(; plural: ) is an Arabic term meaning "god". In Arabic, ilah refers to anyone or anything that is worshipped. The feminine is (, meaning "goddess"); with the article, it appears as (). The Arabic word for God () is thought to be derived from it (in a proposed earlier form al-Lāh) though this is disputed. is cognate to Northwest Semitic and Akkadian ilum. 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 , ). The word is spelled either with an optional diacritic alif to mark the only in Qur'anic texts or (more rarely) with a full alif, .
The term is used throughout the Quran in passages discussing the existence of God or the beliefs in other divinities by non-Muslims. Notably, the first statement of the (the Muslim confession of faith) is "There is no god () except the God ()."
See also
Arabian mythology
Al-Lāt
Al-‘Uzzá
Manāt
Satanic Verses
El (deity) Eloah Elohim History of Arabia Pre-Islamic Arabia Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia Tribes of Arabia Religions of the ancient Near East Daeva Dingir Yahwism
Sources
Georgii Wilhelmi Freytagii, Lexicon Arabico-Latinum. Librairie du Liban, Beirut, 1975. J. Milton Cowan, The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic. 4th edn. Spoken Language Services, Ithaca (NY), 1979. References