Allahu Akbar (God is Greater)

Although the phrase "Allahu Akbar" (الله أكبر) is a common phrase used by all Muslims in various situations, including the Salah (obligatory five prayers a day) and has even been used in the past by some non-Muslims as a show of support for the protesting Iranians, it is widely associated with the Muslims who shout it whilst engaged in Jihad. Many people claim it is simply the Arabic translation of a common English phrase meaning "God is great!" This article analyzes this apologetic claim by examining the use of the phrase in scripture, and the use of these words in their original Arabic.

Allah

Claim: 'Allah' is simply the Arab word for 'God.'

Fact: 'God' in Arabic is translated 'ilah,' not 'Allah.'

Allah = الله (alif ا, lam ل, lam ل, ha ه)

ilah = اله (alif ا, lam ل, ha ه)

Evidence

The Shahadah is one of the five pillars of Islam, and is recited by all Muslims:

As you can see, even though many English speaking Muslims claim it states "there is no god but God", this is not the case. Muslims view the name Allah as a proper noun, as opposed to a common noun descriptive applicable to any deity. Allah is not the generic word for 'god' in Arabic, but the name of Islam's deity.

Why some Apologists insist 'Allah' means 'God'

For some, it is a lie told to facilitate proselytisation (Da'wah). For others, it is purely out of ignorance. Language is always evolving, so the actual definition of a word and its popular usage can, and very often does, differ. For example, 'gay' still means 'happy' but through its use in western pop-culture, it can also mean 'homosexual'. This is also the case for the word "Allah" in predominantly Muslim cultures and societies. It is used interchangeably with 'God', as most people are Muslims; to them Allah is God, thus to make a distinction would be redundant.

Some are willing to take advantage of people's ignorance of the Arabic language when it suits their purpose. For example: the false conversion story of pop legend Michael Jackson. A video entitled 'Inshallah' (Allah willing) has been doing the rounds on user-contributed media sites like YouTube. It contains edited footage of Michael Jackson using the phrase 'Inshallah,' and its editor proudly proclaimed on its page "only Muslims say Inshallah." a view which was echoed by many of the Muslim commentators who viewed it. However, it was simply a case of selective editing. The Muslim who made the video had cut off the first part of Michael's statement. It was a 12 year-old promo for his Tunisian fans on the eve of his HIStory world tour. Since Arabic is Tunisia's official language and since Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians living in Tunisia also use the phrase 'Inshallah', it was not proof that he had converted to Islam.

In another case in Malaysia, the government banned Christians from using the word 'Allah' in reference to the Christian God,^[1] and in one incident, reported by CNN in October of 2009, twenty-thousand Bibles were seized by authorities because they referred to the Christian God as 'Allah,'^[2] completely disregarding the fact that due to the evolution of the Malay language, which has borrowed extensively from Arabic, Sanskrit and Portuguese, there is no indigenous Malay word for 'God' other than the pagan 'Allah'. It was reported that in 2010 a court ruling overturned the ban, a decision which the government has appealed against, insisting that it should remain in place.^[3] This decision to allow Christians to use the word 'Allah' has led to violent protests and bombings of several Malaysian churches.^[3] One of the protesters summed up the thoughts of many Malaysian Muslims, stating, “Allah is only for us, The Christians can use any word, we don’t care, but please don’t use the word Allah.”^[3]

So, according to Muslims, is 'Allah' the word for 'God' or the name of their particular deity distinct from the God of Christianity and Judaism? No doubt you will receive very different answers depending on the situation. However, the original Arabic script found within the Qur'an tells you all that you need to know.

Akbar

Claim: 'Akbar' means 'great.'

Fact: 'Akbar' in English is translated 'greater,' not 'great.'

Great = كبير (Kebir)

Greater = أكبر (Akbar)

Evidence

Kebir and akbar are not interchangeable words. For evidence, we only need look to the Qur'an. Both kebir (great) and akbar (greater) are used in the following verse:

Allahu Akbar

Lane's Lexicon and Other Sources

Lane's Lexicon, the most revered and scholarly dictionary of the Arabic language, confirms the majority view is that "Allahu Akbar" refers to Allah being "greater". Unlike in its early years, so does Wikipedia, stating the phrase literally means "God is greater". But is usually translated "God is [the] Greatest," or "God is Great".^[5] Similarly, Pierre Tristam, the Lebanese-American About.com Guide states, although most often translated as "god is great," Allahu Akbar is Arabic for "god is greater," or "god is greatest."^[6] Many news sources and other web resources are now also beginning to use the more correct translation.

Used in Context by Muhammad

"Allahu Akbar" has been used historically by Muslims as a battle cry during war.^[7] This precedent was set by Prophet Muhammad when he attacked the Jews of Khaibar.

In the following sahih hadith, you can see the phrase has been translated correctly into English by Muslims.

One must also note that if the word "Allah" meant "God", why then would he be telling the Jews of Khaibar (who supposedly worship the same god) that Islam's Allah is greater?

Here are a few more quotes which use the phrase "Allahu Akbar".

Many Muslims and their apologists claim "Allahu Akbar" is simply the Arabic translation of a common English phrase meaning "God is great!" However, this is untrue. "Allahu Akbar" does not mean "God is great" as claimed. It actually means "Allah is greater."

'Allah' is not simply the Arabic word for 'God,' but the name of Islam's chosen deity and 'Akbar' does not mean 'great', but 'greater'. Greater than what? The answer is, Allah is greater than whatever god you happen to believe in.

• Allah - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Allah
• Islamic Terms - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Islamic Terms

• Allahu Akbar - Muslim Arabic speaker, commenting on this page, confirms "Allahu Akbar" means "Allah is greater" (not "God is great)"