ʾIlāh (Arabic:إله; plural:آلهةʾālihat) is anArabic term meaning "god". In Arabic, ilah refers to anyone or anything that is worshipped.[1] The feminine isʾilāhat (إلاهة, meaning "goddess");[2] with the article, it appears asal-ʾilāhat (الإلاهة).[3] The Arabic word forGod (Allāh) is thought to be derived from it (in a proposed earlier formal-Lāh) though this is disputed.[4][5]ʾIlāh iscognate toNorthwest Semiticʾēl andAkkadianilum. The word is from aProto-Semitic archaic biliteralʔ-L meaning "god" (possibly with a wider meaning of "strong"), which was extended to a regulartriliteral by the addition of ah (as in Hebrewʾelōah,ʾelōhim). The word is spelled eitherإلٰه with an optional diacritic alif to mark theā only inQur'anic texts or (more rarely) with a fullalif,إلاه.
The term is used throughout theQuran in passages discussing the existence ofGod in the context ofoneness of Allah also to refer the beliefs in other divinities by non-Muslims. Notably, the first statement of thešahādah (the Muslim confession of faith) is "There is no god (ʾilāh) except the God (Allāh)", which declares belief in pure monotheism.[6]
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