If instead of “Allah” I call to “God” having all the same attribute/meaning of “Allah” in Arabic/Islam in my mind, would it be the same Allah I am calling? Or some other God will answer me?
P.S. Don’t confuse this question with offering prayers in one’s own language.
Re: "Allah" and "God"
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*Originally posted by FikarNot: *
If instead of "Allah" I call to "God" having all the same attribute/meaning of "Allah" in Arabic/Islam in my mind, would it be the same Allah I am calling? Or some other God will answer me?
P.S. Don't confuse this question with offering prayers in one's own language.
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You have used Khuda in your 'signature' pharase. As I understand Khuda derives from Persian with a derivative of Khudi as in Iqbal's "Khudi ko kar itna buland ... ". Is Khuda the same as Allah? If yes then as long as all the attributes are the same with none of the connotations of the trinity or the Holy Ghost etc. then the answer should be yes. As long as their is no confusion. For example the connotations that go along with "Vishnu" or "Brhman" or "Zeus" or "Ahura Mazda" are so extensive that I do not think it is advisable to accept those words as a translation of Allah.
Al Lah - The God. 
There are 99 given names…pick any one…
otherwise u might not get a reply back asap
What...there ain't sufficient translators for Omniscient God..sorry 'Aleem' Allah, up in heavens to reply asap!
The way I see it is exactly what OldLahori has described. It should be ok in our normal and everyday talk, afterall it is us who give meanings to words like for "Khuda". I do acknowledge, translations into a foreign language do not convey the full meaning and sense for a word in its original language, but words can acquire and develop new meanings. Again take "Khuda" for example.
It should actually be Al Ilah, not Al Lah. Nevertheless, it is only a theory that the name Allah is derived from the definite article Al plus the noun Ilah, giving Allah. The strongest view is that Allah is a proper name, not a derivative. If Allah where composed of Al and Ilah then according to Arabic usage it should be possible to precede it with the vocative Ya Ayuha-Allah (O Allah) but when referring to Allah we say instead Ya Allah which lends evidence to the fact that Allah is a proper noun. As an example, refer to Qur’an 73:1 & 74:1 where a definite noun is preceded by the vocative Ya Ayuha: Ya Ayuhal-Muzammil, Ya Ayuhal-Mudathir.
Hope that makes sense.
Allah Almighty says:
“Say (O Muhammad): ‘Invoke Allah or invoke ar-Rahman, by whatever you invoke Him (it is the same), for to Him belong the most beautiful Names…’” (17:110)
And Allah knows best
Iqbal
Iqbal, you ought to become a professor.
In Urdu, Kursi means chair. Whether you call it Kursi or chair depends on if you're talking to a Pakistani or an American/Brit.
But God knows all languages. So He'll understand what you mean when you say "God". At least that is what common sense tells me.
Iqbal,
Just wondering, how the above two can't get together. Why can't a proper noun be possibly a derivative of some root/article/simpler noun? I mean, coming from anthropological perspective, language and words evolve into different forms and meanings. Very possible...a non proper noun due to its frequent usage conveying a particular meaning attain a particular meaning and develop into a proper noun.
Iqbal.. :k: good explanation.
salaam to all,
Dara Sikho, i think he was the brother of the mughal emporer Aurangzeb (donot know for sure....)
once said.........
"In the name of Him, who has no name,
who lifts His Head at the call of any name"
can pakistanis use word "god" in native language ? afterall it istranslation
or you have to use word"allha"
So that means "There is no God but The God" ?
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*Originally posted by filhaal: *
salaam to all,
Dara Sikho, i think he was the brother of the mughal emporer Aurangzeb (donot know for sure....)
once said.........
"In the name of Him, who has no name,
who lifts His Head at the call of any name"
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And you know what happened to Dara Shikho? And why? Aurangzeb considered him an apostate and chopped his head off.
dear Oldlahori,
i am not concerned what happened to Dara Shikho or Aurangzeb, i just wanted to make my point with the quotation..........
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*Originally posted by google: *
So that means "There is no God but The God" ?
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No that means, there is no polytheist, impure montheist god but The True One God. This again begs to the meaning meant behind the word. How about "There is no God but Khuda", would it be a legitimate claim?
"In the name of Him, who has no name,
who lifts His Head at the call of any name"
Perhaps, I am being a literalist, but I do not fully comprehend the above couplet as given in one of the posts above. What does it really mean, "who has no name", and how is it reconciled with the 99 names of Allah?
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Originally posted by FikarNot: *
**Iqbal, Just wondering, how the above two can't get together. Why can't a proper noun be possibly a derivative of some root/article/simpler noun? I mean, coming from anthropological perspective, language and words evolve into different forms and meanings. Very possible...a non proper noun due to its frequent usage conveying a particular meaning attain a particular meaning and develop into a proper noun. *
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FikarNot, you make a fair point. I agree that words and names can evolve over time as you suggest, however, i don't believe this was the case with Allah's Name. If the name "Allah" is a derivative, then it is natural to ask who derived it and when? This would seem to imply that at some point this was not a name that Allah possessed until, over the course of time, it was formulated for Him. I find that problematic. As it now stands, the name Allah is a proper noun, with only the theoretical possibility that it could be a derivative, but i think that anyone who holds this latter opinion will need to show some evidence for that.
One explanation given for the view that Allah is a contraction of Al-Ilah is because the Arabs or others had difficulty in pronouncing Al-Ilah (particularly the middle "I") and it was shortened to "Allah" for the sake of convenience. Etymologically, this may appear sound, but i'm not sure if it has any historical basis.
And Allah knows best.
Iqbal
What about Ishwar and Bhagwan? Do they make it 101 like the dalmatians?
The Christian Bible in Arabic uses the word "Allah" for God.
i call him/her/it... "da man"