Of God's many names and the use of 'Allah'

Monday, 19 October 2009 11:26

Of God's many names and the use of 'Allah'

Written by Mohammad Hashim Kamali

‘Allah’ is the Arabic equivalent of ‘God’. And the two words have been used synonymously by all people throughout the history of religion, but there are distinct conditions on its use. Of the 99 beautiful names of God (al-asma' al-husna), three, namely "Allah", "al-Rahman" and "al-Rahim", are most favoured. This is known by all 114 suras of the Quran, except for one, beginning with the typical Islamic phrase, the tasmiyah: Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim ("In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful"), a phrase that includes all the three chosen names of God .... Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

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Mohammad Hashim Kamali

Professor Dato' Dr. Mohammad Hashim Kamali is founding CEO of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia.

www.HashimKamali.com

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