穆斯林用“安拉”这个名称来称呼宇宙的创造者。事实上，在提到真主时，全世界所有讲阿拉伯语的人，无论犹太人、基督徒还是穆斯林，都使用“安拉”这一名称。作为母语为英语的人，很少听到有人用外语称呼真主。但我们必须记住，对世界上大部分人口而言，英语也是一门外语。英语是一种西日耳曼语，其历史不到两千年。在英语出现之前，人们使用各种语言向真主祈祷。耶稣讲希伯来语；一些学者认为他也讲阿拉姆语；因此，他所用的称呼，在母语为英语的人看来，也属于“外语”。根据《圣经》，耶稣呼求真主时使用的名称是“以利，以利”。（马可福音 15:34）

Muslims refer to the Creator of the Universe using the name Allah. In fact, when referring to God, the name Allah is used worldwide by all Ar abic-speaking people, Jews, Christians, and Muslims. As a native English speaker, it is uncommon to hear someone refer to God in a foreign language. But we must remember, English is a foreign language to much of the world’s population. English is a West German ic language which is less than 2,000 years old. Before English existed, people prayed to God using various languages. Jesus spoke Hebrew; some scholars say he also spoke Aramaic; thus, he referred to God in what a native English speaker would consider a “for eign language.” According to the Bible, Jesus called upon God using the name Eloi. (Mark 15:34)

今天，世界上大约有7000种语言；许多社群以英语以外的多种语言向上帝祈祷。因此，当一位讲西班牙语的基督徒使用“Dios”一词指称上帝时，没有人会认为他指的是某个仅属于西语社群的神明。相反，公正的人会明白，“Dios”指的就是上帝。同样，在阿拉伯语中，“Allah”指的就是上帝。

Today, almost 7,000 languages exist in the world; and societies continue to pray to God in many languages other than English. For this reason, when a Spanish-speaking Christian refers to God using the name Dios, no one assumes he is referring to a deity specific to the Hispanic com munity. Rather, the fair-minded person understands that Dios refers to God. Similarly, in the Arabic language, Allah refers to God.