There is a claim being banded about on the internet within Islamophobic circles that dictates “AllahuAkbar” (الله أكبر) means Allah is a mouse in Hebrew. This is an obvious falsity based on ignorance and/or deception.
"Allah Akbar" means Allah is the greatest (a more literal translation is; Allah is greater). Akbar (اكبر) refers to greatest. In Hebrew the word for mouse is Achbar (עַכְבָּר).
In the Hebrew word for “mouse” (achbar עַכְבָּר), the kaf כ (the second letter, reading from right to left) omits the dagesh (the dot in the middle of the letter [1]) therefore the pronunciation of achbar is not with a “k” sound but with a “ch” sound (“ch” as in the Scottish “loch” or the German “achtung”). Thus, anybody who is familiar with the pronunciation of both languages will know AllahuAkbar does NOT mean Allah is a mouse in Hebrew. They are pronounced noticeably dissimilar to each other.
In fact, the key Hebrew letter (Kaf כ) would not even sound like ﻚ in Arabic, it would sound like ﺥ
To illustrate this further I have presented the audio for the Arabic word Akbar (اكبر) and the Hebrew word for mouse (Achbar - עַכְבָּר) – you will clearly hear the two are not the same.
Christian missionaries, try not to look silly…
Please stop peddling this outrage – it is false and immature. I have already caught TWO Christians peddling this lie. One of these miscreants claimed he had consulted a “professor” at the Moody Bible Institute - I have corrected him via YouTube email and he has graciously accepted the correction.
Would the Christians like it if Muslims began sifting through Biblical Greek and Hebrew words and comparing them with like-sounding words from other languages? No. It is immature and futile the meaning in the intended language is what matters.
Ignorant Christians insult Arab Christians
These Christians are also insulting Arab Christians (i.e. the Copts) who also use the word Akbar (اكبر). Some evangelical folk just do not think before speaking. Grow up, the lot of you!
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Footnotes
[1] There are three letters in Hebrew, Bet ב, Kaf כ, and Peh פ, which change in pronunciation depending on the presence/absence of a dot called the degesh.
For the Kaf כ, if the dagesh is not present then the pronunciation would be similar to ﺥ (Ch as in lochness or the German “Achtung). If the dagesh is present then the pronunciation is similar to the English k and the Arabic ﻚ
: In the word for mouse (עַכְבָּר), the dagesh is missing from the Kaf כ so the pronunciation is NOT similar to the English “K” but is similar to the Arabic ﺥ (i.e. ch in loch).
[2] I have appended a story from an Israeli blog of a Hebrew learner making the same mistake (confusing achbar (עַכְבָּר) with akbar (اكبر). The Israeli blog confirm the two words are not phonetically the same either. However, it is a mistake untrained ears could innocently fall into. See the comment section; as the story is rather lengthy it shall not be included in the main body of the text.
Appended from footnote 2:
ReplyDeleteBut something about the way the young Arab had pronounced it caught Zahava's ear, and her Ulpan-trained instincts immediately set about trying to make a linguistic connection that, quite simply, wasn't there:
Zahava: "Wait... 'Malkodet Achbar'... like 'Allah Achbar'? [long pause] Does that mean that Allah is a mouse?
It still isn't clear to me after having heard this story from Zahava several dozen times whether the look of shock on the stock-boy's face was due to having had his religious sensibilities offended, or if he was more concerned about Zahava's shouted question perhaps sparking a mini-Intifada amongst the store's Arab patrons and employees. Whatever the case, without dragging Allah into the discussion, he quickly shushed her and explained in a rushed whisper that "No... 'Achbar' [with the 'ch sound scraped deep in the back of his throat] meant mouse. Akbar [with the 'k' sound coming percussively from the roof of his mouth] , was... something completely different."
http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/2007/05/allah_is_a_mous.html
Islamophobes are getting less academic and more desperate by the day. "Allahu Akbar" means "Allah is a mouse"? Seriously?
ReplyDeleteEU Student Diaries List Muslim and Hindu Holidays, But Omit Christian Holidays
ReplyDeleteIt's one thing to be open to other cultures. It's another to actively destroy your own.
The European Union has sent millions of diaries to schools which list the dates of Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish and Chinese festivals - but omit any mention of Christian celebrations.
In an extraordinary move, three million 2011 notebooks were printed at a cost of £4.4million to the taxpayer. Around 350,000 of the diaries have already been shipped to schools in the UK alone.
There is no record for Christmas, Easter or Lent - despite bureaucrats carefully listing the EU’s self-styled ‘Europe Day’ on May 9.
The EU was forced to apologise in the wake of the blunder as religious groups expressed their disbelief.
John Dalli, consumer commissioner said: 'We regret this' and apologised. (Read more.)
Anonymous you idiot! Stick to the topic.
ReplyDeleteEU Student Diaries List Muslim and Hindu Holidays, But Omit Christian Holidays
ReplyDeleteIt's one thing to be open to other cultures. It's another to actively destroy your own.
David,
Have you ever stopped to think it was an innocent mistake. Calm down with the hysteria - they are not trying to "destroy" the Christian "culture".
Actually what is the "Christian culture"? To celebrate Easter and Christmas in a consumerism frenzy every year?
Evocative posts, such as David's, may well get the donations flowing from Christians who think you care about Christianity but it does nothing for those of us who like to be a little more reflective.
It was a MISTAKE. In any case, if Europe has such a "Christian culture" it hardly requires diaries to tell people when it is Christmas or Easter.
Think about it.
Yahya, you just called Anonymous "David". Are you suggesting Wood is behind this copying and pasting spree?
ReplyDeleteYahya, you just called Anonymous "David". Are you suggesting Wood is behind this copying and pasting spree?
ReplyDeleteNo. It is not David Wood. I just like responding to his material in a personal way so people can see his lazy and emotional posts negated.
ArticlePhotos (2)
ReplyDeleteAzra Mustafa, a 45-year-old housekeeper in Lahore, Pakistan, recently converted to Islam from Christianity, partly out of fear for her family's safety. She and her children, above, receive lessons at home on Arabic and the Qur’an from a teacher.
Irfan Chaudhary/For the Toronto Star
By Rick Westhead
South Asia Bureau
LAHORE, PAKISTAN—Dog-eared and tattered, the blue book is an inch thick and sits on a dented metal table in the corner office of Jamia Naeemia, an Islamic school tucked in a scattering of cement-walled homes and roadside shops.
Many believe the book offers the promise of safety and perhaps even a better chance at prosperity.
The book is a registry used to document religious converts to Islam and officials at Jamia Naeemia say business is brisk nowadays.
At least 20 to 25 former Christians adopt Islam each week by pledging an oath and signing a green and white document in which they accept Islam as “the most beautiful religion” and promise to “remain in the religion of Islam for the rest of my life, acknowledging that blessings are only from God.”
Human rights advocates say it’s no surprise some of Pakistan’s 3 million Christians are adopting Islam. These are vexing and dangerous days for the country’s religious minorities.
Last autumn, politician Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, Pakistan’s most prosperous province, began to campaign on behalf of a Christian woman named Asia Bibi, who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy. On Jan. 4, with debate over the future of Pakistan’s blasphemy law at a fever pitch, Taseer was gunned down by one of his personal security guards.
Public reaction to Taseer’s assassination was stunning.
Pakistan’s lawyers, praised just three years ago for saving this country’s independent judiciary, showered Taseer’s assassin with rose petals on his way into court. A rally to celebrate his death attracted 40,000 in Karachi and thousands more posted tributes to the killer on their Facebook accounts.
“To be honest, I felt good when I heard he was dead; we got rid of him,” said Raghib Naeemia, an iman at Jamia Naeemia. “It’s very clear in the Holy Qur’an that if you say something nasty and harsh about the Holy Prophet, then you become a maloun (cursed) person. And we are supposed to round up those people and kill them very harshly.”
While Taseer was among several high-profile politicians who have argued the blasphemy law should be amended, human rights workers say the real issue is how often the law is misused.
An allegation of blasphemy shouted in the streets can, in an instant, whip a crowd into a frenzy and lead to assaults and dubious arrests.
In one recent example, a Shiite Muslim doctor last month was confronted in his Hyderabad office by a pharmaceutical salesman. After telling the supplier he wasn’t interested in buying anything, the salesman persisted, according to local news reports. The doctor tossed the salesman’s business card in a trash bin.
But because the salesman’s name was Muhammad — the same as the Muslim prophet — he complained to religious leaders that tossing his card the garbage was blasphemy.
The doctor was dragged out of his office and beaten by a mob. Then he was arrested by police and charged with blasphemy.
“No one feels safe right now,” said Nadeem Anthony, a Christian and a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. “People are scared.
If you want something from your neighbour or you are angry at him, you say blasphemy and that’s it.”
ArticlePhotos (2)
ReplyDeleteAzra Mustafa, a 45-year-old housekeeper in Lahore, Pakistan, recently converted to Islam from Christianity, partly out of fear for her family's safety. She and her children, above, receive lessons at home on Arabic and the Qur’an from a teacher.
Irfan Chaudhary/For the Toronto Star
By Rick Westhead
South Asia Bureau
LAHORE, PAKISTAN—Dog-eared and tattered, the blue book is an inch thick and sits on a dented metal table in the corner office of Jamia Naeemia, an Islamic school tucked in a scattering of cement-walled homes and roadside shops.
Many believe the book offers the promise of safety and perhaps even a better chance at prosperity.
The book is a registry used to document religious converts to Islam and officials at Jamia Naeemia say business is brisk nowadays.
At least 20 to 25 former Christians adopt Islam each week by pledging an oath and signing a green and white document in which they accept Islam as “the most beautiful religion” and promise to “remain in the religion of Islam for the rest of my life, acknowledging that blessings are only from God.”
Human rights advocates say it’s no surprise some of Pakistan’s 3 million Christians are adopting Islam. These are vexing and dangerous days for the country’s religious minorities.
Last autumn, politician Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, Pakistan’s most prosperous province, began to campaign on behalf of a Christian woman named Asia Bibi, who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy. On Jan. 4, with debate over the future of Pakistan’s blasphemy law at a fever pitch, Taseer was gunned down by one of his personal security guards.
Ja, sennilega svo pad er
ReplyDeleteThe first letter is different as well
ReplyDeleteMouse has an "ayin" which is a different pronunciation than "alif"