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"Allah", the Divine Name
By: Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabata`i
"Allah" ( Çááå = the divine name) was originally al-Ilah (ÇáÇáå ) ; the "I" ( Çö ) ; in the middle was omitted because of frequent use. al-Ilah is derived from alaha ( Çáå = he worshipped) or from aliha or waliha (Çáåor æáå= he was bewildered). It is on paradigm of al-fi’al (ÇáÝÚÇá)in meaning of al-maf’ul (ÇáãÝÚæá = object-noun). For example, al-Kitab (ÇáßÊÇÈ) means al-Maktub ( ÇáãßÊæÈ) = the written); likewise al-Ilah means al-Ma’luh (ÇáãÃáæå) that is, the One who is worshipped, or the One about whom minds are bewildered.
Quite clearly, it has become the proper name of God. It was commonly used in this meaning in Arabic long before the Qur'an was revealed. The fact that even pre-Islamic Arabs used this name for God, may be inferred from the following verses:
And if you should ask them who created them, they would certainly say: "Allah" …. (43:87)
.. . . and they say: "This for Allah " - so they assert - "and this is for our associates". (6:136).
Other divine names may be used as adjectives for this name; for example, "the Beneficent and the Merciful Allah"; also, this name is used as subject of the verbs derived from other divine names; for example, "Allah knew", "Allah had mercy", "Allah gave sustenance" etc. But the word, "Allah", is never used as adjective to any other name, nor is the verb derived from it used to describe other names. It is a clear proof that it is the proper name of God.
The divine existence, in as much as Allah is the God of everything, presupposes that He should have all the attributes of perfection; and, as a result, this name points to all perfect attributes. That is why it is said that the name, "Allah", means "the Person Who is the Essential Being, and Who encompasses all the attributes of perfection". But the fact is that it is the proper name of God and no other meaning (except that related to worship or bewilderment) has been taken into consideration here.
The Meaning of ‘Al-Rab’
The Lord of the worlds, the Beneficent, the Merciful, the Master of the Day of Judgement:"ar-Rabb"(( ÇáÑÈ is the Master Who manages the affairs of His servant. The word, thus connotes the idea of ownership. Ownership (in our social structure) is a special relationship of one thing with another - a relationship that allows the owner to do with the owned thing as he wishes. When we say, "This thing belongs to us", it shows that it has a special relationship with us that allow s us to do with it as we wish; had it not been for this relationship, we would not have had this authority over it. In this social context, it is an idea which the society has laid down but which has no existence outside imagination. This idea is derived from another real and positive concept, which too is called "ownership": Our limbs and faculties, like the sight, the hearing, the hands and the feet, belong to us - they exist because of our own existence, they have no independent existence, they depend on us for their existence and continuity, and we use them as we like. This is the real ownership.
The ownership that may be attributed to Allah is the real one, and not that which is based on subjective outlook. Obviously the real ownership cannot be disjoined from management of the affairs of the owned thing. The owned thing depends on the owner in its existence, as well as in all affairs related to its existence. Allah is "ar-Rabb " the Lord of everything because the Lord is the owner who manages the affairs of, and looks after, the owned thing - and only Allah has this attribute.
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