Did Islam originate from Hinduism?

Sharma: Do you know that the Arabic word "Allah" derived from Sanskrit language? If you break down the word “Allah”, you get “Al+ilah”. The word for Goddess in Sanskrit is “ilah”. “Allah” is not the only word that Arabic language borrowed from Sanskrit. There are so many words that Arabic language borrowed from Sanskrit. I can give you the web links if you want to check out.

Abdullah: The word Allah is not a SPECIFIC name of God. It is a GENERAL name of God in Arabic language. Arab Jews and Christians call god by Allah but their God's actual name is Yahweh. Arab Hindus call God by Allah but their god's actual name is Rama. Arab Buddhists call God by Allah but their God's actual name is Buddha. Arab pagans call God by Allah but their god's actual name is Habul. They use the word Allah in general sense & actual names in specific sense. For example, the general word for God in Hindi language is Bhagavan. Indian Jews and Christians call god by Bhagavan but their God's actual name is Yahweh. Indian Hindu call God by Bhagavan but their god's actual name is Rama. Indian Buddhists call God by Bhagavan but their God's actual name is Buddha, and so on.

Do Muslims have a specific name of God? Muslims believe God doesn’t have a specific name. The reason why Muslims call God by “Allah” than by any other name is Quran was reveled on Arabic. And the word for “God” in Arabic language is “Allah”. God says we can call him by any best names (The Quran 17:110). There are two criteria of best names:

(1) We can’t call God by evil names (e.g., liar) or by weak names (e.g., powerless).

(2) We cannot call God by the positive or comparative forms a good adjective. We have to call God by the superlative form of a good adjective. For example, we cannot call God “powerful” or “more powerful”. Instead, we have to call God “the most powerful.”

Allah (Al-Elah) is the Arabic word which means “The-God” in English. “Al” means “The” and “Elah” means “God” in Arabic. The word “Allah” is derived from Hebrew, not from Sanskrit. The word for “God” in Hebrew is “Elohim”. Hebrew language borrowed the word “Elohim” from Sumerian language. The word for God in Sumerian is “ILU” and the word for goddess is “ILATI”. Sumerian is the oldest language of the world which dates back to 1000 BC. All three languages (Sumerian, Hebrew, and Arabic) are Semitic languages.

Note that just because Arabic language borrowed the GENERAL word for “God” from Sumerian language through Hebrew language, we cannot say Arabs worshipped the same Gods as Sumerians did. If you look at the history of Arabia prior to Islam, you will see that pagan idols of Arab religions were different than pagan idols of Sumerians. This proves different languages can borrow the GENERAL word for “God” from each other but the concept of God of the speakers of those different languages are different because they have SPECIFIC word for “God” when they address God in specific sense.

The question may be raised why a language will borrow “a general word for god” from other languages when that language already has “a general word for God”. When speakers of one language preach their religion to speakers of another language, “the general word for God” may enter from one language to another. Or, when speakers from one language start living with speakers of another language, “the general word for God” may enter from one language to another. For example, when Turkish Muslims ruled India, the word “Parvardigar” which is a general word for God in Turkish language entered Hindi language. Even today “Parvardigar” is used as a general name for God in Hindi language.

You said there are a lot of words that Arabic language borrowed from Sanskrit. What makes you so sure about it? It can be other way around too. It may be Sanskrit language that borrowed words from Arabic language when Arabs traders first came to India around 7th century AD. As I mentioned earlier, Arabic language did not borrow “the general word for God (Allah)” from Sanskrit language. But for the sake of argument if I say Arabic borrows “the general word for God (Allah)” from Sanskrit language, then I find no connection between the concepts of God in Islam & Hinduism. This is because both religions have specific way to call God which is separate and distinct from each other.

Reference:

Sumerian Dictionary:http://www.ping.de/sites/systemcoder/necro/info/sumerian.htm