The Meaning Of The Name Allah In The Qur'an According To Allamah Tabatabai

'Audhu bi-Llahi al-Sami' al-'Alim, min al-shaytan al-rajeem, Bismillah, Al-Rahman Al-Rahim, wa salla-Llahu 'alaa sayyidina Muhammad wa 'aala 'aalihi, at-tayibin, at-taahirin.

So continuing with our discussion on the Bismillah, in this video we are going to look at three names of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. The first is the name 'Allah' and the first discussion concerning the name of Allah is what its linguistic root is and broadly speaking, there are two opinions.

The first is that it is with the meaning of the 'One that is worshipped', so it comes from an original meaning of 'A-ba-da', which means to worship, but meaning here, of course, 'the One that is worshipped.'

And the second opinion is that it comes from 'bewilderment' and so, again, that would mean that the name Allah in its original form meant the 'One with whom the intellects are bewildered by His essence.'

However, Allamah Tabatabaa'i when he comes to speak about the meaning of the name 'Allah', does not consider the discussion concerning the origin of the word to be important. What is important for Allamah Tabataba'i is that the name 'Allah' is a designated name for Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala, for God.

But before we get onto that, Allamah Tabataba'i explains that this word was in use before the advent of Islam and for that he refers to two Aayat of the Holy Qur'an, where Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala says, ' wa la'in sa'altahum man khalaqahum la yaqulunna Allah' (43:87)- 'So if you ask them who created them, they will say Allah.' And of course, here it is in reference to the people who at the time of Revelation did not believe in Islam, yet they referred to Allah as God. So this is to show that the word 'Allah' existed at the time of the Holy Prophet and at the time of Revelation.

And in another verse, Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, says, 'fa qaalu haadhaa li-Llahi bi za'mihim wa haa dhaa li shurakaa'ina' (6:136). So in this verse, the Mushrikin [polytheists] split between Allah and their other gods but they still recognize Allah and they recognize other gods and they use the word 'Allah'.

So now returning back to the issue of the name Allah being a designated term, Allamah Tabataba'i stipulates that it is a designated term for 'the One who has all of the beautiful names and all of the beautiful actions that follow on from those beautiful names.' The super-abundant essence that is All Perfection and for this reason, the name Allah is not like the other names.

The name Allah can be described, but it cannot be used in a descriptive sense. So, for example, you can say Allah, the most merciful, but you cannot say the most merciful Allah, here in the sense of an adjective, because, as you know, in order to describe something, that thing has to be established. So, for example, you can say, Ali the brave but grammatically it is incorrect to say the brave Ali.

So for Allamah Tabataba'i the name of Allah, is a name which is designated for the 'Essence of the necessary existent, which contains all of the attributes of perfection.' But of course, he also concedes that if you do not accept his view in this regard, then the meaning of Allah is 'He who is worshipped' or 'He whose essence bewilders the intellects.'

So this is as far as the discussion on the name 'Allah' goes in 'Tafsir-ul-Mizaan' but of course there is much more discussion in other books.