Allahu Akbar- G-d is Great!! This is called Takbir.
It should be noted that Allah is the Arabic word for G-d, Allah and G-d are one and the same. The translation "Allah is greater than G-d" is ridiculous and anyone who knows Arabic or Hebrew grammar would never translate it that way.
Allah = El= G-d hu= hu= He (reflexive pronoun)
A which is short for al, the same as in Hebrew "to"
Kabir -hadar- glorious, greatest.
Literally "G-d,He is to the greatest"
or Glory be to G-d! or "G-d is Great" or "G-d most High". No matter how you translate it, it is the same as both Jews and Christians exclaim in praise of G-d.
A Muslim will exclaim Allahu Akbar much the same as an observant Jew will recite Shema Yisrael, in times of joy and in times of fear and stress.
I am very much terrified of dogs and when I see a dog, I put my hands up as Hamsas and shout Shema Yisrael as I was taught to do as a child. I hope that none of my neighbors think that I am declaring Holy War when I see a dog! (Actually one of my non Jewish neighbors DID once think I was putting a deadly spell on her dog as it ran toward me and I became afraid. She later told me that she expected the dog to die as a result of my "magic curse".).
Praising G-d is not a "war chant", it is something that as observant Jews we believe that all people should do constantly.
I am a life long fan of oud (an Arabic musical instrument) music and I have been very fortunate to hear some amazing oudists perform live at various venues around the world.
Do you know what Muslims do at the end of an astounding musical performance?
They do not clap or cheer as Westerners do, they instead exclaim:"Allahu Akbar"- G-d is Great!
As observant Jews, we should have been taught as children that whenever we hear beautiful music or see an amazing wonder of the world that we are to praise the Creator, Ribono shel Olam, G-d Most High (Allahu Akbar in Arabic).
How many of us actually do this each time upon observing any aspect of the wondrous beauty of G-d's creation?
And how many of us merely clap, cheer or altogether fail to acknowledge the One and True Source of all that is good, praiseworthy and beautiful in the world?
Our local Rabbi is constantly admonishing us over and over again that we should be learning from the example of our Muslim neighbors and that we should be, as they do, constantly praising G-d as the source of everything in this world.
Allahu Akbar- G-d is Great!! This is called Takbir.
ReplyDeleteIt should be noted that Allah is the Arabic word for G-d, Allah and G-d are one and the same. The translation "Allah is greater than G-d" is ridiculous and anyone who knows Arabic or Hebrew grammar would never translate it that way.
Allah = El= G-d
hu= hu= He (reflexive pronoun)
A which is short for al, the same as in Hebrew "to"
Kabir -hadar- glorious, greatest.
Literally "G-d,He is to the greatest"
or Glory be to G-d!
or "G-d is Great" or "G-d most High". No matter how you translate it, it is the same as both Jews and Christians exclaim in praise of G-d.
A Muslim will exclaim Allahu Akbar much the same as an observant Jew will recite Shema Yisrael, in times of joy and in times of fear and stress.
I am very much terrified of dogs and when I see a dog, I put my hands up as Hamsas and shout Shema Yisrael as I was taught to do as a child. I hope that none of my neighbors think that I am declaring Holy War when I see a dog! (Actually one of my non Jewish neighbors DID once think I was putting a deadly spell on her dog as it ran toward me and I became afraid. She later told me that she expected the dog to die as a result of my "magic curse".).
Praising G-d is not a "war chant", it is something that as observant Jews we believe that all people should do constantly.
I am a life long fan of oud (an Arabic musical instrument) music and I have been very fortunate to hear some amazing oudists perform live at various venues around the world.
Do you know what Muslims do at the end of an astounding musical performance?
They do not clap or cheer as Westerners do, they instead exclaim:"Allahu Akbar"- G-d is Great!
As observant Jews, we should have been taught as children that whenever we hear beautiful music or see an amazing wonder of the world that we are to praise the Creator, Ribono shel Olam, G-d Most High (Allahu Akbar in Arabic).
How many of us actually do this each time upon observing any aspect of the wondrous beauty of G-d's creation?
And how many of us merely clap, cheer or altogether fail to acknowledge the One and True Source of all that is good, praiseworthy and beautiful in the world?
Our local Rabbi is constantly admonishing us over and over again that we should be learning from the example of our Muslim neighbors and that we should be, as they do, constantly praising G-d as the source of everything in this world.
Jersey,
ReplyDeleteThat's a very nice drasha, but l'maaseh, they are a bunch of savages.
Brave boy. Big kiddush Hashem. Shows the real face of the Jewish people.
ReplyDeleteJG,
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean, al pi halakha, if someone mentions the Muslim name for God, that he would do best to say it "Qallah", or some such formulation?
Thanks for the perush. I envy your Judeo-Arabic. Would love to read Rambam's Pirush haMishnaiyos in the original.