On the etymology of the name Allah
https://doi.org/10.31162/2618-9569-2024-17-4-795-819
Abstract
This article represents the first part of a research essay on debates in classical Arab-Muslim Philology and Theology regarding the lexical origin of the name Allah, its semantics and theological/terminological definition, with primordiate attention to the relevant Kalam-Atharite controversy around the essence of divinity and its “most specific characteristics” (akhass wasf). This part verifies antagonistic evidence about the dominant view on derivation, and highlights the arguments and counter-arguments of both parts, supporters and opponents of the thesis about the driveability (ishtiqāq) of the God’s name. The research provides a fairly complete list of the developed versions of its etymology classifi ed into four headings: derived from ilāh (eleven options), from wilāh (five options), from lāh (fi ve options) and from hu (one option).
About the Author
T. Ibrahim
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Tawfik Ibrahim, Dr. Sci. (Philosophy), Full Professor, Head Research Fellow, Deputy Head Chairman of the Higher Examining Body (Theology Section) at
the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, Advisor to Minbar. Islamic Studies periodical
Center of Arabic and Islamic Studies
Moscow
References
1. Ibrahim T.K. Imena Boga soglasno islamu [Names of God according to Islam]. Moscow: Medina; 2022. 800 p. (In Russian)
2. [al-Bukhari]. Sahīh al-Bukhārī. Damascus-Beirut: Dār Ibn Kathīr; 2002. 1944 p. (In Arabic)
3. [ar-Razi]. Tafsīr al-Fakhr ar-Rāzī. Vol. 1. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr; 1981. 297 p. (In Arabic)
4. ar-Razi. Sharh al-asmā’ al-husnā. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-‘arabī; 1984. 373 p. (In Arabic)
5. al-Khattabi. Sha’n ad-du‘ā’. Damascus-Beirut: Dār ath-Thaqāfa al-‘arabiyya; 1992. 256 p. (In Arabic)
6. al-Ayni. Al-Banāya: sharh al-Hidāya. Vol. 1. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr; 1990. 781 p. (In Arabic)
7. Ibn Kathir. Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-‘azīm. Vol. 1. Riyadh: Dār Tayba; 1999. 739 p. (In Arabic)
8. Abu Hayyan al-Andalusi. Tafsīr al-Bahr al-muhīt. Vol. 1. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyya; 1993. 678 p. (In Arabic)
9. al-Fayruzabadi. Basā’ir dhawī at-tamyīz. Vol. 2. Cairo: Wizārat al-Awqāf; 1996. 623 p. (In Arabic)
10. al-Fayruzabadi. Al-Qāmūs al-muhīt. Cairo: Dār al-Hadīth; 2008. 1800 p. (In Arabic)
11. al-Baghdadi. Al-Asmā’ wa-s-sifāt. Vol. 1. Damascus: Dār at-Taqwa; 2020. 781 p. (In Arabic)
12. al-Bayhaqi. Kitāb Al-Asmā’ wa-s-sifāt. Vol. 1. Jeddah: Dār as-Sawādī; 1993. 628 p. (In Arabic)
13. al-Juwaini. Kitāb al-Irshād. Cairo: Maktabat ath-Thaqāfa ad-dīniyya; 2009. 341 p. (In Arabic)
14. al-Ghazali. Al-Maqsad al-asnā. Beirut: Dār al-Minhāj; 2018. 400 p. (In Arabic)
15. al-Uqlishi. Tafsīr al-Fātiha. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyya; 2010. 350 p. (In Arabic)
16. as-Suhayli. Natā’ij al-fi kar fi ̄ an-nahw. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyya; 1992. 342 p. (In Arabic)
17. al-Qurtubi. Al-Jāmi‘ li-ahkām al-Qur’ān. Vol. 1. Beirut: Mu’assasat ar-Risālah; 2006. 493 p. (In Arabic)
18. al-Qurtubi. Al-Asnā fi ̄ sharh asmā’ Allāh wa-sifāti-H. Beirut-Saida: al-Maktabah al-‘asriyya; 2005. 433 p. (In Arabic)
19. az-Zajjaji. Ishtiqāq asmā’ Allāh. Beirut: Mu’assasat ar-Risāla; 1986. 365 p. (In Arabic)
20. Ibn Kaysan. Ma’ānī al-Qur’ān wa-i’rābu-h. Cairo: Maktabat al-imām al-Bukhārī; 2013. 847 p. (In Arabic)
21. az-Zajjaj. Tafsīr al-asmā’ al-husnā. Damascus-Beirut: Dār al-Ma’mūn li-t-turath; 1986. 98 p. (In Arabic)
22. Abu al-Baqa. Al-Kulliyyāt. Beirut: Mu’assasat ar-Risāla; 1998. 1226 p. (In Arabic)
23. at-Tahanawi. Kashshāf istilāhāt al-funūn wa-l-‘ulūm. Vol. 1. Beirut: Maktabat Lubnān; 1996. 1052 p. (In Arabic)
24. Ibn Malik. Sharh at-Tashīl. Vol. 1. Cairo: Dar Hajar; 1990. 406 p. (In Arabic)
25. Ibn al-Arabi, Abu Bakr. Al-Amad al-Aqsā. Vol. 1. Tangier-Beirut: Dār al-Hadīth al-Kitāniyyah; 2015. 552 p. (In Arabic)
26. ath-Thalabi. Al-Kashf wa-l-bayān ‘an tafsīr al-Qur’ān. Vol. 2. Jeddah: Dār at-Tafsīr; 2015. 615 p. (In Arabic)
27. al-Khalil al-Farahidi. Kitāb al-‘Ayn. Vol. 1. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyya; 2003. 459 p. (In Arabic)
28. Sibawayh. Al-Kitāb. Vol. 2. Beirut: ‘Ālam al-kutub; 1983. 430 p. (In Arabic)
29. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya. Badā’i‘ al-fawā’id. Vol. 1. Mecca: Dār ‘Ālam al-fawā’id; 2005. 392 p. (In Arabic)
30. al-Qastallani. Tuhfat as-sāmi‘ wa-l-qārī. Beirut: Dār Ibn Hazm; 2019. 380 p. (In Arabic)
31. al-Bahrani, Ali. Sharh lafz al-jalāla. Ahl al-bayt. 2009;7:152–184. (In Arabic)
32. al-Wahidi. Al-Wasīt. Vol. 1. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyya; 1994. 539 p. (In Arabic)
33. al-Khujandi. Al-‘Ujāla fi ̄ tafsīr ism al-jalāla. Majallat Majma‘ al-lugha al-‘arabiyya bi-Dimashq. 1997;72(2):237–266. (In Arabic)
34. at-Taftazani. [Hāshiya ‘alā Kashshāf az-Zamakhsharī]. In: al-Barbari A.A. Tahqīq al-juz’ al-awwal min Hāshiyat al-‘allāma Sa‘d at-Taftazānī ‘alā al-Kashshāf li-z-Zamakhsharī (diss.). Vol. 2. Cairo: Jāmi‘at al-Azhar, Kulliyyat al-Lugha al-‘arabiyya; 1978. 864 p. (In Arabic)
35. at-Taftazani. Sharh al-Maqāsid. Vol. 4. Beirut: ‘Ālam al-kutub; 1998. 355 p. (In Arabic)
36. at-Taftazani. Mukhtasar al-ma‘ānī. Vol. 1. Kuwait city: Dār az-Zahiriyya; 2019. 177 p. (In Arabic)
37. al-Haytami. Tuhfat al-muhtāj. Cairo: Dār al-Hadīth; 2016. 632 p. (In Arabic)
38. al-Qari. Mirqāt al-mafātīh. Vol. 1. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyya; 2001. 488 p. (In Arabic)
39. az-Zarkashi. Ma‘na Lā ilāha illā Allāh. Cairo: Dār al-I‘tisām; 1985. 176 p. (In Arabic)
40. [at-Tabari]. Tafsīr at-Tabarī. Vol. 1. Cairo: Dar Hajar; 2001. 742 p. (In Arabic)
41. az-Zamakhshari. Al-Kashshāf. Vol. 1. Riyadh: Maktabat al-‘Ubaykān; 1998. 685 p. (In Arabic)
42. [an-Nasafi ]. Tafsīr an-Nasafi ̄. Vol. 1. Beirut: Dār al-Kalim at-tayyib; 1998. 744 p. (In Arabic)
43. al-Baydawi. Anwār at-tanzīl wa-asrār at-ta’wīl. Vol. 1. Beirut: Dār Ihyā’ at-turāth al-‘arabī; 1998. 172 p. (In Arabic)
44. [Abu as-Suud]. Tafsīr Abī as-Su‘ūd. Vol. 1. Riyadh: Maktabat ar-Riyād al-hadītha; 1971. 836 p. (In Arabic)
45. ash-Shawkani. Fath al-Qadīr. Vol. 1. Mansoura: Dār al-Wafā’; 2008. 870 p. (In Arabic)
46. Ibn Manzur. Lisān al-‘arab. Vol. 13. Beirut: Dār Sādir; 1994. 566 p. (In Arabic)
47. al-Jawhari. As-Sihāh. Vol. 1-6 (continuous numbering). Beirut: Dār al-‘Ilm li-l-malāyīn; 1984. 2563 p. (In Arabic)
48. ar-Raghib al-Isfahani. Al-Mufradāt fi ̄ gharīb al-Qur’ān. Riyadh: Maktabat al-Bāz; 1997. 722 p. (In Arabic)
49. Abd al-Jabbar. Al-Mughnī fi ̄ abwāb at-tawhīd wa-l-‘adl. Vol. 5. Cairo: ad-Dār al-Misriyyah; 1958. 263 p. (In Arabic)
50. al-Majlisi. Bihār al-anwār. Vol. 3. Beirut: Dār Ihyā’ at-turāth al-‘arabī; 1983. 342 p. (In Arabic)
51. al-Majlisi. Bihār al-anwār. Vol. 4. Beirut: Dār Ihyā’ at-turāth al-‘arabī; 1983. 327 p. (In Arabic)
52. Shaykh-Zada. Hāshiya... ‘alā tafsīr al-qādī al-Baydāwī. Vol. 1. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyyah; 1999. 574 p. (In Arabic)
53. as-Suyuti. Nawāhid al-abkār. Vol. 1. Mecca: Jāmi‘at Umm al-Qurā; 2003. 528 p. (In Arabic)
54. al-Qurtubi. Al-Jāmi‘ li-ahkām al-Qur’ān. Vol. 13. Beirut: Mu’assasat ar-Risāla; 2006. 493, 536 p. (In Arabic)
55. an-Naysaburi. Tafsīr gharā’ib al-Qur’ān. Vol. 1. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyya; 1996. 679 p. (In Arabic)
56. az-Zajjaj. Ma‘ānī al-Qur’ān wa-i‘rābu-h. Vol. 1. Beirut: ‘Ālam al-kutub; 1988. 529 p. (In Arabic)
57. al-Fayyumi. Al-Misbāh al-munīr. Beirut: Maktabat Lubnān; 1987. 273 p. (In Arabic)
58. ash-Shidyaq A.F. Al-Jāsūs ‘alā al-Qāmūs. Damascus: Dār an-Nawādir; 2013. 690 p. (In Arabic)
59. al-Harawi. Al-Gharībayn fi ̄ al-Qur’ān wa-l-hadīth. Vol. 1. Mecca, Riyadh: Maktabat al-Bāz; 1999. 393 p. (In Arabic)
60. Ibn al-Athir. An-Nihāya fi ̄ gharīb al-hadīth wa-l-athar. Vol. 1. Beirut: al-Maktabah al-‘Ilmiyya. 1979. 472 p. (In Arabic)
61. al-Qushayri. Sharh asmā’ Allāh al-husnā. Beirut: Dār Āzāl; 1986. 268 p. (In Arabic)
62. as-Sanusi. Al-‘Aqīda al-Wustā wa-sharhu-hā. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyya; 2006. 376 p. (In Arabic)
63. al-Jili. Al-Insān al-kāmil. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyya; 1997. 285 p. (In Arabic)
64. az-Zabidi. Tāj al-‘arūs. Vol. 36. Kuwait city: Wizārat al-Irshād wa-l-anbā’; 2001. 564 p. (In Arabic)
65. az-Zajjaj. Ma‘ānī al-Qur’ān wa-i‘rābu-h. Vol. 5. Beirut: ‘Ālam al-kutub; 1988. 398 p. (In Arabic)
66. al-Bazi M.M. Fath Allāh bi-khasā’is al-ism Allāh. Vol. 2. Lahore: Idārat at-Tasnīf wa-l-adab; 2016. 477 p. (In Arabic)
67. Ibn Yaish. Sharh al-Mufassal. Vol. 1. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyya; 2001. 462 p. (In Arabic)
Review
For citations:
Ibrahim T. On the etymology of the name Allah. Minbar. Islamic Studies. 2024;17(4):795-819. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31162/2618-9569-2024-17-4-795-819
Views:
471
Email this article 