Shout Allahu Akbar! and Second Karabakh War

Baku/18.03.21/Turan: Four months after the end of the Second Karabakh war, in society, discussions continue not only around military operations and geopolitics, but also the moral and psychological state of the military.

One of the discussed phenomena was the exclamations of Allahu Akbar! by soldiers going to attack. This was not the case during the First War in the early 90s. Is this related to a religious factor?

Turan News Agency conducted a survey of fighters and religious figures on this topic.

First War veteran Kamran Akbarli says the slogan was not popular. The 30-year occupation of the lands of Azerbaijan did not kill the desire to liberate them in its citizens.

“On the contrary, this belief has only grown stronger. The shout Allahu Akbar was not of a religious nature, it became an expression of the moral and psychological mobilization of the soldiers, their readiness to liberate their native land. It was also a challenge to the enemy,” Akbarli said.

The war was fought not only for the liberation of the land, but also for the restoration of national dignity. The results of the battles largely depend on the morale and fighting spirit of the soldiers. The exclamation Allahu Akbar sounded like a tuning fork, not just motivating the fighters to fight, but calling for victory and willingness to give their lives for it.

“During the battle, it is necessary to concentrate all the forces and will of the fighters, and this call helped the soldiers not because someone ordered them; it all happened spontaneously,” Akbarli said.

In turn, the religious leader Elman Shirvanli confirmed the opinion that this exclamation in the war was not of a purely religious nature. “In difficult times, a person tunes and prepares himself, he is looking for an opportunity to concentrate his forces and Allahu Akbar is one of such expressions,” Shirvanli said.

In addition to concentrating forces, our fighters were eager to take revenge on the enemy and called on the Almighty to give them strength and confidence.

“No one asked or instructed the soldiers to perform Namaz and Azan in mosques in the liberated cities and villages. The fighters saw this as their human duty and felt great moral satisfaction from the fact that they restored historical justice,” Shirvanli stressed.

Many fighters admitted that it was impossible to describe the excitement they experienced, rushing into battle while hundreds of people shouted Allahu Akbar. It was much stronger than Hurray! And yet, this slogan made the soldiers feel that there was only a way forward. It was impossible to convey or explain all this in words.

"A feeling of strength envelopes a person when you see how, under our shouts of Allahu Akbar! the Armenians throw their weapons and run. It's unforgettable," said one of the special force soldiers, who wished to remain anonymous. -05D-