March 28, 2016
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"Allahu Akbar" = "How Great Thou Art" ???
I recently saw a claim: "Allahu Akbar = How Great Thou Art".
The speaker was claiming that it was hypocritical for Christians to critize Muslims for saying the former, when they themselves say the latter, since the meaning is basically identical.
However, upon deeper examination, this claim falls apart, and in the process reveals a powerful difference between Islam and Christianity.
"Allahu Akbar" literally means, "God is greater" or "God is the greatest".
(A closer Christian equivalent would be "Our God Reigns", but the philosophical nuances are not identical to that song either.)Basically, when a Muslim shouts "Allahu Akbar," he is saying that Allah (the Arabic word for God) is not, cannot, and never will be 'sullied' by limitations or weaknesses, especially human limitations and weaknesses. If he hears a suggestion that Allah might be forgetful, or weak, or tired, or needing to use the bathroom, etc, he reacts with "Allahu Akbar", that is, "Allah is above those embarassing human limitations... Allah is greater than all."
In fact, going even farther, Muslim theologians teach that Allah is not only 'above' human limitations, but 'above' human description... He is inherently un-knowable. He is so completely transcendent that it is impossible for we humans to know Him... his true nature, essence, character. Allah has many names in the Quran, which describe his attributes (mercy, justice, etc).... but according to Muslim theologians, we cannot say that the word means the same thing when applied to Allah that it normally means when applied to another human. Thus Islam cannot say what Allah is, it can only say what He is not. His attributes are "not He nor are they other than He" (Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Shahrastani, commenting on al-Ash'ari). It is "impossible for them to know Him" (Al-Ghazali).
In particular, Allah (as the Quran describes Him) would never limit himself by binding himself to keep His own promises... Allah would never stoop down to rescue a human being if it meant He Himself would get hurt or pained in the process... The Quran talks about Allah's "love", but Allah only loves those who are righteous... Allah does not love sinners. Allah's "love" in the Quran is NOT self-sacrificial in any way. It is broadly "beneficent", but it is not the love which would sacrifice oneself to help the beloved.
In contrast, the God of the Bible is a God who willingly "emptied Himself of"/"laid aside" His privileges, stooped down, and was willing to be born as a dirty human, subject to tiredness, sickness, thirst, hunger, and the need to use the bathroom.
The Muslim is rightly shocked by this... it is a tremendously shocking action for God to take.
Quoting from the link below, "The Bible on the other hand presents us with a God who suffers because of his disobedient people. He is grieved, he is angered. The prophets of Israel reveal him as a wounded lover, a husband who feels the pain of betrayal because of his unfaithful wife, a father whose heart is broken because of his rebellious children."
As the song "How Great Thou Art" puts it:
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.What kind of God is this? A God who loves sinners? Who "loves" them not merely in the sense of extending vague beneficence to them, but in the sense of "seeking them out", willing to "die in their place"??
This is the God of the Bible. A God of shocking, embarrassingly-strong, outrageous, self-sacrificial love.
"Allahu Akbar" does NOT equal "How Great Thou Art". The Allah of the Quran is weaker, not greater, than the God of the Bible... the former stands aloof and is unable to stoop down to get involved in the lives of us sinners. The latter proved His willingness to rescue us at huge personal cost and heartbreak, to demonstrate His real love for us.
"How Great Thou Art."
For more about this, please see:
http://www.answering-islam.org/God/character.html
http://www.answering-islam.org/Hahn/god_his_word_and_the_quran.htm
http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/Schlorff/schlorff1_t.html
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