Editor's note: This is part of the discussion
that was started when some of the people
decided to change their practice of Salat by using the term "Allahu Al-Kabeer"
instead
of "Allahu Akbar" and claimed it to be the ONLY correct way of performing
Salat.
Islam is older than the Quran. Islam (submission
to God alone) has always been the religion of all God's prophets.
Abraham however was given all the rituals (practices of Islam),
thousands of years before even Muhammad was born. See our article, "Who
founded Islam".
During a discussion about the use of the term Allahu
Akbar, some people came up with the idea that Allahu Al-kabeer may
be more appropriate because the word Kabeer can be found in the Quran
while the word Akbar is not. This issue has been discussed also in
another article that reminded us that
Salat began even before the Quran.
The following is the main point in the discussion that
took place.
God reminds us in the Quran that;
5:3 "...Today, I have completed
your religion, perfected My blessing upon you, and I have decreed
Islam as the religion for you..."
Islam, our religion, is perfected by GOD Almighty at
the time of Muhammad. We had made changes in our Salat that
we inherited from our parents because we are trying to restore it to
its initial form known to Muhammad. Historically, we can trace those
alterations to Salat. Here you are 2 examples:
1. Amen: Saying "Amen" after the opening Sura is
reported in a Hadith. It was said that a companion of the prophet said
"Amen" after Muhammad had recited the Penning Sura in the Salat.
After finishing Salat, Muhammad, allegedly said that he saw angels
blessing the one who said "Amen" and were hurrying up to take it to
GOD.
This Hadith and similar hadiths were introduced when
the Muslims increased in numbers, had converts from the
Christians and Jews and thus got into closer contact with Christians
and Jews. Christians for instance do say "Amen" after reciting the
Lord's prayer which is very similar to the Sura 1 of the Quran.
2. Traditionally, in the muslim world, even the Muslim
scholars agree that reciting Fateha is Mandatory, but reciting any
other sura from the Quran in Salat as only a 'sunna'. Some of the
Muslims who memorize the Quran used this idea to repeatedly recite the
Quran to improve their memory of it.
When we accepted any changes in the Salat, we did it
only after we were certain that we are following the Quran
and purifying the Salat absolutely to God alone. We had no
intention to create a new religion. Islam (Submission to God alone) is
the ONE and ONLY religion acceptable to God. It has to be kept
absolutely to God ALONE. We are only trying to purify it from all the
man made additions that accumulated over 1400 years.
Changing "Allahu Akbar" to "Allahu Al-Kabeer"
Those who want to change Allahu Akbar to Allahu Al
Kabeer has two main reasons:
1. GOD never qualifies Himself in Quran as Akbar,
which is a fact Akbar is not a GOD's attribute you can find in Quran,
and so do the number of prostrations (Sujud) and bowing down (Rukoo)
for every Salat. We do not have any information in Quran about the
Friday's ceremony (i.e.. Khutba) and how to do it either. The word
"Akbar" however is Quranic. God used the word "Akbar "to describe
some of His qualities, See for example, 9:72 and 40:10
2. Based on the verse 17:46, we should use Quran Only
while preaching GOD. Do not forget that Islamic practices are
older than Quran
Why we do not agree with changing Allahu Akbar to
Allahu Al-Kabeer
1. Historically, there is not a single recorded
instance where Muhammad or muslims used to say "Allahu Al-Kabeer". Had
Muhammad used "Allahu Al-Kabeer" and in the case he was wrong, GOD
would have corrected him. Remember that GOD perfected His religion
with its rituals at the
time of Muhammad. Therefore, when we change "Allahu Akbar" to "Allahu
Al-Kabeer" we are in fact creating a new thing and not restoring Salat
to its initial form.
2. 17:46 "...And when you preach your Lord using Quran
alone..."
Reading 17:46 in RK's translation may give you the
impression that since GOD qualifies Himself "Al-Kabeer"=the Great ,in
Quran and not "Al-Akbar'=the Greatest, means we should use "Allahu
Al-Kabeer"=GOD is the Great, instead of "Allahu Akbar"=GOD is the
Greatest.
But we have to look at the Quran in total and not stop
at one verse, to get a clear
understanding
3. 17:111 "...extol His greatness..." (In Arabic
:"...wa kabbberhu takbeeran..." is similar in English to: "Talk the
talk and walk the walk"). This command can be achieved by many ways
and not only by saying "Allahu Akbar" or "Allahu Al-Kabeer". We should
not restrict ourselves to a specific formula or to say anything at
all. This command could be applied to our Salat as well as to our
daily life. We say "Allahu Akbar" in our Salat not because of this
command, but because we are following Abraham who received the Islam's
rituals from GOD who said so.
4. 13:13 "The thunder
praises His glory, and so do the angels, out of reverence for Him.".
17:44 "Glorifying Him are the
seven universes, the earth, and everyone in them. There is nothing
that does not glorify Him, but you do not comprehend their
glorification, He is Clement, Forgiver".
24:41 "Do you not realize that
everyone in the heavens and the earth glorifies GOD, even the birds as
they fly in a column? Each knows its prayer and its glorification. GOD
is fully aware of everything they do".
Praising GOD, extolling His greatness should not be
restricted to reciting a formula. It could be done by many other ways
including thinking of Him silently. And remember 22:37: "Neither their
meat, nor their blood reaches GOD, What reaches Him is your
righteousness.".
5. Al-Kabeer
means the Great and not the Greatest (superlative of great). In the
contrary, in Arabic, "Allahu Akbar" means GOD is greater than anything
someone can imagine or GOD is the Greatest of all things or simply
means GOD is The Greatest.
Some people objected to using Akbar as they thought it
may imply comparing God with someone else. Quran clarifies this issue
for us by insisting on using similar terms to Akbar. "Allahu
Akram"=GOD is the Most Generous or "Allahu Aalam"=GOD is the Best
Knower. "Ahsan Al Khaleeqeen"= the Best creator. Therefore Akbar is
not a word you cannot use for God. See what God used for
Himself already and how He described some of His qualities as "Akbar"
6. 17:110 "...Call upon GOD or call upon the Most
Gracious; whichever name/attribute you use, to Him belongs the most
beautiful names/attributes.". As you can see this verse does not mean
"...whichever name/attribute MENTIONED IN QURAN you use...". On
the contrary, this verse condemns those who restrict His
names/attributes to whatever they are aware of.
7. We may criticize those who choose "Allahu
Al-Kabeer" (i.e.. GOD is the Great), only for the reason that they
misunderstood the Quranic verses mentioned above, refused to follow
the clear teaching of a messenger who corrected the Salat for them,
and for their inability to see that to God
belongs all the beautiful names including Akbar, Ahsan, Akram,,,,etc.
Allahu Akbar is not a distortion of GOD's attributes . This is true
for the simple reason that we can not prove that "Akbar" is not
among GOD's most beautiful names/attributes. We have no proof that it
was not what Muhammad used, and it was confirmed by messenger of
the covenant, (the messenger who
corrected every other aspect of our Salat, zakat, fasting and Hajj) as
the correct one to use. And for the weakest at heart, it is even much
safer to continue to use it.
8. 16:98 "When you read the Quran, you shall seek
refuge in GOD from the Satan the rejected.". So, before we read Quran
we say: "I seek refuge in GOD from the Satan the rejected.
56:96 "You shall glorify the
name of your Lord, the Great (Al-Azeem)."
So, we say: "Glory to my Lord the Great" while bowing down (Rukoo) in
Salat and in other different places and times.
87:1 "Glorify the name of your
Lord, the Most High (Al-Alaa)."
We say:
"Glory to my Lord, the Most High" in our Salat while prostrating (sujud),
and in other places and times.
17:111 "...You shall magnify Him
constantly." "...wa kabberhu takbeeran" (Arabic text).
GOD here does not say: "...wa kabber Allah Al-Kabeer"
(And extol GOD the Great) in order for us to say: "Allahu Al-Kabeer".
GOD does not say either: "...wa kabber ALLAH Al-Akbar" (And extol GOD
the Greatest) in order for us to say: "Allahu Akbar". This verse
obviously does not follow the same pattern as 56:96 and 87:1 which
could refer to what to say in Rukoo and Sujud.
8. God proved to
us in the Quran that when He wants to change a practice in His great
religion, He does it clearly and spells it out. He did that for
fasting in Ramada. See 2:187 allowing sexual intercourse during the
nights in Ramadan.
Today, changing "Allahu Akbar" to "Allahu al-kabeer"
does not follow the same pattern. Had Muhammad erred he would have
been corrected. Had the messenger of
the covenant erred he would have been corrected. clearly
loudly and with a strong proof.
10. 6:78 "When he (Abraham) saw the sun rising, he
said, "This must be my Lord. This is the biggest (Akbar)."
Abraham used the word Akbar to describe what he
believed to be the Lord, because the Lord must be the greatest.
Abraham was the one who received the Salat rituals,
and the one who qualified what he thought the Lord as Akbar.
Coincidence?
11. We are not worshiping Quran. We are worshipping
GOD Alone using Quran alone. You can make it to heaven if you worship
GOD Alone even though you do not use Quran.
12. We need to remind ourselves that we inherited the
Salat rituals and those numbers from Abraham generation after
generation. We keep doing the same numbers in our daily Salat mainly
because of so.
13. GOD asks us to
remember Him during Hajj. Of course going to Mecca and the Hajj
rituals are forms of praising, glorifying, and commemorating Him.
Muslims use a special and beautiful formula while walking around the
Ka'ba which is: "Labbayka Alaahumma Labbayka" (Here
I am my God, I have responded to You, here I am). "Labbayka Laa
Shareeka Laka Labbayk" (Here I am I have responded to You, and I
proclaimed that there is no other god besides You; here I am I have
responded to You)...
This formula is not in Quran. Should we then change it
to something else? We don't think so.
13. We are doing 5
Salats daily because this is what it comes to us from Abraham,
generation after generation. Now we can see four mentioned Salat in
the Quran, (three of the four by name) and also the middle prayer.
There is no middle for a four prayer, and five prayers as we inherited
them is the next logical acceptable number.
15. The
Khutba (Friday's ceremony) and how to do it are not in Quran. Should
we disregard it or just do it the way we are doing now because this is
what we inherited from Abraham? confirmed by Muhammad, then confirmed
again by the messenger of
the covenant.
16. We should draw a line somewhere. Or we take
the whole Salat rituals (including the number of Rukoo and Sujud and
what to say) from Quran, or just follow what we received from Abraham,
generation after generation, unless if there is something against the
spirit of Quran such as praising Muhammad and his family.
17. We had two proven incidents in the life of Islam
(Submission) where the rituals of Islam, including Salat, Zakat, Hajj
and Fasting were corrected or approved as it was. One by the prophet
Muhammad continuation of what Abraham was practicing, and the other
more recently by the messenger of
the covenant. God never told us to follow our personal
opinion or the opinion of the scholars but INSIST on us following His
messengers.
God's messengers DO NOT contradict each other but
confirm what was previously revealed by God. God never sent a
messenger to correct the mistakes of another messenger. The messenger of
the covenant never corrected the prophet Muhammad but he
corrected the corruption created by people's personal opinion after
Muhammad's death.
All these preceding reasons, are examples of the of
many reasons to continue using
"Allahu Akbar" in our Salat.
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