We hear Muslims talking about Allaah and the need to worship Him.  But who is Allaah?  Is Allaah some God only for Muslims?  Is Allaah perhaps an Arab God?  You may be surprised to find how many people are confused on this simple question.

     Allaah is the Arabic word for God, the Creator of all.  It is really that simple.  Even when I often say this, there are still some people in the audience who don’t want to accept that the “Muslims’ Allaah” is not the same Creator as the God they believe in.  I still remember to this day, when discussing Islaam with one of my mother’s sisters, this particular aunt said to me, “Yeah, but they don’t even believe in God; they believe in something called Allaah.”

     And to these people, it is important to point out that Arabs are not only comprised of Muslims, but rather, there are Arab Christians, Arab Jews, Arab atheists, and who knows what else.  All of these people speak and read in the Arabic language.  So when you go and pick up a Bible, written in the Arabic language, wherever you see the word God written in an English Bible, you will see the word Allaah written in an Arabic Bible.

     Further, for the English speaker, perhaps specifically Christians, it is important to realize that Jesus himself, peace be upon him, never uttered the English word “God.”  He himself did not know that word.  Of course!  Because he did not speak English.  Rather, Jesus, peace be upon him, spoke Aramaic, a language very similar to Arabic.  And what word did Jesus, peace be upon him, use to refer to his Creator?  He spoke Aramaic, and therefore, he used the Aramaic word:  Alaha.  And considering the similarity between Aramaic and Arabic, it should not surprise anyone that the God Jesus believed in and prayed to, Alaha, is very similar to the Arabic word for God, Allaah.

     Here, it is also important to point out that the Arabic name for God, 'Allaah', is unique in many ways.  It has no plural like 'gods' in the English language; it has no gender like 'godess'; nor does this word generate a visual image of any kind.  "Allah", He is God, the One true God; He is the one who deserves all worship, and there is nothing comparable to him.

     We read in the Quraan where Allaah says:

“That is Allaah, your Lord; there is no deity except Him, the Creator of all things.  So worship Him, and make your worship exclusively for Him.”  (Quraan, 6:102)

     So we now have a basic understanding of what the word Islaam means, who Muslims are, and who Allaah is.  We can now move on to the next question:  "What do Muslims believe?"