What does Allahu Akbar mean?

It is one of the most commonly used phrases in Islam and is uttered during ritualistic prayer where Muslims face the Kaaba in Mecca. It is also recited in the call to prayer heard from the minarets of mosques throughout the Muslim world.  In Islamic faith it is considered a form of applause and is spoken in union as a way of showing approval of a speaker.

When has Allahu Akbar been used?

Many Muslims recite Allahu Akbar in their daily lives to remind themselves of God’s vastness and power. Islam’s 1.6 billion followers say it in every occasion and it has a multitude of meanings. It is repeated in times of distress, as an expression of joy, following births and deaths and during Islamic festivals such as Eid as a declaration to Allah. Arab football commentators are known to have shouted this multi-purpose phrase as an expression of amazement.

Following the Savar building collapse in Bangladesh in 2015, 18-year-old Reshma Begum was pulled from the rubble after 17 days. As she was pulled from the wreckage rescue workers and onlookers cried "Allahu Akbar" to commemorate the miracle.

Allahu Akbar is also prominent on the flag of Iraq, written across its center, the flag of Iran, where it is written in white eleven times, and on the flag of Afghanistan.

Why is the phrase used by terrorists?

This peaceful and spiritual phrase has been warped by Islamic extremists since it has become the call of choice immediately before a terrorist attack. The term was associated with violence in a four-page document found in the luggage of the suspected hijack ringleader of 9/11, Mohamed Atta. The document contained the passage: “Shout, 'Allahu Akbar,' because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers.”

One of  the murderers of Fusilier Lee Rigby, who was killed in a brutal attack in broad daylight in 2013, was heard shouting "Allahu Akbar" during their sentencing. Witnesses of the Paris attacks reported hearing several attackers shouting the term intensifying the phrases sinister connotation.

The gunman in the Orlando shooting on June 12 is reported to have shouted the phrase during the attack.

In an Islamic State execution video a young boy aged four is seen triumphantly punching the air and shouting "Allahu Akbar".

The saying has become so falsely entwined in acts of terrorism that it was recently shouted by an actor in an anti-terror exercise in the Manchester Trafford Centre. Manchester police have since apologised for ‘pandering to stereotypes’ and the ‘unnecessary’ use of the religious phrase.

What references have been made to Allahu Akbar in film and music?

In 2015, a song titled 'Allahu Akbar' by DJ Inappropriate reached No1 on Spotify’s Viral Chart. The dance track, which is meant to be satirical, topped the streaming charts less than a fortnight after terrorists yelled the Islamic phrase during the Paris attacks.  Whether the attention stemmed out of satire, curiosity or belief remains a mystery.

The saying was also the title of a 1977 Indian Malayalam film directed by Moithu Padiyath. There is also an upcoming film titled ‘Mission Allahu Akbar’, which is a Pakistani romantic drama.

Where has the term Allahu Akbar come from?

Allahu Akbar was allegedly first used as a battle cry during the Battle of Badr by the Prophet Muhammad.  Shouting this term in battle would mean ‘God is greater than the enemy’.

During the Iranian revolution in 1979 protesters shouted it from rooftops as a form of protest. In recent times, it was used as a cheer in the Arab Spring. The saying was used as the name of an anthem written as a marching song for the Egyptian Army during the Suez Canal War in 1956. The song became popular in Egypt and Syria as it symbolized a united Arab front against the West.

From 1977 to 2011 ‘Allahu Akbar’ was the national anthem of the Libyan Arab Republic. Dictator Muammar Gaddafi demanded it as the official song of the nation in his hope of uniting the Arab world.