he may have been praising allah. All indications are that he was very devout.
Also, he was wearing a traditional South Asian garb associated with Muslim conservatives in Iraq and Afghanistan (though his linage is Jordanian and Palestinian) and was allegedly handing out Qurans.
Don't mistake what I am saying. Religion probably played a significant role in this attack, but that doesn't make it terrorism, the same way people can commit terrorist acts for motivations that are not religious.
Originally posted by inimalist
allah akbar is also something said similar to "God damn it"also, all religious violence is not terrorism
I never heard that before. Not saying it's not possible, probably different for different Arabs.
Although 'akbar' or 'ekber' (again depends on accents) means great, it probably is used like ''oh dear god'' kind of thing.
But I don't know.
Originally posted by inimalist
allah akbar is also something said similar to "God damn it"also, all religious violence is not terrorism
I've never heard that or read it. Doesn't mean it's not true, it's just likely to not be true at all.
We can take it at what it most likely was: battle cry. His gun wasn't jamming, he didn't stub his toe, etc. He was doing a battle cry before he mowed some people down.
Originally posted by dadudemon
I've never heard that or read it. Doesn't mean it's not true, it's just likely to not be true at all.We can take it at what it most likely was: battle cry. His gun wasn't jamming, he didn't stub his toe, etc. He was doing a battle cry before he mowed some people down.
Also, all prayers start (or majority of) with Allah-u-Akbar. It also may not be likely that it would mean ''godddamn it'' if a prayer is commenced with these words.
Again, not saying its not true, just saying possibility of it being true is not great.
Originally posted by lil bitchiness
Also, all prayers start (or majority of) with Allah-u-Akbar. It also may not be likely that it would mean ''godddamn it'' if a prayer is commenced with these words.Again, not saying its not true, just saying possibility of it being true is not great.
Right. In my opinion, a devote Muslim like that, is not going to be using a sacred phrase in such a manner. Considering no where in that "enlighten" article does it say it can be used as an expletive, I'm quie sure he was using it the way jihadists do.
Originally posted by lil bitchiness
I never heard that before. Not saying it's not possible, probably different for different Arabs.Although 'akbar' or 'ekber' (again depends on accents) means great, it probably is used like ''oh dear god'' kind of thing.
But I don't know.
thats more my understanding. It could also be like "OMFG" or "good grief", to the best of my knowledge. I just don't think they have as diverse a set of expletives as we do.
its not a literal translation though, that is true, it would be a coloquialism, and probably varies between regions. I just know I used it that way in some Arabic skits that I did in class.
Originally posted by dadudemon
Right. In my opinion, a devote Muslim like that, is not going to be using a sacred phrase in such a manner. Considering no where in that "enlighten" article does it say it can be used as an expletive, I'm quie sure he was using it the way jihadists do.
right, because western media has been known to give a realistic and thorough examination of Arab culture in the past
Originally posted by dadudemon
Instead of posting something childish, you could actually back up your claim.
a UK news release explaining why a gunman might say Allahu Akbar before shooting people is an authoritative study of the arabic language?
cool, i now see your point
oh, totally unrelated, the phase "whats up" in english, not actually asking what is above you.
similarly, the phrase "ma akbar" (not akbar "great", the second 'a' is a fatah and not an allif, the 'a' sound would be less pronounced in pronunciation) literally means "what is the news", but, when a person says it, they are saying hello.
Originally posted by inimalist
a UK news release explaining why a gunman might say Allahu Akbar before shooting people is an authoritative study of the arabic language?cool, i now see your point
oh, totally unrelated, the phase "whats up" in english, not actually asking what is above you.
similarly, the phrase "ma akbar" (not akbar "great", the second 'a' is a fatah and not an allif, the 'a' sound would be less pronounced in pronunciation) literally means "what is the news", but, when a person says it, they are saying hello.
Good God, man. Stop being childish.
you could actually back up your claim.
Edit - I have not found one reference to what you are saying, inimalist. Every last place I go to, islamic worship sites, news articles created to "educate" people on the use, religion databases, etc. Not one of them has indicated what you said.
You've made childish comments (replied with sarcasm and argumentum ad hominem comments) instead of actually proving yoru point. You should know that making claims like that need to be substantiated.
Originally posted by inimalist
its not a literal translation though, that is true, it would be a coloquialism, and probably varies between regions. I just know I used it that way in some Arabic skits that I did in [Arabic] class.
I can't do any better than that
Native Arab speaker from Morocco saying that it is a correct usage of the phrase. I guess his Jordanian (I think) TA also said it was correct.
Originally posted by inimalist
oh, totally unrelated, the phase "whats up" in english, not actually asking what is above you.similarly, the phrase "ma akbar" (not akbar "great", the second 'a' is a fatah and not an allif, the 'a' sound would be less pronounced in pronunciation) literally means "what is the news", but, when a person says it, they are saying hello.
I am not sure that's correct...?
I am almost certain that the word is ''ukbarak'' not ''akbar''.
Akbar is ''gretaest'' also could be used for as superlative for big...so ''bigger''.
yup
I can't for the life of me remember if it is an ayn or alif at the start, but akbar with a fatah means news, like news broadcast program.
EDIT: I only took a year and a half, so I don't know for sure, but akbar (news) and ukbarak may have a similar root, K-B-R or something
EDIT: damn it, akbar (great) also has the fatah, it must be that akbar (news) begins with an ayn... blah...
EDIT: ok, so wow, it is phonetically similar to akbar, but is spelled Akhbar (alif, kha, ba, alif, ra)
Yeah, and also I cannot write at all. All those letters which are from the same ''family'' i.e written the same but with ''accents'' or ''dots'' as I call them, on top or bottom, I mix up all the time.
The sound changes depending on the ''dots'' like ''zh'' and ''z''. But I cannot decide on the roots at all. Plus my vocabulary is extremely limited.
If I knew how to write it, maybe we could check it out.