What's with the Muslim "God is great!" bit?

[HansMustermann]

I just wanted to comment on this:

In March 2002, when Maryam Mohammad Yousif Farhat. of Hamas, learned that her 17-year-old son had been killed on a suicide mission in which he killed five teenagers, she celebrated by proclaiming "Allahu Akbar!" and giving out boxes of halva and chocolates. (There's mother love for you!)

But if a Christian mother made the sign of the cross, you wouldn't find anything to mock about that, right?

Plus, giving stuff for the dead isn't a very unusual custom. Not just for arabs. The Eastern Orthodox in Eastern Europe do it too, for example.

 

[Wrathernaut]

I suppose we all grab onto what we need in a time of crisis. Me, I'll stick with the immortal words of the Tick.

"Spoon!"

He's my inspiration as well.

 

[devnull]

Most Muslims don't go around murdering people.

Unquestionably. I know some myself

However, I think the question is more why these particular muslims think that their god condones their atrocious acts.

I have no answer, beyond the fact that some people are just nuts, and generally religion seems to attract a higher concentration of nutbaggery.

 

[Freethinker]

It seems to me that saying "God is great!" makes much more sense given their belief than the Christian proclivity for saying "Praise Jesus!" or "Praise God!", since neither of the latter amounts to actually praising either of them.

 

[HansMustermann]

I dunno, it seems to me most people get told by God to do... exactly what they wanted to do anyway. God is essentially the ultimate sockpuppet and guy to name-drop.

Whether it's some crazy chick who wanted to stick her arse in a propeller, or some fundies whipping their adoptive daughter to death with a piece of plastic tube, or some idiot killing his wife or son in the guise of an exorcism, or just some guys calling for bombing some Arabs... God is _totally_ condoning that. Even stuff like not paying taxes, you'd think it would be a problem to name-drop Jesus, what with a certain parable of his, but the teabaggers and such still manage to find Jesus totally on their side.

So does it really come as a surprise that when some crazy guys want to blow up an airplane they _also_ think God likes that?

 

[Skeeve]

It seems to me that saying "God is great!" makes much more sense given their belief than the Christian proclivity for saying "Praise Jesus!" or "Praise God!", since neither of the latter amounts to actually praising either of them.

Beat me to it.

 

[themusicteacher]

It seems to me that saying "God is great!" makes much more sense given their belief than the Christian proclivity for saying "Praise Jesus!" or "Praise God!", since neither of the latter amounts to actually praising either of them.

Exactly. It's a person saying, "This is my will and I hold this faith so it must be my God's will for me to do this thing."

 

[Nichiro]

My only question to all religious fundamentalists is,
Why God needs his word to be spread, people converted and infidels need to be killed?

God is greater
but
His followers are greatest (sic)

 

[HansMustermann]

Exactly. It's a person saying, "This is my will and I hold this faith so it must be my God's will for me to do this thing."

Except it's not. The takbir is also used in prayer, or by people in a crashing aircraft or sinking boat, by grieving relatives, etc. It has nothing to do with "this is my will" or "god wants me to do this" as such, or not necessarily. It's just an all-purpose invocation of god.

 

[Craig4]

I think Allahu Akbar also begins the chant that you har from minarets 5 times a day to call the faithful to mosque.

It is. The first two verses and the last verse sung by the muzzein in the call to prayer are "Allah Akbar". The rest of it goes (depending on the translation) "There is no God but God and I testify Mohammed is his prophet, The time has come for prayer, come to success come to prayer. There is no God but God".

It sounds a lot more poetic when sung in Arabic.

 

[TraneWreck]

Yes, why don't adults who still believe in magic beings make more sense when they speak?

 

[HansMustermann]

Yes, why don't adults who still believe in magic beings make more sense when they speak?

Heh. QFT, though.

 

[TimCallahan]

I just wanted to comment on this:



But if a Christian mother made the sign of the cross, you wouldn't find anything to mock about that, right?

Plus, giving stuff for the dead isn't a very unusual custom. Not just for arabs. The Eastern Orthodox in Eastern Europe do it too, for example.

At the present time, Christians don't seem to be celebrating when their 17 year-old kid blows himself up to kill some other teenagers. It seems to me that Islam is, right now, where Christianity was at the time of the Thirty Years War.

 

[TimCallahan]

I dunno, it seems to me most people get told by God to do... exactly what they wanted to do anyway. God is essentially the ultimate sockpuppet and guy to name-drop.

Whether it's some crazy chick who wanted to stick her arse in a propeller, or some fundies whipping their adoptive daughter to death with a piece of plastic tube, or some idiot killing his wife or son in the guise of an exorcism, or just some guys calling for bombing some Arabs... God is _totally_ condoning that. Even stuff like not paying taxes, you'd think it would be a problem to name-drop Jesus, what with a certain parable of his, but the teabaggers and such still manage to find Jesus totally on their side.
So does it really come as a surprise that when some crazy guys want to blow up an airplane they _also_ think God likes that?

Agreed. With respect to Jesus, I've heard a Christian stock broker, Larry Burkett, interpret the parable of the talents as an admonition to invest wisely. Jesus has also been hailed as a Marxist, a feminist, an environmentalist, etc. ad nauseam.

I guess screaming, "God is great!" while cutting off someone's head, celebrating your son having killed some other teenagers while blowing himself up, or while killing thousands of people just seems too over the top for me.

 

[HansMustermann]

At the present time, Christians don't seem to be celebrating when their 17 year-old kid blows himself up to kill some other teenagers. It seems to me that Islam is, right now, where Christianity was at the time of the Thirty Years War.

Except I'm not sure if she was celebrating or if that bit is a mis-representation. That particular story seems to be suspiciously be made of bits which are mis-understood in the west. As I was saying, neither the takbir nor giving away food have to mean celebration or even approval.

ETA: I think I can take a wild guess at what's confusing you, though. If you look at just the words, it can kinda come across as a sort of "thank God", or literally "God is great because my son died". But as we both know, expressions can have meanings vastly different from the words they're made of. In this case it's just a standard phrase for invoking God or affirming your faith. It doesn't even say for what. It can just as well be as in "I hope You notice what I'm doing in Your name", or as in "God help us", or as in "God have mercy", or whatever. But, really, as I was saying, IMHO the best comparison is with the Christian sign of the cross. When you see someone crossing herself do you know what's she actually thinking and what's she asking of God there? Well, the same goes about the takbir, really.

 

[I Ratant]

I suggest you read the ultimate authoritarian source on all things Islamic, perfect word of God, the ancient holy book of Wikipedia. It should answer all your questions, inshallah.

.
"What Went Wrong", Bernard Lewis.. for the no-**** reality.

 

[I Ratant]

...
Most Muslims don't go around murdering people.

.
Most people don't go around murdering people, but the problem is endemic to Islam.
They murder each other as cheerfully (and to a much greater extent) than they murder outsiders.
Calling on allah the whole time.

 

[I Ratant]

At the present time, Christians don't seem to be celebrating when their 17 year-old kid blows himself up to kill some other teenagers. It seems to me that Islam is, right now, where Christianity was at the time of the Thirty Years War.

.
We dress our kids as soldiers and sailors... but.... we don't teach suicide as a normal situation.

 

[HansMustermann]

The problem is largely endemic to only one sub-sect of Islam, actually: the Wahhabi. And even then not all of even those. Not saying that the rest are saints (they're still humans after all), but really that's the main gang who rejected the present in favour of some BS rose-coloured-glasses view of the 7'th century.

So really judging the whole Islam by what those do, it's a bit like judging all Christianity by what the Amish are doing.

 

[DC]

the thread started with a legit question, a shame it has now decedent into Islam bashing.