Why does muslims say ALLAH instead of GOD?

Question

i am just asking that because when the muslims keep saying allah when they are talking in different language than arabic

they are confusing the people they will think that the name of your god is allah like budah etc

I know Allah is the arabic Word for God but my question is for example when you are talking English you say Allah you dont say God.. when you do that you are confusing many people so my message is if you are talking english say god dont say allah and if are talking Arabic say allah

Answer 1

Allah is how you say "God" in Arabic.

Answer 2

We still say Allah when we are speaking English because I guess you can say out of respect. Or some people may tell you because when you translate a word, it looses its essence. Each language has certain words that you cant quiet literally translate, you can give an explanation of the word but there is no exact word for it to translate in.

When we say Allah the essence is deep, and it comes with great love. I'm not saying when someone says God, they say it without feeling; but its just that when I use Allah you will know automatically I am a Muslim. Also it depends on the environment, how comfortable you are saying it, etc.

*Not all Muslims say Allah ALL the time when they are referring to God.

Hope it helped & good luck!!

Answer 3

The Q'ran is written in Arabic. Allah is the Arabic word for God. Therefore, by custom, that is the word Muslims use when referring to God. Every language has a different word for God.

Incidentally, "Budah" (the Buddha) was not a god.

Mr Crisplogic (good choice of name...) JC could not have been a Muslim as he was born 600 years before Islam was.

Answer 4

God, Lord , Allah....all of them referring to the same creator .... I think since the Quran native language is Arabic so many Muslims are using the Arabic words to be as much close to it . i think some people find it confusing because it's just different language and if any one did a search to find the meaning of the word it will be easy to find the answer .I'm not a native English speaker but I do say God some times and i don't feel it's like something different.

Answer 5

Actually, Muslims usually say ALLAH so that people will not be confused. As we know, there are many religions in the world and each religion has it's own God. So, Muslims say Allah to refer to God for Muslims and not for other religion such as Buddha, Jesus or others. Therefore, people will understand and not confused. Allah is the main name of God. For muslim Allah has 99 names in Arabic altogether.

Answer 6

It's not just muslims who say Allah. The Arab Christians in English say Allah as well.

The reason is Allah cannot be played with like the word God i.e. Godess etc.

Answer 7

The Muslims prefer calling the Supreme Creator, Allah, instead of by the English word ‘God’. The Arabic word, ‘Allah’, is pure and unique, unlike the English word ‘God’, which can be played around with.

If you add ‘s’ to the word God, it becomes ‘Gods’, that is the plural of God. Allah is one and singular, there is no plural of Allah. If you add ‘dess’ to the word God, it becomes ‘Goddess’ that is a female God. There is nothing like male Allah or female Allah. Allah has no gender. If you add the word ‘father’ to ‘God’ it becomes ‘God-father’. God-father means someone who is a guardian. There is no word like ‘Allah-Abba’ or ‘Allah-father’. If you add the word ‘mother’ to ‘God’, it becomes ‘God-mother’. There is nothing like ‘Allah-Ammi’, or ‘Allah-mother’ in Islam. Allah is a unique word. If you prefix tin before the word God, it becomes tin-God i.e., fake God. Allah is a unique word, which does not conjure up any mental picture nor can it be played around with. Therefore the Muslims prefer using the Arabic word ‘Allah’ for the Almighty. Sometimes, however, while speaking to the non-Muslims we may have to use the inappropriate word God, for Allah.

Answer 8

I see what you mean but its a lot easier to call something from what they are familiar with.

Christan's don't say God they say Allah in the Arab world, in fact translations of the Bible the word Allah is used.

They are one and the same, so does it really make a difference?

Answer 9

The exact meaning of Allah is "The (only) One worthy of being worshipped" which you can shorten to God.

But when talking in English too, God can mean one of the many gods of different religions, but when we say Allah, everyone knows what we mean.

Answer 10

Muslims aren't the only ones who use the word "Allah." Christians and Jews whose native tongue is Arabic also say Allah whenever they mean to refer to their Creator.

Regardless, you should use this word also. For it is far superior to the English word "god." Reason being that "god" can be made to refer to one specific god among several, simply by using a capital 'G'. Or you can affix an 's' at the end and suggest the existence of more than one or several "Gods." For example, you can say in English "The two Gods," implying that there are two "God" beings. (Compare to: "The two gods." -- There is a difference.)
You can even say "goddess" and convert the word to feminine form. Other corruptions of the word god: god spelled backwards is dog... goddesses, god-father, god-son, god-mother, etc... You can't do that with the word/name Allah.

In Arabic, it is impossible to corrupt the word Allah into a plural or into a feminine or masculine form. Uniqueness & Oneness (Tawhid) is built into the true name of God: ALLAH.

Besides, any christian should use this word too, for Jesus Christ (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) probably also used a very similar word in his native Aramaic: "Elah." (According to (KJV) Mark 27:46, Jesus Christ shouted out "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?"; according to NIV, it is: "Eloi, Eloi,[a] lama sabachthani?"; according to NLT, it is: “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”; according to http://www.nazarenus.com/3-4-lastwords.htm, it was most likely "Elahi, Elahi lema sebaqtani?" which is in Aramaic = the language Jesus Christ spoke. Ergo, the point: "Elahi, Elahi, lema sebaqtani" in Arabic would be "ilahi, ilahi, lema taraktani." The two are very similar -- the Aramaic and the Arabic.

So, what would J.C. have said? He would have said "Elah." We muslims say "Allah." Christians, once you have knowledge, should at the least say "Elah" and not "God." For the true name of your Creator is Allah...and Elah is close enough.

By the way, if J.C. was alive today, he too would have said "Allah" -- because he was a muslim (I know some people will find this difficult to swallow -- that's just because they don't understand the true and universal message of Islam...i.e., there is only ONE Allah...and there is only ONE Human-brotherhood under the One Allah...and there is only ONE message. What is that message? Simply put: "There is no god but God." More systematically: "There is no ilah except Allah". That is the essential message that has been corrupted from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The focus has shifted away from the message (That: there is no god but God.) to the messenger (J.C., peace be upon him). This, in spite of the fact that J.C. himself said "I of my own self can do nothing...").

wassalaamu Ala Manitaba AlHuda.

Answer 11

allah means god in arabic