allah

Islam

Main article: God in Islam

See also: Names of God in the Qur'an

Medallion showing 'Allah' in Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey.

According to Islamic belief, Allah is the proper name of God,^[27] and humble submission to His Will, Divine Ordinances and Commandments is the pivot of the Muslim faith.^[5] "He is the only God, creator of the universe, and the judge of humankind."^[5][6] "He is unique (wāḥid) and inherently one (ʾaḥad), all-merciful and omnipotent."^[5] The Qur'an declares "the reality of Allah, His inaccessible mystery, His various names, and His actions on behalf of His creatures."^[5]

Allah script outside Eski Cami (The Old Mosque) in Edirne, Turkey.

In Islamic tradition, there are 99 Names of God (al-ʾasmāʾ al-ḥusnā lit. meaning: "The best names") each of which evoke a distinct characteristic of Allah.^[6][28] All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name.^[13] Among the 99 names of God, the most famous and most frequent of these names are "the Merciful" (ar-raḥmān) and "the Compassionate" (al-raḥīm).^[6][28]
Most Muslims use the untranslated Arabic phrase ʾinšāʾ Allāh (meaning "God willing") after references to future events.^[29] Muslim discursive piety encourages beginning things with the invocation of bismi-llāh (meaning "In the name of God").^[30]
There are certain phrases in praise of God that are favored by Muslims, including "Subhan-Allah" (Holiness be to God), "Alhamdulillah" (Praise be to God), lā ʾilāha ʾilla-llāh (There is no deity but God) and "Allāhu Akbar" (God is great) as a devotional exercise of remembering God (zikr).^[31] In a Sufi practice known as zikr Allah (lit. remembrance of God), the Sufi repeats and contemplates on the name Allah or other divine names while controlling his or her breath.^[32]
Some scholars^[who?] have suggested that Muhammad used the term Allah in addressing both pagan Arabs and Jews or Christians in order to establish a common ground for the understanding of the name for God, a claim Gerhard Böwering says is doubtful.^[27] According to Böwering, in contrast with pre-Islamic Arabian polytheism, God in Islam does not have associates and companions nor is there any kinship between God and jinn.^[27] Pre-Islamic pagan Arabs believed in a blind, powerful, inexorable and insensible fate over which man had no control. This was replaced with the Islamic notion of a powerful but provident and merciful God.^[33]
According to Francis Edwards Peters, "The Qur'an insists, Muslims believe, and historians affirm that Muhammad and his followers worship the same God as the Jews (29:46). The Koran's Allah is the same Creator God who covenanted with Abraham". Peters states that the Qur'an portrays Allah as both more powerful and more remote than Yahweh, and as a universal deity, unlike Yahweh who closely follows Israelites.^[15]

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