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

TimCallahan

Philosopher
T
Joined
Mar 11, 2009
Messages
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What I mean by this question is this: Why is it that the exclamation Allahu akbar, i. e. "God is great," so often used by Muslims committing atrocious acts?

Apparently, as the planes were flying into the WTC and the Pentagon, the suicidal pilots chanted this.

I also remember reading back in the 1980s of a biology teacher in Sudan who was punished for teaching evolution. As he was being publicly whipped, an ecstatic crowd chanted, "God is great!"

Do Muslims ever exclaim, "God is great," while saving the lives people threatened by catastrophic floods - as in Pakistan? Or is God only great at killing and whipping?
 
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.
 
That is not even the whole of it. They also say God is merciful. I cannot see that as well. Put aside the suicide act because there is a lot more strangeness according to the Western perspective.

It seems they want to pay God compliments to make God pleased with them. It is kind of like the old human sacrificing to make God happy. Lavishing compliments on God will make him love us.

Muslims do not see God as a father figure. They seem to see him as a slave owner.

Their view of creation is this. They think God created the universe so that life in the universe could praise God. God was lonely and in need of attention and praise. That is why the universe was created.
 
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Earthborn said:
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.
Click to expand...

Four examples from the Wiki site:

Mohammad Atta left a handwritten note saying, among other things: "When the confrontation begins, strike like champions who do not want to go back to this world. Shout, 'Allahu Akbar,' because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers."

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!)

In 2004, in an execution video of Nick Berg being beheaded in Iraq, as one man sawed off Berg's head the other captors shouted: "Allahu Akbar!"

During the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, witnesses reported that gunman Nidal Malik Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" before opening fire, killing 13 people and wounding 30 others.
 
Allahu akbar is used at the start of every Islamic prayer, so its a declaration of faith suitable for any occaison.

;)
 
ISTR that phrase was on the cockpit voice recorder of an Egyptian airliner being flown into the Atlantic after leaving the US.
One phrase fits all... magical experiences and murders.
 
TimCallahan said:
Four examples from the Wiki site:

Mohammad Atta left a handwritten note saying, among other things: "When the confrontation begins, strike like champions who do not want to go back to this world. Shout, 'Allahu Akbar,' because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers."
Click to expand...

You hear it said a lot on insurgent combat footage before ambushes and the like.

Flipped through a book on the Fallujah battle by the USMC. There was an insurgent who had a marine pinned down in a building, and the insurgent was screaming this phrase. The marine needed something to boost his own morale as he was in a really bad position, so he started screaming, "The power of Christ compels you!" and charged, killing the insurgent.

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!"
 
It's called kissing-up or brown nosing. Continuously telling the creator of the entire universe that he's pretty damn special is a requirement if you want to avoid burning for all eternity because you didn't tell the creator of the entire universe that he's pretty damn special continuously.

No kidding, it's in the book.
 
Tim, it is sorta like the expression
Edited by Darat: 
Breach of Rule 10 removed.
oft used in Western Pennsylvania, or "Hooah!" used among Light Infantry in the US Army.

It's a bit of a throwaway.

DR
 
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That "Hooah" thing confounds me.

"You take your mask out of the base, hooah. You put the straps over the front of the mask, hooah. You put the mask over your face, hooah. You pull the straps over your head, hooah. You pull the cheek straps tight, hooah. You block the air inlet and inhale to check for leaks, hooah."
 
TimCallahan said:
What I mean by this question is this: Why is it that the exclamation Allahu akbar, i. e. "God is great," so often used by Muslims committing atrocious acts?

Apparently, as the planes were flying into the WTC and the Pentagon, the suicidal pilots chanted this.

I also remember reading back in the 1980s of a biology teacher in Sudan who was punished for teaching evolution. As he was being publicly whipped, an ecstatic crowd chanted, "God is great!"

Do Muslims ever exclaim, "God is great," while saving the lives people threatened by catastrophic floods - as in Pakistan? Or is God only great at killing and whipping?
Click to expand...
*sigh* yet another Muslim bashing thread.

This is a part of the Muslim call to prayer and also a part of each prayer. Muslims say this before going into supplication to God.

Most Muslims don't go around murdering people.
 
Marduk said:
Allahu akbar is used at the start of every Islamic prayer, so its a declaration of faith suitable for any occaison.

;)
Click to expand...
I think Allahu Akbar also begins the chant that you har from minarets 5 times a day to call the faithful to mosque.
 
Bill Thompson said:
. . . Their view of creation is this. They think God created the universe so that life in the universe could praise God. God was lonely and in need of attention and praise. That is why the universe was created.
Click to expand...

Sezme, you asked for a citation of the above. Q 51:56 says:

I created jinn and mankind only to worship me.

The verses following say that God doesn't want humans to feed him, nor does he need anything from them. God is the provider of everything.

It's possible that Q 51:56 is saying, considering the context, that all God wants from humans is that they worship him; but it could also mean that God created intelligent beings for the express purpose of having them worship him.
 
Bill Thompson said:
That is not even the whole of it. They also say God is merciful. I cannot see that as well. Put aside the suicide act because there is a lot more strangeness according to the Western perspective.

It seems they want to pay God compliments to make God pleased with them. It is kind of like the old human sacrificing to make God happy. Lavishing compliments on God will make him love us.

Muslims do not see God as a father figure. They seem to see him as a slave owner.

Their view of creation is this. They think God created the universe so that life in the universe could praise God. God was lonely and in need of attention and praise. That is why the universe was created.
Click to expand...

and that differs how exactly from Christianity?
 
Ingrained habit and a sincere belief they are praising god I guess

I've never truly believed in god and even I still say things like 'good god!' when I'm surprised. So I imagine anyone willing to kill themselves to get at percieved enemies of their faith will be even more likely to exclaim something similar.
 
"Allahu Akbar" is the so called "takbir", basically an all-around all-purpose declaration of faith. It's used basically whenever you think you need some divine help. It's very much the equivalent of making the sign of the cross in Christianity.

Before battle is an obvious case, I think we can agree. I mean, if you're looking at twenty thousand guys who are going to poke or shoot pointy things in your direction, well, if you believe in some deity at all, that would be a good time to do some brown-nosing of that deity. You know, just in case it actually works. 'Cause you're going to need all the help you can get in a few seconds.

But it's also used in prayer. See again the analogy with crossing oneself in Christianity. Or when you're about to crash into a mountain. Or, really, whenever you'd think it's apropriate for someone to make the sign of the cross, it's ok for a muslim to do the takbir.

Unfortunately, it's also most known in the west via the islamist extremists. Which is a bit of a pity, IMHO.

I mean, sure, those guys would invoke Allah before crashing into a building, just like a Christian would cross himself. I mean, if you genuinely think you'll meet your maker in a few seconds, it can't hurt to make sure you're on good terms with that maker. Right?

Plus, when doing (dumb) stuff in the name of a deity, it is kinda customary to invoke the name of that deity. I mean, see the crusaders and "Deus Vult!"

But, really, that is just a sub-set of when it's used, and hardly the defining characteristic. Just like Christians and the sign of the cross, the takbir isn't used just when you'll do something aggressive, but in 99% of cases just during some prayer, and in most of the rest when you're about to be on the receiving end of something nasty, and in most of the rest just when you want to ask for divine help with some very civilian stuff.
 
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