Syriac borrows the name "God" from Arabic, according to scientific and archaeological evidence
Syriac borrows the word "Allaha" and "Alaha" from Arabic!
Continuing to clarify the truth, with science, its evidence and indications, we continue, thanks to God, to expose the desperate attempts promoted by those Orientalists who have been deceiving themselves and their minds for centuries, including: promoting that the Qur’an was taken from the Syriac and not the other way around! But science does not stop, and studies in the last twenty years have suddenly changed all the data, and the magic turns against the magician. We had previously shown that the origin of the name of Christ is Issa and not Jesus with scientific evidence and archaeological evidence from what the inscriptions showed, and it can be reviewed on this link , and today we show with evidence and proof that the most honorable thing in any religion, which is the name of God, is not known in Christianity, and it is most likely that it was borrowed, copied, taken and stolen from the Arabic language.
First: The word of majesty "Allah" :
There is no word "Allah" in Syriac as it is in Arabic, but they have "Allah/Elha" ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ, but Paul's thugs on the Internet claimed that the Arabic word "Allah" was taken from Syriac.
However, in a heavy and scientific surprise ,it ends the centuries-old controversy with material evidence, about the Syriac Christians borrowing the name "Allah" from Syriac, and hundreds of inscriptions before Christ and after Christ before Islam, written in ancient Arabic letters, come to light, and they were written by Arab Bedouins from the north, who lived near or perhaps in the heart of the Syriac lands.
The latest discovered inscriptions prove that the word “Allah” is an authentic Arabic word, while the Syriac word “Ha” is of doubtful authenticity and may have been taken from the Arabs.
Second: The oldest inscription, indeed the oldest Syriac writing in existence, dates back to the beginning of the fifth century AD!
It is a manuscript by Titus of Basra in which he responds to the followers of Mani, and it was written in 411 AD.
Third: The oldest Arabic writing discovered dates back to the sixth century BC, i.e. before Syriac was born.
And between the oldest Arabic inscription and the first Syriac inscription in the language of numbers and dates: about 1000 years!
Fourth: A necessary introduction to the ancient South Arabian script (Musnad):
Before delving into the details of these Arabic inscriptions written in an ancient South Arabian alphabet, we must first give a brief introduction to the ancient Arabic script and its development in the Arabian Peninsula in general, and the types of pen, drawing, and Arabic alphabet used by the Arabs of the north in particular, so that the reader is informed and understands what he is reading.
Scholars agree that the Arabs had their own script for nearly 1000 years before Christ, which is the South Arabian script, calledthe Musnad scriptorthe Himyarite script, which appeared and developed in Yemen and from there spread to various parts of the world. This script remained the official Arabic script used in the north and south of the Arabian Peninsula for more than 1300 years. While we do not see traces or inscriptions in this ancient Arabic script until the sixth century BC, the Arabs had left their mark before that in other writings of the ancient Near East. The names of the Arab tribes or kings are found in Assyrian historical sources, which show their dealings with the leaders of the Bedouin tribes (often female).
As for the oldest Musnad script inscriptions, which appear since the latter half of the first millennium BC, we find it spreading north, south, east and west, and it became the official script used by all Arabs in the north and south of the Arabian Peninsula, and even extended beyond the Arabian Peninsula to the Levant, Egypt, Greece and Italy.
The Arabs of the North and the Southern Alphabet:
It has become established in scientific circles and based on archaeological discoveries and data that the northern Arabic script (the Nabataean script), which began to flourish since the first century BC, is the origin from which the Hijazi Arabic script (the Jazm script) emerged. Centuries after its appearance, revelation came down, and the Qur’an was written in this script. However, the Nabataean script did not prevent the Arabs of the North from writing in the southern Musnad script at all, but they continued to use the ancient South Arabian alphabet until the early fourth century AD alongside the northern Arabic alphabet, until the use of the Musnad script ended in the fourth century, and was replaced by the Arabic alphabet in the form in which the Qur’an was written, and it became the official alphabet in the Hijaz and northern Arabia.
The Arabs of the North in the north of the Arabian Peninsula, Jordan and Syria, wrote in the first four centuries AD in five different forms of the southern Musnad script, which are:
1- The Thamudic alphabet(6th century BC to 4th century AD in the Levant and western and central northern Arabia).
2- The Dadanitic and Lihyanic alphabets(from the 5th century BC to the 1st century AD in northwestern Arabia),
3- The Safaitic alphabet(from the 1st century BC to 400 AD (in the Syrian and Jordanian deserts and its name is derived from the Safa hills located east of Lajat in Hauran.)
4- And the Ahsa’i alphabet(5th to 2nd century BC in northeastern southern Arabia on the Persian Gulf; Muller 1982).
Fifth: Scientific evidence:
First: God’s name was carved in South Arabia before Christ and before Syriac existed!
The oldest Arabic inscription that mentions the word of God "Allah" dates back to the first century BC , before the Syriac language was even born . It was written in ancient South Arabian letters, and is the inscription of Ajl bin Hafa'am. It is one of the Musnad inscriptions found by King Saud University, represented by the Department of Antiquities, in an area located in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula. It was called in the past (Qarya) and (Al-Hamra). It was also called (Qarya Kahl) in reference to their god "Kahl" who was mentioned in many texts and inscriptions in that area, including this text. Today it is called (Al-Faw) and is in an archaeological site 700 km south of Riyadh and 280 km north of Najran in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This site, which was on a caravan route, was inhabited by groups from the Kinda, Qahtan and Madhhij tribes due to its many wells, and it is considered the capital of their kingdom. The area was later abandoned when the wells dried up after being inhabited for eight centuries, as scientists believe. The text is dated to approximately one hundred years BC to around the first century AD based on the shapes of its letters in the second architectural phase of the history of the village of Al-Faw. It is considered the oldest text in which the Arabic language appears closest to classical Arabic. It is written in the Musnad script on the tombstone of Rabbil bin Haf’am. The importance of its analysis lies in its antiquity in language, style and history, which gives the researcher a good idea of the Arabic language and its laws in ancient times, and enriches the information of researchers about the historical linguistic development in it in particular.
Below we provide a table of the Arabic letters’ correspondences to the symbols of the Musnad script to further clarify for the reader of the text, in addition to a picture of the tombstone and a drawing of it, in which the text under study is shown. Then we provide the writing of the text in Musnad, the letters corresponding to its letters in Arabic script, its reading according to Mai Jabouri, and the readings of specialists.
Table of Arabic correspondences for the Musnad letters and the phonetic writing letters represented by
a picture of the tombstone built by Ajil bin Hafa'am for his brother and family, showing the letters of the studied Musnad text. It is preserved in the National Museum in Riyadh in the Arab Kingdoms Hall
a picture of the tombstone built by Ajil bin Hafa'am for his brother and family, showing the letters of the studied Musnad text. It is preserved in the National Museum in Riyadh in the Arab Kingdoms Hall
Transcription of the text on the headstone
Reading the text:
1. Ajl – Bn – Hfm – Bn – L Akh – Rbbl – Bn – H (Ajl bin Hf Am Bani for his brother Rababil bin)
2. F Am – Qabr – Walhu – Wolladhu – Wm (Hf Am Qabran Wa Lahu Wa Wolladhu)
3. Ra’tah – Wolladhu – Wolladhu – Wolladhum (And his wife and his son and their son’s son’s son)
4. Wnsyhim – Hryr – Dhul Al – Ghaluun – F (And their women are the free women of Dhul Ghaluun)
5. A’dhah – Bkhl – Wolla – Wathr (So he protected him with Bkhl and Walla “By God” and Wothr “And Ashtar Sharqan”)
6. Ashrq – Mn – Azzm – W W N Y M - W (ashrak min ‘Aziz ‘arrogant’ and Wuni ‘weak’)
7. SH R Y M - W M R T H N M - A B D M (Wishri ‘humiliated’ and Murtahin ‘captive’ forever)
8. B N - W K S M - A D K Y - T M T (Bin W K S M so that it may rain)
9. R A S M Y - D M - W L A R (the sky is blood and the earth)
10. D - S S R (a blazing fire)
Notes on the text:
1- It appears in the text that the tanween with the nun has been converted to a mim, the tammeem and not the tanween, and the tanween and the mim have the same origin, which is nasalization, then it was transformed in writing and pronunciation to a mim according to some of the Jazaris (Semitic) and a nun according to some others, since the common denominator between the two sounds of the mim and the nun is nasalization.
2- There is also a striking similarity in the spelling rules between the Musnad and Arabic writings, which indicates that the Arabic letter was influenced by the South Arabian Musnad in its spelling rules, although it was influenced in the writing of the letter by the North Nabataean Arabic.
3- Lakha: The extended Ya did not appear in the writing (lakhayhi), and the word appeared without the Ya. This is one of the rules of the old non-syllabic island writings in general, as the movements of both types do not appear often.
4- Lahu: The Lam is included in "huwa" and this phenomenon of saturating the pronoun's damma - and writing the damma with a waw - is a general phenomenon in the Arabic Musnad writing.
5- W M R A T H W Maratah
6- W L W: And Allah in the fifth line "
This is how it is written according to the rules of Musnad. Only one lam and then a ha appear at the beginning of a word written in Musnad script. The alif at the beginning of (Allah) is connected and is not pronounced because of the presence of the conjunction waw before it, as we see in the word before the last in the inscription (wal-ardh). The alif of connection is not written after the waw. Then Musnad writing only writes one letter for the doubled vowel, and that is why the second lam of (wal-Allah) does not appear. The alif is a long vowel sound that is not written in it, so nothing remains of the word written except the lam and the ha.
Second : Swearing by God in Northern Arabic before Christ and before the existence of Syriac!
“I pray and swear by God”
I tried to clarify, Amir, as much as I could to change the text for the benefit of the interlocutors:
Third : Proper names attributed to “God” from the first century BC to the fourth century AD:
I will suffice with the Arabic inscriptions in the north, the stronghold of the Syriacs.
1- K Wahb Allah as in the Safavid inscription numbered WH 1860 in the Amman Museum
https://krc.orient.ox.ac.uk/ociana/c...A_0012713.html
2- And Wahb Allah bin Mari Allah and his grandson after him, the name of Allah generation after generation !!, as in the Safavid inscription in Syria in the Damascus countryside ( the stronghold of the Syriacs ), number Is.M 126 and Is.M 128
https://krc.orient.ox.ac.uk/ociana/c...A_0026896.html
3- In the Safavid inscription Is.Mu 242 in the countryside of Damascus, the stronghold of the Syriacs !
As if its writers before Christ in the stronghold of the land of the Syriacs knew that Syriac vagabonds would come in the future and claim otherwise than the facts.. The inscriptions compose it in Arabic in the heart of Syria!!
And Abdullah:
https://krc.orient.ox.ac.uk/ociana/c...A_0030391.html
And many others as in the inscription JaS 63 (of Abdullah bin Zinait), and Zayd Allah , and Sa`d Allah ( inscription Is.R 94 ) and ( inscription JaS 66.2 ) and ( inscription KhBG! 274 ), and Rahn Allah ( JaS 29 ), and Khalaf Allah ( inscription JaS 61 ) and ( inscription JaS! 72.1 ) and Ghuth Allah, and even Allah , as Ahmad al-Jallad explains when he says: The vocative form Allāhumma is even attested. In the Hismaic inscription Jackobson D.3.A.7.b, the author invokes Allāh to curse the sons of ʿuray son of ʿaklam: hāllāhumma le-banī ʿoray ben ʿaklam boʾsa'!
So the word "Allah" and "God" was known to the Arabs before the birth of Christ and they invaded the depths of the Syriacs with it.
Fourth : When did the word “God” appear among the Syriacs?
Answer : The oldest Syriac text in which the name of God appeared was in the early sixth century AD, written next to an Arabic text!!
This is in the Zabad inscription 511-512 AD ( Greek/Syriac/Arabic ) in a church in Syria:
This inscription was found in Khirbet Zabad, located southeast of Aleppo, between Qinnasrin and the Euphrates River, and dates back to 511-512 AD. It is written on a stone fixed in a church building above the door of the martyrdom of Saint Sergius (Serg) . The inscription contains three writings: Greek, Syriac, and late Nabataean script (old Arabic). Its script resembles the Islamic Kufic script, although some of its words are illegible, and do not exceed one word in the first line and one or two words at the end of the second line. The rest of its words are in Arabic script, although scholars differ in their reading of them. However, the Arabic text is not translated into Greek, but rather it is satisfied with listing six names, not all of which are mentioned in the Greek text.
- {..Kr} The god Sarhu Bar. Umma Manf and Talib Bar Mar Al-Qais (the god mentioned Sarj bin Umma Manf and Talib bin Imru Al-Qais)
- And they explained Bar Saado, Satrou, and Shariho.......
The Arabic language invades the Syriac Church in the Syriac stronghold.
In the oldest Syriac text (which they wrote with an Arabic text), the name of God appears in Arabic for the first time!!
It appears from this inscription that Arab and Syriac Christianity did not know the name “Allah” before Islam, but rather the first use by the Christian monotheists was of the Arabic word “God.”
Fifth : The last question remains: When did the word “Allah” appear among the Syriacs?
The answer: In the seventh century AD ( after Islam )!!
The oldest Christian inscription that adopts the name of God was in Al-Hirah after Islam :
An Arab Christian in the stronghold of the Syriacs (Syriac)!
It belongs to an Arab Christian who lived during the pre-Islamic era and was a contemporary of Islam. He remained a Christian and wrote: “ A blessing from Allah, may Allah forgive Abdul-Masih .” The owner of the inscription was mentioned by Al-Baladhuri in Futuh Al-Buldan, and he is Abdul-Masih bin Amr bin Qais bin Hayyan bin Baqila Al-Ghassani, the nephew of the priest Satih. He was one of the prominent Christians of Al-Hirah. He was famous during the pre-Islamic era and in the early days of Islam. All those who mentioned him agreed on his honor and that he remained a Christian.
It was known that the people of Al-Hirah used Syriac as the language of their prayers. This is the first real cross-fertilization between Arabic and Syriac in the early days of Islam... the Syriac Christians!!
Source: Journal of Tourism and Antiquities, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 23-31, Riyadh, 2016, “Arabic inscription of an amulet from Al-Hirah by Abdul-Masih bin Baqila Al-Ghassani (from the first century AH)”, Dr. Amer Abdullah Al-Jumaili
Sixth : The Syriac word “Allaha/Allaha” is borrowed from Arabic by Arab Christians and Syriacs.
After all of the above, and after we have taken care to be as brief as possible, the scholars’ words had to change in these last twenty years, and the legitimate and scientific question now became: for the Syrians
Where did you get this from, Syrians?
The question is asked by Professor David Keltz and he answers it himself:
This question is addressed by Professor David Keltz, from the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, Potsdam, who says in his scientific research entitled: "The relationship between Arabic Alla¯h and Syriac Alla¯ha¯ 1 The relationship between the Arabic word "Allah" and the Syriac "Alla¯ha":
He says: " Different origins have been proposed for the Arabic word "Allah" but also for the Syriac "Alla¯ha". It is often suggested that the Arabic word is borrowed from Syriac. This article takes a comprehensive look at the linguistic evidence at hand. In particular, it takes into account modern written materials that shed light on the development of the Arabic language. A phonological and morphological analysis of the data confirms the Arabic origin of the word Allah , while the Syriac problems with the word "Alla¯ha" are described, namely that the Syriac form differs from other Aramaic dialects and requires explanation. It also discusses the possibility that Syriac borrowed the word from Arabic. The final part deals with the Qur'an in its cultural and literary context and the role of the Syriac word in this context."
He says: " Different origins have been proposed for the Arabic word "Allah" but also for the Syriac "Alla¯ha". It is often suggested that the Arabic word is borrowed from Syriac. This article takes a comprehensive look at the linguistic evidence at hand. In particular, it takes into account modern written materials that shed light on the development of the Arabic language. A phonological and morphological analysis of the data confirms the Arabic origin of the word Allah , while the Syriac problems with the word "Alla¯ha" are described, namely that the Syriac form differs from other Aramaic dialects and requires explanation. It also discusses the possibility that Syriac borrowed the word from Arabic. The final part deals with the Qur'an in its cultural and literary context and the role of the Syriac word in this context."
We will quote David Keltz's scientific evidence briefly:
First: Linguistic proof of the authenticity of the Arabic word “Allah”:
In Semitic, the oldest and most common word for "God" is attested by the following evidence: Akkadian "Elu" singular and "Elum" plural, in Ugaritic "El" singular and "Elam" plural, i.e. Eloma and Elehoma, in Hebrew, and pre-Phoenician, Aramaic, and Old South Arabian: "El". In Middle Semitic we also find in Hebrew "Eloh" and "Elohim" plural, in Aramaic "El" and "El", in Arabic "Il" and "Ilah", and in South Arabian "Ilah". In the writing in square letters we find: "Eloha" and "Ilahi" written expressing the phonetic pronunciation in the Canaanite language and later in Aramaic. Thus, in the post-Middle Semitic dialect, we find in Arabic "Allah" and in Syriac "Allaha", but Allah is only used as a proper noun for the one God, while Arabic uses the other word "Ilah", so there are two words in Arabic, unlike Syriac, where we do not find "Ilah" but rather "Allaha".
Discussion of the Arabic word "Allah":
David Keltz says:
1- The oldest evidence of "Allah" dates back to the first century AD in the inscription of Ajal bin Haf'am, Qaryat al-Faw. In it, we see the addition of the definite article to Lah, so "Ilah" becomes "Allah", and this is supported by other inscriptions in Harran and Namara, and it is the same as what is used in classical Arabic today. There is solid scientific evidence today other than this, which confirms that the compound names of the Arabs contained "Allah", such as the endowment of Allah in the Safaitic and Nabataean inscriptions, so the words "Allah" and "Ilah" are deeply rooted in Arabic.
2- While in Syriac, the first use of the word “God” with the addition of the definite article “al” to be “God” to express the God of Christianity and Christian monotheism, appears for the first time in the sixth century AD and in the Zabad inscription, which is an Arabic-Syriac-Greek inscription! This usage is known among the Arabs and in their poetry, as in the poetry of Al-Nabigha Al-Dhubyani and in the inscriptions, as we have shown, and before its appearance in Syriac.
3- From the above, it is clear that the Arabic language shows the word "Allah" as an assimilation of the word "Ilah" that occurs in Arabic dialects as proven by inscriptions, and thus the hypothesis of borrowing the word from another language is invalidated. It can be understood that the Arabs' use of the word "Ilah" and their use of the word "Allah" with names clearly indicates that the addition of the definite article to "Ilah" means that they mean a specific, unique god or the god who must be worshipped. The same observation is old in the older South Arabian dialect, which used the definite article at the end of the word so that "Ilah" would mean "Han", as it was referring to a specific, known god that differs from any god.
4- Even in the Qur'an, it can be understood that the word "Allah" was understood by the pre-Islamic Arabs, whom the Qur'an addressed, as the supreme god that they all know, and that this understanding was firmly established among the Arabs. In short, we find the use of the word Allah to denote "Ilah" in a specific context or a unique god who was perhaps viewed as a "supreme god" before Islam. The term "Ilah" is also used by Before Christians to indicate their God.
Discussion of the Syriac word "Allah":
1- The Syriac word “Allah” means “God” indefinitely, and is not like the Arabic word “God” or “Allah” definite with “al” which was used by the Arabs in the pre-Islamic era, or by the Arab Christians, or by the Arabs after Islam. This word in Syriac is used for a unique god and even for any pagan god, such as their saying “Allah hates his sons.” Rather, we find it used in the temple called “the temple of all gods,” making it the temple of all gods. It can be pluralized to be “the days of the gods,” so they say in Syriac: “Yaumata dallahi.” As for the Jewish or Christian context, they say: “the God of the world” with the pronunciation: “Allah d-almi.” And when they say the Lord God Jesus Christ, they say: “Allah Raba Yesu Mshikha.” Likewise, when they say: “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen,” they say: “Bishm Abba, Bara, and Rukha Qadisha Khad Allaha Sharaira.”
2- They originally differed in how to draw and write it. Sometimes we find inscriptions that write it “Allaha,” and other times we find other inscriptions that write it: “Alaha.” Blau argued a lot about how to pronounce it, saying that it should be: “Alaha” and not “Allaha,” and in this He took the approach of Ibn al-'Ibri who noticed that the Eastern Mandaeans pronounce it as ilaha and not allaha, but in fact even this pronunciation allaha as a pronunciation is impossible from a morphological point of view to be in Syriac, the Syriac form allaha should be allaha, according to the known rule for reducing the vowel the alif is broken and it is pronounced ee as in Syriac verbs for example: amar it is pronounced imr, and qatal is pronounced qutl, but the most important thing is that in Syriac, it seems that the letter a (alif) is never kept at the beginning of the word, regardless of the quality of the vowel, as can be easily observed from the Syriac sounds, even in our saying "I" it is pronounced "ina". So the change in pronunciation today from allaha to alaha needs an explanation!
3- Ibn al-'Ibri even noticed that the Western Syriacs emphasize the lam in laha as in Arabic, and this can only be under the influence of Arabic and taken from it, and not a linguistic inheritance of an ancient pronunciation. Last but not least, it should be noted that there seems to be a tradition of a Babylonian Jewish pronunciation of the divine name as "Elaha." However, the pronunciation is fraught with difficulties. Note that the most common forms are "Elaha" and "Elaha," and that the former is usually found in the mouth of non-Jews. Hence, aside from the difficulties of pronunciation, it is doubtful whether "Elaha" represents a genuine phonetic development in a dialect independent of Syriac or rather a form used by non-Jews from Syriac or Arabic speakers. Therefore, for the purpose of this study, I will assume the original form "Elaha." Note, however, that many of the main points made in what follows are also true if one assumes it to be "Elaha." So, in conclusion, the Syriac pronunciation of "Elaha" is problematic phonetically.
4- All Aramaic dialects have an extension that is connected to the post-Middle Semitic, “Ilah” and “Ilahah”, which means that considering that Syriac is an Aramaic dialect, it is an exception in two main points: unlike the Aramaic dialects, it begins with the open alif A and not the broken I, and the second problem is that the letter Lam is doubled!It is possible to give reasons for the doubling, and we find examples of it occurring in Syriac, but for the alif to change from a kasra to an open one does not exist in classical Syriac as a whole.
The three possibilities for the Syriac pronunciation of “Allaha/Alaha”:
1) A type of analogy:This is unlikely due to the absence of any dialect or linguistically close candidate that can be used as a basis for this development.
2) Morphological modification: This is also unlikely, because this cannot happen except after first “strengthening” the lam and weakening it to ilaha so that the transition to allaha is easy, and there is no evidence for that. The appearance of the word is sudden as it appears after Islam.
3) Borrowing from another language: which is the Arabic language , Syriac can borrow from Arabic the word “Allah”, because Arabic, unlike Syriac, has morphophonemic motives with the ability to be derived. This Syriac problem with the word “al-lah and allaha” was also noted by Fisher, who preferred the possibility of Syriac borrowing from Arabic dialects and discussed that in Krone: al-Lat, p. 464ff. Especially since the stronghold of the Syriacs had Arabic names and an Arab presence since ancient times.
Conclusion: Regardless of whether the Arabic word is the source of the Syriac word Allah or not, the Arabic word Allah can be interpreted as not being a loanword but as the result of internal Arabic developments, i.e. resulting from al + #ilah. This occurs in Arabic with a phonetic homogeneity permitted by the language and its derivations without any need for external borrowing. The word was used before and after Islam in a purely monotheistic context referring to the one known God, unlike the use of the word in Syriac, which was used by pagans and monotheists alike.
Discussion of the Arabic word "Allah":
David Keltz says:
1- The oldest evidence of "Allah" dates back to the first century AD in the inscription of Ajal bin Haf'am, Qaryat al-Faw. In it, we see the addition of the definite article to Lah, so "Ilah" becomes "Allah", and this is supported by other inscriptions in Harran and Namara, and it is the same as what is used in classical Arabic today. There is solid scientific evidence today other than this, which confirms that the compound names of the Arabs contained "Allah", such as the endowment of Allah in the Safaitic and Nabataean inscriptions, so the words "Allah" and "Ilah" are deeply rooted in Arabic.
2- While in Syriac, the first use of the word “God” with the addition of the definite article “al” to be “God” to express the God of Christianity and Christian monotheism, appears for the first time in the sixth century AD and in the Zabad inscription, which is an Arabic-Syriac-Greek inscription! This usage is known among the Arabs and in their poetry, as in the poetry of Al-Nabigha Al-Dhubyani and in the inscriptions, as we have shown, and before its appearance in Syriac.
3- From the above, it is clear that the Arabic language shows the word "Allah" as an assimilation of the word "Ilah" that occurs in Arabic dialects as proven by inscriptions, and thus the hypothesis of borrowing the word from another language is invalidated. It can be understood that the Arabs' use of the word "Ilah" and their use of the word "Allah" with names clearly indicates that the addition of the definite article to "Ilah" means that they mean a specific, unique god or the god who must be worshipped. The same observation is old in the older South Arabian dialect, which used the definite article at the end of the word so that "Ilah" would mean "Han", as it was referring to a specific, known god that differs from any god.
4- Even in the Qur'an, it can be understood that the word "Allah" was understood by the pre-Islamic Arabs, whom the Qur'an addressed, as the supreme god that they all know, and that this understanding was firmly established among the Arabs. In short, we find the use of the word Allah to denote "Ilah" in a specific context or a unique god who was perhaps viewed as a "supreme god" before Islam. The term "Ilah" is also used by Before Christians to indicate their God.
Discussion of the Syriac word "Allah":
1- The Syriac word “Allah” means “God” indefinitely, and is not like the Arabic word “God” or “Allah” definite with “al” which was used by the Arabs in the pre-Islamic era, or by the Arab Christians, or by the Arabs after Islam. This word in Syriac is used for a unique god and even for any pagan god, such as their saying “Allah hates his sons.” Rather, we find it used in the temple called “the temple of all gods,” making it the temple of all gods. It can be pluralized to be “the days of the gods,” so they say in Syriac: “Yaumata dallahi.” As for the Jewish or Christian context, they say: “the God of the world” with the pronunciation: “Allah d-almi.” And when they say the Lord God Jesus Christ, they say: “Allah Raba Yesu Mshikha.” Likewise, when they say: “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen,” they say: “Bishm Abba, Bara, and Rukha Qadisha Khad Allaha Sharaira.”
2- They originally differed in how to draw and write it. Sometimes we find inscriptions that write it “Allaha,” and other times we find other inscriptions that write it: “Alaha.” Blau argued a lot about how to pronounce it, saying that it should be: “Alaha” and not “Allaha,” and in this He took the approach of Ibn al-'Ibri who noticed that the Eastern Mandaeans pronounce it as ilaha and not allaha, but in fact even this pronunciation allaha as a pronunciation is impossible from a morphological point of view to be in Syriac, the Syriac form allaha should be allaha, according to the known rule for reducing the vowel the alif is broken and it is pronounced ee as in Syriac verbs for example: amar it is pronounced imr, and qatal is pronounced qutl, but the most important thing is that in Syriac, it seems that the letter a (alif) is never kept at the beginning of the word, regardless of the quality of the vowel, as can be easily observed from the Syriac sounds, even in our saying "I" it is pronounced "ina". So the change in pronunciation today from allaha to alaha needs an explanation!
3- Ibn al-'Ibri even noticed that the Western Syriacs emphasize the lam in laha as in Arabic, and this can only be under the influence of Arabic and taken from it, and not a linguistic inheritance of an ancient pronunciation. Last but not least, it should be noted that there seems to be a tradition of a Babylonian Jewish pronunciation of the divine name as "Elaha." However, the pronunciation is fraught with difficulties. Note that the most common forms are "Elaha" and "Elaha," and that the former is usually found in the mouth of non-Jews. Hence, aside from the difficulties of pronunciation, it is doubtful whether "Elaha" represents a genuine phonetic development in a dialect independent of Syriac or rather a form used by non-Jews from Syriac or Arabic speakers. Therefore, for the purpose of this study, I will assume the original form "Elaha." Note, however, that many of the main points made in what follows are also true if one assumes it to be "Elaha." So, in conclusion, the Syriac pronunciation of "Elaha" is problematic phonetically.
4- All Aramaic dialects have an extension that is connected to the post-Middle Semitic, “Ilah” and “Ilahah”, which means that considering that Syriac is an Aramaic dialect, it is an exception in two main points: unlike the Aramaic dialects, it begins with the open alif A and not the broken I, and the second problem is that the letter Lam is doubled!It is possible to give reasons for the doubling, and we find examples of it occurring in Syriac, but for the alif to change from a kasra to an open one does not exist in classical Syriac as a whole.
The three possibilities for the Syriac pronunciation of “Allaha/Alaha”:
1) A type of analogy:This is unlikely due to the absence of any dialect or linguistically close candidate that can be used as a basis for this development.
2) Morphological modification: This is also unlikely, because this cannot happen except after first “strengthening” the lam and weakening it to ilaha so that the transition to allaha is easy, and there is no evidence for that. The appearance of the word is sudden as it appears after Islam.
3) Borrowing from another language: which is the Arabic language , Syriac can borrow from Arabic the word “Allah”, because Arabic, unlike Syriac, has morphophonemic motives with the ability to be derived. This Syriac problem with the word “al-lah and allaha” was also noted by Fisher, who preferred the possibility of Syriac borrowing from Arabic dialects and discussed that in Krone: al-Lat, p. 464ff. Especially since the stronghold of the Syriacs had Arabic names and an Arab presence since ancient times.
Conclusion: Regardless of whether the Arabic word is the source of the Syriac word Allah or not, the Arabic word Allah can be interpreted as not being a loanword but as the result of internal Arabic developments, i.e. resulting from al + #ilah. This occurs in Arabic with a phonetic homogeneity permitted by the language and its derivations without any need for external borrowing. The word was used before and after Islam in a purely monotheistic context referring to the one known God, unlike the use of the word in Syriac, which was used by pagans and monotheists alike.
David Keltz's speech is over.
Thus, the inscriptions compose it and science plays it,
and there is no consolation for the Syriacs.
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds
References:
1- A Study of the Oldest Written Text in the Arabic Language, the Text of ‘Ajl ibn Haf’am, Dr. Mai Fadhel Jassim Al-Jabouri
2- OCIANA Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia
3- http://krc.orient.ox.ac.uk/ociana/co...A_0016976.html
4- David Kiltz (University of St Andrews), “The relationship between Arabic Allāh and Syriac Allāhā”, October 2012, Der Islam 88(1):33-50 DOI: 10.1515/islam-2012-0003
5- F.V. Winnett. — Safaitic Inscriptions from Jordan (Near and Middle East Series, 2)
6- Al-Jallad. 2017. An early Christian Arabic graffito mentioning ‘Yazid the king’, w. Younis al-Shdaifat, Zeyad al-Salameen, and Rafe Harahsheh
7- Littman, E. 1913 “Semitic Inscriptions” Pp. IX-93 in Syria. Publications of the Princeton Archaeological Expeditions to Syria (Div. IV, Sect. A, Leyden) 1-93.
8- Laïla Nehmé, “New dated inscriptions (Nabataean and pre-Islamic Arabic) from a site near al-Jawf, ancient Dūmah, Saudi Arabia”, in Al Jallad, Ahmad (2017) Arabian Epigraphic Notes: Volume 3
9- Robin, Christian Julien, “Inscriptions antiques of the Najrān region (Arabic Séoudite) méridionale) : New generations for the history of the writing, the language and the Arabic calendar
10- Fokelien Kootstra, “The Language of the Taymanitic Inscriptions and its Classification”
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