Mert Ney, the convert to Islam in Australia who recently went on a stabbing spree, shouted, as jihadis invariably do, “Allahu akbar.” And just as invariably, in the Western world these two words were translated in two different ways, both of them incorrect. Robert Spencer dealt with the proper translation of this phrase several years ago, so I am merely following his lead in contributing my own astonished mite, that even now, nowhere does one find this Arabic phrase’s meaning accurately conveyed.
According to Agencia EFE, “while being chased in the streets of the Sydney Central Business District during his Tuesday rampage, Ney shouted ‘Shoot me in the (expletive) head!’ followed by ‘Allahu akbar’ (‘God is greatest’ in Arabic).” Also, if you search for BBC stories about other Muslim killers, “Allahu akbar” is always translated as “God is greatest.” It’s the BBC house style, apparently.
The Australian goes with a second alternative, in more-in-sadness-than-in-anger mode: “As he lunged at office workers, the man shouted ‘Allahu akbar!’ — God is Great, probably the best known Arabic phrase in the West; the sublime poetic tradition of that language is sadly obscured.” The American newspaper of record, the New York Times, always goes with “God is great,” as does its rival, the Washington Post.
After another jihadi, Cherif Cherkatt, opened fire at the Strasbourg Christmas Market last December, CNN offered still a third alternative: “ A gunman who opened fire near a popular Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg shouted the Arabic phrase ‘Allahu Akbar,’ meaning ‘God is greater,’ at the time of the attack and was also carrying a knife, a Paris prosecutor said Wednesday.” For CNN’s reporters, it’s always “God is greater.”
In an increasing number of papers, they often get around the problem by not bothering to translate “Allahu akbar” at all. They leave it in Arabic, and let the reader decide for himself what that phrase means. But that’s a dereliction of duty. It’s the journalist’s job to make the meaning of important foreign phrases clear. And “Allahu akbar” is, when used by jihadis, a very important phrase indeed.
The Daily Mail is one of those that no longer bothers to offer a translation: “A woman has allegedly shouted ‘Allahu akbar’ before stabbing two people with a box cutter in a supermarket in southern France.”
Le Monde and Le Figaro and The Times (London) and The Telegraph are among the many leading papers that do not translate the phrase. Perhaps their reporters realized that there was something not quite right about each of the three versions on offer (God Is Great, God Is Greater, God Is Greatest), but weren’t sure what to do about it, and decided not to translate the phrase at all. Anyway, we all know what the phrase means — don’t we? No.
“God is Great” is the least disturbing of the three off-the-rack translations of the Arabic phrase. For Believers in one of “the three great monotheisms,” that’s just a statement of fact: God Is Great. What Believer would disagree? No comparisons, invidious or otherwise, are being made.
“Allahu akbar” can be used in a wide variety of ways. It may have nothing to do with Jihad, but be an expression of fatalism, or dismay, or astonishment, or pleasure: That maple tree collapsed in a storm and smashed in the roof. Allahu akbar. I failed my driving test. Allahu akbar. The stock market went down 700 points this morning. Allahu akbar. He won the lottery. Allahu akbar. I’m taking early retirement and going to sail to the Galapagos. Allahu akbar. Or it might be a way to express appreciation of various kinds: Just look at Gisele Bundchen on the cover of Vogue. Allahu akbar. Or: Your grandchildren are so darling. Allahu akbar.
But none of those expressions — of fatalism, dismay, pleasure, appreciation, etc. — have anything to do with what “Allahu akbar” means when it is uttered by jihadis. It’s what Mohammad Atta intended to say when, in a letter to himself, he wrote of his intention to utter “Allahu akbar” on the plane he would commandeer, as a terrifying war cry, sure to “strike terror” in the hearts of the Infidel passengers. It’s what Major Nidal Hasan yelled when he killed 13 of his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood. It’s what Said and Cherif Kouachi shouted as they murdered the staff at Charlie Hebdo. It’s what the Muslim who rammed his truck into pedestrians in Nice shouted. It’s what the terrorists who shot up the Bataclan nightclub yelled. It’s what the killers of Drummer Lee Rigby kept repeating, as they first ran him down and then dismembered him with knives.
When shouted just before, or while committing, or just after committing, a violent act against Infidels, the context tells us that “Allahu akbar” must be understood as a war cry, a supremacist or triumphalist exclamation. We can terrorize, we can defeat you, the Infidels. Grammatically, it means ”Our God is greater.” Greater than what? is the obvious question. Semantically, to properly convey its meaning, it has to be translated by adding a few additional words: “Our God is greater than your God,” or “Our God is greater than anything you can think of.”
Why is it that the New York Times and the Washington Post and the Guardian, when they bother to english it at all, continue to translate “Allahu akbar” as “God is great”? Why does the BBC stick with “God is greatest”? And why can’t the Western media that, with “God is greater,” come the closest to what the phrase means, convey the proper meaning by adding a few words: “Our God is greater than your God”? It could reflect ignorance: they just don’t know what the phrase, when used by jihadis, means. Or it could reflect a deliberate desire not to convey the true meaning of the phrase, with its obvious supremacism that can only harden hearts and minds against Muslims. And that, of course, would never do.
Now supposing some intelligent journalists — even at the Times, even at the Post — are willing to concede that the best way to translate the phrase “Allahu akbar” is “Our God is greater than your God.” But they are faced with doubters, who insist that that translation is too long and too unwieldy for a newspaper article. Just think, they say, of how it would read: “Mert Ney shouted ‘Allahu akbar’ (‘Our God is greater than your God’) as he stabbed random people in Sydney.” Or imagine someone on the radio saying it: “Said Kouachi shouted ‘Allahu akbar’ (‘Our God is greater than your God’) as he ran from the office of Charlie Hebdo.” It could be rejected for its length alone. There is a simple way to convey the meaning of “Allahu akbar,” without having to add all those words. That is to begin with the possessive pronoun: “Our God is greater.” The “Our” is in obvious opposition to the unstated “Your.” And the triumphalist essence of “Allahu akbar,” when a jihadi uses the phrase — “Our God is greater than Your God” — is properly conveyed.
Antiislamicman says
You’re dead?
mgoldberg says
+1
mortimer says
Agree … when Muslims say ‘Allahu akbar’ to kafirs, the meaning is that the Jihadists are prepared to attack.
When you hear those words uttered near you, duck, and take the safety off, if you are carrying.
James Lincoln says
mortimer,
Muslims/leftists may interpret your posting is being Islamophobic.
They may, however, be the first ones to duck – and take the safety off their 45…
CRUSADER says
James Lincoln, why would a piously leftist liberal have a .45 at hand anyway?
The illogic of that scenario frankly astounds!
James Lincoln says
Yes, CRUSADER,
Mostly true – however I’ve known a few who actually pack… They just don’t want anybody else to…
CRUSADER says
Ah! Yes!
Hypocrites.
So classic for being self-righteous Lefties.
As the great David Horowitz says:
“Inside every progressive is a totalitarian tyrant screaming to get out!”
https://www.davidhorowitzfreedomcenter.org/
CRUSADER says
Alḥamdulillāh ! 👊🏼
Our! Thanks be to Heavens!
More EMPATHY needed — and ironic humor!
If in maths class, and a Moslem student next to you aces an algebra exam then exclaims in not so hushed tone “———-“ , one should duck and cover???
The joke of the Moslem pals who wave to each other on a train as they both look for an open seat to sit in for their long commute, exclaim upon finding accommodations: “Allahuakbar!”
The joke of the Moslem on a plane who sees his long lost friend make it in time to the airport gate :
“Hi Jack! Allahuakbar!”….
The joke of the drinking tavern opening up in a kafir populated zone of some mainly devout Christian community, and the name of the establishment? “Allah Who Ak Bar”….
CRUSADER says
“ Oh! Thanks be to Heavens! “
——————————————
(I’m wearing my gauntlet; darned small screen and keypad, today!!!)
gravenimage says
Yes–even Leftists would be apt to hit the ground or run for the exits if they hear someone shouting “Allahu Akbar!”.
mortimer says
“ALLAHU AKBAR” means literally ‘Allah is greater’ (i.e. greater than another deity such as AL-LAT or AL-UZZA). ‘Akbar’ is an adjective in the COMPARATIVE DEGREE and means ‘bigger’.
AL UZZA was the Arabian Venus or Aphrodite. She was often called CHABAR or al-kubra (literally the great one). Similar to Mighty Aphrodite. Sometimes it seems Al-Uzza was conflated with the goddess Diana (Great Diana).
The cry of ALLAHU AKBAR is essentially misogynistic and an attack on the female deity Al-UZZA also known as KUBRA.
‘Allahu akbar’ is a PLAY ON WORDS to mock the followers of Al Uzza by saying ALLAH IS GREATER THAN YOUR ‘GREAT, MIGHTY APHRODITE-AL KUBRA’.
-In June 628, Muhammad led a Muslim army against the Jewish community of Khaybar. Muhammad told his warriors, “You will not go out with me unless you desire jihad. As for plunder, there will be none.” The battle cry of the Muslims was “O victorious one, slay, slay!” As the Muslims attacked, Muhammad called out, “Allah akbar! Khaybar is destroyed.”
-In 624 at the ‘battle called Uhud’, the war cry of the Qurayshites was, “O people of Uzzā, people of Hubal!” Al-‘Uzzá also later appears in Ibn Ishaq’s account of the alleged Satanic Verses.
– St John of Damascus wrote: “These (Saracens/Arabs) used to be idolaters and worshiped the morning star and Aphrodite, whom in their own language they called Khabár, which means great.”
-The name of the tribe of QURAYSHA is assumed to come from the name HÉ KORÉ (Gr. the Maiden).
Mohammed’s tribe thus worshipped APHRODITE. Mohammed’s war cry is a rejection of his own tribal culture and his effort to bend them to his will.
ALLAHU AKBAR is a very aggressive statement referring to supremacism.
R Russell says
Mortimer,
Many thanks for your interesting information. Just goes to show how all pagan religions can be traced back to Babylon .
CRUSADER says
Worshipped the morning star — LUCIFER
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!”
“Fallen from heaven”:
see Luke 10:15, 18 for the words of Jesus Christ regarding the fall of Satan.
“Lucifer” or “Day-star” (Hebrew: הילל hēylēl, from הלל hâlal, “to shine”).
Ade Ekundayo says
“ALLAH” does not mean “God”. Allah is the name of the God worshiped by the Quaresh (Mohamed’s Tribe in Mecca). Certainly there are several Gods including Elohim, Baal, etc. Allah Akbar means Allah too is Great or simply Allah is Great, not God is Great. There is no way one can say Allah Akbar means Elohim is Great.
Those who says it means God is Great or Greater or Greatest falls under the supposition that Allah is the ONLY God and there is none but he.
mortimer says
Agree with AE. There are a number of hadiths which show Mohammed believed in the existence of other deities himself. When a naked black woman was chased from a temple of Al-Lat and murdered by Mohammed’s raiders, Mohammed replied, “That was Al-Lat”.
Greg Zotta says
Allahu Akbar is the Muslim jihadist war cry.
CRUSADER says
“Allah Is Greater Than Your God or Government.“
(“Allahu akbar” can be a declaration of joy and gratitude to Allah…)
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2015/12/25/allahu-akbar-means-almost-everything-except-establishment-media-says/
Dan L. Boone says
Allah was a moon goddess, the goddesses in the koran are her 3 moon goddess
daughters.
mortimer says
Agree with Boone. Many scholars believe that Mohammed’s father’s name of ABDULLAH should be Abd-Al-Lat, meaning the ‘servant of Al-Lat’.
Michael Copeland says
” Why does the BBC stick with “God is greatest”?”
The BBC employs many muslims.
Callmelennie says
Because it is basically accurate. Arabic doesn’t have a definitive three part breakdown of “great, greater, greatest.” It’s basically “kabir, Akbar” You can add the definitive article “Al” and form “Al Akbar” which kinda-sorta means greatest. But the meaning is as Robert says, “our deity is superior to yours and is the one who MUST be worshipped.”
gravenimage says
This translation also whitewashes Islam.
Angemon says
The glory of diversity quotas…
Rufolino says
When the BBC caters for its numerous Moslem employees, trying not to upset them, they are simply a microcosm of what the United Kingdom is today.
No Muzzies Here says
What does the “hu” mean? It’s attached to Allah. Is it a redundant pronoun meaning “He”? Allah, he is greater? Or does it mean “our”?
mortimer says
No, “- hu” is a masculine noun ending in Classical Arabic.
CRUSADER says
Hu knew !
Anjuli Pandavar says
Hugh knew!
CRUSADER says
A group of over 20 Muslims stormed a debate featuring Muslim writer Irshad Manji in Amsterdam last night, threatening to break Manji’s neck as they issued cries of “Allahu Akbar,” (“God is great”) according to witnesses and Manji’s own Twitter feed.
Though they reportedly claimed to be part of the group Sharia4Holland, witnesses stated that they spoke with a Flemish (Belgian) accent, and were likely members of Sharia4Belgium, one of a number of groups of Muslim extremists seeking to install sharia law in Europe. Irshad Manji is a practicing Muslim who promotes modernization and reform within the faith. She is the author of several books, including “The Trouble With Islam Today”.
The events took place only two days after Dutch-Moroccan Muslim youth threw stones at a Santa Claus in the Slotervaart section of Amsterdam. In recent years, the festivities surrounding the arrival of “Sint” to the Netherlands have been cancelled in several cities as a result of threats and violence perpetrated by radicalized Muslim youth in the Netherlands.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/abigailesman/2011/12/08/belgian-muslims-threaten-canadian-author-on-book-tour/#55e75edbbcaf
gravenimage says
Horrifying but not surprising, CRUSADER.
Anjuli Pandavar says
I saw a video of this event (can’t find it now) in which the demonstrators’ biggest complaint (in Flemish) was that she is an apostate and as such not permitted to speak about Islam. Irshad’s response: “I love you.” Make of that what you will.
gravenimage says
Irshad Manji, as usual, sidesteps the savagery of orthodox Islam.
Western Canadian says
When they scream that…… they are claiming there is more than one god…. interesting. Weird, but interesting.
Aussie Infidel says
“Ney shouted ‘Shoot me in the (expletive) head!’ followed by ‘Allahu akbar’.”
It’s a pity that the police didn’t do exactly that. Now we Aussie taxpayers will have to support this useless creep in jail or some mental health facility, while psychiatrists try to understand how he could possibly have done such an evil thing – particularly after recently converting to the ‘religion of peace’. Only a loon or an ignoramus would have willingly converted to Islam.
Instead of searching for answers in their DSMs, the psychiatrists should start by reading the Quran. Those I know, understand virtually nothing about Islamic ideology – which commands Muslims to attack non-Muslims in the “cause of Allah” – which inspired Ney’s attack.
IT’S THE IDEOLOGY STUPID – and it’s been deeply indoctrinated into his brain to create a jihadist mindset.
Steve Meikle says
so what it comes down to is the classic schoolyard taunt: “Nyaaa Nya-nya nayaaa Nyaaaaaaa, My God’s bigger than your God!!”
well given Islam is such a childish petulant cult peopled by immature boys of all ages who want 72 sex slaves in heaven to rape all they like in eternity; and who blame the women they rape here on earth for they are too childish to admit it is THEIR impulse which does the deed regardless of the temptation women offer, real or imagined, and who have no restraint dignity or patience when they hear criticism, only boiling rage and violence, this entirely figures.
the imprint of immature boy is all over this death cult. That in itself is enough to have me reject it with the full contempt it deserves
gravenimage says
+1
Steve Meikle says
Well, New Zealand News has finally got to admitting that Nay actually said those words which are the title of this essay. But they are left out of any context whatsoever. What should be taken as a priori proof of Muslim connection and allegiance is ignored because they favour “mental illness.”
and this from a new network whose promo ad insists that though it asked so many questions per day, travel so many kilometers and shoot so many meters of footage in said day , THEY MAKE NO ASSUMPTIONS.
to which I respond BOLLOCKS
Jennifer King says
In the Name of God or in the Name of Allah?
Qur’an 43:84 It is He Who is Ilah, God in the heavens and on the earth.
Qur’an 6:3 And He is Allah in the heavens and on the earth.
Ibn Abbas: He is the One who is called Allah in the heavens and on the earth.
To translate the name of Allah as God in English is completely wrong.
God is always Ilah, Ar Rahman in Arabic, the Qur’an and Islamic law.
The English translation of Allah is always ‘the god’.
The Shahada, the pledge of faith for Islam:
La ilaha ill-Allah, there is no god but Allah.
The sentence comprises a denial and an affirmation.
Negation: ‘La ilah’ negates all forms of god or God.
Affirmation: ‘illAllah’ affirms that there is only Allah.
In other words before you can say ‘I believe in Allah’ (illa Allah) you have to reject or disbelieve in any other god or God (La illaha).
Question 179 Islam Q&A http://www.islam-qa.com
Questions 114, 6703, 11819, 20239, 20815
Paddy O'Connor says
The ‘Emblem’ of the OIC MB gang that dominates the UN had until 2011,Allah Akbar in it’s center.This is now replaced by the Kaaba,the sacred stone of Islam in Mecca which has the same intent.
Az gal says
“Allah Akbar” is simply- “Allah is Greater”. Allah is not our God, of course.
Spiro says
Is it to late for Europe
Or will it get bloody
Giacomo Latta says
MSM never take the time to think why these freaks would be shouting anything. If someone shouts in public it is to show disagreement with a popular point-of-view Who the hell shouts ”water is wet?” Who the hell would shout ”God is great” when probably 2/3 of the population would agree? Obviously, MSM is missing something and the something is that a fascist claim of Islamic superiority is being made.
underbed cat says
Just got shocked listening to a band singing “Our God is Greater”, also singing they believe in a descriptions, symbols of Christianity, I just thought this” could be true”, or they just have not a clue. Yes, but know followers of Islam claims this also,when they shout “Aallah Arkbar”, when they formed 400 hundred years after Christianity and supplanted another ideology as the “greater religion” now spreading in the U.S. and countries of the middle east just before they decide to act out a ‘disruption’ or a jihad. The ideology is very clever almost genius, their followers must protect their ideology, so I wonder but I was concerned why does it was also happen on the same day of the report that someone is leaving a few “harmless rice cookers”, it may not be a joke but a message even if they are just rice cookers. To me something is up… Is this a symbol to followers in China or to China, symbolic of pressure cookers, the problem with the wars overseas we fight and focus on is that it is percolating and has walked into this country with a false peaceful face but also brings some periodic aggressive disruption and persuasive denial. The penetration, unseen, has been the goal with a narrative to deceive and cover the land as the “greatest God” as a religion, peacefulness is used to move on into every city, the strategy is long term, by stating Allah- Arkbar, translated as greater or bigger used on the battle field and spoken and taught since the day of birth.
Is this display of “rice cookers” to confuse the issue of protesters in Japan, who fear China’s oppressive laws and are afraid of loosing freedoms that China will take control of Japan. The China that provides most products in American homes seems so comfortable, affordable and harmless until you realize China does not allow freedoms it controls and oppresses, it can be confusing when factual information is repressed. A few can get the press attention and whose goal is being broadcast-ed what and to whom is the message.
FascinatingVision says
“Allahu Akbar” means “Allah is Bigger”. Allah the god of Islam is a Pagan Idol Moon god.
Allah the god of Islam is a Pagan Idol Moon god. Allah is Al-Lah which translates as “Al” means: “The” & “god” and “lah” means: “Moon god”. Jihad is Hatred towards Non-Muslims (Infidels / Unbelievers). Islam is of the Devil. 😈🕌