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Allah
[ʔaɫ.ɫaː.h]
The name of God among Muslims and Arabic-speaking people in general. Also, the Arabic word for God.
How this term should be used
When writing on Islam and Muslims, the words Allah and God can be used interchangably.
Journalists should take care to avoid anything which suggests Allah is ‘the Muslim God’ or ‘the God of Islam’. Islam teaches that Allah is the same God as that worshiped by all monotheistic faiths such as Judaism and Christianity.
Though there is evidence to suggest that the word “Allah” predates Islam, it was “the Quranic revelations delivered by Muhammad as the prophet of Islam between 610 and 632 that the monotheistic ideal received its first clear expression among Arab peoples.” Belief in Allah as the sole creator and sustainer of the universe is the central and most important part of Islamic doctrine, as evidenced by the fact that the Shahada – the first pillar of Islam – requires Muslims to testify that “there is no diety except Allah”.
In Islamic tradition, it is held that the nature of Allah is not fully comprehendible by the human mind. As such, it is not possible to represent Allah pictorially or in any other manmade art form. The Quran lists 99 names for Allah defining his attributes.