The Takbir (تَكْبِير, pronounced [tak.biːr], “magnification [of God]”)^[a] is the name for the Arabic phrase ʾAllāhu ʾakbar^u (ٱللَّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ, pronounced [ʔaɫ.ɫaː.hu ʔak.baru] (listen)), meaning “Allah (God) is the greatest”.^[1][2]

It is a common Arabic expression, used in various contexts by Muslims and Arabs around the world: in formal Salah (prayer),^[2] in the Adhan(Islamic call to prayer),^[3] as an informal expression of faith, in times of distress or joy, or to express resolute determination or defiance. The phrase is also used by Arab Christians.^[4] SOURCE: Wikipedia.

We simply say HARE KRISHNA, the Addressee remaining the very same person, i.e. God, the Supreme Being, among all beings. We should reflect upon these words “the Supreme Being” and how extraordinarily powerful He is. And yes, like it or not, He is a male entity. And He had in the past, has currently and will have in the future His emissaries, also called prophets. This is because He cares deeply about the souls imprisoned in this material world, a place of reformation and full of conditions. This imprisonment is the souls’ own doing. Only the foolish criminal will seek to charge the state for his imprisonment. The state very well knows that criminal behaviour will occur and therefore wisely creates the prison to accomodate the offenders for reformation. But the state bears not the least responbility for the criminal’s behaviour. And where there are conditions, there will be no question of freedom. Some politicians make it a freedom slogan. But it is simply illusory freedom. Of course freedom can be a very subjective feeling. For example, after passing stool one may feel free. But is this real freedom? Is this our very best conception of freedom? As long as the conditions of birth, death, old age and disease prevail, there cannot be any question of real freedom.

So we say “Hare Krishna.” Declension-wise, Hare is a vocative, the nominative being Hara. Hara represents the internal pleasure energy of the Lord or hladini shakti and the personification of the internal energy of the Lord is represented by Srimatee Radharani, His most intimate lady companion. So ladies first,” Hare.” Being God Himself, Lord Krishna did not fail to marry 16108 princesses and Krishna, being also called Yogesvara or the master of all mystic powers spent His time permanently with all of His 16108 wives in their 16108 palaces. It is not that each princess had to wait 16000 days and something to be with Their husbands. Krishna expanded Himself in 16108 forms to please His 16108 wives. Krishna clearly states in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is both verse in 9.5 and in verse 11.8 “pasya me yogam aisvaram” or “Just consider my mystic power.”

Neither can we approach the Lord directly, just like we may not be able to approach Prime Minister Morrison or President Biden directly. We have to go through the proper channels. Similarly to approach Krishna or the Supreme Personality of Godhead we have to go through the spiritual master or Guru.

First of all let me quote the prophet for the current times, His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami, on God nomenclature:

“Srila Jiva Gosvami instructs that chanting of the holy name of the Lord should be loudly done, and it should be performed offenselessly as well, as recommended in the Padma Purana. One can deliver himself from the effects of all sins by surrendering himself unto the Lord. One can deliver himself from all offenses at the feet of the Lord by taking shelter of His holy name. But one cannot protect himself if one commits an offense at the feet of the holy name of the Lord. Such offenses are mentioned in the Padma Purana as being ten in number. The first offense is to vilify the great devotees who have preached about the glories of the Lord. The second offense is to see the holy names of the Lord in terms of worldly distinction. The Lord is the proprietor of all the universes, and therefore He may be known in different places by different names, but that does not in any way qualify the fullness of the Lord. Any nomenclature which is meant for the Supreme Lord is as holy as the others because thzey are all meant for the Lord. Such holy names are as powerful as the Lord, and there is no bar for anyone in any part of the creation to chant and glorify the Lord by the particular name of the Lord as it is locally understood. They are all auspicious, and one should not distinguish such names of the Lord as material commodities. The third offense………..”

Ref. VedaBase => Srimad Bhagavatam 2.1.11

Of which the essence may well be:” Any nomenclature which is meant for the Supreme Lord is as holy as the others because they are all meant for the Lord.“

In simple terms, any name applied in good faith and respect to God is as good as any other: “Father” is as good as “God,” which is as good as “Krishna,” which is as good as “Allah,” which is as good as “Yahweh,” which is is as good as “Buddha,” which is NOT as good as John Lennon or Bjorn Ulvaeus, although these two gentlemen may be excellent music composers.

Now one may ask what does all this have to do with the title of the article “Allahu Akbar”? Recently, in the context of my Guru ordained Prabhupada Book Distribution, which IMHO is the best school of life, I visited Sunny Bank, a Brisbane suburb, which we may justifiably call “little China.” Subsequently I visited Moorooka, another Brisbane suburb, which again we may justifiably call little Africa, because of a predominance of Ethiopian, Sudanese and Congolese people. There are also some Afghans and some Lebanese people. I found that there are two predominat religions: Christianity and Islam and they seem to coexist nicely and peacefully. In one of the shops, there was a lone woman attendant in a niqab. This was a first for me. Never before did I talk with a woman in a niqab. She was totally covered in dark cloth from head to toe and I could only see her eyes. If one cannot see a woman, a man will not develop attachment for her. That is the definitive advantage and wise Koran planning. Her interpretation of the Holy Koran is very strict and her style seemed to be the result of her own volition. A couple of youngsters also challenged me on religious grounds. One of the conversations lasted for quite sometime and was constructive. My interlocutor expressed that our meeting was arranged by higher authorities, to which I agreed. Another lady offered VIP dates for Krishna from the Sami Salman Al-Samail Factory in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“A niqāb or niqaab (/nɪˈkɑːb/; Arabic: نِقاب niqāb, “[face] veil”), also called a ruband, is a garment that covers the face, worn by many Muslim women as a part of an interpretation of hijab (modest dress). The terms niqab and burqa are often confused; a niqab covers the face while leaving the eyes uncovered, while a burqa covers the entire body from the top of the head to the ground, with only a mesh screen allowing the wearer to see in front of her. According to the majority of Muslim scholars and Islamic schools of thought, face veiling is a requirement of Islam; they assert that women are required to cover their faces in public. Those Muslim women who wear the niqab, do so in places where they may encounter non-mahram (un-related) men.” Wikipedia.

According to this definition, this lady was wearing both a niqab and a burqa because she did not veil her eyes. I could clearly see her eyes. That’s all I could see. So we talked for a little while. And at the end, to practically test the situation, I attempted to touch elbows with her as we generally do in Covid 19 times, instead of shaking hands. She declined that bodily contact as well. No bodily contact whatsoever with the opposite sex: that is her philosophy and strict interpretation of the Holy Koran. We are very lucky to live in Australia because of its tolerance of religious diversity. As we all know, this type of dress is illegal in some European countries. And it is just wonderful that this lady’s religious feelings are being respected in Australia, a great credit to this great country, among many other credits. Christianity and Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism are all bona fide and authorised religions. It will be best if we accept these facts a priori. It is notable that some Thai ladies, for example, belonging to Buddhism clearly know the meaning of the Sanskrit word Dharma, through family tradition and subsequently accept a copy of Bhagavad-gita As It Is. It happened to me yesterday, January 4th 2022 in Cotton Tree, Maroochydore, Queensland. I also came across a book titled “You are not this body” by my dear and humorous Godbrother, HH Bir Krishna Swami, who has got some disciples in Maroochydore. There is something for everyone on a well supplied and stocked religious market and we don’t understand how some individuals stubbornly stick to atheism, which is in fact nothing but another, separate religion by negation, in the sense that God is still the center of the philosophy of atheism, but His existence is strongly denied or alternatively “God’s death” is advertised.

To be or not to be, that is the question! To actually deny someone’s existence is very offensive, so the offender is shown the buttocks and at the time of death he will be shown the whole form. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is 10.34:

mrtyuh sarva-haras caham

udbhavas ca bhavisyatam

kirtih srir vak ca narinam

smrtir medha dhrtih ksama

Word for word translation

mrtyuh — death; sarva-harah — all-devouring; ca — also; aham — I am; udbhavah — generation; ca — also; bhavisyatam — of future manifestations; kirtih — fame; srih — opulence or beauty; vak — fine speech; ca — also; narinam — of women; smrtih — memory; medha — intelligence; dhrtih — firmness; ksama — patience.

TRANSLATION

I am all-devouring death, and I am the generating principle of all that is yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, fine speech, memory, intelligence, steadfastness and patience.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bg 10.34

In other words, atheism represents God’s back side or more formally atheism represents God’s buttock. And we definitely reject the accusation that religion is the source of all wars. Clearly, the biggest warmongers and killers in the history of the world are politicians such as Stalin and Hitler. Religion, even though a dirty word in some quarters, is on the contrary a most essential function in human society. Human society without religion is nothing but animal society.

“So without religion, human society is nothing but animal society. It is simply polished animalism.”

Ref. VedaBase => Srila Prabhupada. Initiation of Rukmini Dasi – August 15, 1968, Montreal