Is “Allahu Akbar” the new “Heil Hitler”?
When a sacred phrase becomes the soundtrack to slaughter, silence is no longer an option.
"Allahu Akbar"—"God is great"—once a serene affirmation of faith, now seemingly the go-to chant for homicidal maniacs everywhere. Odd, isn’t it, how easily a phrase intended for spiritual reflection morphs into the modern-day equivalent of "Heil Hitler" shouted over scenes of carnage. Quite the rebranding, really. One suspects the divine marketing department was not consulted.
Take October 7th, for example. While Hamas terrorists enthusiastically committed atrocities—murder, torture, and mutilation included—they punctuated their brutality with "Allahu Akbar," as if expecting celestial applause for actions that would make any respectable deity promptly reconsider their creation strategy. It's as if they mistook God for a particularly enthusiastic fan of slasher films.
Ironically, these extremists have managed what generations of secularists and atheists couldn’t—make religious devotion synonymous with sheer terror. Imagine if "Alleluia, Jesus" suddenly became the soundtrack to mass murder. It would leave the devout rather unsettled. But here we are, a once-sacred declaration now reduced to the ideological equivalent of goose-stepping under the Reichsadler.
In fact, "Heil Hitler" itself was supposed to be an invocation—"Hail Victory"—a triumphant affirmation twisted into a sinister battle cry for genocide. "Allahu Akbar" now risks becoming precisely the same. Call it "Hitler Akbar" or "Heil Allah," the end result is disturbingly identical: an invocation of hate, terror, and brutality.
Moderate Muslims are now faced with a choice reminiscent of my encounters filming Mother of Hate: stay quiet and inadvertently let extremists hijack your beliefs, or speak out clearly, defining Islam in your own terms. Silence, I'm afraid, translates into tacit endorsement—or at the very least, indifferent complicity. Saying nothing when "Allahu Akbar" echoes above scenes of terror is like quietly nodding along during an openly racist joke at a dinner party: it doesn't exactly cover you in glory.
Yet here we have it—moderates in many Muslim communities sitting quietly, perhaps hoping the uncomfortable spectacle will pass. Newsflash: it's not passing; it’s solidifying into a stereotype. Every cry of "Allahu Akbar" accompanying an act of terror pushes Islam further into a grim caricature, eagerly propagated by radicals and unquestioningly consumed by the uninformed. It’s as if Muslims are trapped in a horrific PR nightmare—and frankly, the spin doctors need urgent replacement.
And let’s be crystal clear—rejecting this grotesque misappropriation of faith isn’t just a religious obligation; it’s basic self-respect. And I say this not as a believer, but as an atheist who can still recognise the theft of a religion by its most violent impostors. No self-respecting Christian tolerates a lynching justified by scripture. No Jew accepts violence glorified through holy texts. So, why the coyness, moderate Muslims? Embrace a bit of Polish bluntness here: these extremists aren't your spiritual cousins, they're your kidnappers, holding your religion hostage for their twisted ends.
In Israel, something remarkable happens: Muslims, Jews, and Christians stand shoulder to shoulder against Hamas, proving that unity against barbarity is not only possible but urgently necessary. It’s high time the rest of the global Muslim community took a leaf out of this book. Loudly, clearly, and perhaps with a dash of biting sarcasm if needed, state it once and for all: "This isn’t my Islam. This isn’t my God. This is terror in religious drag."
Because until then, "Allahu Akbar" will continue its grim slide from prayerful reverence to something chillingly akin to "Heil Hitler"—an ominous anthem for hate, murder, and fanaticism.