What Could Possibly Be the Connection Between Peter Pan Playing Cricket and Islamic Triumphalism? (Part 1)

Every time a Muslim terrorist commits his, or on occasions her, act of terror on innocent Western civilians, he or she utters what is known as the Takbir, that is the expression in Arabic “Allahu Akbar”. The targets are usually Western civilians but they could also be those Muslims not considered sufficiently pure, as when they assassinated Anwar Sadat, the third president of Egypt, in 1981.

What is the meaning of the Takbir, “Allahu Akbar”? It is often translated as “God is great”. The usually reliable and accurate Dictionary of Islam, compiled by Thomas Patrick Hughes [1838-1911], gives three different meanings. Under ‘Allahu Akbar’, he writes, “’ God is great’ or ‘God is most high’. An ejaculation which is called the Takbīr. It occurs frequently in the liturgical forms, and is used when slaying an animal for food.”[1] Under Takbīr, Hughes gives the meaning as “God is very great!”.

Ian Richard Netton in his “A Popular Dictionary of Islam”[2] has a yet another variation, though slight, of the Takbīr: “Praise, glorification, the declaration or expression ‘God is Most Great’ (Allāhu Akbar). The latter is a much used part of the ṣalāt (q.v.) [the prayer and its accompanying ritual].”

The prestigious Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd Edition, tells us:

“The formula, as the briefest expression of the absolute superiority of the One God, is used in Muslim life in different circumstances, in which the idea of God, His greatness and goodness is suggested.”

Edward William Lane [1801-1876], devoted thirty-five years of his life to compile his monumental Arabic-English Lexicon, [3]in which he examines what classical Arab scholars themselves have to say about the meaning of the Takbir. “According to some, Allahu Akbar means God is great;… but this explanation is of weak authority: according to others, the phrase is elliptical, and means God is the greatest great [being]: or God is greater than every [other] great thing: or greater than such as that one knows the measure of His majesty: [or it may be rendered God is most great, meaning, greater than any other being:] “ All the square brackets are in the original dictionary entry by Lane.

Here at last Lane has introduced the correct comparative, “greater than…”. The German scholar Carl Paul Caspari [1814-1892] wrote a comprehensive grammar of Arabic in German which was published in 1848 and translated into English in 1859 by William Wright [1830-1889], Professor of Arabic at Cambridge. It has become a classic work of reference. Caspari’s grammar informs us that the preposition min that is normally used in comparatives to express the English “than” is sometimes omitted: “e.g. Allahu Akbar God is most great, lit. God is greater min ghayrihi than any other being.” [4] This grammical form is called the Elative. So we have: kabīrun “great”; Elative akbaru “greater”.

In Sura XVII verse 111, we have the use of the form Takbir, and the meaning is clear: Allah is to be considered greater than the God of Christians: “Say: ‘Praise be to God, Who begets no son, and has no partner in (His) dominion: nor needs He any to protect Him from humiliation: Yea, magnify Him for his greatness and glory.”

     wa-quli l-ḥamdu li-llāhi llaḏī lam yattaḫiḏ waladan wa-lam yakun lahū šarīkun fīl-mulki wa-lam yakun lahū waliyyun mina ḏ-ḏulli wa-kabbirhu takbīran.

Thus the expression “Allahu Akbar” is a declaration that the Muslim concept of God is greater than any other concept. It is an example of Islamic triumphalism.

Finally, I end this first part with this anecdote on the mischievous acts of the Mughal Emperor, Akbar [1542-1605] who rejected Islam, and introduced a number of anti-Islamic measures: in 1579 he ended “the custom of sending vast sums of money each year to Mecca and Medina for distribution to the poor; …in 1584 he rejected the Muslim system of dating events from the Hegira, or the flight of the prophet from Mecca to Medina [in 622], and replaced it with a new chronology beginning with his own accession; finally he had had the effrontery to begin preaching and reciting khutba himself in the mosque.” [5]This last act was greatly offensive to the orthodox.

Akbar also allowed the sale of wine, and wine-drinking; and courtiers were told to shave off their beards. As if this were not enough, Akbar mischievously had stamped on his coins the ambiguous phrase Allahu akbar; strictly speaking akbar means “greater” (not“great) but it is also, of course, the Emperor’s name, so that the words could mean “God is Greater” or “Akbar is God.” Was Akbar assuming divinity for himself? Abul Fazl’s biography of Akbar is full of terms suggesting his divinity, and he even attributes several miracles to the Emperor.

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[1] Thomas Patrick Hughes. Dictionary of Islam,  Calcutta: 1988 [Ist published: 1885], p.14.  Hughes was the British government in India examiner for Pashto, and one of the original fellows of the Oriental University of the Punjab at Lahore (in present day Pakistan).

[2] Ian Richard Netton, A Popular Dictionary of Islam, Richmond (Surrey, U.K.): Curzon Press, p.242.

[3]Edward William Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, in Eight Parts, Beirut: Librairie du Liban, 1968 [Ist Pub. London: Williams and Norgate, 1885], Part 7, p.2587.

[4] William Wright, A Grammar of the Arabic Language, translated from the German of [Carl Paul] Caspari, and edited with numerous additions and Corrections, [Third Edition revised by W. Robertson Smith and M. J. de Goeje, Vol. II, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1964, pp.133-134.

[5] Bamber Gascoigne, The Great Mughals, pp. 107-08.