All praise is due to Allah, and may blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
The expression “Allāhu Akbar” is correct both in Islamic usage and in Arabic. It means: “Allah is greater than everything.” The word min (“than”) and what follows it may be omitted because their meaning is understood from the context. Using the comparative form does not necessarily imply likening Allah to His creation. It may express a comparison involving a quality that shares the same name, or it may express exaltation without an actual comparison being intended.
What is the comparative form in Arabic?
The Arabic comparative and superlative form, known as ism al-tafḍīl, is a descriptive form generally built on the pattern afʿal. In its usual use, it indicates that two things share a quality and that one possesses it to a greater degree than the other. The author of Sharḥ Qaṭr al-Nadā defines it as “the descriptive form indicating a shared quality and a greater degree of it” (p. 280).
Al-Azharī states in Sharḥ al-Taṣrīḥ ʿalā al-Tawḍīḥ (2/92): “It is the descriptive form built on the pattern afʿal, indicating that its bearer exceeds another in the underlying meaning of the verb.”
Examples include: “Zayd is better than ʿAmr” and “Zayd is the best of the people.” However, the shared quality implied by this construction is not real in every instance. It may be real, or it may merely be assumed according to the addressee’s belief, even when that belief is false.
An example of a genuinely shared quality is Allah’s statement:
“Because one community is more numerous than another.” [Al-Naḥl 16:92]
Here, the comparative means “greater in number.”
An example of an assumed shared quality is Allah’s statement:
“A mosque founded on piety from the first day is more worthy of your standing in it.” [Al-Tawbah 9:108]
The comparison here does not establish that the Mosque of Harm had any legitimate claim to the Prophet’s standing in it, blessings and peace be upon him. Rather, it addresses a possible belief that such a claim existed. See Ism al-Tafḍīl fī al-Qurʾān al-Karīm by Riyāḍ al-Jubūrī (p. 9).
Is “Allāhu Akbar” correct without mentioning “than”?
Yes. Arabic allows the omission of min (“than”) and the term of comparison when the meaning is understood. The term of comparison is what follows min, as in: “Zayd is older than ʿAmr.”
Sībawayh said: “Just as you say: ‘Allāhu Akbar,’ meaning: Allah is greater than everything.” See Al-Kitāb (2/33).
Al-Kunnāsh fī Fannay al-Naḥw wa-l-Ṣarf (1/342) also explains that min and the term of comparison may be omitted when they are understood. One example is “Allāhu Akbar,” meaning: “Greater than everything that is great.”
The expression is therefore clear, and the speaker does not need to state the omitted words explicitly every time. This is the takbīr we say in prayer, keeping in mind that Allah is greater than everything.
Does the comparative form imply likening Allah to His creation?
It is permissible to say “Allah is greater than such-and-such,” explicitly naming the thing, just as it is permissible to say only “Allāhu Akbar.” The comparative form here can be understood in two ways:
First: it may retain its basic comparative meaning, with a quality shared in name. Sharing the same name for a quality does not imply that the Creator’s attribute and the creature’s attribute are identical or equal in their true nature.
Second: it may express exaltation and the utmost degree of a quality, without an actual comparison being intended. Not every use of the comparative form establishes that the other party possesses a share of the excellence mentioned.
One example is Allah’s statement:
“Is Allah better, or what they associate with Him?” [Al-Naml 27:59]
The fatwa cites Abū Ḥayyān as explaining that the intention here is not to establish goodness in the false objects of worship and then declare Allah superior to them. Rather, it affirms that excellence belongs to Allah and denies it to those objects of worship.
How omitting the term of comparison conveys exaltation
In his commentary on Allah’s statement:
“And the remembrance of Allah is greater.” [Al-ʿAnkabūt 29:45]
Al-Rāzī explains that omitting what it is greater than conveys exaltation, so the statement is not restricted to comparison with any particular thing.
He connects this with the worshipper’s words “Allāhu Akbar,” explaining them in this context as: “That is, greatness belongs to Him, not to others.” See Tafsīr al-Rāzī (25/62). This illustrates how the form can express exaltation, alongside its interpretation as: “Allah is greater than everything.”
Conclusion
“Allāhu Akbar” is a correct expression. Omitting min (“than”) and what follows it is linguistically permissible because the meaning is clear. The comparative form may indicate comparison, or it may express exaltation without an actual comparison. Therefore, the form akbar alone must not be understood as likening Allah to His creation.
And Allah knows best.