He is Evident, more than anything else, but cannot be comprehended.

He is Evident, more than anything else, but cannot be comprehended. He is the Hidden, more than anything else, but is sans limits. (In other words, His being apparent is more evident than the manifestation of anything else and His concealment is more hidden than anything else). The second meaning of Allahu Akbar is: He is the All Knowing and All Aware. That is, He knows what has occurred and what will occur before its occurrence.

The third meaning of Allahu Akbar is: He is the All Powerful and commands authority over everything. His dominion extends over whatever He wishes. He is Strong means that He has power over His creation and rules them. His Strength is His Own and His Power is dominant and established over all things. When He desires to bring something into existence, He just commands ‘Be’ and it is. The fourth meaning of Allahu Akbar connotes His Forbearance and Honor.

He is so Forbearing as if He does not know (our mistakes) at all. His is so Forgiving as if He has not seen (our sins) at all. He conceals our transgression as if there had been no obedience. He does not hasten to punish or reprimand because of the aforementioned attributes. Another meaning of Allahu Akbar is: He is Generous and Munificent. His endowments are plenty and His actions honorable.

The fifth meaning of Allahu Akbar is: He can neither be described nor does He possess any how-ness (kaifiyyah). When somebody says Allahu Akbar it is as if he is confessing that Allah is too Great than to be comprehended by the attributes ascribed unto Him by the describers. These so-called describers of attributes do so according to their own whims and imaginations and not in correspondence with His Greatness. Allah is much Higher than that the describers comprehend His attributes.

Yet another connotation of Allahu Akbar is that Allah is the Greatest and Highest. He is Needless and can dispense with the actions (or existence) of His creatures. The statement ‘I witness that there is no god but Allah’ is an announcement that testimony without recognition from the heart is impossible. The announcer confesses: I know that there is no god but Allah and every deity besides Him is false.

I hereby make a verbal admission and acknowledge from the depth of my heart that there is no god except Him. I also witness that no other god can provide refuge but Him and there is no asylum from evils, mischief and corruption except in His Holy Being.