ILAH

'''' is the Arabic for "deity". It is cognate to Northwest Semitic ''’ēl'' and Akkadian ''ilu''. The word is from a Proto-Semitic archaic biliteral '' meaning "god" (possibly with a wider meaning of "strong"), which was extended to a regular triliteral by the addition of a ''h'' (as in Hebrew ''Eloah''). The word is spelled either إله with an optional diacritic alif to mark the ''ā'' (as is the case with ''Allah''), or (more rarely) with a full alif, إلاه .
The feminine is '' إلاﻫﺔ "goddess", with the article, '' اﻻﻻﻫﺔ according to Lane's 1893 ''Lexicon'' referring to "the great serpent" in particular, "because it was a special object of the worship of some of the ancient Arabs", or "the new moon" (see also Allat).
In Islamic context, an ''ilah'' is the concept of a ''deity'', ''lord'' or ''god'' and does not necessarily refer to Allah. The term is used throughout the Qur'an in passages detailing the existence of Allah as the only Ilah, and of the beliefs of non-Muslims in other Ilah(s).
A sentence that reads, "Satan is ''Ilah'' to his worshippers," is therefore valid, since ''Ilah'' means "a god", but ''Allah'' is the personal name of the One Supreme God. It is suggested by Arabic dictionarians that the word "Ilah" is derived from an ancient pre-Arabic word, "Allah," the name of God, since the word "Allah" is not grammaterized as all words in Arabic to return to its origin, while the word ''Ilah'' could be rooted to the verb, "Aliha," meaning worship.

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See also

★ Shahadah

★ DINGIR

External links

★ The Meaning of ILAH