r/CombatFootage • u/tinkthank • May 18 '13

An explanation of the Takbir "Allahu Akbar"

Quite often I see some incessant comments in this subreddit about what the term "Allahu Akbar" means, what is the English equivalent to it, why do Muslims in the videos constantly shout it out, and the occasional racist fueled rant about "Snackbars".

As a Muslim myself, and someone who is well aware of the cultural, religious and spiritual reasons behind the term, itself, I wrote out a basic comprehensive explanation for this term. I apologize in advance for the wall of text. However, it is something that does requires detailed explanation and mind you, I pretty much scratched the surface in putting this together.

Allahu Akbar/Allah Akbar/Allahu Achber is most commonly known among Muslims as the “Takbir”. The term itself literally translates to “God is greater”, but is sometimes used as "God is the Greatest"

Most people in the West are aware of the Takbir through the videos you see online where a soldier or a fighter will shout “Allahu Akbar!” while firing his weapon against an enemy. It is most often mistakenly identified as a “war cry”. The term itself is well ingrained in Muslim culture and society. It is one of the most commonly used phrases among Muslims and is uttered primarily during the Salah or ritualistic prayer where Muslims face the Kaaba in Makkah.

Theologically, Islam is strictly monotheistic in belief. The oneness of God is the core central tenet of Islam, in it’s creed “La Ilaaha Ilallah”, which roughly translates to “there is no god (or divinity), except for God”. Islam prohibits attributing divine qualities to anyone or anything else aside from God. Even when praising someone, most Muslims will always attribute greatness to God in their speech.

The term itself serves as a reminder for a Muslim, that no matter the situation or emotion that one experiences, that God is always greater. If you’re happy, then it serves as a reminder that God is greater than everything and that your success and source of happiness comes from God. If you’re scared, then you say it as a reminder that God is indeed greater and that the only fear a Muslim should have is towards God. When a Muslim is angry, he says Allahu Akbar as a way of calming himself down, reminding that God is greater than anything that makes you angry, and turn to God for your solace.

While in the West, many people clap their hands as a show of approval and praise, traditionally, most Muslims would shout the Takbir in unison as a way of showing approval and praise to a speaker. Though, many Muslims have adopted the tradition of clapping their hands, many will still shout the Takbir while clapping.

Examples: “Allahu Akbar! Nick is a great speaker!” “SubhanAllah (Glorious is God)! This scenery looks amazing!” “Alhamdulillah (Praises to God)! I studied hard and I passed my exams!” “InshAllah (God willing) we will catch the train on time”

These terms (and a few more) are collectively called Dhikr (Remembrance). Dhikr is an extremely important aspect of Islam.

Mu’adh ibn Jabal said, that he heard the Prophet Muhammad say, “There is nothing that is a greater cause of salvation from the punishment of Allah than the remembrance of Allah.”

-Sunan At-Tirmidhi, Book of Supplications, Number 3377, Hasan.

Muslims incorporate Dhikr in their prayer as well as in their daily life, which is why you’ll hear these terms quite often in Muslim speech. A personal example I often use to explain this is when my elderly grandmother was trying to get up off her chair. While holding on to her cane, she always utters “Allahu Akbar!” When a friend of mine had his surgery and was in a lot of pain, he kept whispering “Allahu Akbar” to himself.

The Takbir isn’t necessarily confined to Islam. Allah is the Arabic word for God. Many Arab Christians refer to God as “Allah”, and it is not at all uncommon to find Christian priests in the Middle East and Muslim world that would say “Allahu Akbar!” to their congregation. In fact, there were reports and videos where Maronite Christians in Lebanon would shout “Allahu Akbar!” while fighting during the Lebanese Civil War. The Maltese languages also uses the word Allah for God, despite the majority of the inhabitants of Malta are Catholic and European.

One of the most famous singers in the Middle East, Fairuz, a Lebanese Christian, had her hit song, “Ya oum Allah!” which is a Christian hymn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjsvoCoXszQ

Videos of Muslims chanting the Takbir in Makkah during the Eid prayer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoMB8RFd818

Additional Information:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2006/09/god_is_still_great.html

Edit: wouldn't mind other Arabic speakers or Muslims to chime in as well.

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243

u/MochiMochiMochi May 18 '13

As the OP probably knows, the incessant comments aren't largely made because of ignorance of the religious context. I think the comments are part of the shock at seeing men in the heated pitch of battle -- where commands and tactics are the difference between life and death -- shouting over each other with "Allahu Akbar." The command structure of a professional unit would slap down anything that interfered with issuing orders. From the western perspective, these are religious ideologues playing wargames.

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u/tinkthank May 18 '13

When I meant incessant comments, I wasn't simply referring to the "snackbar" jokes, but rather the argument that the term is equivalent to our "Oh my God!" and those not agreeing to that term.

There are just somethings that are lost in translation and context. A large portion of our own English language idioms would make no sense other Europeans. The same way, some of the cultural and religious references that the Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans make aren't necessarily something that we can find equivalence of in our culture.

I equated the mocking term "Snackbar" to racist fueled rants. I don't think that shock over men shouting the takbir in pitch battle as poor military tactics warrants "snackbar" jokes or remarks. When one does make those jokes, he/she isn't taking the time or effort to understand what and why these people are shouting over each other, but rather have simply resorted to mocking their language, religion, and/or culture.

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u/JackBauerSaidSo May 18 '13

Not to mention most Western cultures, when cursing (as that is mostly what we tend to do if panicked and not disciplined), have some variety. The repetition seems nonsensical to those even the least bit familiar with modern tactics.

Considering all the advantages they give up by shouting the Takbir, most would see it as very poor strategy: giving away position, condition of the group, shouting over commands, using it as an announcement of impending return fire. To them, though, the number one thing is to pronounce to themselves, their team, and their enemies that God is greater than their bullets, that his greatness gives us power, and God's will is most important.

Believing that the only way they can win is through God, they are pretty much required to shout it at the top of their lungs.

Very interesting.

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u/kpauburn May 19 '13

Would it be ok for a Muslim to say it in their head ? I guess it is one thing if you are sniping/setting off explosives from a long distance but particularly in Syria where you could be literally a few meters from the enemy it just seems extremely risky. For me , I feel that if you know your religion in your head and in your heart you don't have to verbalize , you can just think it in your head. Also it seems like it can sometimes cause a lot of confusion and issues for command and control, i.e. "Sorry we didn't hear your orders." I understand that everyone worships differently, but I guess as an old submarine sailor where aural stealth was everything it seems so counter-intuitive.

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u/[deleted] May 19 '13

when cursing (as that is mostly what we tend to do if panicked and not disciplined),

There are plenty of videos out there of soldiers in American crack units, arguably among the best-trained and most disciplined troops in the world, liberally peppering their combat engagements with fuckshitohfuckshitfuckdammitfuckshit.

It's not limited to undisciplined rabble with guns, although I can see your point about it being counter-productive if you're shouting it over orders.

That said, a lot of these guys, while not religious fanatics, are at least civilians who've taken up arms. They're not soldiers by training, so it's understandable that they wouldn't necessarily adhere to strict discipline. And plenty of Syrian videos show the rebels being filmed not shouting it, but constantly muttering it under their breath - I always thought it was a muslim equivalent of "ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit" - which is the least that I'd be saying if someone started shooting at me.

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u/dziban303 May 19 '13

It's interesting that I've never heard anyone say anything but "badass" regarding the sniper in Saving Private Ryan uttering Psalms as he blows away Nazis.

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u/RabidRaccoon May 19 '13

Exactly. You don't see professional armies - even ones that are Muslim - saying Allahu Akbar over and over again. There was a video of some SAA soldiers parodying the rebels by shouting Allahu Akbar over and over again as a remote controlled helicopter crashed.

The people that shout Allahu Akbar repeatedly are fanatics.

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u/[deleted] May 19 '13

The people that shout Allahu Akbar repeatedly are fanatics.

And/or people who don't want to be singled out by the fanatics.

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u/BanksCarlton May 19 '13

Keep in mind that these people are crazy brainwashed martyrs. Their religion spills into every aspect of their lives. Their education was only religion and through it they feel carefree and are unprepared for battle.

When a normalized human say an active marine is engaged he is goal oriented for safety and completion. He'll shout commands and curse about status quo.

When a typical radical Islamist martyr is engaged, he will shout Allahu ackbar in place of everything. It is their brainwashed chant to the god they constantly pray to. They are more like deranged savages with tacky fashion styles. Not thinking in the now, only about their sacrifice to their Allah, who apparently deserves their lives.

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u/RabidRaccoon May 19 '13 edited May 19 '13

Actually someone pointed out and interesting thing about Pakistani madrassas. I knew that pupils learn the Quran by heart. What he pointed out is that they learn it in Classical Arabic, a language they don't really understand properly.

It's a bit like in the Middle Ages where all the bibles were in Latin. Now priests spoke Latin but most people did not. You end up with a very odd situation where the priests could say almost anything was in the Bible and everyone else had to take it on faith.

This essay on language teaching in Madrassas seems to confirm it

http://www.sdpi.org/publications/files/R16-Language-Teaching%20in%20Pakistani%20Madrassas.pdf

Not all of the ulema condemn all change. Many feel that changes in language-teaching should be encouraged. Among these changes is the proposed reform in the teaching of Arabic. Maulana Abdul Majid Nadwi, a writer and compiler of Arabic texts, writes as follows:

This is a very surprising and incomprehensible thing that some individual or group should spend a large part of their lives and their mental capabilities in studying compositions written in the Arabic language but still remain entirely incapable of expressing themselves in it. This experiment in languages is only the characteristic of the Arabic madrassas and learned councils of India (Nadwi 1953: 9).

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u/BanksCarlton May 19 '13

Regardless of which language they choose to learn the Quran, these fanatics are using it as an enabler for their lack of morality, poor judgement, and a list of really bad things. They don't segregate martyring from religion making them crazy radicals as they are convinced of some degree of righteous validity, a form of brainwashing.

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u/RabidRaccoon May 19 '13

Which is exactly what happen with Christians back in the Middle Ages. E.g. the crusades were set off by the Pope to take back the Holy Land from the invading Muslims but they quite often sacked Christian towns and slaughtered their inhabitants. Actually it's hard to see how you could justify the Crusades on Christian grounds because Christ was a pacifist. Of course if people only get bible in a language they can't speak they'd have no way to know that.

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u/SubcommanderMarcos Mar 23 '26

You can add that most of the comments are just xenophobia too.

Most people aren't thinking of battle tactics and etiquette, and most people are racist.

Yes, replying to a 12 year old comment

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u/MothafuckaJones73 May 18 '13

So what does it mean when it is said during combat?

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u/tinkthank May 18 '13

It can have several meanings at once. In most combat situations, they shout the takbir as a rallying cry around an ideology that everyone can agree to, whether they be secularist/nationalists fighting or religious fundamentalists. It is also seems to motivate the fighters, reminding themselves that God is greater than the situation that they are in and reminding themselves that God is on their side.

A lot of times in these videos, the men couple the takbir with prayers. They are in essence calling for God's help, requesting God for victory and attributing their victory and success to God's help. Praising God so that God can deliver them with victory, if they are losing, it is asking God for help, and if it is defeat, then reminding themselves that God is greater than their defeat and accepting it as a will of God.

Hope that made sense. Also remember, that these meanings don't have to be mutually exclusive.

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u/FthrJACK May 18 '13

People mocking religion aren't racist. If I poke fun at Christians you wouldn't call me racist.

So why when people mock Muslims do people often say it's racist? Stop twisting it, Muslim is not a race, there's Muslims of all creeds and colours.

Religion is NOT a race.

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u/tinkthank May 18 '13

Because people equate being Muslim to being Middle Eastern. Ask any guy off the street to describe a Muslim, and he will most likely say, "Middle Eastern man with a turban and a beard that hates America."

It's one of the reasons why Sikhs get attacked just as much as Muslims do in hate related crimes. It doesn't matter to them what you really are, as long as you fit their description. Many times, the mocking is geared towards the culture, more than the religion itself.

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u/LOSELBSNOWASKMEHOW May 19 '13

There sure are a lot of A's in Arabic.

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u/zombie_toddler May 19 '13

And there are a lot of E's in English ;p

Semi-related fact: The Arabs (Moors) were in Spain for about 700 years. As a result, almost every Spanish word that starts with "al" comes from Arabic.

It's funny hearing staunch Catholic/Christian, anti-Muslim religious fanatics say the common Spanish phrase "Ojalá" (which means "god willing") seeing as it contains within it the word "Allah" :p

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u/PorcineLogic May 19 '13

First word I thought of was algodon (cotton in Spanish). Turns out the word comes from "al qutn." In English the al was dropped and the "qutn" became "cotton." Interesting

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u/waydownLo May 19 '13

The Arabic alphabet utilizes long and short vowels, which allows for that kinda thing. It's a pretty neat language.

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u/MrChildren May 19 '13

After spending nearly 8 straight years in various Muslim countries, I have found myself casually using "InshAllah" al the time. Shit, I even say it in the US to people who have no idea what it means.

Not really on topic though.

I also find myself shaking someone's hand and then touching my heart in the States as well, or the double hand grip hand shake. Hard habit to break when I do it 300 times a day at work.

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u/Jmersh May 19 '13

To me, the juxtaposition of the literal translation "God is great(est)" while shooting, blowing up, or slitting the throat of another human seems to contradict those who insist the Islamic religion is peaceful. The Christian equivalent would be a sniper or helicopter gunner repeating "praise Jesus" or "hallelujah" every time they pull the trigger. Could you imagine the uproar?

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u/waydownLo May 19 '13

Unfortunately, cultural idioms do not tend to have 1:1 translations as a default policy.

The phrase Allahu Akbar is not the same as "praise Jesus" of "hallellujah". Rather, it is a reminder of an individual's subordination the the Creator and a rejoinder against the tribulations of this vale of tears. In the Islamic faith, there is no real consideration of a an entity or plane of existence higher than that of God's, so it's essentially a way to say "it's god's plan!", "god is great!", and "please watch over me, god!" in one phrase, which is a pretty efficient use of phonemes in my humble opinion. In its literal translation, the phrase is a noun ("Allah"), a possessive article ("hu"), and an superlative adjective ("akbar").

This is based on this atheist's study of secondary sources and an amateur study of Arabic. I remain open to correction.

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u/antitoaster May 18 '13

I wonder if this could be posted on the sidebar of this subreddit, since it is relevant to a high percentage of videos posted here.

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u/Jimbodini May 19 '13

its not racist to make fun of it.

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u/ButtHolePistolWhip May 21 '13

see iamfer, it doesn't mean "OH MY GOD!"

iamfer: 'however it is also whats said when they mean "Oh my God", since they would consider saying OMG to be a form of invoking God in vain so to speak.'

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u/[deleted] May 19 '13

THANK YOU, I wikiislamed this and they said its a war cry, I'm glad to have gotten a correct definition of the phrase from some one who lives and breathes the culture and I apologize for the "snack bar" thing. My country likes to laugh at other people.

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u/tinkthank May 19 '13

You're quite welcome. I´d avoid WikiIslam for your source of knowledge about Islam. They're heavily biased in attempting to portray Islam and Muslims in as negative a manner as possible and their sourcing is very poor and/or lacks context.

It's okay, I'm an American-Muslim of South Asian descent, so it definitely gives me a unique perspective into both American and Muslim cultures.

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u/Everseer May 19 '13

One of the top videos here was a guy filming his house getting shelled. All he could say was "allah akbar" and try not to drop the camera. Any westerner in that situation would be doing the exact same thing, except yelling "jesus christ" and "oh my god". "allah akbar" is not that weird a thing to say when you consider how much religion has a place in the English lanuage.

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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '22

This is good stuff. Alhamdulillah

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u/SCP106 Jan 03 '26

Twelve years later this post is still helping inform, thank you. I hope you are doing well.