Editing Allah (section)

==Etymology==
{{further|Ilah}}
[[File:Component letters in Allah.svg|thumb|240px| The Arabic components that make up the word "Allah": {{ordered list |[[Aleph#Arabic|alif]] |[[Hamza#Hamzat al-waṣl (ٱ)|hamzat waṣl]] ({{lang|ar|همزة وصل}}) |[[lām]] |lām |[[shadda]] ({{lang|ar|شدة}}) |[[dagger alif|alif khunjāriyah]] ({{lang|ar|ألف خنجرية}}) |[[hāʾ]]}}]]

The [[etymology]] of the word ''Allāh'' has been discussed extensively by classical Arab philologists.<ref name=EI2-Ilah>D.B. Macdonald. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "Ilah", Vol. 3, p. 1093.</ref> The majority of scholars consider it to be derived from a [[synalepha|contraction]] of the [[Arabic definite article]] ''al-'' and ''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|ilāh}}'' "[[deity]], god" to ''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|al-lāh}}'' meaning "the deity, the God".<ref name=EI2-Ilah/> In some sources, the contracted and un-contracted forms are used interchangeably.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sinai|first1=Nicholas|title=Rain-Giver, Bone-Breaker, Score-Settler: Allāh in Pre-Quranic Poetry|date=2019|publisher=American Oriental Society|location=Atlanta, GA|isbn=978-1-948488-25-9|page=7}}</ref> The contraction of the terms is mirrored by the parallel contraction of ''al-ʾilāt'' to [[Al-Lat|''Allāt'']].{{Sfn|Al-Jallad|2025|p=2}} Originally, ''ʾilāh'' was used as an epithet for the West Semitic creator god ''ʾIlu'' (the [[Ugaritic]] version of [[El (deity)|El]]), before being adopted as the proper name itself for this god.{{Sfn|Al-Jallad|2025|p=3–4}}

A minority hypothesis posits that Allah is a loanword from the [[Syriac language|Syriac]] ''Alāhā''.<ref>[[Gerhard Böwering]]. [[Encyclopedia of the Quran]], Brill, 2002. Vol. 2, p. 318</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Reynolds|first=Gabriel Said|title=Allah: God in the Qur'an|date=2020|publisher=Yale university press|isbn=978-0-300-24658-2|location=New Haven|page=14}}</ref> However, this form is likely a phonetic adaptation of the Arabic.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sinai |first1=Nicholas |title=Rain-Giver, Bone-Breaker, Score-Settler: Allāh in Pre-Quranic Poetry |date=2019 |publisher=American Oriental Society |isbn=978-1-948488-25-9 |location=Atlanta, GA |page=8}}</ref><ref>Kiltz, David. "The Relationship between Arabic Allāh and Syriac Allāha." Der Islam 88.1 (2012): 47.</ref>

Grammarians of the [[Hasan of Basra|Basra school]] regarded it as either formed "spontaneously" (''murtajal'') or as the determined form of ''lāh'' (from the verbal root ''lyh'' with the meaning of "lofty" or "hidden").<ref name=EI2-Ilah/> Other Muslims scholars proposed that the term derives from ''wilah'' (the object of mystery) since the nature of God is a mystery and incomprehensible for humans.<ref>Ibrahim, Zakyi. "To Use “God” or “Allah”?." American Journal of Islam and Society 26.4 (2009): v.</ref><ref name="Baydawi-2016">{{cite book |translator1-first=Gibril Fouad |translator1-last=Haddad |first=ʿAbd Allah |last=ibn ʿUmar al-Baydawi |date=2016 |title=The Lights Of Revelation And The Secrets Of Interpretation |publisher=Beacon Books and Media Limited |isbn=978-0-9926335-7-8}}</ref>{{rp|p=162}}

[[Semitic languages|Semitic]] [[cognates]] of "Allāh" appear in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]],<ref name="autogenerated1">Columbia Encyclopaedia says: Derived from an old Semitic root referring to the Divine and used in the Canaanite ''[[El (deity)|El]]'', the Mesopotamian ''[[Ilah|ilu]]'', and the biblical ''[[Elohim]]'' and ''[[Eloah]]'', the word Allah is used by all Arabic-speaking Muslims, Christians, Jews, and other monotheists.</ref> such as the Aramaic form ''ʼElāh'' ({{lang|arc|אלה}}), and in its definite form, ''{{transliteration|arc|ʼElāhā}}'' ({{lang|arc|אלהא}}). It is written as {{lang|syc|ܐܠܗܐ}} ({{transliteration|arc|ʼĔlāhā}}) in [[Biblical Aramaic]] and {{lang|syc|ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ}} ({{transliteration|syc|ʼAlāhā}}) in [[Syriac language|Syriac]], both meaning simply "God".<ref name="cal">[http://cal1.cn.huc.edu The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon] – Entry for ''ʼlh''  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018045941/http://cal1.cn.huc.edu/ |date=18 October 2013 }}</ref>