- published: 01 Jul 2016
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Allah (English pronunciation: /ˈælə/ or /ˈɑːlə/; Arabic: الله Allāh, IPA: [ʔɑlˈlɑː] ( listen), [ʔalˤˈlˤɑː]) is a word for God used mainly in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "the God". It is used primarily by Muslims, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Bahá'ís, Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and Sikhs.
The term Allāh is derived from a contraction of the Arabic definite article al- "the" and ʾilāh "deity, god" to al-lāh meaning "the [sole] deity, God" (ὁ θεὸς μόνος, ho theos monos).Cognates of the name "Allāh" exist in other Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Aramaic.Biblical Hebrew mostly uses the plural form (but functional singular) Elohim. The corresponding Aramaic form is ʼĔlāhā ܐܠܗܐ in Biblical Aramaic and ʼAlâhâ ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ in Syriac as used by the Assyrian Church, both meaning simply "God". In the Sikh scriptures, Guru Granth Sahib, the term Allah (Punjabi: ਅਲਹੁ) is used 46 times respectively.[citation needed]