Dhikr · Muslim practice
Allahu Akbar
God is greater
ٱللَّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ
Allāhu akbar
The takbīr — commonly rendered “God is greatest” or “God is greater”. It opens the ritual prayer, accompanies many changes of posture, and occurs in the adhān.
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 597a (one post-prayer form)
A mala of 33 is what this practice is traditionally counted on.
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ٱللَّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ
Allāhu akbar
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What the words say
Akbar is an Arabic elative, which can express a comparative or superlative sense. Both “God is greater” and “God is greatest” are established renderings; neither English phrase exhausts its devotional meaning.
Where it comes from
The takbīr opens ṣalāh as the takbīrat al-iḥrām and accompanies many of its movements. Rising from bowing uses a different formula. Post-prayer counts vary between transmitted forms.
How it is practised
Thirty-three times after each obligatory prayer, completing the three. Also recited aloud through the days of ʿĪd and the first ten days of Dhū al-Ḥijja.
References
- Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 597a
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 789, on the takbīr within the prayer
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