Andrew G. Bostom On September 3, 2013
During a Tuesday (9/3/13) morning appearance
on Fox News Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) took umbrage at Fox News host Brian
Kilmeade’s disgust with Syrian anti-Assad opposition groups shouting
“Allahu Akhbar! Allahu Akhbar!” when their rockets apparently shot down a
Syrian jet.
To Kilmeade, appropriately, such outcries illustrated the predominant jihadist influence within the coalition of groups opposing the Assad regime. Kilmeade stated,
I have a problem helping those people screaming that [Allahu-Akbar!] after a hit.
A perturbed, if typically feckless McCain replied,
without any basic linguistic understanding, or supportive evidence of
the rocket launchers’ alleged “moderation,” by making an immoral
equivalence to Christianity:
Would
you have a problem with an American or Christians saying “thank God?
Thank God?” That’s what they’re saying. Come on! Of course they’re
Muslims, but they’re moderates and I guarantee you they are moderates.
One of the English translators of the great 14th century Muslim jurist (d. 1350) Ibn Qayyim’s “The Way to Patience and Gratitude” opts for “Allah is Greater” as the specific translation of Allahu Akbar. On page 463, the following explanation is provided:
…I
preferred using “the Greater” to “the Greatest”… Allahu Akbar literally
means, “Allah is Greater” with the comparative mode. Yet, this does not
mean that He (Glory be to Him) is not the Greatest, nor does it mean
that there is anything that is put in comparison with Him. This is
because when the Muslim says it, he means He is “Greater” than anything
else, which, consequently, means He is the Greatest. This use gives more
influence. This may be why it is used in Arabic this way, otherwise it
should have been used as “Allahu al-Akbar,” in the superlative mode.
Surely, Allah Knows best.
E. W. Lane’s classical 19th century Arabic English Lexicon, (p. 2587) elaborates on the preferred “elliptical” meaning:
[Allah] is the greatest great [being] or [Allah] is greater than every other great [being]
“Allahu
Akbar” has been employed by Muslims as a jihadist war cry dating from
its declaration by Islam’s prophet Muhammad when he made an aggressive proto-jihadist foray
on the Jews of the Khaybar oasis. Here is how the phrase has been
rendered into English by pious Muslims from the canonical hadith
collection (Sahih Bukhari 4:52:195):
Narrated
Anas: The Prophet set out for Khaibar and reached it at night. He used
not to attack if he reached the people at night, till the day broke. So,
when the day dawned, the Jews came out with their bags and spades. When
they saw the Prophet; they said, “Muhammad and his army!” The Prophet
said, “Allahu-Akbar! (Allah is Greater) and Khaybar is ruined, for
whenever we approach a nation (i.e. enemy to fight) then it will be a
miserable morning for those who have been warned.”
The willful intellectual and moral blindness of U.S. political and military leaders to the doctrine of jihad—epitomized
by John McCain—continues to engender self-destructive “solutions” to
global jihad depredations, in Syria, and across the globe.
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Allahu Akbar does NOT mean "God is great" as often translated by those who either know no Arabic, or those who would willfully deceive.
It means "Allah is greater" - a comparative phrase with the compared noun missing. Originally, Allah was the name
of one of some 360 stone gods in Mecca, and Muhammad determined that
this particular "god" was more significant than all the other pagan
stone deities.
In other words, Allahu akbar -- "Allah is greater than the other 359 stone gods!"
Allahu akbar may also be colloquially interpreted to mean "Allah is the greatest," a meaning not inconsistent with the original usage.
The
phrase also played a role in Muhammad's piratical attack on the Jews of
the Kaybar oasis, a treacherous aggression still celebrated in the
"holy scripts" of Islam, and still commented on when Arab-Muslims attack
Jews.
-- Eliyahu
LAN ASTASLEM
I WILL NOT SUBMIT TO ISLAM!
Thanks to "Director"
