The meanings behind Allahu Akbar

Allahu Akbar. A muslim doesn't have to even know know Arabic to be familiar with these two words. Most if not all muslims know it what means, but knowing and understanding are two separate matters.

I recently listened to a lecture about this word and thought it would be beneficial to share with everyone.

Commonly, it is translated as ‘Allah is the greatest’, or ‘Allah maha besar’ in BM. While I would not go so far as to say those translations are wrong, the more literal translation would yield ‘Allah is greater than’ as ‘Akbar’ is a form of comparative adjective in Arabic.

Now, when someone is to compare something, it begs the question: what is that something compared to. In this case, the sentence ‘Allahu Akbar’ leaves out the object of comparison entirely. This is part of the wonder of these two words.

For one, this omission of an object in a comparative is used in Arabic speech to imply the subject is better than any object you can think of. In the case of ‘Allahu Akbar’; Allah is greater than everything. Thus we get the common translation ‘Allah is the greatest’. But even this is understanding the sentence at face value.

You see, by omitting the object, it leaves the room for the object to be interpreted contextually. For instance, when you are doing your work and you hear the Adhan (the first line being Allahu Akbar), you have to realize it means Allah is greater than whatever your work is, no matter how important or noble you think it is. The fact is your obligation in work is minuscule compared to your obligation towards Him - the solah.

There is a narration about this form *Al-Aswad bin Yaziz. He said : I asked Aisha ''What did the Prophet (s.a.w) use to do at home?'' She said, ''He (s.a.w) used to work for his family, and when he heard the adhan, he would go out (to perform the solah).'' Clearly indicating that there is no responsibility greater than that towards Allah.

The wonders of Allahu Akbar also works in solah. Most of us are easily distracted in solah. Whether it be thinking about the the work we forgot to do, the long day ahead of us, the football game on tv to, what movies we want to watch next, to just about any little thing we can think of. So everytime we say Allahu Akbar in our prayer, we are not just proclaiming the greatness of our Lord, but we are also reminding ourselves that Allah is greater, is more important, than the things going about in our head and that He is the one we should fill our mind with instead.

So the next time you hear Allahu Akbar, I hope you will be able to understand it the way it is meant to be understood. InshaAllah, this will bring us closer to Him. Wallahu A’lam.

*Sahih Bukhari, vol 7, no 276. Taken from http://www.haqvoice.com/hadith/index.php?page=1&s=Adhan on 2/12/2010

Curses

I am not fond of curses. Swears. Four letter words. Or whatever people want to call it.

Many people however, do not have a problem using it and/or with their usage. These days anyways, it is considered normal to curse. You hear it in the movies, your friends use it when they speak, you read it almost every time you facebook and you get desensitized to it. If that wasn't the worst of it, many even endorse it!

I don't know what's the deal. Maybe cursing boosts your ego. Maybe cursing makes you feel cool. The fact however, is this - A bad word deed is a bad deed. A bad word is a bad word. Take stealing for example. If everyone in the neighbourhood is a thief, that still doesn't the fact that thievery is wrong doesn't it? Likewise, just because it is a norm to curse, that doesn't mean it's right to curse.

Decency doesn't change over time. What was wrong 100 years ago is still wrong today. Rather, it's the people's perception of decency that has changed.

If you are a person who likes to curse and is somehow offended by this post, I ask you this: would you want to hear your kids curse? Please remember that the apple won't fall far from the tree.

Changing the world

Read the news lately? You'll discover 2 stark contrasts. One the one hand, the nation can be seen flourishing infrastructure-wise. New buildings are going to be built, new curriculum for schools, more funds, etc. But on the other hand, the society is plummeting where morality and decency is concerned. Not a single week will go without news of child dumping, underage sex, incest and all kinds of other hideous behaviours.

What is wrong with people?

And while the goverment is supposedly hard at work to curb these issues, is there any hope for change? If the state of the 'advanced nations' that our society seems so bent to be like are any indication, then it's only logical to assume that things are only going to get worse from here on. Afterall, what our nation is currently trying to implement to curb societal problems is only what those countries have already applied and what good did that do to those countries?

I used to think that there was no saving the society. That there was no way to change the world.

History proved me wrong. There was one society which had very bad societal problems. Theirs were a society of drunkards, adulterers, and murderers who would bury their daughters alive out of shame - not too different to what our society is becoming. Who would have thought that in 23 years, they had a complete change in every aspect of life and even went so far as to become a powerful civilisation.

They were the Arabs, whose lives were changed by the Message of the Quran sent by the Messenger of Allah. They flourished when they abided by the Book, and they declined as their people started to turn away from the Book.

In it is a lesson for us - we can't put the responsibility to improve our society solely on the government, or any single body. If we want to change the world, then the change has to start from within us. And we may think that we need to spend millions and millions to treat the disease that is plaguing our society, but the cure is actually free. Turn to the Quran, and let the Message of Allah change us.

The miracle given to us

When people talk about miracles of old, they will remember stories of how Musa (or Moses) peace be upon him split the Red Sea, or how Al-Masih Isa (Jesus Christ) healed, the blind, the lepers and brought the dead to the living. These are indeed wonderful stories, but to the people of today, rings more closely towards fiction rather than factual. It is understandable, given the magnitude of the miracles and particularly because we were not there to witness these miracles first-hand.

However, the muslims believe of a final miracle. A miracle which sadly, many - even the muslims - among us have either forgotten of are simply unaware of. A certain miracle that God had revealed some 1400 years ago for everyone, and that implies even to us, the people of today. This miracle is the Quran, which for the muslims, is the verbatim words of God Himself as a guidance for mankind.

Lately, there has been a lot of hate for the muslim world and we hear of cases of people doing untold atrocities to the Quran. Yet, how many of the people who do those things actually took their time to open the Quran and read it for themselves.

So here I would like to invite all of you to give the Quran a chance. For the muslims, read it to understand your deen better. For those of different faiths, remember that there is no knowledge that isn't power. You don't necessarily need to believe in it to read it. After all, people read Harry Potter knowing whatever written in it is hardly believable. So if you can read something like Harry Potter, why not the Quran? It certainly won't do you no harm. It's not even all that long if that's what's worrying you.

And while the Quran is in Arabic, these days you can easily find a translation on the internet to get a general understanding about the Quran. From what I understand, the most commonly used English translation is the one by Yusuf Ali, which you can read here.

However, bear in mind that while you can get some of the messages of the Quran from a translation, most of the things that make the Quran what it is will be lost in translation. If you are a person of literature, you will know that a translation of a text from one language to another will never be 100% similar. It will lose a lot of the nuances and features unique to the original language and might even lead to some confusion. That is why the Quran is actually meant to be read and understood in Arabic, the language it was originally revealed in. Don't let this dissuade you though, as I've said, it's okay to get the general sense of the message for starters.

Read it with an open mind and heart, then pass you judgement.

Click here to read the Quran now

Additional information about the Quran:

1. What are the main beliefs outlined in the Quran

2. Is Quran written by Muhammad (p.b.u.h)

3. Why is the Quran revealed in Arabic

4. Is Arabic uniform throughout the Arab world

5. What is the literary structure of the Quran & can the Quran be translated exactly

6. Are there grammatical errors in the Quran

7. Why does God refer Himself as 'We'

8. The Quran's relation with the Bible and the Torah

9. The Quran as a divine speech

10. Misconceptions about the Quran

Working title

I'm currently trying to write about something serious. Hopefully will be able to get it done at some point and post it here =)