Ilah
ʾIlāh (Arabic: إله; plural: آلهة ʾālihat) is an Arabic term meaning "god". In Arabic, ilah refers to anyone or anything that is worshipped.[1] The feminine is ʾilāhat (إلاهة, meaning "goddess");[2] with the article, it appears as al-ʾilāhat (الإلاهة).[3] The Arabic word for God (Allāh) is thought to be derived from it (in a proposed earlier form al-Lāh) though this is disputed.[4][5] ʾIlāh is cognate to Northwest Semitic ʾēl and Akkadian ilum. The word is from a Proto-Semitic archaic biliteral ʔ-L meaning "god" (possibly with a wider meaning of "strong"), which was extended to a regular triliteral by the addition of a h (as in Hebrew ʾelōah, ʾelōhim). The word is spelled either إلٰه with an optional diacritic alif to mark the ā only in Qur'anic texts or (more rarely) with a full alif, إلاه.
The term is used throughout the Quran in passages discussing the existence of God in the context of Oneness of Allaah also to refer the beliefs in other divinities by non-Muslims. Notably, the first statement of the šahādah (the Muslim confession of faith) is "There is no god (ʾilāh) except the God (Allāh)", which declares belief in pure monotheism.[6]
See also
[edit]- Arabian mythology
- El (deity)
- History of Arabia
- Religions of the ancient Near East
- Yahwism
- Historical Vedic Religion
References
[edit]- ^ Wehr, Hans (1979). A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-02002-2.
- ^ Akgunduz, Ahmed (15 April 2024). The Terms of Risala-i Nur Collection. IUR Press. p. 209. ISBN 9789491898389.
- ^ Kitto, John (1862). A Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature. Vol. 1. p. 241.
- ^ Zeki Saritoprak (2006). "Allah". In Oliver Leaman (ed.). The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 34. ISBN 9780415326391.
- ^ Vincent J. Cornell (2005). "God: God in Islam". In Lindsay Jones (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 5 (2nd ed.). MacMillan Reference USA. p. 724.
- ^ Hollenberg, David (20 October 2016). Beyond the Qur'an: Early Isma'ili Ta'wil and the Secrets of the Prophets. University of South Carolina Press. p. 116. ISBN 9781611176797.
Bibliography
[edit]- Georgii Wilhelmi Freytagii, Lexicon Arabico-Latinum. Librairie du Liban, Beirut, 1975.
- J. Milton Cowan, The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic. 4th edn. Spoken Language Services, Ithaca (NY), 1979.
External links
[edit]
The dictionary definition of Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/ʾil- at Wiktionary
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