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Allah الله

In review — pending scholar verification

The Arabic proper name for the One God in Islam — uncreated, unique, eternal, the Lord of all worlds; the central object of worship and the foundation of Tawhid.

Overview

Allah (Arabic: الله) is the Arabic proper name for the One God in Islam — the unique, eternal, uncreated, and absolutely sovereign Lord of all that exists. The doctrine of His absolute oneness, called Tawhid, is the foundation of Islamic belief and the criterion by which all other doctrines, acts of worship, and ethical commitments are weighed. Every chapter of the Quran (with the single exception of Surah at-Tawbah) opens by invoking His name in the formula Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim — "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate."

Linguistically, "Allah" is the Arabic word also used for God by Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians; it is not a name unique to Islam in the linguistic sense, but in Islamic theology Allah carries a precise creedal content distinct from earlier monotheisms. Islam holds that He is unbegotten and begets none (Surah Al-Ikhlas 112:3); He is unlike any of His creation in essence, attributes, or actions (Surah Ash-Shura 42:11); He is the First, the Last, the Manifest, the Hidden, and All-Knowing of all things (Surah Al-Hadid 57:3).

Belief in Allah is the first article of Iman and its verbal declaration, the Shahada — la ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadun rasul Allah — is the gateway to entering the religion. Every act of worship in Islam, from Salah and Sawm to Zakat and Hajj, is offered to Him alone. The Quran identifies Him as the same God of Adam, Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, and Isa.

Etymology and meaning

The name Allah is most commonly analysed as a contraction of the Arabic definite article al ("the") with ilah ("god, deity"), yielding al-ilah → al-Ilāh → Allāh — "the God" — distinguishing the unique deity from the generic class of beings called ilah in pre-Islamic Arabic. The classical lexicographer al-Jawhari treats it as a proper name not derived from any root, but most grammarians (al-Khalil ibn Ahmad, Sibawayh, al-Zamakhshari) accept the al-ilah derivation. Cognates appear across the Semitic family: Hebrew Eloah / Elohim, Aramaic Alāhā, and Syriac Alāhā. Arabic-speaking Christians have used Allah for God since long before Islam, and continue to do so in scripture and liturgy today.

Quranic references

Allah appears by name in the Quran more than 2,600 times. Foundational verses defining His nature include:

  • Surah Al-Fatihah 1:1–2 — "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds." The opening of the Quran, recited in every unit of prayer.
  • Surah Al-Ikhlas 112:1–4 — "Say: He is Allah, [Who is] One; Allah, the Eternal Refuge; He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent." Declared by the Prophet ﷺ (Sahih al-Bukhari 5013) to be equal to one-third of the Quran.
  • Surah Al-Baqarah 2:255 — Ayat al-Kursi, the Throne Verse: "Allah — there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep."
  • Surah Ash-Shura 42:11 — "There is nothing like Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing." The classical proof-text against anthropomorphism.
  • Surah Al-Hashr 59:22–24 — A roll-call of His names: "He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed; He is the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection…"
  • Surah Al-Hadid 57:3 — "He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is, of all things, Knowing."
  • Surah Ar-Ra'd 13:16 — "Say: Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Prevailing."
  • Surah An-Nisa 4:48 — "Indeed, Allah does not forgive associating others with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills." On shirk.
  • Surah Al-A'raf 7:54 — "Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and earth in six days, then established Himself above the Throne…"
  • Surah Az-Zumar 39:38 — "And if you asked them who created the heavens and the earth, they would surely say, Allah." The Quran's testimony that even the polytheists of Mecca recognised Allah as Creator.

Surah Al-Ikhlas in Arabic

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ۝ قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ۝ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ ۝ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ ۝ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ

Hadith and tradition

Jibril came to the Prophet ﷺ in the form of a man and asked: "What is Iman?" He ﷺ said: "Iman is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and to believe in divine destiny, both its good and its bad." — Sahih Muslim 8 (Hadith of Jibril)
Abu Huraira reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred minus one. Whoever enumerates them will enter Paradise." — Sahih al-Bukhari 7392; Sahih Muslim 2677
Abu Huraira reported the Prophet ﷺ said, narrating from his Lord: "I am as My servant thinks of Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I remember him in Myself; if he remembers Me in a gathering, I remember him in a better gathering." — Sahih al-Bukhari 7405; Sahih Muslim 2675 (Hadith Qudsi)
Abu Dharr reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, narrating from his Lord: "O My servants, I have made oppression unlawful for Myself and have made it unlawful among you, so do not oppress one another. O My servants, all of you are astray except those whom I have guided, so seek guidance from Me and I shall guide you." — Sahih Muslim 2577 (Hadith Qudsi)
Abu Huraira reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "When Allah had created the creation, He wrote in His Book — which is with Him above the Throne — My Mercy prevails over My Wrath." — Sahih al-Bukhari 7553; Sahih Muslim 2751

Names and attributes

Islamic tradition speaks of the Asma al-Husna — the most beautiful names of Allah. The Quran instructs: "To Allah belong the most beautiful names, so call upon Him by them" (Surah Al-A'raf 7:180). The prophetic hadith above (Bukhari 7392) places the count at ninety-nine, though scholars note this enumeration is not exhaustive: Allah has names known only to Himself (Sahih Ibn Hibban 972, graded Sahih by Shu'aib al-Arna'ut). The most widely-circulated enumerated list comes from a variant of Jami at-Tirmidhi 3507, but its specific list of ninety-nine names is graded weak in chain by al-Albani; the names themselves are scripturally attested across the Quran and authentic hadith.

Classical Sunni theology distinguishes three categories of attributes:

  • al-Sifat al-Dhatiyyah — essential attributes inseparable from His being: Knowledge, Power, Will, Life, Hearing, Seeing, Speech.
  • al-Sifat al-Fi'liyyah — attributes of action: creating, providing, forgiving, descending in the last third of the night (Sahih al-Bukhari 1145; Sahih Muslim 758).
  • al-Sifat al-Khabariyyah — attributes affirmed in revelation that the Salaf accepted plainly without metaphorical reinterpretation.

The classical Sunni method, articulated by Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and developed by Ibn Taymiyyah, is to affirm what Allah has affirmed of Himself in the Quran and authentic hadith without distortion (tahrif), denial (ta'til), specification of "how" (takyif), or comparison to creation (tamthil).

The doctrine of Tawhid

The doctrine of Tawhid — the absolute oneness and uniqueness of Allah — is divided by classical Sunni theologians (especially Ibn Taymiyyah and the Hanbali tradition) into three categories:

  1. Tawhid al-Rububiyyah (oneness of Lordship) — Allah alone creates, sustains, gives life and death, and disposes of all affairs. Even the polytheists of Mecca affirmed this dimension (Surah Yunus 10:31: "Say: Who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? … They will say: Allah").
  2. Tawhid al-Uluhiyyah (oneness of worship) — Allah alone deserves worship, prayer, supplication, vows, and acts of devotion. This is the dimension contested by polytheism, and the central call of every prophet (Surah An-Nahl 16:36: "And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], Worship Allah and avoid taghut").
  3. Tawhid al-Asma wa-al-Sifat (oneness of names and attributes) — Allah is unique in His names and attributes; nothing in creation shares them in essence or kind, even when the same words are used (Surah Ash-Shura 42:11).

The opposite of Tawhid is shirk — associating partners with Allah — which the Quran identifies as the only sin Allah does not forgive without repentance (Surah An-Nisa 4:48).

Historical context

Pre-Islamic Arab religion was a complex layering of Abrahamic monotheistic memory, henotheistic veneration of tribal deities (al-Lat, al-Uzza, Manat), and idol-worship organised around the Kaaba — which itself was understood by Arabs to have been built by Ibrahim and his son Isma'il. The Meccans recognised Allah as the supreme deity and creator (Surah Az-Zumar 39:38), but worshipped lesser deities as intercessors (Surah Az-Zumar 39:3). The Quran's call returned worship to Allah alone, abolishing all intermediaries.

The continuity with the religion of Ibrahim is asserted throughout the Quran. The Hanif tradition — pre-Islamic Arab monotheists who rejected idolatry while awaiting a prophet — is positively referenced (Surah Aal Imran 3:67: "Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a Hanif Muslim"). Figures like Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl and Waraqah ibn Nawfal (cousin of Khadijah) are cited in classical Sirah literature (Ibn Hisham, Ibn Ishaq) as having sought God independently of the prevailing idolatry, foreshadowing the prophetic call.

In Sunni theology, the names of Allah and His attributes were affirmed plainly by the early generations (the Salaf) without speculative theology. Later kalam debates — Mu'tazilah, Ash'ari, Maturidi, Athari — engaged the question of how to harmonise reason and revelation in describing Allah, with the Athari/Hanbali school emphasising affirmation without metaphorical reinterpretation.

Significance

Belief in Allah shapes every dimension of Muslim life. Worship, fasting, charity, pilgrimage, and supplication are all directed to Him alone. The awareness of Allah's omnipresence — taqwa — is the engine of moral conduct. Tawakkul, reliance on Allah, frames how Muslims approach work, illness, and uncertainty: outcomes lie in His hands, but effort and trust go together.

The formulae bismillah, alhamdulillah, in sha Allah, ma sha Allah, and subhan Allah punctuate ordinary Muslim speech, keeping awareness of Him in active circulation. The formula inna lillahi wa-inna ilayhi raji'un — "Indeed to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return" (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:156) — frames every loss. The first article of the Islamic creed (la ilaha illa Allah) is also its summative ethic: nothing competes with Allah in love, fear, hope, or the orientation of one's life.

See also

References

  1. The Quran (Sahih International translation): Surahs Al-Fatihah, Al-Baqarah 2:255, Al-Ikhlas 112, Al-Hashr 59:22–24, Ash-Shura 42:11, Al-Hadid 57:3, An-Nisa 4:48, Al-A'raf 7:54 and 7:180, Az-Zumar 39:3 and 39:38, Aal Imran 3:67, An-Nahl 16:36, Yunus 10:31.
  2. Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith nos. 1145, 5013, 7392, 7405, 7553. Trans. M. Muhsin Khan (Darussalam edition, 1997).
  3. Sahih Muslim, hadith nos. 8, 758, 2577, 2675, 2677, 2751. Trans. Abdul Hamid Siddiqui (Darussalam edition).
  4. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim, ed. Sami al-Salama (Dar al-Tayyibah, 1999), commentary on Al-Ikhlas and Al-Hashr.
  5. al-Tabari, Jami al-Bayan an Ta'wil ay al-Qur'an, ed. Ahmad Shakir (Mu'assasat al-Risalah, 2000).
  6. Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmu al-Fatawa, ed. Abd al-Rahman ibn Qasim, vols. 1–3 (Mujamma' al-Malik Fahd, Medina).
  7. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, Madarij al-Salikin, chapter on the divine attributes.
  8. al-Bayhaqi, al-Asma wa-al-Sifat, ed. Abdullah al-Hashidi (Dar al-Sumay'i, 2008).