Takbir

Usage

This phrase is recited by Muslims in many different situations. For example, when they are very happy, to express approval, to prevent a Muslim from becoming prideful by reminding them that Allah is their source of success, or as a battle cry, during times of extreme stress. The phrase is not found in the Quran, which does not refer to God as Akbar, but uses the name Al-Kabir (The Great) or Kabir (Great), commonly translated as "Most Great" (13:9, 31:30, 22:62, 34:23, 40:12, 4:34).

In prayer

The phrase is said during each stage of both obligatory prayers (performed five times a day), and supererogatory prayers (performed at will). The Muslim call to prayer (adhan) by the muezzin and to commence prayer (iqama) also contains the phrase.

In times of distress

This phrase is also used in times of distress.

Just before a Garuda Airbus A300B-4 crashed into the jungle near Medan, Indonesia, the pilot screamed "Aaaaaaah! Allahu Akbar!" into his radio. According to a radio communication transcript, the pilot's conversation with the air controller had been in English, but his last words were this Arabic phrase as the plane crashed on September 26, 1997, killing all 234 people aboard in Indonesia's deadliest crash. It was suspected that the crash may have been due to either disorientation or engine failure caused by local dense smog resulting from forest fires.

In times of joy and gratitude

When Reshma Begum was discovered alive 17 days after the 2013 Savar building collapse in Bangladesh which killed 1129 people, crowds jubilantly cried Allahu Akbar to express their joy and gratitude that she had survived.

As a multi-purpose phrase, it is sometimes used by Arab football commentators as an expression of amazement.

Following births and deaths

The phrase is used after the birth of a child as a means of praising God.

In the hadith, Muhammad is reported to have spoken the Takbīr after a funeral.

During the Eid Festival and the Hajj

During the festival of Eid al-Adha and the days preceding it, Muslims recite the Takbīr. This is particularly the case on the Day of Arafa.

Jihadist usage

The phrase is well known in the West for its common use as a battle cry in Islamist protests, Islamic extremism, and Islamic terrorism.

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the FBI released a letter reportedly handwritten by the hijackers and found in three separate locations on the day of the attacks—at Dulles International Airport, at the Pennsylvania crash site, and in hijacker Mohamed Atta's suitcase. It included a checklist of final reminders for the 9/11 hijackers. An excerpt reads: "When the confrontation begins, strike like champions who do not want to go back to this world. Shout, 'Allahu Akbar,' because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers." Also, in the cockpit voice recorders found at the crash site of Flight 93, the hijackers are heard reciting the Takbīr repeatedly as the plane plummets toward the ground and the passengers attempt to retake control of the plane.

When in March 2002 Maryam Mohammad Yousif Farhat of Hamas, popularized as "Umm Nidal" (and subsequently elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council), learned that her 17-year-old son had died during a suicide attack in which he killed five teenagers, she celebrated by proclaiming "Allahu Akbar!" and giving out boxes of halva and chocolates. Imam Samudra, who was sentenced to death for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, chanted the phrase upon hearing his sentence.

In the video of Nick Berg being beheaded in Iraq in 2004, the perpetrators can be heard shouting "Allahu Akbar!". And in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, a group of radical Islamists who were convicted of plotting an attack on the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey had videotaped themselves shooting weapons and shouting Allahu Akbar. In 2008, Aafia Siddiqui is alleged to have fired at US interrogators while yelling "Allah Akbar".

During the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, witnesses reported that gunman Nidal Malik Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" before opening fire, killing 13 people and wounding 30 others. Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad smiled and said "Allahu Akbar" after receiving a life sentence in 2010 for his attempted bombing.

During the incident aboard American Airlines Flight 1561 in 2011, the person attempting to bash his way into the cockpit was heard shouting "Allahu Akbar". Mohammed Merah recorded himself shouting Allahu Akbar as he killed three French paratroopers in the 2012 Midi-Pyrénées shootings. In the 2014 Jerusalem synagogue attack witnesses reported that the perpetrators screamed "Allahu Akbar" as they axed and shot at the worshippers. The killers in the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris shouted Allahu Akbar during their attack. During the November 2015 Paris attacks, witnesses reported hearing gunmen shouting "Allahu akbar" before opening fire in the Bataclan theatre, killing 89 people.

When Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was assassinated on 19 December 2016 at Ankara, the capital of Turkey, after shooting the ambassador the shooter shouted "Allahu akbar!" and "Do not forget Aleppo!" referring to Russia helping the Syrian government conquer the eastern part of the city of Aleppo only a few days prior to the assassination.

The phrase's common association with jihadism and extremism in the West has recently become a staple Internet meme known as "Unexpected Jihad", usually in the form of a video clip that consists of an activity and followed by a sudden, unexpected explosion. Normally the phrase is added before the explosion occurs, and a nasheed may be played in the background either throughout the video or following the explosion scene.

In history

It has been used historically as a battle cry during war. It was first used in war by Muhammad in the Battle of Badr, the first battle in Islam.

Iranian usage

During the Iranian revolution of 1979, it was shouted from rooftops in Iran during the evenings as a form of protest. This practice returned in the aftermath of the 2009 Iranian presidential election, to protest the election results. Many people shouted it from 22:00–22:30 every night, after the 2009 Iranian election to protest the result.

In Syrian and Iraqi insurgency

In videos released during the course of the Syrian Civil War, Free Syrian Army, Al-Nusra Front, other rebel and Islamist groups and ISIL forces are heard shouting "Takbir" and "Allahu Akbar" in the background while fighting. Even more "secular" groups such as the Free Syrian Army - Operation Southern Storm have been heard yelling the phrase before the firing of heavy weapons.

In the course of the Iraqi insurgency, Islamist fighters are seen and heard shouting "Takbir" and "Allahu Akbar".

Jihadists and the Islamist videos are also shown its fighters making Takbir with a pointing finger up.

On flags

The phrase "Allahu Akbar" is written on the center of the flag of Iraq, 22 times along the borders of the central white stripe on the flag of Iran, and beneath the Shahada in the flag of Afghanistan in white script on the central red background as determined by the 2004 draft constitution.

During the Persian Gulf war in January 1991, Saddam Hussein held a meeting with top military commanders, where it was decided to add the words Allahu Akbar (described as the Islamic battle cry) to Iraq's flag to boost his secular regime's religious credentials, casting himself as the leader of an Islamic army. Hussein described the flag as "the banner of jihad and monotheism".

In 2004, Iraq's U.S.-picked Governing Council approved a new flag for Iraq that abandoned symbols of Hussein's regime, such as the words Allahu Akbar. In January 2008, however, Iraq's parliament passed a law to change the flag by leaving in the phrase, but changing the calligraphy of the words Allahu Akbar, which had been a copy of Hussein's handwriting, to a Kufic script.

The phrase Allahu Akbar is written on the Iranian flag, as called for by Article 18 of Iran's constitution. The phrase appears 22 times on the flag.

The Afghan constitution that came into force on January 4, 2004, required that Allahu Akbar be inscribed on Afghanistan's national flag.

A resistance movement that fought British rule in Waziristan, Pakistan, in the 1930s used a red flag bearing Allahu Akbar in white letters.

One of the variants of the flag of Pashtunistan features the Takbir on it.