globe. If some people wish to speak of God who is above all and not the possession of anyone, and name Him in Arabic they are entitled to. I am a Catholic. I fail to see how a word that predates Islam can be claimed as belonging exclusively to Islam. Our young Malaysian Muslim friend quoted above perhaps fails to see how true his words are.
Perhaps this young man and any who agree with him here in Indonesia can explain to me what the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) meant when he says in the Koran: “You have your religion and I have mine”. (Koran: 109:9) After they have stopped burning down or attacking churches, that is.
Phillip Turnbull
BSD City, Banten
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