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 Gd is great. I cannot express how I am so proud to praise Gd for his goodness and blessings. ‘Allahu akbar’ can be used and understood with many different connotations. On Friday afternoon, I responded to the terrible terror attack in my neighborhood, 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 he was 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 5 and 8, Yaakov Israel Pally and Asher Menachem Paley Zichronam Livracha. Alter Shlomo Lederman Z”L , 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 were 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 Gd and the Israeli’s for rescuing this young Muslim Turkish man.I only hope that more and more people use this phrase for praising Gd for his goodness and miracles instead of using it for evil reasons.Wishing all my friends a week of peace, health, and praising Gd for the right reasons..
Posted by Eli Beer Hatzalah on Sunday, February 12, 2023
‘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.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
