To Cry, to Weep and to Pray!

Nice read for Battle cries.
Agreed with Asfand, Allah-o-Akbar is not a battle cry ALONE. It is used more often for admiration for something great done, getting good news, remembering God on specific spiritual urges etc in daily life than used as battle cry.
Cold blooded killings of captureds without any fair trial but only on the provocative acts of leaders and Armies of captureds is a heinous crime. It becomes more heinous when name of Allah is chanted at these acts. This coming from the followers of a prophet who lead down clear cut procedures and mannerism for wars when war become enevitable (perhaps first such exercise) and that too with the chanting of name of God who got these rules laid down through his last prophet, is more abhorable.
Indeed the situation in which the native Iraqis with the help of their friends, though having bitter differences and fights among themselves, are fighting against the invaders (many friends acting together...leaving UNO to arrange for burial of the dead bodies) is very grave for adhering to and achieving the moral highs, specially when the invaders are ruthless and not adhering to UNO approved war rules.
The real situations with provocations, limited options etc are the tests for what morality, mannerism, conviction we had had from the philosophical teaching of the religion we believe in. In my humble opinion it is the LITMUS TEST for judging Belief (or we can say Spirituality for certain religions where Belief is not codified like Sanatan Dharam). I hope Dr Dasgupta, or any qualified person of this field, should try to evolve a Scale of 0 - 10 for judging actions vis-a-vis beleif/spirituality of 100 important issues of various situations advocated by their religion . I am sure it shall be an interesting exercise.......many of us shall be startled after getting their scales.. Then it shall be easier to say ``He is 5 in scale 0-10 of Orthodox Christianity`` or ``She is 7 in scale 0-10 of Sanatan Dharma``. Interesting, isn`t it !
They, the persons mentioned in the begining of the Article, are telling Allah, `` We no longer believe in your orders for war, justice and fairplay conveyed through your last prophet any more``. A paradox.
..... Masaii

#20 by hamidm2 on November 19, 2005 8:25am PT

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Hamid sb.

Hindus have realized that women are better in a fight...any fight! ask any married man :)

heil allah !

``You would hear cries such as “Jai Bhavani”, “Jai Durga”, “Jai Kali” and “Jai Jagdamba” (strangely enough, the cries seem to be requests to the Goddesses for safety and protection). ``

........... what`s so strange about that ?.......... most, nay all, horrible hindoos are mama`s boys who run to hide behind women and godesses crying, ``Amee, mujhe bachao !`` ........ yes siree bob, that should be the battle cry of theese girlie boys who dance with the bar girls in bombay, unlike real men who dance with the wolves (and each other) in bannu .......

..... as for ``allah o` akbar``, it is an all purpose muslim cry that can be used for anything from slaughtering chickens and infidels, to circumcising little boys and applauding speakers making silly speeches on the benefits of circumcision ........... it is meant to strike fear in the hearts of unbelievers, chickens, little boys and men without facial hair ............. it is simply horrible and should be banned like ``heil hitler !`` and ``seig heil !``.............

seig allah !

Kamath wrote:

Don`t forget,``..If one closed one’s eyes, one could almost hear these cries, the sounds of battle, the screams and groans of the wounded, AND THE DYING [my words]...``

This is precisly what Henry Dumant saw in a 19th century European war and propelled to do something about it. He saved the lives of millions and the Red Cross was born.
The Red Cross was the reverse symbol of Swiss Flag -symbol of of blood in white!

But a what a pity. In some countries, even this beloved, respected and sacred sybol has been replaced by a religious symbol Red Crescent by religious.fanatics and bigots. Because,you see the Cross is an abomination.

The sikh regiments motto is :

Himmatey Marda Madadey Khuda


The cry that would go up in Aligarh whenever they played the Sikhs in Hockey:

Yaa Rab Dile Muslim Ko vo Zinda Tammana dey.

#15 Kamath.

Ask nicely and I will provide answers to your questions. Stop barking.

Asfand Siddiqui

Re: # 16
I don`t think you can come with any reasonable answer after gorgingtoo much when the sun goes down. Start with some good exercise and it would be better for your thinking, Fatso.

#9 by asfand

You are right, its not an exclusive phrase for a battle cry, but is more associated with it. Just like Banzai isnt an exclusive battle cry.

#7 by mirmir

Grain of salt is how I sign off on my columns :), check out http://piquancy.blogspot.com for my other work. Secondly, I was gobsmacked at the sheer variety of battle cry`s used, but your Etlag el Goum!`` is surely an interesting one. Another one which I read about but couldnt use due to lack of space was during WW2 when the tank regiments still used to be called as cavalry and thought like that. During the North Africa Campaign, one British tank regimental commander lined up his tanks and bellowed ``Charge`` (something used during heavy cavalry charges).

Hightime these battlecrys are modified maybe they could change it to ,FIGHT FOR BUSH,KILL FOR OSAMA,FIGHT FOR SADDAM,WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU,WE ARE THE BEST MARINES,FIGHT FOR THE TWO OFFICERS WHO DIED,FIGHT FOR ME,FIGHT FOR MY BUDDY.
are any battlecrys needed,guess they are,but what to change them to.Religious battlecrys dont sound good,even countrys name in form of a battlecry doesnt do justice to it.
Wars have allways been there and will be ,but maybe better warcrys could make a difference in the insult melted out to each other and things could change.
I have an idea...... you know no warcry is need to drop a bomb or send a missile,thats what we humans are going to use to stop the warcrys

It would be a mistake to think that Allah-o-Akbar is a war cry. It is NOT. It has been used as a war cry and would still be used BUT thinking it in complete exclusivity that it is a war cry would be wrong.

Allah-o-Akbar means ``God is Great/er.`` Someone with a deeper knowledge can shed some more light on the exact meaning, however in a broader sense Allah-o-Akbar means that the Laws given by Him should prevail. ``Thy Kingdom Come`` would be the closest Christian meaning parallel to Allah-O-Akbar.``

Allah-o-Akbar is used on many occasions as well. It is not exclusive war cry as the author has suggested.


Asfand Siddiqui

Re: # 9
You say,``..Allah-o-Akbar is used on many occasions as well. It is not exclusive war cry as the author has suggested..... ``.

Idiots. What is the translation of these words,Allah-O-Akbar ? Why don`t they use some curse words or profanity and charge towards the battle. Who is this God who watches helplessly when throats of innocent men and women are slashed and decapitated.

You must have just returned fron Friday prayers. Go away man with your bogus explanations.

Kamath

Re: # 9
You say,``..Allah-o-Akbar is used on many occasions as well. It is not exclusive war cry as the author has suggested..... ``.

Idiots. What is the translation of these words,Allah-O-Akbar ? Why don`t they use some curse words or profanity and charge towards the battle. Who is this God who watches helplessly when throats of innocent men and women are slashed and decapitated.

You must have just returned fron Friday prayers. Go away man with your bogus explanations.

Kamath

Re: # 9 ``allah ho akbar!!!`` come here, let me give you a noogie!!

One of many wives of one of my uncles, we learnt, was a wild animal in bed. Every time they did that thing, which was at least 3 times a day to keep with the family tradition, one could hear God is Great from next block.

It came from the Mosque’s loudspeaker.

Battle cries don’t always come from the battle grounds. Warmth from a fire in Mogadishu can be felt in New York City. 9/11 started on the day when the bastard Khomeni held the Americans hostage.

Nice read.

Why with a grain of salt? I thought your article both interesting and reasonable.
History, and today`s horrors, provide ample evidence of the unholy use of religion as a goad to battle, as an encitement to slaughter. These blood-curdling invocations of the diety also serve to strike terror in the ranks of the enemy.
One non-religious battle cry that I didn`t see mentioned: ``Etlag el Goum!`` (`Forward gallop!` or, literally, `Drop the Reins!`).

So, what is your point!