Ep. 07: Basmala 3 (Unpacking the Word “Allah”) | The Quran of Fajr

“Allah,” whose name we are taking in basmala – there are many aspects to discuss the word itself. For example, we could talk about if it is derived from something or not. Regarding this, there are two schools of thought; according to one group of tafsir, this word is not derived from anything. It always was and remains like this. They have many reasons for this – they say, “To say that it was derived from something implies that there was something that the name of Allah (SWT) is taken from, even though Allah (SWT) is absolute.” However, there is also a large number of tafsir who say that the word itself is derived and it does not mean that Allah (SWT) has his existence relying on something else, and rather, this was a name given by his makhlooq to mention him by. Of course, all mahklooq came after Allah (SWT). So, what is the origin of this word? Regarding this, there are three opinions; one is from the word “alaha.” This means for something to become attached to something in the meaning of “wali’a.” This is like how a baby is attached to its mother and how it clings onto the chest of its mother. The other is from “walaha.” This means for someone to be completely bewildered, and the bewilderment, regarding Allah (SWT), is that the mind is bewildered in trying to understand him and the mind is bewildered from the powerful signs that he has scattered throughout the universe and his power and might. In the first case, it was from “alaha” – the attachment to people – that everyone needs to be attached to and he is the one everyone’s hearts go to in the time of need. The last one that is mentioned is “laha.” This is more about protection and defense. Based on the ishtiqaq and root that they are deriving the word from, Allah would be originally “Al Ilah,” and the origin would be “Al Wilah.” It would be “Al laah” if you were to derive it from the letter laam, waw, and yaa. Based on the rules of sarf, a modification in the words of Arabic would me made, so, “Al Ilah” then was amalgamated because this was something specific to the name of Allah (SWT). “Al Ilah” became “Allah.”. It was one of the special characteristics of this word that it is the only word in the Arabic language where the laam is pronounced with what we called “tafkheem”. In other words, the thick laam is pronounced. If it preceded by a kasra, it could be “lillah”, but this is the only time to pronounce it in a thin way, like every other laam in the Arabic language is pronounced. We are, on one side, from the tajweed accent, required to pronounce it like this, but also, because this is a special characteristic of the word Allah and there is no other laam like this in the Arabic language, we are required to recite it like this out of reverence for the name of Allah (SWT). It would be incorrect from a tajweed and adhab perspective to say it lightly.

Aisha (RA) mentions that the first bid’ah that came into the world is that people stopped taking the name of Allah (SWT) with reverence and respect. When people stopped doing this, the grandeur of Allah (SWT) and his commandments started leaving the hearts of mankind. We should pronounce it with a great deal of reverence whenever we say Allah (SWT)’s name. In this case, because it is preceded with a kasra, we would say it with an empty mouth, as to say it the other way would be incorrect. “Allah” is what we call “ismul alam.” It is the proper name for Allah (SWT). It is not a descriptor or something describing Allah (SWT) – this is why this word cannot be used for anything else. There are other names of Allah which are attributes, such as Rahim and Ra’oof – these are descriptors and they have been used for makhlooq and people as well. Allah (AWJ) – this name cannot be used for anyone else. Because it is so special, there is a discussion from the grammar perspective about the two other sifat that come after this, but we will talk about that in another discussion. If the word Allah is the proper name for Allah (SWT), what exactly does it mean, or does it just represent Allah (SWT)? In the books of Aqidah, it references that it is that existence which is necessarily existence that we talk about. It is not possible to imagine a universe without Allah (SWT), and it is not possible that there exists a universe without Allah (SWT). His existence is absolutely necessary from every aspect. It is not possible to imagine a world or universe without him. His existence is absolute, and he possesses all the traits and attributes of perfection. May Allah (SWT) give us tawfiq.