Kuala Lumpur: If you look for the word “Allah” in any English dictionary you will find it there and it will read something like this:

Allah /al-luh/ noun the name of God among the Muslims.

I find the above in a little Oxford English Dictionary. If you are using Collins English Dictionary you will also find the word “Allah” there and it gives this meaning of the word:

Allah n. Islam. The principal Muslim name for God; the one Supreme Being. [C16: from Arabic, from al the + Ilah God; compare Hebrew eloah]

These two English dictionaries give the same meaning for the word “Allah”. Since it is a word in the English Dictionary, it clearly shows that the word has been adopted as an English word; it means “a Muslim name for God”. But the Collins English Dictionary even supplied the etymology of the word in the English language. “C16” stands for sixteenth century. The etymology says that the word “Allah” came from the Arabic phrase, “al Ilah” which means “the God”. The dictionary explains how a word with a foreign origin came to be adopted in the English language.

The Collins English Dictionary shows that the word “Allah” has been adopted in the English language since the sixteenth century and it means in English, “the Muslim name for God”. If you use the word in English in another connotation then you have misused the word. Since English is not our mother tongue it is not unusual for Malaysians to misuse English words. I do not advocate the misuse of English words if one were to speak or write in English.

If you must use this “sensitive” English word – this English word appears to be “sensitive’ to some myopic people — like Allah, do ensure that you use the word in its correct connotation. However, I am not surprised that many Malaysians do have a tendency to misuse English words. But, it is unthinkable for anyone to suggest that we should be penalized for misusing an English word which is a foreign word to us Malaysians. If the word “Allah” is in a sentence written in English then it is an English word.

For those of us who would like to know how an Arabic word “ilah” or phrase “al ilah” which sounds like — English writers have to rely on sound as they do not write Arabic — the original Arabic al Ilah has found its way into the English language, see The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Edited by C.T. Onions, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1979 reprint, which reads:

Allah the deity among the Mohammedans. XVI. – Arab. allah, for al-ilah, i.e. al AL- [al- Arab. def. art. al the], ilah god = Aram. elah, Heb. eloah (Early forms in Eng. Writers are Alla, Allah, Ala, Allough, Alha.)

“XVI” stands for sixteenth century. So that this tells us that the etymology of the word “Allah” in English has been used in the English language since the sixteenth century. In Arabic it is “al-ilah” meaning “the God”. In Aramaic, it is “elah”. In Hebrew, it is “eloah”.

If you do not already know, Arabic is the language of the Arabs who is one of a branch of the Semitic race. Aramaic pertains to the northern Semitic languages. And Hebrew is a person belonging to the Semitic race descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Jewish; their language. Source: The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology.

Also in the same Dictionary of English Etymology you will find:

Semite Hebrew, Arab, Assyrian or Aramaean, regarded as a descendant of Shem (Gen. X).: see The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology.

“Gen. X” stands for the book of Genesis, chapter 10 in the Old Testament of the Bible.

So that we now know that not even the Arabs nor the Jews would pronounce the word for their God as “Allah”. The Muslim name for God as pronounced by the Arabs is “al-ilah”. The Jews would pronounce the name for their God as “eloah”. The word “Allah” in English (as seen in any English dictionary) is a mispronunciation of both the Arabic and the Hebrew word for God.

Monotheism is the belief that there is only one God. It is not the preserve of the Muslims only. The Jews (Judaism) and the Christians also believe that there is only one God. Monotheism began with Abraham.

A heathen — according to the dictionary — is a person who does not acknowledge the God of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. A non-believer of monotheism is an infidel.

A pagan is a person who holds religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions. For example, paganism includes such religions as Hinduism and Taoism.

Idolatry means the worship of idols. I believe the Hindus and the Taoists believe in idol worship.

* This article is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.