Basmala
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Basmala (Arabic بسملة) is an Arabic-language noun which is used as the collective name of the whole of the recurring Islamic phrase bismi-llāhi ar-raḥmāni ar-raḥīmi . This phrase constitutes the first verse of the first "sura" (or chapter) of the Qur'an, and is used in a number of contexts by Muslims. It is recited several times as part of Muslim daily prayers, and it is usually the first phrase in the preamble of the constitutions of Islamic countries.
In the Qur'an, it is usually numbered as the first verse of the first sura, but according to the view adopted by Al-Tabari, it precedes the first verse. It occurs at the beginning of each subsequent sura of the Qur'an, except for the ninth sura, but is not numbered as a verse except in the first sura. It occurs twice in the twenty-seventh sura, at the beginning and in verse 30.
- بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
- bismi-llāhi ar-raḥmāni ar-raḥīmi
- "In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful"
The word "basmala" itself was derived by a slightly-unusual procedure in which the first four pronounced consonants of the phrase bismi-llāhi... were taken as a quadriliteral consonantal root b-s-m-l (ب س م ل). This abstract consonantal root was used to derive the noun basmala, as well as related verb forms which mean "to recite the basmala". The practice of giving often-repeated phrases special names is paralleled by the phrase Allahu Akbar, which is referred to as the "Takbir" (also Ta'awwudh etc.); and the method of coining a quadriliteral name from the consonants of such a phrase is paralleled by the name "Hamdala" for Alhamdulillah.
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[edit] Alternative Christian meaning
Arabic-speaking Christians sometimes use the word Basmala (Arabic: بسملة) to refer to the Christian liturgical formula "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" (Arabic: باسم الآب والابن والروح القدس, bismi-l-’abi wal-ibni war-rūḥi l-qudusi), from Matthew 28:19.
[edit] Numerology
The total value of the letters of "Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim" according to one Arabic system of numerology is 786. There are two methods of arranging the letters of the Arabic alphabet. One method is the most common alphabetical order (used for most ordinary purposes), beginning with the letters Alif ا, ba ب, ta ت, tha ث etc. The other method is known as the Abjad numerals' method or ordinal method. In this method the letters are arranged in the following order: Abjad, Hawwaz, Hutti, Kalaman, Sa'fas, Qarshat, Sakhaz, Zazagh; and each letter has an arithmetic value assigned to it from one to one thousand. (This arrangement was done, most probably in the 3rd century of Hijrah during the 'Abbasid period, following the practices of speakers of other Semitic languages such as Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldean etc.)
If you take the numeric values of all the letters of the Basmala, according to the Abjad order, the total will be 786. In the Indian subcontinent the Abjad numerals have become quite popular. Some people, mostly in India and Pakistan, use 786 as a substitute for Bismillah ("In the name of Allah" or "In the name of God"). They write this number to avoid writing the name of God, or Qur'anic verses, on ordinary papers. This practice does not date from the time of Muhammad and is not universally accepted by Muslims.
[edit] Cultural references
The Iranian authorities permitted an album of songs by the popular music band Queen to be released in Iran in August 2004, partly because the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" contains several exclamations of the word Bismillah.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Meaning of Bismillah for a detailed guide on pronunciation, meaning, history, and calligraphic renderings of Bismillah.
