Dear Sola,

Thank you for your important question and your keenness to know about Islam. We hope that we give you a clear and satisfactory answer.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Islam concerns the name “Allah.” Some people believe that Muslims worship a different God than Christians, Jews and others, and some missionary organizations distribute literature in English in which they say such things as: “Allah is the god of the Muslims” and “Muhammad told people to believe in the God, Allah.” They thus imply and reinforce the idea that “Allah” is some sort of false deity.

This is totally incorrect because “Allah” is the same word that Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use for God. If you pick up an Arabic Bible, you will find the word “Allah” wherever “God” is used in English.

“Allah” is also the proper name of God. Therefore, Muslims use the name “Allah” even when they speak other languages.

In fact, “Allah” is a special word. It indicates the only entity in existence Who truly possesses the qualities of divinity and lordship, the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens and earth.

It is the name of the only being worthy of worship, the one upon whom all creation is dependent at every moment. This name belongs to God alone and no one else.

“Allah” is the only word in the Arabic language equivalent to “God” with a capital “G.” It is also a unique word grammatically since it cannot be made plural or given a masculine or feminine gender.

This is consistent with the Islamic concept of God. In English and other languages the word “god” can be used in various forms such as “God,” “gods” or “goddess,” all with different connotations and meanings.

The only difference between “god” (meaning a false god or any object of worship) and “God” (meaning the one true God) is a capital “G.”

Thus, a more accurate translation of “Allah” might be “the one and only true God.”

But there is another important point, which is that Islam is particularly concerned with the correct concept of God. Someone can have an erroneous concept of Him whether he uses the name “Allah” or the word “God.”

Followers of previous religions gradually deviated from the original pure belief in God due to the fact that their scriptures were not adequately protected from loss and alteration. None of these are still available for study in their original form or language.

But this is not true of the last divinely revealed message, the Quran. Hence, the accurate concept of God can be found therein.

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Source: This answer is based on the book of Clear Your Doubts about Islam by Sahih International.