They were screaming “Allahu akbar” because as far as they were concerned, they were performing a pious action. The intention was to humiliate not just this 70-year-old woman, but the Christians in general, in accord with Qur’anic imperatives regarding the People of the Book:
“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful, and who do not adopt the religion of truth, even the People of the Book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission while they are humbled.” (Qur’an 9:29)
“They have been put under humiliation wherever they are overtaken, except for a covenant from Allah and a rope from the Muslims.” (Qur’an 3:112)
An update on this story. “What Egyptian President Tells 70-Year-Old Christian Woman Stripped Naked by Muslim Mob Might Annoy You Just a Little,” by Carly Hoilman, The Blaze, June 1, 2016:
Egypt’s president has promised to prosecute an armed Muslim mob that burned down the homes of Christians in the Minya province May 20. The attack came after that same group accused a Christian man of having an affair with a Muslim woman earlier last month, the Associated Press reported at the time.
Though the accused man was believed to have fled the country with his wife and children May 19, remaining Christian family members have faced extreme persecution in his absence. In addition to the fire, the mob also stripped the man’s 70-year-old Christian mother naked after dragging her out of her home.
The hashtag “#EgyptStrippedNaked” took off on social media last week shortly after it was introduced.
Although hundreds of Muslims participated in the May 20 attack, only six people were arrested, the AP reported.
According to Ahram Online, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Monday during a speech in Cairo that those responsible for what happened to the 70-year-old Christian woman and the homes burned to the ground in Minya will be held responsible.
“When I address my speech to this woman, I don’t say this [Christian] Egyptian because we are all one,” el-Sisi was quoted as saying. “I call on this woman not to be angered by what happened.”…
Anba Makarios, Minya’s top Christian cleric, told a talk show host on the private Dream TV network last week that, after the mob stripped the 70-year-old mother and grandmother naked, they forced her to walk through the streets naked as they chanted “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great.”
The woman waited five days to report the incident to the police, Makarios said, adding that she had initially found it too difficult to “swallow the humiliation” she suffered and notify authorities….