Notis: Det följande är en reproduktion av artiklen Allahu Akbar Vs Allahu Al-Kabeer, One more time.

Editor's note: This is part of the discussion that was started when some of the people decided to change their practice of Salat by using the term "Allahu Al-Kabeer" instead of "Allahu Akbar" and claimed it to be the ONLY correct way of performing Salat.

Islam is older than the Quran. Islam (submission to God alone) has always been the religion of all God's prophets. Abraham however was given all the rituals (practices of Islam), thousands of years before even Muhammed was born. See our article, "Who founded Islam".

During a discussion about the use of the term Allahu Akbar, some people came up with the idea that Allahu Al-kabeer may be more appropriate because the word Kabeer can be found in the Quran while the word Akbar is not. This issue has been discussed also in another article that reminded us that Salat began even before the Quran.

The following is the main point in the discussion that took place.

God reminds us in the Quran that;

5:3 "...Today, I have completed your religion, perfected My blessing upon you, and I have decreed Islam as the religion for you..."

Islam, our religion, is perfected by GOD Almighty at the time of Muhammad. We had made changes in our Salat  that we inherited from our parents because we are trying to restore it to its initial form known to Muhammad. Historically, we can trace those alterations to Salat. Here you are 2 examples:

1. Amen: Saying "Amen" after the opening Sura is reported in a Hadith. It was said that a companion of the prophet said "Amen" after Muhammad had recited the Penning Sura in the Salat. After finishing Salat, Muhammad, allegedly said that he saw angels blessing the one who said "Amen" and were hurrying up to take it to GOD.

This Hadith and similar hadiths were introduced when  the Muslims increased in numbers, had converts from the Christians and Jews and thus got into closer contact with Christians and Jews. Christians for instance do say "Amen" after reciting the Lord's prayer which is very similar to the  Sura 1 of the Quran.

2. Traditionally, in the the muslim world, even the Muslim scholars agree that reciting Fatiha is Mandatory, but reciting any other sura from the Quran in Salat as only a 'sunna'. Some of the Muslims who memorize the Quran used this idea to repeatedly recite the Quran to improve their memory of it.

When we accepted any changes in the Salat, we did it only after we were certain that we are following the Quran and purifying the salat absolutely to God alone. We had no intention to create a new religion. Islam (Submission to God alone) is the ONE and ONLY religion acceptable to God. It has to be kept absolutely to God ALONE. We are only trying to purify it from all the man made additions that accumulated over 1400 years.

Changing "Allahu Akbar" to "Allahu Al-Kabeer"

Those who want to change Allahu Akbar to Allahu Al Kabeer has two main reasons:

1. GOD never qualifies Himself in Quran as Akbar, which is a fact Akbar is not a GOD's attribute you can find in Quran, and so do the number of prostrations (Sujud) and bowing down (Ruku) for every Salat. We do not have any information in Quran about the Friday's ceremony (ie.khutba) and how to do it either. The word "Akbar" however is quranic. God used  the word "Akbar "to describe some of His qualities, See for example, 9:72 and 40:10

2. Based on the verse 17:46, we should use Quran Only while preaching GOD. Do not forget that Islamic practices are older than Quran

Why we do not agree with changing Allahu Akbar to Allahu Al-Kabeer.

(1). Historically, there is not a single recorded instance where Muhammad or muslims used to say "Allahu Al-Kabeer". Had Muhammad used "Allahu Al-Kabeer" and in the case he was wrong, GOD would have corrected him. Remember that GOD perfected His religion with its rituals at the time of Muhammad. Therefore, when we change "Allahu Akbar" to "Allahu Al-Kabeer" we are in fact creating a new thing and not restoring Salat to its initial form.

(2). 17:46 "...And when you preach your Lord using Quran alone..." Reading 17:46 in RK's translation may give you the impression that since GOD qualifies Himself "Al-Kabeer" = the Great ,in Quran and not "Al-Akbar'= the Greatest, means we should use "Allahu Al-Kabeer" = GOD is the Great, instead of "Allahu Akbar" = GOD is the Greatest.

But we have to look at the Quran in total and not stop at one verse, to get a clear understanding

(3). 17:111 "...extol His greatness..." (In Arabic :"...wa kabbberhu takbeeran..." is similar in English to: "Talk the talk and walk the walk"). This command can be achieved by many ways and not only by saying "Allahu Akbar" or "Allahu Al-Kabeer". We should not restrict ourselves to a specific formula or to say anything at all. This command could be applied to our Salat as well as to our daily life. We say "Allahu Akbar" in our Salat not because of this command, but because we are following Abraham who received the Islam's rituals from GOD who said so.

(4). 13:13 "The thunder praises His glory, and so do the angels, out of reverence for Him."

17:44 "Glorifying Him are the seven universes, the earth, and everyone in them. There is nothing that does not glorify Him, but you do not comprehend their glorification, He is Clement, Forgiver".

24:41 "Do you not realize that everyone in the heavens and the earth glorifies GOD, even the birds as they fly in a column? Each knows its prayer and its glorification. GOD is fully aware of everything they do".

Praising GOD, extolling His greatness should not be restricted to reciting a formula. It could be done by many other ways including thinking of Him silently. And remember 22:37: "Neither their meat, nor their blood reaches GOD, What reaches Him is your righteousness.".

(5). Al-Kabeer means the Great and not the Greatest (superlative of great). In the contrary, in Arabic, "Allahu Akbar" means GOD is greater than anything someone can imagine or GOD is the Greatest of all things or simply means GOD is The Greatest.

Some people objected to using Akbar as they thought it may imply comparing  God with someone else. Quran clarifies this issue for us by insisting on using similar terms to Akbar. "Allahu Akram"=GOD is the Most Generous or "Allahu Aalam"=GOD is the Best Knower. "Ahsan Al Khaleeqeen"= the Best creator. Therefore Akbar is not a word you cannot use for God. See what God used for Himself already and how He described some of His qualities as "Akbar"

(6). 17:110 "...Call upon GOD or call upon the Most Gracious; whichever name/attribute you use, to Him belongs the most beautiful names/attributes.". As you can see this verse does not mean "...whichever name/attribute MENTIONED IN QURAN you use...". On the contrary, this verse condemns those who restrict His names/attributes to whatever they are aware of.

(7). We may criticize those who choose "Allahu Al-Kabeer" (ie. GOD is the Great), only for the reason that they misunderstood the Quranic verses mentioned above, refused to follow the clear teaching of a messenger who corrected the Salat for them, and for their inability to see that to God belongs all the beautiful names including Akbar, Ahsan, Akram,,,,etc.  Allahu Akbar is not a distortion of GOD's attributes . This is true for the simple reason that we can not prove that "Akbar" is  not  among GOD's most beautiful names/attributes. We have no proof that it was not what Muhammed used, and it was confirmed by  messenger of the covenant, (the messenger who corrected every other aspect of our salat, zakat, fasting and Hajj) as the correct one to use. And for the weakest at heart, it is even much safer to continue to use it.

(6). 16:98 "When you read the Quran, you shall seek refuge in GOD from the Satan the rejected.". So, before we read Quran we say: "I seek refuge in GOD from the Satan the rejected.

56:96 "You shall glorify the name of your Lord, the Great (Al-Azeem).". So, we say: "Glory to my Lord the Great" while bowing down (ruku) in Salat and in other different places and times.

87:1 "Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High (Al-Alaa).". We say: "Glory to my Lord, the Most High" in our Salat while prostrating (sujud), and in other places and times.

17:111 "...You shall magnify Him constantly." "...wa kabberhu takbeeran" (Arabic text).

GOD here does not say: "...wa kabber ALLAh Al-Kabeer" (And extol GOD the Great) in order for us to say: "Allahu Al-Kabeer". GOD does not say either: "...wa kabber ALLAH Al-Akbar" (And extol GOD the Greatest) in order for us to say: "Allahu Akbar". This verse obviously does not follow the same pattern as 56:96 and 87:1 which could refer to what to say in ruku and sujud.

(9). God proved to us in the Quran that when He wants to change a practice in His great religion, He does it clearly and spells it out. He did that for fasting in Ramadan. See 2:187 allowing sexual intercourse during the nights in Ramadan.

Today, changing "Allahu Akbar" to "Allahu al-kabeer" does not follow the same pattern. Had Muhammed erred he would have been corrected. Had the messenger of the covenant erred he would have been corrected. clearly loudly and with a strong proof.

(10). 6:78 "When he (Abraham) saw the sun rising, he said, "This must be my Lord. This is the biggest (Akbar).".

Abraham used the word Akbar to describe what he believed to be the Lord, because the Lord must be the greatest.

Abraham was the one who received the Salat rituals, and the one who qualified what he thought the Lord as Akbar. Coincidence?

(11). We are not worshiping Quran. We are worshipping GOD Alone using Quran alone. You can make it to heaven if you worship GOD Alone even though you do not use Quran.

(12). We need to remind ourselves that we inherited the Salat rituals and those numbers from Abraham generation after generation. We keep doing the same numbers in our daily Salat mainly because of so.

(13). GOD asks us to remember Him during Hajj. Of course going to Mecca and the Hajj rituals are forms of praising, glorifying, and commemorating Him. Muslims use a special and beautiful formula while walking around the Ka'bah which is: "Labbayka Alaahumma Labbayka" (Here I am my God, I have responded to You, here I am). "Labbayka Laa Shareeka Laka Labbayk" (Here I am I have responded to You, and I proclaimed that there is no other god besides You; here I am I have responded to You)...

This formula is not in Quran. Should we then change it to something else? We don't think so.

(14). We are doing 5 Salats daily because this is what it comes to us from Abraham, generation after generation. Now we can see four mentioned salat in the Quran, (three of the four by name) and also the middle prayer. There is no middle for a four prayer, and five prayers as we inherited them is the next logical acceptable number.

(15). The khutba (Friday's ceremony) and how to do it are not in Quran. Should we disregard it or just do it the way we are doing now because this is what we inherited from Abraham? confirmed by Muhammed, then confirmed  again by the  messenger of the covenant.

(16). We should draw a line somewhere. Or we take the whole Salat rituals (including the number of ruku and sujud and what to say) from Quran, or just follow what we received from Abraham, generation after generation, unless if there is something against the spirit of Quran such as praising Muhammad and his family.

(17). We had two proven incidents in the life of Islam (Submission)  where the rituals of Islam , including Salat, Zakat, Hajj and Fasting were corrected or approved as it was. One by the prophet Muhammed continuation of what Abraham was practicing, and the other more recently by the messenger of the covenant. God never told us to follow our personal opinion or the opinion of the scholars but INSIST on us following His messengers.

God's messengers DO NOT contradict each other but confirm what was previously revealed by God. God never sent a messenger to correct the mistakes of another messenger. The messenger of the covenant never corrected the prophet Muhammed but he corrected the corruption created by people's personal opinion after Muhammed's death.

All these preceding reasons, are examples of the of many reasons to continue using "Allahu Akbar" in our salt...