OPINION: ‘Allahu akbar’: use God’s name for goodness, not acts of unimaginable evil
Eli Beer, CEO of United Hatzalah, reflects on the power of the Arabic phrase that means 'God is great' when used for love rather than blind, bloodthirsty hate.
‘Allahu akbar’ in English, means God is great. I cannot express how I am so proud to praise God for his goodness and blessings. ‘Allahu akbar’ can be used and understood with many different connotations.
Last Friday afternoon, I responded to the terrible terror attack in my neighbourhood of Ramot, Jerusalem.
When I arrived at a horrific scene, it was devastating. A terrorist had driven his car straight into a bus stop full of people while shouting “Allahu akbar”.
He was chanting this over and over again about the evil he was doing, until he was shot by the Israeli police.
Under his car were two little brothers aged five and eight, Yaakov Israel Paley and Asher Menachem Paley Zichronam Livracha.
Alter Shlomo Lederma , who was just married six months ago, was also hit, and murdered in the attack.
The father of these two boys is still in the ICU in critical conditions and doesn’t even know that his children are dead. There were many others injured and we pray for their recovery.
It was a very difficult scene to witness and my heart is broken.
At the same exact time in Turkey, United Hatzalah volunteers were on a rescue mission, responding after hearing screams from beneath the rubble of a collapsed building.
They heard someone crying for help, and worked for hours with the IDF to extricate the young man who was miraculously still alive. After many hours, at the same exact same time we were treating the terror victims in Jerusalem, they were able to rescue the man from the rubble.
During this difficult rescue in Turkey, thousands of people were yelling ‘Allahu akbar’, praising God and the Israelis for rescuing this young Muslim Turkish man.
I only hope that more and more people use this phrase for praising God for his goodness and miracles instead of using it for evil reasons.
Wishing all my friends a week of peace, health, and praising God for the right reasons.
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