ITS ORIGIN AND PURPOSE, STILL A TOTAL MYSTERY: As Times Square Machete Attacker Pleads Guilty, Authorities Still Refuse to Face His Motive. “AP added that Bickford ‘shouted ‘Allahu akbar’ — the Arabic phrase for God is great — before striking the officers in the head with the machete and trying to grab an officer’s gun, authorities said. One officer suffered a fractured skull.’ AP’s explanation was inaccurate: While most media outlets routinely translate ‘Allahu akbar’ as ‘God is great,’ it actually means ‘Allah is greater.’ That is, the god of Islam is superior to anything that non-Muslims worship or hold dear. This declaration of superiority frequently accompanies acts that are designed to enforce the subjugation and submission of the non-believer or ‘infidel,’ amounting to a kind of explanation of why a particular act of violence is being perpetrated.”