Allah

Allah (  lit. 'The God') is the common name for God in Arabic. It is similar to Ha-El, the name for God in Hebrew, and Alaha-i, the name for God in Aramaic. Muslims commonly use the word Allah for God."Islam and Christianity", encyclopedia|title=Allah|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam Online|access-date=7 January 2015|author=L. Gardet Sometimes, people who speak Arabic still use the word Allah when they speak English. 

 In Arabic 
Where the word comes from
Around 2000 BC (4000 years ago) a group of people called the Canaanites lived in the Middle East. They had many gods, and the ruling god was called El. According to their beliefs, El created the earth and everything else. They believed El had total power, ruled over everything, and lived forever. 

Later, the word El became Eloh or Eloah in Aramaic. Hebrew changed the Aramaic word to Eloah. In the New Testament (the second book in the Christian Bible), the words Eli and Elohi were used to mean god. 

El is also in some people's names, such as Gabriel, Mikael, Azrael, Israel, Yishmael, and Emanuel.

 As a common noun 
In Arabic, the general word for a god is ilaah. It can mean a specific god, or any god at all, depending on how it is used.

 As a proper noun 

As a proper noun, Allah is a name for one God: the god of the Abrahamic religions. In Arabic, the word al is an article (a word for the), so al-ilaah means the God. Usually, Muslims use the word Allah. However, Arabs of different faiths also refer to God as Allah. 

The name Allah is made of four letters in Arabic:  (or Alif Lam Lam Ha, from right to left, A-L-L-H, 2111), which when brought together to make الله

 In Islam 
There are many different names for God in Islam. However, Allah is the most common.Böwering, Gerhard, God and His Attributes, Encyclopaedia of the Qurʼān, Brill, 2007 For Muslims, Allah is:

 A single God who is all-powerful, all-good and all-knowing, so he cannot make mistakes  
 The Originator (Arabic: الْخَالِقُ) of everything, including the heavens and the EarthBritannica Concise Encyclopedia, AllahEncyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa, Allah 
 The Absolute (free from any limitation and unlike any of His creation who are relative to Him and dependent on Him

 In Judaism 
In Judaism, God is usually called YHWH (which scholars usually pronounce Yahweh). Both names are mentioned in the Jewish Bible and are among the seven names of God in Judaism. 

In Judaism, Elohim is the Title of God. Muslims call God Allahuma when praying to Him. These words are similar because both Arabic and Hebrew are Semitic languages.

 In Christianity 
Arab Christians refer to God in Arabic as Allah. In the Arabic translation of the Christian Bible, God is called Allah. The word Allah was also used in old translations of the Bible into Turkish due to Islamic culture being common in Turkey, and because Turkish was influenced by Arabic.

References

Category:Islamic terminology
Category:Gods and goddesses
Category:Arabic words and phrases
Category:God