Sunday, August 26, 2007

'Allah': What the word and concept mean (Contribution)

Roman Catholic Bishop Tiny Muskens of the Netherlands said on Dutch television that, "Allah is a very beautiful word for God."

He also pointed out that in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, priests use the word "Allah" in Catholic Mass.

As a matter of fact, all non-Muslims living in Muslim countries, particularly in the Arab countries, call God "Allah." …

Muslims prefer to use the word "Allah" for God for very good reasons.

Allah comes from two syllables "Al" and "Ilah" which means "The" "God."

I believe in Hebrew "God" is called "Elohim."

The beauty and distinction of the word "Allah" is that it has no masculine word and feminine word, like "god" and "goddess." Also, it has no plural, like "gods."

For Muslims, the definition of "Allah" is "the Creator of the earth and the heavens or simply the universe."

The concept of "Allah" is given in more details in Surah (Chapter) 2 (Baqara or Cow): 255 (verse).

The frequently recited Surah by the Muslims is Surah No. 112 titled "Al-Ikhlas" or "Sincerity."

It has been called the "essence of the Qu'ran" and describes the nature of God as follows:

1. Say: He is Allah, the One!

2. Allah, the eternally Besought of all!

3. He begetteth not, nor was begotten.

4. And there is none comparable unto Him.

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