“Al-ilah” is the Arabic word for “god”, AIUT. And “Allah” is not a contraction of “al-ilah”, but a name unto itself; neither word is linguistically cognate with Hebrew “Eloah/Elohim” although the sound of the words might suggest it.
While I do not know from your post, I am going to respond with the assumption you are a Christian whose primary language is English. If either of these is incorrect, please feel free to correct me.
” ‘Al-ilah’ is the Arabic word for ‘god’, AIUT.”
More accurately it means “the god”. And I have no idea what AIUT is. But it is not the Arabic name for God.
“And ‘Allah’ is not a contraction of ‘al-ilah’, but a name unto itself”
You are stating an Islamic doctrine. There are many scholars who believe it is a contraction. Regardless, whether it is or not is irrelevant. The Arabic word for God, contrary to your statement and that of Muslims, was Allah BEFORE Muhammed lived on this planet. There are sources too numerous to list, which demonstrate this fact. Muhammed was not the first to refer to the Supreme Being as Allah.
The Muslims argue that this is God’s name, not title. They argue that it was first revealed to Muhammed. However, Allah was the Arabic title for God long before then. You and they are incorrect.
“neither word is linguistically cognate with Hebrew ‘Eloah/Elohim’ although the sound of the words might suggest it.”
I’m not sure what you mean. Elohim is the Hebrew title for God. The title for God is unique to nearly every language. In English, His title is God. Is God “linguistically cognate” to Elohim? How about the apostles of Christ who delivered His message in Greek, using the title for God in Greek, which is Theos?
Perhaps you are under the false impression that my reason for identifying “Allah” as the Arabic title for God is that it has a similar etymology to the Hebrew title. I do not think this. While languages do evolve, they became distinct when God divided them at Babel. He also reserved to Himself a unique title in every language. There has never been a spoken language that did not have a word for God in it.
“although the sound of the words might suggest it.”
Arabic is not Hebrew. So any similarity in sounds of words is irrelevant. As I already pointed out, the Hebrew, Greek, and English titles for God are quite dissimilar. They also sound NOTHING alike.
The reality is that Arabic Jews and Christians called upon “Allah” (but not an Islamic Allah), long before Muhammed arrived on the scene.
The Muslims have commandeered God’s Arabic title, claiming it is His exclusive name. Looking at the Bible, we find that God’s name, like the names of people, is different linguistically from one language to another. For example, Jesus is the English equivalent for the name of Christ. In Hebrew it would be something like Yeshua. In fact, when we translate from Hebrew, we get Joshua. But Joshua and Jesus are actually the same name.
My point about the names is that God’s name being “One” is a major tenet of Islam but is not Biblically correct. God’s name being one is not about languages being merged together again like they were before Babel. It is about knowing His true identity. He has progressively revealed that identity since the dawn of creation. In the New Testament He reveals His identity through the identity of Jesus, His Son. And so, we do not find a Greek equivalent to Jehovah in the New Testament. Rather, God is called Father.
There is nothing magical about the arrangement of phonemes. It is the meaning we ascribe to them that is important. It is not nomenclature. It is identity. As the saying goes, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Back to my original point. Allah IS the Arabic title for God. I challenge anyone to show otherwise. There is NO Arabic word that can replace it. And this is because God ordained that His title in Arabic would be Allah.
If Westernized Christians could grasp this simple reality, it would spare a lot of confusion. Arabic Christians and Jews read Arabic scriptures that call God Allah. It is not blasphemous. It is the correct word to specify the one true God, IF you are speaking in Arabic.
Thus, Christians should never disparage that title, even though that title is being abused by Muslims.
Muslims talk about “Allah”, but they do not know who the true “Allah” is. Muslims would like to impose the Arabic title for God on the whole planet, whether we speak Arabic or not. However, let’s not make the equivalent mistake of expecting Arabic speakers to learn English in order to find the one true God. Arabic Christians were among the first Christians in the Church as evidenced by the record in Acts. It specifically says Arabic Jews were present for the feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit arrived. And they, like every other group distinguished by native language, heard the message of “God” in their native tongue. This strongly suggests that on the birthday of the New Testament Church, some heard and believed the Gospel message about Jesus Christ Who was the Son of God ( “Allah” in their native language). But there were no English speakers present on that day. English would not become a language for centuries.
1 Corinthians 12:3
Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.