() is a term of address for
Allah
Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...
, the
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic and
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
term for
one God
Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...
. It is translated as "O Allāh" and is seen as the equivalent of "Yā Allāh". Some grammarians (such as
Sibawayh
Sibawayh ( (also pronounced in many modern dialects) ; ' ; ), whose full name is Abu Bishr Amr ibn Uthman ibn Qanbar al-Basri (, '), was a Persian leading grammarian of Basra and author of the Third book on Arabic grammar. His famous unname ...
) argue that it is an abbreviation of يا ألله أمّنا بخير (yā ʾallāhu ʾummanā bi-khayr) (with the meaning of "O God, lead us in goodness"); others have argued without explanation that the suffix ـ مَّ (-mma) takes the place of yā (O). Muslim scholar Ibn ʿĀshūr, in his explanation of Sūrat ʾĀl ʿImrān, suggests that the word Allāhumma is of Hebrew or of
Qaḥṭāni derivation.
tafsīr of ibn ʿĀshūr
quran.ksu.edu.sa (in Arabic)
Christian usage
Hafs ibn Albar, a 9th-10th—century Christian Visigothic author in Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...
, translated the Biblical Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament.
The book is an anthology of B ...
into Arabic.
Rather than using the standard word for God, "Allah", he used or inspired by the Hebrew word .[Schippers, Arie "Hafs al-Quti's Psalms in Arabic rajaz metre (9th Century): a Discussion of Translations from Three Psalms (ps. 50, 1 and 2)." Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 86 (1998), page 139.]
See also
* List of Islamic terms in Arabic
The following list consists of notable concepts that are derived from Islamic and associated cultural (Arab, Persian, Turkish) traditions, which are expressed as words in Arabic or Persian language. The main purpose of this list is to disambi ...
* Dua Allahumma kun li-waliyyik
* Elohim
''Elohim'' ( ) is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is plural in form, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly but not always the Go ...
References
Allah
Arabic grammar
Arabic words and phrases
Islamic terminology
Etymologies
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