Who is ALLAH?

The Arabic word ‘Allah’ is the proper name of God. It literally means ‘the One God’. The word Allah is unique and has no other word even remotely related to it.   Simply put, in Arabic, God is called Allah. Allah, means the One God, the Creator, the Sustainer, the Designer of this universe. The fundamental attribute of the word Allah is that it is not subject to plurality. We all know that, in English, we can say God and we can also say Gods (remember the cult Gods must be crazy!) Whereas, in Arabic, there is no word that is equivalent to the English term Gods, nothing literally. In other words, there is no plural of Allah. This characterises the concept of monotheism in Islam.

 Another important attribute of the word Allah is that it is not associated with any gender. Whereas we often hear the words God and Goddess, which do underline the gender of the deity. Thus, Allah is unique, has no gender, no plural. Therefore, it becomes clear that the word Allah is a more accurate word for describing the One worthy of worship, without the need to use multiple adjectives. Therefore, the word Allah is God’s personal name, as He says

Say, “(The fact is) He is Allâh, the One and Alone in His Being. Allâh is that Supreme Being Who is the Independent and Besought of all and Unique in all His attributes. He begets none and is begotten by no one, and there is none His equal.” (112:1-4).

Allah is the Arabic word for God, though it does not mean that He is the God of Muslims only. According to Islam, Allah is same God which was worshipped by Adam, Noah, Abraham and Jesus and Muhammad. Merely using the name Allah does not introduce an altogether new deity. In fact, the origins of the word Allah date back to pre- Islamic Arabia.

Allah is the Creator of the Universe, the One who created heavens and the earth and then created Adam and thus the human kind. He is the one with perfect attributes we can ever imagine, the Pure, the One, the all Powerful and the Magnificent. The owner of the universe, without any rival.

He who is ‘Omnipresent’ everywhere with His Perfect and Absolute Knowledge, listens to all our prayers, forgives all our sins and mistakes, feeds all hungry, who gives life and death. It is Allah who cures the ill and makes the seed germinate. It is He who knows what is taking shape inside the womb of a mammal, no leaf ever can even fall without his knowledge, thus is his knowledge, He is all-knowing.

Allah is the Merciful Lord, the One who guides us in our daily lives, it is He who we clinch to in times of need. He is the Supreme power. He is the one who we thank everyday many a times and ask for help. He is the one whom we will return to, as all slaves do at the end of the day. And then he will ask ‘ What have you been doing all through?’ Have you wondered what will you answer?