الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ALL PRAISE is due to God,
إِنَّ إِلَهَكُمْ لَوَاحِدٌ Truly, your God is truly One!
Many non-Muslims have come to incorrectly believe that Allah is the ‘God of Muslims’ – A deity somehow different from the God of the other faiths. It should be emphasised that the term “Allah” has no implied meaning at all of an Arabian god, a Moon god or even a Muslim god. Muslims are not claiming any exclusiveness when they say “Allah”. However Allah is simply the Arabic Name of the one Almighty God; the same name by which Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians, refer to God. The Allah comes from the term ‘al-ilaah’. Al is the definite article in Arabic, equivalent to ‘the’ in English, while ilaah means ‘a deity or god’. So Allah means The God. This is beautifully articulated in the first pillar of Islam which is to believe that God is One, in Arabic it would be,“La ilaha illallah” meaning“There is no god but God”
Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest)
Allahu Akbar means ‘God is the Greatest’, meaning that nothing can supersede God or be better than Him. It is a common phraze in Islam and it features in the adhan and prayer. Muslims tend to use it for lots of reasons and to express many emotions.
INTRODUCTION
TO THE QURAN
The first word of the Quran to come down was Iqra`! (Read!), and the Angel Gabriel repeated it to the Prophet about 3 times while the Prophet explained he was illiterate and unable to read or write. Thereafter the rest of the initial verses during this first encounter were revealed:
In the Name of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful
[96.1] Read in the name of your Lord Who created.
[96.2] He created man from a clot.
[96.3] Read and your Lord is Most Honorable,
[96.4] Who taught (to write) with the pen
[96.5] Taught man what he knew not.
