Crystal.
I'll be happy to show you scholarly sources. For future reference though, wikipedia has a 97.5% accuracy rate. Also I referenced wiki exactly twice on this thread. But it's no problem.
What is your method of research? I seem to remember you saying Muslims believe in the Holy Trinity.....Ironic, since you'd probably be executed in Saudi Arabia for saying that. You know good research clearly. I'll stick to the scholarly sources I find using Google.
Since my own words mean nothing to you, I'll be posting quotes found via this webpage [
http://www.plim.org/1Allah.html]. The creator of that webpage is Penny Warren, Assistant Dean at Northwestern University.
Introduction:
"The Hebrew title of God is "Elohim;" in Arabic it's "Allah." These two words for God have a common bond that most people don't understand.
Both of these words have their origin in pagan deities of the ancient past."
On Commonality of Origin:
"
Webster’s Dictionary gives the definition and etymology of Allah as follows. Allah is the Muslim name for "the God."
Allah is derived from two words "al," which means "the" and "ilah," which is related to the feminine Hebrew word for God, "eloah."
Now the Hebrew title or name for God is 'Elohim' and it is the plural form of eloah. It is made plural by adding "im," which is masculine. This corresponds to adding "s" to make a word plural in English. So the commonality between Allah and Elohim is "eloah" and "ilah."
According the Huston Smith’s book
The World’s Religions (p. 222), it states:
"Allah is formed by joining the definite article al meaning ‘the’ with Ilah (God). Literally, Allah means ‘The God.’ … When the masculine plural ending im is dropped from the Hebrew word for God, Elohim, the two words sound much alike." Eloah (Hebrew feminine) is similar to Ilah (God).
Both Elohim and Allah are titles and not names."
On 'Elohim' being derived from Canaanite theology:
""Elohim, the plural of the Hebrew word eloha, "god," a lengthened form of the Canaanite word el (Aramaic alaha; Arabic ilah), is most frequently used for the God of Israel in the Old Testament. …
The Israelites probably borrowed the Canaanite plural noun elohim and made it singular in meaning in their cultic practices and theological reflections (
The New Encyclopaiedia Britannica, Micropaedia, Vol. III, 15th Edition, p. 863).""
On Etymology of Allah:
"
Encyclopedia Britannica Micropedia (Vol. 1; p. 250) states the following about Allah:
"Etymologically, Allah is probably a contraction of the Arabic al-ilahh, "the God," although the Aramaic Alaha has also been proposed.
The origin of the name can be traced to the earliest Semitic writings in which the word for god was Il or El, the latter bring in the Old Testament synonym for Yahweh. Known to Arabs even in pre-Islamic times, Allah is standard Arabic for God And is used by Arab Christians as well as Muslims.""
Who is Allah?:
"Allaah is the Arabic word for 'one God,' [/I]the same as Eloh in Armaic.[/I] Allaah is not God of Muslims only. He is God of all creations, because He is their Creator and Sustainer." (From the Daar-ul-Ehsaan USA site,
"The Most Frequently Asked Questions About Islaam,"
http://www.daar-ul-ehsaan.org/faq.HTM#Allaah)
Conclusion:
"Although the etymology of Allah and Aleim (Elohim) is inconclusive, it is clear that the Jews, Christians, and Arabs are worshipping the same God or "All in All." None of these religions would deny that there is ONE source of life, regardless of what names or title The Creator is called. Innumerable names can be attributed to the Most High."
How's that for some quality research?