What does Allāhu Akbar mean?
Allāhu Akbar is one of the greatest statements any human being can utter. It is the statement through which you enter into your ṣalāh. It is also known as takbīrat al-taḥrīm. Once you enter ṣalāh, what was previously ḥalāl for you (e.g. eating, drinking and talking) has now become ḥarām for you. Similarly, you should make worldly thoughts ḥarām upon yourself.
You are now entering the ḥaram: a sacred space where you prevent others and your thoughts from coming in between you and Allah.
In Arabic, you may say: Zayd is bigger than Maḥmūd (زيد أكبر من محمود). Here we say Allāhu Akbar, hence, Allah (ʿazza wa jall) is greater than … Thus, what He is greater than has not been specified. This lack of specification (also known as ellipsis) indicates that Allah (ʿazza wa jall) is greater than everything.
Allah (ʿazza wa jall) is Greater than anything we can imagine. His greatness encompasses all things: He is Great in His Essence, His Names, His Attributes and His Actions. Allah is Supreme and Transcendent above every limitation and deficiency that is inherent in created beings.
Our limited minds are unable to comprehend the greatness of Allah. However, we can try to appreciate His greatness by pondering over His creation. By pondering over the greatness of the heavens, the earth, Allah’s Kursī and His Majestic Throne, and then realising how we are unable to comprehend them due to their greatness, we arrive at the most important realisation: how Great must their Creator be!
To understand His greatness, it helps to reflect on His greatest creation: His Throne (the ‘Arsh of Allah). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The seven heavens in comparison to the Kursī is nothing but like a ring thrown in a desert, and the excellence of the Throne of Allah over the Kursī is like the excellence of that desert over that ring” (Bayhaqī).
In other words, imagine the Sahara Desert. The entire desert is the Kursī of Allah (ʿazza wa jall), and the size of the heavens and the earth in proportion is equivalent to a ring thrown in the desert.
Now close your eyes, and let your mind ascend. Wander around this desert, which is now the Throne of Allah (ʿazza wa jall), and remember that the Kursī in proportion is the size of a ring. Can you even imagine the size of the Throne of Allah (ʿazza wa jall)? It is truly mind-boggling.
If we cannot comprehend the above, how can we then comprehend the greatness of Allah (ʿazza wa jall)?
