New to PJ Media:
It happened recently in the Italian town of Sora. As workers were putting up Christmas lights in the center of town, a man ventured out and started yelling, “Allahu akbar.” Everyone present was terrified, contrary to the American media dictum that “Allahu akbar” is a totally benign phrase that should not worry anyone. How did these Italians become so Islamophobic?
The Italian-language publication FrosinoneToday reported that the onlookers’ shouts of “Allahu akbar” as workers put up the Christmas lights and turned them on caused “real ‘fright moments'” and that “once he was gone, he literally terrified everyone in town.” Present with the equally classic exclamation associated with terrorism, the young man continued to rant against the lights.
Why was everyone terrified? The phrase “Allahu akbar” is commonly translated in the English media as “God is great”, a phrase resoundingly incontrovertible from any point of view. In reality, however, that is a mistranslation. “Allahu akbar” actually means “Allah is greater,” a subtle but important difference. Rather than simply being a proclamation of the greatness of the divine, “Allahu akbar” is actually a proclamation of superiority: what is being said is that Allah, the God of Islam, is greater than your god, or your government, Or your atheism. belief system, or your society and culture, or anything else you might love and admire. Whatever it is, Allah is greater.
Therefore, this proclamation also means that Islam is superior to all other religions and everything else, for while the use of the word “Allah” is not limited to only Muslims, those who proclaim “Allahu akbar” they generally have in mind the God of the Qur’an. ‘an, and they are claiming his superiority over all other gods. This became very clear a few years ago in Malaysia when Christians were prohibited from using the word “Allah” to refer to the God of Christianity.
But Sora’s Italians were not terrified by a simple assertion of the superiority of Islam. The phrase has become associated with terrorism for a very good reason: Terrorists often yell it when in the act. Just a few weeks ago in France, a Muslim previously convicted of terrorism shouted “Allahu akbar” as he attacked a police officer. Also in France recently, a Muslim migrant chanting “Allahu akbar” hit one gendarme with a tap and bit another. In Belgium, a knife-wielding Muslim who also shouted “Allahu akbar” said he was going to kill everyone in a hospital emergency room. In the same country, another Muslim chanting “Allahu akbar” stabbed a police officer in the neck, killing him and wounding another. In Germany, a Muslim on a Berlin train shouted “Allahu akbar” and “I will kill all Germans.”
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