Allah   

In the Arabic language, putting an “al-“ before a word makes it definite, like putting the word “the” before a word in English:

“an island” = “jazeerah”
“the island” = “al-jazeerah”

[Al-Jazeerah, the television station, takes its name from the island of Qatar, from which it is broadcast. Words like “almanac” and “algebra” kept the “al-” prefix when carried over into English]
 

The Arabic word for “a god,” as would be used in the following sentence, is “ilah”:

Have you considered the man who has made a god [ilah] of his own desires? (Quran 25:43)
 

Following the pattern in step one, we see that:

“a god” = “ilah”
“the god” = “al-ilah”

This term (“al-ilah”) is where the Arabic name for the God of monotheism (“Allah”) is derived from. This term is used by both Muslims and Christians.

“al-ilah” >> “Allah” =

[To learn more about Arabic letters, visit our Alphabet lesson pages.]

While the floating marks serve an important linguistic function, they are often omitted from works of Arabic calligraphy:

Sometimes, additional marks (with artistic but no linguistic value) are added to the image:

[Note that the last letter - reading from right to left - can be written in this alternative form.]

Sometimes – also for artistic reasons – the presentation of the letters can be rearranged. Here, the first letter is overlapped by the remainder of the word, creating a more symmetrical design:

Sometimes straight lines are exclusively used:

[Again, note the alternative form of the final letter]

Another alternative form for the final letter is demonstrated here:

Often, “Allah” is used as a building block to make a more intricate design:

Rahila’s Archive has some good examples of ways “Allah” can be written. For an interesting challenge, try to pick out “Allah” in Arabic Christian art.

End of Lesson

Thanks to Islam.tc and Rahila for providing these images