A SHORT EXCERPT FROM MY ARTICLE ON ALLAH:
THE LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE TERM ALLAH:
Allah is not a proper noun or a single word but a special term. A term is used to describe a thing or to express a concept especially in a particular language or subject. Allah is an "Arabic" term used even before the advent of Islam and it is not a monopoly of "Islam". Bedouins, Jews, Christians and even Polytheists used this term long before the "Quran" was written. It was in their colloquial use. This term is a compound of words,[ال + لا + له = [اللَّهِ - Together it means there is nothing for Him, where ال stands for THE - LAAM with dagger alif becomes لا which signifies no or nothing and له indicates for HIM. AL signifies sign of emphasize. Laam has a shaddah over it and a dagger Alif on it. So laam with dagger Alif becomes لا which will be translated as nothing / no. - Lahu له is the personal pronoun in third person singular, which stands for ' For Him'. The shaddah on Laam also indicates sign of intensity. The term Allah can be defined as Nominative case, Genitive case and Accusative case.
Together (AL + LA + Lahu) becomes Allah, a complete term and not a single word. So by studying this entire nuance of the term, I concluded the literally meaning of Allah is THERE IS NOTHING FOR HIM and the next verse clearly describes the first verse that HE IS THE SAMAD [on whom all depend]. Every entity depends on Him, He is free from all dependency and there is nothing for Himself; this tendency or phenomena can also be called as Consciousness. This is the reason why we don't find the root word of Allah; as Allah is not a word but a composite term with no derivatives. But some lexicographer is of the opinion that Allah is a definite article of ilah but then if Allah is a definite article then the word following that should also be a definite article but this not the case in verse قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ - 112:1 because AHADUN here is an indefinite article. This proves that Allah cannot be a definite article of ilah. The word Ahadun is an indefinite article which is defining the term Allah. How can an indefinite word Ahadun which means anyone, any can define in definite word?
It's a poor understanding to take root word of Allah as ilah (اله) - written as ال +اله – If Al is added to ilah it becomes Al ilah and not Allah. The word ilah means one who is served or adored or god or any ideologies which we subscribe become our ilah. By adding AL we are unconsciously acknowledging that there are indefinite gods and that Allah is the definite version of smaller gods. It is a conjecture to deduce ilah as deity or god and Allah to be bigger God, just by adding AL to it. Although Allah is a composite term and that does not mean God but it means the ONE INFINITE SYSTEM OF CONSCIOUSNESS, encompassing each and every system.
When I say the literal meaning of Allah is 'there is nothing for Him' this signifies everything depends on Him and He serves all thus He is called Samad which means on Allah everything depends and He requires nothing in return. If you serve Him it is for your benefit only. He is an infinite unit [ أَحَدٌ] of Consciousness which is indispensable. Although every service is directed to Him only but He is not in need of it. There is nothing for Him [Allah] because whatever we do for Him is actually done for our benefit. He is Rehmaan and Rahim who does not need anything from us. When we serve Allah but in fact we serve our own consciousness so be careful and sincere in your service to your Rabb [Consciousness].
The readers are confused, as to who is this 'Him' referred to? Arabic has no neutral gender so Allah/Rabb is represented by Masculine pronouns. Allah is not a proper noun but a term or a symbol which signifies an infinite source of Power or Energy encompassing everything.
Man’s belief is always acquainted with the idea of a personified single God, although Allah does not mean God and Ahad does not mean one or unique. The word for one is wahid in Arabic and for unique the Arabic equivalent word is fareed.
In Surah Tawheed an important announcement is made that ALLAH IS AHAD and not WAHID. It is extremely important to understand this small verse whose correct understanding will completely change the entire message. This can make a huge impact on our understanding of the core message of the "Quran" and will affect our lives at large.
The traditionalists say that these four small verses define Allah. No doubt these verses define Allah thoroughly but the traditional translations shed no light on the word of paramount importance, i.e. ALLAH. Allah has many shades and it should be understood in the right perspective of the context, as discussed above. We cannot take the meaning of “Allah” as one super-duper deity or a bigger god.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Nowhere in the dictionaries have we found the correct meaning of Allah - Traditional translators have depicted Allah as God / divine entity possessing human emotions of love, anger, envy, happiness, revenge etc and someone who works on His Own whims and fancies. After studying the "Quran" thoroughly I stumbled upon the verse "QUL HO ALLAHO AHAD" and noticed that the word Ahadun in the first verse is translated as "The One", but in same surah in verse 4 - Ahad is translated as "any" or "none", although in other places in the "Quran" it is translated as "anyone" or "any", I was startled to see this major discrepancy. I knew that Ahad does not mean one and the meaning of one was actually Wahid. If we have to say "The One" then it would be Al-Wahid - الْوَاحِدُ and not Ahad. The translators have conveniently ignored the lexicon meaning and Quranic morphology of the word, in lieu of traditional beliefs.
MEANINGS OF SOME DERIVATIVES OF احد (AHAD) FROM "QURAN" FOR YOUR PERUSAL; PLEASE CHECK:
2:136,180, 266, 285 - 3:84, 91, 91, 153 - 5:6, 115 - 6:61 - 9:4, 6, 84 - 15:65 - 18:19,22, 26, 38, 42, 47, 49, 110 - 19:26, 24:21, 28 - 33:39, 40 - 38:35 - 59:11- 72:27,22,20,18 - 112:4
ARABIC COLLOQUIL EXAMPLES OF AHAD:
لا احد فى الدار - There is not anyone in the house.
هل احد راى مثل هَـٰذَا - Has anyone seen the like of this ?
يا احد رآ ها - O has anyone seen her ?
ما بالدار من احد الا حمارا - There is not in the house anything except donkey.
Edward William Lane Lexicon - Page 27
This clearly proves that Ahad does not mean One so Allah cannot be a definite article as it is followed by indefinite article Ahadun.
Quran clearly says that Allah is not a deity [ilah] so question of smaller or bigger deity [ilah] does not arise - The Allah is no ilah [the one which we serve or adore] except / but He [Rabb], the Ever-Living, the Eternal (3:2) - Quran explains the Term Allah very clearly - Peace.
I have a simple Question for those who have not understood above article is why Ahadun means ONE whereas in all other places in Quran it signifies any, anyone OR one of them?
AHADUN is indefinite article and it does not mean ONE so Allah cannot be a definite article either – Salam / Peace
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