Robert Jenrick has been making headlines by arguing that anyone shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ should be immediately arrested. As you can imagine, he has been called out as Islamophobic. Ironically, he is also being anti-Christian by demonizing a phrase that Arabic-speaking Christians might well use at, for example, protests about the conflict in Gaza.
The phrase is not uniquely Islamic. ‘Allah’ is merely the generic term for God in Arabic and is used just as much by Christians as by Muslims. If you don’t believe me, here are some words on the subject from Archbishop Theodosios of Sebastia of the Jerusalem Patriarchate:
‘We Christians also say Allahu Akbar. This is an expression of our understanding that the Creator is great.’
‘Allahu Akbar is an expression of our faith.’
And, in response to a question about whether the term is used in church:
‘Of course. . . . Allah is not an Islamic term. This is a word used in Arabic to indicate the Creator who’s made the world we are living in.
‘We, say glory be to Allah in all times. We say Allah a lot during our liturgy. It’s erroneous to think that the word Allah is only used by Muslims.’
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