Reply to a query to IslamOnline.net. Diane Charles Breslin, Ph.D., allegedly an American Muslim living in Egypt replied.

At the beginning, I feel a linguistic analysis of the origins and meanings of the two terms, God and Allah, would be most useful.

According to most dictionary references, the majority of words currently in use today trace their source back to Latin, Greek or Old, Middle; German, French or Spanish, along even with reference sometimes to Hebrew or Sanskrit. Arabic is rarely referenced, which is another problem that needs to be tackled in a separate article.

Attempting to find the origin for the term, God proved to be quite fruitless as I perused all major English dictionaries, old and new. I welcome anyone’s proofs to the contrary, and, until such time as any are brought forward, I invite all to read this answer, which is based on what I consider to be the supreme truth, found in the Arabic language.

Taken as a given that the concept of the word God in most minds is that of strength and giving, fairness and capability, I offer the possibility that the root can be found in the Arabic term jude, which root is jawada - which is this meaning exactly. A related term in English would be the word “good”

al-Laat and al-Uzzah destroyed at the Kaaba temple during the Islamic conquest of Mecca in the 7th century. They were goddesses of the Meccans, daughters of their supreme god Allah. Of the 360 images worshipped by the Quraysh tribe in their Kaaba temple, only one remains today- the Black Stone or the Hajar el-Aswad. The Quraysh worshipped the Black Stone by kissing it after circumambulating the Kaaba seven times.

Let us now look at the Arabic word Allah - we can immediately recognize the English word “all”, indeed we have herein one of the best characteristics of Allah’s attributes; The All-Knowing, All-Seeing, All-Hearing, All-Merciful etc. Every baby born anywhere in the world has, as his first utterance the short “a” sound. No new born ever cried out with an “s” or a “t” or a “d” or a “b” sound! All exclaim the “a” as an expression of the oneness of humanity, in relation to its Creator.

Also, all final deathbed gasps exhale the “h”, the last letter of the name of Allah. This is because He is the First and the Last! When we scream in pain or cry out in fear, or grunt and groan during strenuous exercise or disgust, or exclaim in joy or surprise, it is the very same… “ahhh”, and not the “g” of the word God that we all emit. This reality is intrinsic in our innermost selves, something out of our control!!

Why is this so, you may ask. It is because the word Allah refers to the concept of that which all turn to for refuge and repose. Without finding this state of rest and security, we are in a constant state of frustration and irritability. Our souls all yearn to reach the place of contentment, which can only be found by knowing Allah as He has revealed Himself to us, in the Holy Qur’an.

Another interesting facet of the two related languages is the relation of the words “man” and “woman”. The word “man” (mim, nun) in Arabic is the personal pronoun for the human being, as in the English word “man”. Both languages use the term also in the sense of “who”. Therefore, the usage of the term “man” is nearly identical in both languages!

Giant Buddha image at Bamiyan destroyed by the Arab inspired barbaric regime called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

The word “wa” in Arabic means “and”. In English the word “woman” could be seen to be derived from the concept of a partner to the man. Therefore, the woman or “waman” as it might be more correctly rendered, can be construed as meaning “and-man” or “together with man”, the couple which forms the very essence of the human race…

The reason why I referred to the letter “o’ as an incorrect rendering in the English word woman is my idea that “o’s” and short “e’s” are extraneous additions to the correct pronunciations, found in the Qur’an. As these sounds were not originally revealed by Allah. The Qur’an is the only revelation, which has remained intact. Both the original Torah and Bible are non-extant and therefore, not open to analysis of their original linguistic aspects. The assumptions put forward regarding the Sumerian, Akkadian, Chaldean, Syriac, Aramaic and Hebrew roots, do not readily admit to these, being derived from the mother Arabic for obvious reasons.

Here, I shall offer a very plausible argument for my suggestion that Arabic is the true language of humanity, based on some concrete examples, with which we can form illuminating comparisons.

If Allah, the Eternal Unchanging Truth, chose to call Himself Allah… is it meet and proper for any created being to change His name? Do any of us have the power to move an atom in the universe without Allah’s first moving it and giving us the ability to be used, as His instruments?

Consider the usage in Hebrew of the word “Elohim”. Elohim stands for the concept of the Supreme Being, along with His attributes. We Muslims say Allahumma for Allah and His attributes, or names and characteristics. Those who went astray, after they knew the truth from bani Isra’il are known in Arabic as “yahud”. They were not content with the limitations of Allah in any fashion, and were always adding or deleting to that which Allah had ordained. Similarly, they do the same behavior today, with genetic engineering, euthanasia and cryonics etc., forever exceeding the limits of Allah, even in regards to life and death!

The word “Elohim” (plural of “eloha” - the powerful) was invented by them to resist the Almighty. “A” - The first letter of Allah’s name, was changed to “E” and the second was changed to “o”. There are portions in the Pentateuch, which refer to Elohim and others, which refer to Yahweh and was changed to Jehovah only in the 14th century. It is read in Greek as Adonis and in Latin as Dominus.

Yet, Allah the Almighty, who is the “all in all” - does not ever change and thusly it would stand to reason, neither would His name. It is now and forever, as it was revealed in the Qur’an - ALLAH. And furthermore, I venture to claim that if the original Torah and Bible were extant for us to examine, we would find the word Allah there also. I wish to remind all sincere Christians, correctly following Jesus - who never called himself god - of the very first two of the Ten Commandments.

I am the lord thy god, thou shalt not have false gods before me.

Thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy god in vain.

Allah (swt) warns those who divide Him, as the sole to be worshipped and His total sovereignty over all His Creation (known in Arabic as tawhid al-uluhiyya and rububiyya) He also cautions against tampering with His very name. Would you not then glean from these two first commandments that those who prefer the “E” should be careful of taking the Holy Name in vain?

It is the One and Only we worship, Allah as He called himself… nothing is comparable to Him, never begot and was never begotten… Light of heavens and earth. The Transcendental, Who would not be incarnated, the All-mighty and All-compassionate.