Allahumma

S 3:26 Say: Allahumma, owner of the dominion, you give the dominion to whom you will and take away the dominion from whom you will and honour whom you will and vulgarise whom you will. In your hand is good. You are almighty.

S 5:114 Isa son of Maryam said: Allahumma our lord, send down upon us a table from the sky being for us a festival for the first of us and the last of us and a sign from you. And provide us, and you are the best of providers.

S 8:32 And when they said: Allahumma, if this was the truth from you, rain stones from the sky upon us or bring us painful torture.

S 10:10 Their invocation therein is: Praise be to you, Allahumma. And their greeting therein is: Peace. And the last of their invocation: Praise be to Lah, lord of the ‘alamin.

S 39:46 Say: Allahumma! Splitterof the skies and the Earth, knower of the ghayb and the testimony! You judge among your slaves concerning what they used to differ in.

Muslims will say that there is no plural form of Allah. From an Answering Islam article:

Elohim in Islam

In the context of Islam, some scholars have speculated that the divine name Allahumma, used in the Qur’an as a variation of Allah, may be related to Elohim. (Source)

The Islamic Party of Britain argues in defense of Muhammad being mentioned by name in Song of Songs that:

The Holy Prophet King Solomon names this bringer of Peace / Shalom, as "Muhammadim" the suffix "im" is used to express absolute respect as with the "im" added to "Eloah" to make "Elohim" (Allahumma) which denotes absolute respect for God. (David Pidcock, "Letter from the Leader"; source)

The following online Islamic fatwa site adds:

Consider the usage in Hebrew of the word "Elohim". Elohim stands for the concept of the Supreme Being, along with His attributes. We Muslims say Allahumma for Allah and His attributes, or names and characteristics. Those who went astray, after they knew the truth from bani Isra’il are known in Arabic as "yahud". They were not content with the limitations of Allah in any fashion, and were always adding or deleting to that which Allah had ordained. Similarly, they do the same behavior today, with genetic engineering, euthanasia and cryonics etc., forever exceeding the limits of Allah, even in regards to life and death! (Ask About Islam, "God… or Allah?", November 8. 2004; source)

Another Muslim source says:

The Qur’an also uses the related name Allahumma, which may be an Arabic rendering of Elohim, a word for ‘God’ or ‘Deity’ used in the text of the Hebrew Bible. It is interesting to note that the Aramaic word "El", which is the word for God in the language that Jesus spoke, is certainly more similar in sound to the word "Allah" than the English word "God". This also holds true for the various Hebrew words for God, which is "El" and "Elah", and the plural form "Elohim". The reason for these similarities is that Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic are all Semitic languages with common origins. It should also be noted that in translating the Bible into English, the Hebrew word "El" is translated variously as "God", "god" and "angel." This imprecise language allows different translators, based on their preconceived notions, to translate the word to fit their own views. The Arabic word "Allah" presents no such difficulty or ambiguity, since it is only used for Almighty God alone. (V.A. Mohamad Ashrof, Can Muslims Use 'God' instead of 'Allah'?; source)

In a Christian-Muslim discussion forum a Muslim poster named H20 writes:

Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 01:33 am

Also the semitic linguistical pluralization of the name Allah in its ancient form" Allahumma" expresses the vocative and the greatness of Majesty written through out the Quran…

Webby, to bring to your attention also the word "elohim" made of the Hebrew consonant letters Alef, Lamed, He, Mem (ALHM) can be read and pronounced "Allahumma" where the written consonants letters in Arabic are Alif, Laam, Laam, Ha'a, Meem (ALLHM) to read "Allahumma" in Arabic also.

Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 12:51 pm

We produced the semitic pluralization of meem (m) a suffixed ending to nouns which is also the vocative particle of "yaa" in Arabic used as "Allahumma" 5 times in the Quran…

No other word in the Arabic language can take the suffixing of "meem" (m) which is a pluralization ending in Hebrew and other semitic languages. It would be common sense that this form of the name (Allahumma) clearly makes the name not of Arabic origin, but predates it to another language that used such a grammatical system that was eventually Arabicized due to the development of the Arabic language which in reality does not host such a grammatical function with any other Arabic word. (WE, US. OUR !!!!!!!!!!; source)

According to the Muslim website Bismikaallahuma, the Hebrew phrase B'shemkha Elohim ("In the name of God") is Hebrew for Bismika Allahuma (Bismika Allahuma F.A.Q., What does "Bismika Allahuma" mean?; source).

One of the writers from this site, Mohd Elfie Nieshaem Juferi (M.E.N.J.), states elsewhere that:

Seems like the Bible was trying to talk about "Allah" all along as "aaliha" is the general form from which "Allah" is derived. Franz Delitzch's theory is that "Elohim" is actually an Aramaic attempt at "Allah". Keep in mind that words such as "Eloh" and "Abraham" predate the Hebrew language by hundreds of years. The royal plural of "Eloh", which is "Elohim" very similar to the way Muslims plea to Allah in the form of "Allahuma". (The Origins of "ALLAH"- A Refutation to Quennel Gale’s Article "Allah"; source 1; source 2; bold and underline emphasis ours)

The probability of Allahumma being derived from the Hebrew becomes all the more likely when we take into consideration that one of Muhammad’s relatives, the monk Waraqa bin Naufal, used to read and write in Hebrew:

… Khadija then accompanied him to her cousin Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin ‘Abdul ‘Uzza, who, during the Pre-Islamic Period became a Christian and used to write the writing with Hebrew letters. He would write from the Gospel in Hebrew as much as Allah wished him to write… (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3)

Thus, this makes it quite plausible that Allahumma is indeed a plural and literally means "gods."

In fact, the late Rashad Khalifa rendered Allahumma as "Our god" in his version of the Quran:

Say, "Our god: possessor of all sovereignty…" S. 3:26

Khalifa’s rendering presupposes that the suffix umma in Allahumma is a plural possessive pronoun that is attached to the word Allah. This provides indirect evidence that the word is plural, not singular.

Another Muslim claims that Allahumma is a reference to Allah and Muhammad together!

What does Allahumma mean? Most people translate it as O Allah. If Allahumma means O Allah, then what does Ya Allah mean? Again the translation will be O Allah. If both Allahumma and Ya Allah both translate to O Allah, then why do we need two different forms in Arabic to say the same thing? If we look at the Arabic script, Allahumma is written . Allahumma is the Name Allah appended with the letter Meem. Allahumma starts with Alif and ends with Meem…

When we tag a Meem after the Name Allah, and ask by saying Allahumma, we recognise Allah as our Creator and we also recognise Muhammad as the Messenger of Allah. When we ask Allah by saying Allahumma what we are really saying is Allah, we love You and follow your Messenger Muhammad . (Khalid M. Malik Ghouri, "MEEM - THE ARABIC LETTER," part 2; source)

This, too, assumes that Allahumma is a kind of plural since it has two referents in view, namely Allah and Muhammad.

One Muslim, a follower of the movement started by Rashid Khalifa, even claims that Allahumma is a unique word that really isn’t from Allah:

[YUKSEL: Years after this internet debate, I noticed that some other people are also raising the question about ALLAHUMMA (translated as 'our Lord'), which occurs 5 times in the Quran. They ask why this word is not included in the count of ALLAH (God), which is 2698 (19x142). Those who know basics of Arabic grammar will know the reason easily. Those who do not have this knowledge can learn the difference by checking the context of the usage of ALLAHUMMA and ALLAH. Here are few clues for those who do not know Arabic:

1. "UMMA" is not really a suffix. There is no such a suffix in Arabic. ALLAHUMMA is an abbreviated statement usually translated "o my/our Lord."

2. ALLAHUMMA differs from ALLAH since it cannot be the subject in a statement. Therefore, you cannot replace ALLAHUMMA in the statements where ALLAH is the subject. For instance, "ALLAH created the universe." In Arabic you cannot say "ALLAHUMMA created the universe." Thus, the word ALLAHUMMA is not the same as ALLAH.

3. ALLAHUMMA is also different than all other attributes of God, and it may not be considered an attribute at all. For instance you can say "ALLAH is Merciful," but you cannot say, "ALLAH is ALLAHUMMA."

4. ALLAHUMMA, though it contains the word ALLAH, yet it is a different word. For instance, though the attributes HAKAM (Judge) and HAKYM (Wise) contain the root letters HKM, yet they are in different forms and have different meanings. Thus each is counted separately. Another example is RAHMAN (Gracious) and RAHYM (Merciful). Though both contain the root letters RHM, yet they are in different forms and thus they are counted separately.] (Edip Yuksel, "365 Days: Literal Harmony and Astronomical Events "; source)

Both the hadiths and Islamic references claim that Allahumma was even used by pagan Arabs in their worship, specifically in relation to the rites of Hajj which the pagans were observing long before Muhammad’s time:

They say that the beginning of stone worship among the sons of Ishmael was when Mecca became too small for them and they wanted more room in the country. Everyone who left the town took with him a stone from the sacred area to do honour to it. Whenever they settled they set it up and walked round it as they went round the Ka‘ba. This led them to worship what stones they pleased and those which made an impression on them. Thus as generations passed they forgot their primitive faith and adopted another religion for that of Abraham and Ishmael. They worshiped idols and adopted the same errors as the peoples before them. Yet they retained and held fast practices going back to the time of Abraham, such as honouring the temple and going round it, the great and little pilgrimage, and the standing on ‘Arafa and Muzdalifa, sacrificing the victims, and the pilgrim cry at the great and little pilgrimage, while introducing elements which had no place in the religion of Abraham. Thus, Kinana and Quraysh used the pilgrim cry: ‘At Thy service, O God [Allahumma], at Thy service!’ At Thy service, Thou without an associate but the associate that Thou hast. Thou ownest him and what he owns.’ They used to acknowledge his unity in their cry and then include their idols with God, putting the ownership of them in His hand. God said to Muhammad: ‘Most of them do not believe in God without associating others with Him,’ i.e. they do not acknowledge My oneness with knowledge of My reality, but they associate with Me one of My creatures. (Guillaume, pp. 35-36; bold and underline emphasis ours)

[Azr. i. 73. ‘Amr b. Lu’ayy set up Manat on the sea-shore near Qudayd. Azd and Ghassan went on pilgrimage to it and revered it. When they had made the compass of the Ka‘ba and hastened from ‘Arafat and completed the rites at Mina they did not shave their hair until they got to Manat, to whom they would cry Labbayki… (Ibid., p. 39; bold and underline emphasis ours)

The Muslims adapted this practice and tried to justify doing so by repackaging it in a monotheistic context and by asserting that this was initially an Abrahamic ritual which the Arabs later paganized:

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar: The Talbiya of Allah's Apostle was: 'Labbaika Allahumma labbaik, Labbaika la sharika Laka labbaik, Inna-l-hamda wan-ni'mata Laka walmulk, La sharika Laka' (I respond to Your call O Allah, I respond to Your call, and I am obedient to Your orders, You have no partner, I respond to Your call All the praises and blessings are for You, All the sovereignty is for You, And You have no partners with you. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 26, Number 621)

What the foregoing shows, however, is that Allahumma was being used in reference to the praise and worship that the pagans were giving to their gods. It is therefore quite plausible that the Muslim sources, being embarrassed by this, tried to then soften the impact of this fact by arguing that the pagans used the expression only in connection to Allah, not to the other gods. The Quran, Allah and Plurality Issues