Interesting words. They create inspiration in the hearts of some and strike fear in the hearts of others.
"Allahu akbar" means "Allah is the Greatest." It means Allah--God, the Creator--is greater than anything in creation. Some Muslims, instead of clapping, shout Allahu akbar--the performance was very good, but we always must remember that Allah is the Greatest. When something good happens, a Muslim will say Allahu akbar--Allah, who is the Greatest, made this happen.
But the words have been labeled as the words of terrorists, shouted before committing another dastardly deed. If a non-Muslim hears "Allahu akbar," he or she may shudder and brace for the explosion. Such is the message of propaganda these days.
According to some reports, some of the final words in the Flight 93 transcript were Allahu akbar. Meaning, in this case, this plane is about to crash into the ground killing every last one of you and because we are blood-thirsty terrorists we are very glad you are going to die. Not really.
I can't say how much credibility I give the official story. I know, but I can't say. However, if truly sincere Muslims were about to die, I don't think their last words would be Allahu akbar--though these are, for Muslims, very good words to say.
Their last words would have been La illaha ila Allah. There is no god but Allah. Every Muslim knows he or she should strive to die with these words.
In time, everything which is hidden or confused will become clear. Because Allah truly is the greatest.
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I know this is an old post but I hope you get a message saying it has been posted. I will check back for an answer. I am writing a blog post on my blog - www.thru-other-eyes.com - about the recent bulldozer incident in Jerusalem. I am extremely troubled by the immediate and overwhelming call of Israel's body politic and so much of its public to demolish the home of the Duwayit family where approximately 20 innocent people live. I am also deeply disturbed by the fact that within minutes of the incident the police, media and rest of the world appointed this a 'terrorist' incident. The 'evidence' this is based upon was initially nothing more than the fact that the man was Palestinian. Later reports also mentioned that he was heard to say "Allahu akbar!" even making sure to include an exclamation mark in the papers.
Even though the man's history of drug problems and violent aggressive behavior has not led to any serious questioning, like, hey wait a minute, maybe this is just a man who lost it like in so many cases of senseless violence or the stereotypical disgruntled postal worker who goes into an American post office and kills and wounds multiple victims. No one calls such a person 'terrorist,' merely a 'nutcase' to put it undiplomatically.
Perhaps you see why I found my way to this post and I was impressed with your explanation here. I began to search about the usage of "Allahu akbar" because I know that when a Jewish person dies (I am Jewish) the last thing we are supposed to say is what's called the 'Sh'ma Yisrael' affirming that there is only One God. From your post, I see this seems to be very similar to La illaha ila Allah (one of the many parallels between the two religions).
What would be your take on "Allahu akbar" in this case of the Palestinian man in Jerusalem? His family has said in many media reports that he was not religious or a mosque-go'er so I was also intrigued by your comment: "...if truly sincere Muslims were about to die, I don't think their last words would be Allahu akbar--though these are, for Muslims, very good words to say."
Thank you for any insight you could provide on this. I have clicked to be notified by follow-up comments or you can mail me directly since you as author will have my email address.
Thank you for your time and God bless.
A short addendum: I just found this interesting reference which I will in any case also make us of in my article:
"Militants on suicide missions often say "Allahu akbar" because they believe they are committing a righteous act and because it's good form to die with praise for Allah on your lips. In some cases, a religious phrase uttered at a time of grave danger gets misinterpreted. In 1997, an Indonesian pilot shouted "Allahu akbar!" moments before his plane crashed, killing all 234 people on board. Some people thought he'd downed the plane on purpose; in fact, the accident was the result of bad instructions from the air traffic controller.
Source: http://www.slate.com/id/2149455/
Original story about the crash including voice cockpit recording transcript:
http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/dnetGOjg/260997.htm
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