CNN: The “prayerful” phrase “Allahu akbar” is a “celebration of life”
Omar Suleiman is the imam who prevailed upon Google to alter their search results so as to bury any negative information about Islam. Now, at CNN, he is arguing that Muslims say “Allahu akbar” in a variety of contexts, many of them positive, and so “a lone terrorist who shouts ‘Allahu Akbar’ while murdering innocent people in the streets of New York does not get to own that term.”
Suleiman complains that “the way ‘Allahu Akbar’ often appears in the media seems to serve a nefarious agenda: to instill fear of anyone who utters the phrase and to raise concerns even about Islam itself.” See, if you notice that jihad mass murderers, not just in New York City on Tuesday but frequently all over the world, scream “Allahu akbar” as they murder people, you have a “nefarious agenda.” If you remember that 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta reminded himself to “shout, ‘Allahu Akbar,’ because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers,” you’re a greasy Islamophobe. Suleiman wants his readers to believe that “Allahu akbar” is benign and even beautiful, and that there is no cause whatsoever for “concerns even about Islam itself.” He even cites the learned imam John McCain to make his case.
There’s just one problem. Suleiman says that “a lone terrorist who shouts ‘Allahu Akbar’ while murdering innocent people in the streets of New York does not get to own that term,” but that “the ones who get to own the term” are “those who live in a way that celebrates the greatness of God by obeying his commands and serving his creation, not those who flout those commands and attack his creation unjustly.” But did the New York City jihad mass murderer Sayfullo Saipov really flout Allah’s commands and do something unjust? The Qur’an tells Muslims three times to “kill them wherever you find them” (2:191; 4:89; 9:5). It tells Muslims to wage war against the People of the Book, i.e., primarily Jews and Christians, until they submit to the hegemony of Islamic law and accept second-class status (9:29). It tells Muslims to fight non-Muslims until “religion is all for Allah” (8:39). Muhammad, the prophet of Islam and “excellent example” (Qur’an 33:21) for Muslims to emulate, said: “I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle, and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform that, then they save their lives and property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah. (Bukhari 1.2.24)
Is Sayfullo Saipov really flouting Allah’s commands by thinking that “kill them wherever you find them” means “kill them wherever you find them”? Did he really murder people that Islam considers innocent when Muhammad says that the lives of those who don’t believe in Allah are safe from him, that is, he only won’t kill them if they become Muslim?
Omar Suleiman knows what the Qur’an and Muhammad say. He knows that Muhammad also said, “War is deceit.” (Bukhari 4.52.268) His own deceitfulness and cynicism in this CNN piece are exposed by his quoting of Hasan Shibly of Hamas-linked CAIR. CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case — so named by the Justice Department. CAIR officials have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several former CAIR officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror. CAIR’s cofounder and longtime Board chairman (Omar Ahmad), as well as its chief spokesman (Ibrahim Hooper), have made Islamic supremacist statements about how Islamic law should be imposed in the U.S. (Ahmad denies this, but the original reporter stands by her story.) CAIR chapters frequently distribute pamphlets telling Muslims not to cooperate with law enforcement. CAIR has opposed virtually every anti-terror measure that has been proposed or implemented and has been declared a terror organization by the United Arab Emirates. A CAIR operative recently called for the overthrow of the U.S. government.
In light of all that, Shibly’s words here about the jihad massacre being “the worst crime against God” ring hollow. Shibly knows what Islam teaches and what CAIR is all about. As does Suleiman. “War is deceit” indeed.
CNN, of course, is happy to publish this deceptive nonsense, and foster ignorance and complacency regarding the jihad threat among its readers. But would CNN ever publish a piece from me explaining the true meaning of “Allahu akbar” and why jihad terrorists scream it as they murder? Not on your life! Find out why in my new book Confessions of an Islamophobe: preorder your copy here now.
“What ‘Allahu Akbar’ really means,” by Omar Suleiman, CNN, November 1, 2017:
…Contrary to what many people seem to think, the words “Allahu Akbar” simply mean “God is greater.” It is a powerful declaration used by Muslims on many occasions and in many prayers. It is a celebration of life, the first words fathers whisper in the ears of their newborns. They are used to indicate gratitude when God bestows something upon you that you would have been incapable of attaining were it not for divine benevolence. It is a prayerful phrase that reminds us that, no matter what our concerns may be, God is greater than them.Worshipers at a mosque in Quebec reportedly heard the phrase “Allahu Akhbar [sic],” the very phrase they recite in morning prayers, uttered by their white supremacist attacker just before he opened fire and killed six Muslims this January. And Muslims at a mosque in Minnesota were reciting “Allahu Akbar” during their morning prayers when their mosque was firebombed this August.Is “Allahu Akbar” sometimes used as a battle cry? Yes, though as Sen. John McCain has argued on Fox News, that does not make the phrase itself abhorrent. While noting that “moderate Muslims” also say “Allahu Akbar,” McCain said the phrase is no more troubling that a Christian saying “Thank God.”But the way “Allahu Akbar” often appears in the media seems to serve a nefarious agenda: to instill fear of anyone who utters the phrase and to raise concerns even about Islam itself. But a lone terrorist who shouts “Allahu Akbar” while murdering innocent people in the streets of New York does not get to own that term. Nor do those who declare that no further details are needed to determine motive once a man with a Muslim-sounding name perpetrates an attack using those words.As Hassan Shibly, executive director of CAIR-Florida, said in response to the recent terror attack in New York, “That is the biggest act of heresy to shout God’s glorious name when committing the worst crime against God.”Though these words that are used to celebrate life also sometimes accompany horrific acts, this is not a new phenomenon.Of the greatest ironies noted by the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), was the birth and death of Abdullah Ibn Az Zubayr.Abdullah Ibn Az Zubayr was the first child born in the Muslim community after they had migrated to Medina from Mecca to escape persecution.Some residents of Medina told Muslims that they had placed a spell on them that would prevent them from having children. When Abdullah was born, his grandfather Abu Bakr carried him through the streets as the crowd happily chanted “Allahu Akbar.”When Abdullah was murdered by another group of Muslims as he stood for justice in Mecca, his murderers also chanted “Allahu Akbar.”As one witness said, “I was there the day Abdullah was born, and I am here the day he has died, and I heard those who said Allahu Akbar the day he was born and I heard those who have said Allahu Akbar the day he has died, and I swear by Allah those who said Allahu Akbar the day when he was born were far greater than those who have said Allahu Akbar today!”While those who killed Abdullah used the same words as those who celebrated his birth, only one group truly honored the greatness of God. They are the ones who get to own the term: those who live in a way that celebrates the greatness of God by obeying his commands and serving his creation, not those who flout those commands and attack his creation unjustly.We mustn’t allow terrorists or agendas of fear to own any of the words, concepts, or devotions found in the sacred text of a quarter of the world’s population. That would give them exactly what they want. And God is far greater than the ugliness committed in His name. “Allahu Akbar…”
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