2.1 Allah

Allah is the Arabic word meaning “the God.”

Linguistically, it comes from the Arabic noun al-ilāh, which means “the deity.”

ilāh = a god, a deity, an object of worship

al- = “the”

ilāh is a generic term. It can refer to a true god, a false god, an idol, or anything treated as divine or ultimate.

For example, a tribe may speak of their ilāh, even if it was an idol.

Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians used Allah as the word for God before Islam started around 610 AD, and they still use it today, including in Jewish and Christian Scriptures translated into Arabic. The word Allah itself is not unique to Islam.

However, Islam gives the word Allah a very specific theological meaning. When Muslims say Allah, they are referring to a particular understanding of who God is and what God is like.

Jews/Christians: Allah = God of Abraham as understood through Torah/Gospel

Islam: Allah = God of Abraham as defined by Qur’anic revelation

Islam claims that these are both the same God when God is correctly understood.

In Islam, Allah is understood to be the one, singular, uncreated being. Everything else that exists does so because Allah willed it into existence. Allah depends on nothing; everything depends on Him. He did not come into being, cannot cease to be, and does not change.

One of the most important Islamic claims about Allah is that He is not part of creation in any sense. He does not occupy space, does not enter time, and does not share characteristics with created things.

Even when the Qur’an uses descriptive language (such as saying God “knows,” “wills,” or “acts”) Muslim theology insists that these attributes are not comparable to human qualities.

A key Qur’anic phrase summarizes this idea: “There is nothing like Him.” This statement functions almost like a theological boundary. Any idea that makes God resemble humans too closely is rejected.

At the center of the Islamic belief about Allah is the claim that there is only one God, who is eternal, uncreated, and absolutely without partners. This belief is known as tawḥīd, usually translated as “oneness,” but it goes beyond simply affirming that God is one.

To misunderstand tawḥīd is, in Islam, to misunderstand God Himself. Next, in 2.2, we will look at more details about tawḥīd.