Critics of Islam say that, before Muhammad, Arabs worshiped the pagan moon-God Hubal also known as Al-ilah  (which is claimed as the source of Allah).

• ilah  just means "god" 
• al = "the" in Arabic
• al - ilah  means "the god"

Before Muhammad:  In the same way, Semitic tribes would use il or el to refer to their various gods for thousands of years before Muhammad.

Example - Abraham used El from the Canaanite language to refer to God. El was used to form the Hebrew Eloah, which became Elohim.

• However, the word El was used to identify the chief deity of the Canaanite Pantheon (a pagan god).

Oddly, the Hebrew is very close to the Canaanite language.

In fact, all the monotheistic faiths adopted words from this language to refer to the one God.

• The Hebrew form of God: Eloah
• The Aramaic form of God: Alaha
• The Arabic form of God: Allah 

Conclusions: 

• All 3 of these Semitic words used for God share an identical language foundation.​

Take a closer look at the English word God:

• Derived from the Proto-Germanic pagan word gott, which denotes a particular demon or water spirit.

Does this mean that Christians are worshiping a pagan god because of the words origin?

• When Christians pray to God in English, they are NOT invoking a water spirit or praying to a pagan god.

• Nor are the Jews praying to a pagan god from the Canaanite Pantheon when praying to Elohim.

• In the same way that when Muslims pray to Allah, they are NOT worshiping a pagan moon God.

Over 500 years before Muhammad was born, Arab Christians and some Jews in the Arabian Peninsula called God Allah.

• Roughly 20+ million Arab Christians use Allah today when referring to God.

Jesus referred to God in His heart language of Aramaic as... Alaha

• When Jesus spoke about God in everyday conversation, he used Alaha, as would have every Aramaic speaker during the time of Jesus.