{"id":1276,"date":"2017-03-11T21:34:21","date_gmt":"2017-03-12T03:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?p=1276"},"modified":"2017-03-12T16:48:06","modified_gmt":"2017-03-12T21:48:06","slug":"allahu-akbar-deus-vult","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/allahu-akbar-deus-vult\/","title":{"rendered":"“Allahu Akbar” and “Deus Vult” Need To Start Signifying Different Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring<\/em><\/p>\n

While reading my Twitter feed<\/a>, I came across a post that had the hashtag “deusvult.” I had never seen that before, and I subsequently learned that it was the battle cry of the First Crusaders<\/a>, Latin for “God wills it.” It made me think of the Arabic phrase “Allahu Akbar,” which means “God is the Greatest.” Unfortunately, many a savage terrorist will use this phrase as a “battle cry” today.<\/p>\n

Now, the phrases themselves – “Deus Vult” and “Allahu Akbar” – are not problematic; in fact, they speak words of truth. But their particular historical contexts make their connotations unpleasant or even loathsome.<\/p>\n

We need to change these connotations.<\/p>\n

\"Map_to_illustrate_the_Crusades,_showing_the_principal_routes_of_the_first_four_crusades_(14596690557)\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Allahu Akbar” was never intended to be the “battle cry” of Muslims, the contentions of many notwithstanding. I hate it when Muslim terrorists use (and subsequently defile) this phrase. “Allahu Akbar” teaches us humility. It reminds the Muslim believer that God is Supreme, that God is greater than anyone or anything in this universe. Muslims use this phrase to begin each of their daily ritual prayers, and it is a major portion of the Muslim call to prayer.<\/p>\n

Yes, Christians may have used “Deus Vult” as a battle cry to justify their slaughter of Muslims and Jews in the Holy Land, but to me, it means something completely different. To me, it is a reminder of what God really wants of humanity:<\/p>\n

Unto every one of you have We appointed a different <\/em>law and way of life. And if God had so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community: but He willed it otherwise<\/em> in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you. Compete, therefore, with one another in doing good works! Unto God you all must return, and then He will make you truly understand all that on which you were wont to differ. (5:48)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God has never “willed” for us to kill and slaughter one another. Never.<\/p>\n

Rather, God wants us to work together for the common good. God wants us to see beyond our differences and focus on our common humanity and common love for Him and His people. God wants us to come together, both as believers in Him and fellow human beings, to make this world as beautiful a place as it can possibly be.<\/p>\n

This is because “Allahu Akbar,” or because “God is the Greatest.” When we come together as one, it is because “Deus Vult,” or because “God wills it.”<\/p>\n

I would be honored if joined me on Twitter<\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While they may connote something unpleasant now, let us work to make “Allahu Akbar” and “Deus Vult” connote something much more beautiful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[823,201,192,824,9,516,11],"class_list":["post-1276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-common-word","tag-allahu-akbar","tag-christianity","tag-crusades","tag-deus-vult","tag-god","tag-god-is-the-greatest","tag-islam"],"yoast_head":"\n"Allahu Akbar" and "Deus Vult": Towards A Different Understanding<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While the phrases "Allahu Akbar" and "Deus Vult" may have unpleasant connotations now, we must work to change these connotations to something better.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/allahu-akbar-deus-vult\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Allahu Akbar" and "Deus Vult": Towards A Different Understanding\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While the phrases "Allahu Akbar" and "Deus Vult" may have unpleasant connotations now, we must work to change these connotations to something better.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/allahu-akbar-deus-vult\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-12T03:34:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-12T21:48:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/files\/2017\/03\/Map_to_illustrate_the_Crusades_showing_the_principal_routes_of_the_first_four_crusades_14596690557-300x194.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hesham A. Hassaballa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GodFaithPen\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Allahu Akbar\" and \"Deus Vult\": Towards A Different Understanding","description":"While the phrases \"Allahu Akbar\" and \"Deus Vult\" may have unpleasant connotations now, we must work to change these connotations to something better.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/allahu-akbar-deus-vult\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Allahu Akbar\" and \"Deus Vult\": Towards A Different Understanding","og_description":"While the phrases \"Allahu Akbar\" and \"Deus Vult\" may have unpleasant connotations now, we must work to change these connotations to something better.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/allahu-akbar-deus-vult\/","og_site_name":"Common Word, Common Lord","article_published_time":"2017-03-12T03:34:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-12T21:48:06+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/files\/2017\/03\/Map_to_illustrate_the_Crusades_showing_the_principal_routes_of_the_first_four_crusades_14596690557-300x194.jpeg"}],"author":"Hesham A. 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Hassaballa","description":"Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago doctor and writer. He has written extensively on a freelance basis, being published in newspapers across the country and around the world. He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow\" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, \u201cWhy I Love the Ten Commandments,\u201d was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition. In 2007, his blog \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" was nominated for a Brass Crescent Award for a blog that is \u201cthe most stimulating, insightful, and philosophical, providing the best rebuttals to extremist ideology and making an impact whenever they post.\u201d \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" has also received an award for being one of the \"Top Muslim Blogs for 2010\" by Awarding The Web. In addition to writing, Dr. Hassaballa helped found the Chicago Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and currently serves on their board of directors. He also co-founded the Bayan H. 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