Who Is Allah?
The name Muslims use for the one God
Allah is the Arabic word for God — the same God worshipped by Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews also use the word Allah for God. Surah Al-Ikhlas gives the clearest short summary of what Muslims believe about Him.
Overview
Allah is the personal name of God in Arabic. It has no plural. It has no gender. It is not a tribal god or a national god. It refers to the one Creator of everything — the same God whom Jews and Christians worship, described (from a Muslim perspective) most sharply and simply in the four short verses of Surah Al-Ikhlas.
What this means
The clearest short description of Allah in the Qur'an is Surah Al-Ikhlas, whose four verses are often summarised as: God is one; God is the eternal refuge; God does not have children and is not born of anything; and nothing is comparable to God.
Say, He is Allah, [who is] One.— Translation of the meaning by Sahih International
Allah, the Eternal Refuge.— Translation of the meaning by Sahih International
He neither begets nor is born.— Translation of the meaning by Sahih International
Nor is there to Him any equivalent.— Translation of the meaning by Sahih International
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.— Translation of the meaning by Sahih International
What this means
Muslims understand Allah as unique, self-sufficient, without partners, without children, and unlike anything in creation. He is described in the Qur'an with many names and attributes — the two most often repeated at the opening of each Qur'anic chapter are Ar-Rahman (the Most Merciful) and Ar-Raheem (the Especially Merciful). This heavy emphasis on mercy — captured in the hadith above about mercy being 'one hundred parts' — is central to how Muslims are meant to speak about God.
What this does not mean
Allah is not a different god from the God of the Bible in Muslim understanding. Arabic-speaking Christians pray to Allah using the same word. What Muslims and Christians differ on is the description of God — most notably, Muslims do not believe God has a son or partners — not on which God is being addressed.
Application today
For many Muslims, reciting or reflecting on Surah Al-Ikhlas is a way of returning to the essentials when belief feels complicated. The Prophet ﷺ described this short surah as equivalent in reward to a third of the Qur'an, precisely because it distils the message about who God is.
Reflection
How does the description of Allah in Surah Al-Ikhlas compare with what you already understand about God?