What are the differences between "Ya Allah" vs "Allahuma"?
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answers
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I have a little but not much knowledge of Arabic.
Although **God** is called `
Al-Karim
, I hear the invocation
Ya Karim
, but I never heard the invocation
Ya Al-Karim
or
Ya-l-Karim
. Same for other names of **God**: the definite article disappears from the vocative. Just as it would in English:
May the Lord have mercy on us
vs.
O Lord, have mercy on us
`
One big exception: `Ya Allah
, which I've heard lots. (With definite separation between the end of
Ya
and the start of
Allah
, there are three different "a" sounds. I'm not talking about
yalla
as in
let's go
`.)
Now I see that when my English translation of the Quran has `O God
, the original is
Allahuma
`. I don't know anything like this construction, where someone is addressed by tacking "-uma" at the end or something similar.
Though as I say, I'm not at all knowledgeable in Arabic and might easily have missed something. So is there a difference? Is `Ya Allah
in the Quran and I missed it? Is
Allahuma
preferred? Is
Allahuma
` a unique construction?
Asked by abd al Ahad
(74 rep)
Jan 24, 2013, 07:13 PM
Last activity: Feb 5, 2023, 10:17 AM
Last activity: Feb 5, 2023, 10:17 AM