Ilah
ʾIlāh is an Arabic term meaning "deity" or "god". The feminine is ʾilāhat ; with the article, it appears as al-ʾilāhat. The Arabic word for God is thought to be derived from it though this is disputed. ʾIlāh is cognate to Northwest Semitic ʾēl and Akkadian ilum. The word is from a Proto-Semitic archaic biliteral ʔ-L meaning "god", which was extended to a regular triliteral by the addition of a h. The word is spelled either إلٰه with an optional diacritic alif to mark the ā only in Qur'anic texts or with a full alif, إلاه.
The term is used throughout the Quran in passages discussing the existence of God or the beliefs in other divinities by non-Muslims. Notably, the first statement of the is "There is no god except God."
