pictures on the wind

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The Muslims, I understand, have a proscription against making statues or art that depict "sentient living beings." And this is most especially true when it comes to depictions of Allah or his prophet Muhammad.

The proscription -- especially as it relates to the gods -- strikes me as understandable.

But what I don't quite understand is this: If, as I think, words are nothing more than pictures on the wind, why would anyone be willing to 'talk' about those gods?

Why, for example, would not the arbiters of Islam castigate or simply correct followers who said things like  "Allahu Akbar" ["Allah is great/greater/greatest"]?
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