TheBasmala (Arabic:بَسْمَلَة,basmalah; also known by its opening wordsBi-smi llāh;بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ, "In the name ofGod"),[1] orTasmiyyah (Arabic:تَسْمِيَّة), is the titular name of theIslamic phrase "In the name ofGod,the Most Gracious,the Most Merciful" (Arabic:بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ,bi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi).[Notes 1] It is one of the most important phrases in Islam and frequently recited byMuslims before performing daily activities and religious practices, includingprayer.[2]
In theQuran, it is recited before each chapter (surah), except for the ninth chapterAt-Tawbah.[Notes 2][17] Scholarly debates regarding its inclusion in the Qur'anic text reached consensus with the1924 Cairo Edition, where it was included as the first verse (āyah) ofAl-Fatiha and remained an unnumbered line preceding each of the 112 other chapters.[18]
Historically, the IslamicBasmala appears to be related to earlier variants of the phrase appearing in Arabian inscriptions dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries.[19]
The traditional name for the phrase inClassical Arabic wasTasmiyah. Other commonphrases in Islam were also given their own names based on verb form 2 verbal nouns, includingTasbih. The wordbasmala was derived from a slightly unusual procedure, in which the first four pronounced consonants of the phrasebismi-llāhi... were used to create a newquadriliteral root:[20] b-s-m-l (ب-س-م-ل). This quadriliteral root was used to derive the nounbasmala and its relatedverb forms, meaning "to recite thebasmala". The method of coining a quadriliteral name from the consonants of multiple words in a phrase is also used to create the name '"Hamdala" forAlhamdulillah, instead of thetraditional name ofTahmid.[20] The same procedure is also used to create the termHawqala.
According toLane,ar-raḥmān has the more intensive meaning, taken to include as objects of "sympathy" both the believer and the unbeliever, and may therefore be rendered as "the Compassionate";ar-raḥīm, on the other hand, is taken to include as objects the believer in particular, may be rendered as "the Merciful" (considered as expressive of a constant attribute).
In the Qur'an, theBasmala, is usually numbered as the first verse of thefirstsura, but, according to the view adopted byAl-Tabari, it precedes the first verse. Apart from the ninthsura ("At-Tawba"),Al-Qurtubi reported that the correct view is that the Basmala ignored at the beginning of At-Tawba because Gabriel did not refer to theBasmala in thissurah, another view, says that Muhammad died before giving a clarification ifAt-Tawba is part ofQuran 8 (al-ʾanfāl) or not.[21][Notes 2] It occurs at the beginning of each subsequentsura of the Qur'an and is usually not numbered as a verse except at its first appearance at the start of the firstsura. TheBasmala occurs as part of asura's text in verse 30 of the 27thsura ("An-Naml"), where it prefaces a letter fromSulayman toBilqis, theQueen of Sheba.
TheBasmala is used extensively in everyday Muslim life, said as the opening of each action in order to receiveblessing fromGod.[22] Reciting theBasmala is a necessary requirement in thepreparation ofhalal food.
In the Indian subcontinent, aBismillah ceremony is held for a child's initiation into Islam.
The three definite nouns of the Basmala—Allah,ar-Rahman andar-Rahim—correspond to the first three of the traditional99 names of God in Islam. Bothar-Rahman andar-Rahim are from the sametriliteral rootR-Ḥ-M, "to feel sympathy, or pity".
Around 1980,IRIB used it before starting their newscasts.
There are severalahadith encouraging Muslims to recite it before eating and drinking. For example:
Jabir reported: I heard Messenger of Allah (saw) saying, "If a person mentions the Name of Allah upon entering his house or eating, Satan says, addressing his followers: 'You will find nowhere to spend the night and no dinner.' But if he enters without mentioning the Name of Allah, Satan says (to his followers); 'You have found (a place) to spend the night in,' and if he does not mention the Name of Allah at the time of eating, Satan says: 'You have found (a place) to spend the night in as well as food.'"
Aisha reported: "The Prophet said, "When any of you wants to eat, he should mention the Name ofGod in the beginning (Bismillah). If he forgets to do it in the beginning, he should sayBismillah awwalahu wa akhirahu (I begin with the Name ofGod at the beginning and at the end)".
Umaiyyah bin Makshi reported: "The Prophet was sitting while a man was eating food. That man did not mention the Name ofGod till only a morsel of food was left. When he raised it to his mouth, he said,Bismillah awwalahu wa akhirahu. The Prophet smiled at this and said, "Satan had been eating with him but when he mentioned the Name ofGod, Satan vomited all that was in his stomach".
Wahshi bin Harb reported: "Some of theSahaba of the Prophet said, 'We eat but are not satisfied.' He said, 'Perhaps you eat separately.' The Sahaba replied in the affirmative. He then said, 'Eat together and mention the Name ofGod over your food. It will be blessed for you.'
All that is contained in the revealed books is to be found in the Qur’an and all that is contained in the Qur’an is summed up in thesurat al-fatihah ("The opening one") while this is in its turn contained in the formula Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim ("In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful").
In a commentary on the Basmala in hisTafsir al-Tabari, al-Tabari writes:
"The Messenger of Allah (the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said that Jesus was handed by his mother Mary over to a school in order that he might be taught. [The teacher] said to him: 'Write "Bism (In the name of)".' And Jesus said to him: 'What is "Bism"?' The teacher said: 'I do not know.' Jesus said: 'The "Ba" is Baha’u'llah (the glory of Allah), the "Sin" is His Sana’ (radiance), and the "Mim" is His Mamlakah (sovereignty)."[24]
According to the standardAbjadi system ofnumerology, the total value of the letters of the Islamic Basmala, i.e. the phrase — is786.[25] This number has therefore acquired a significance infolk Islam and Near Eastern folk magic and also appears in many instances of pop-culture, such as its appearance in the 2006 song '786 All is War' by the bandFun-Da-Mental.[25] A recommendation of reciting the basmala 786 times in sequence is recorded inAl-Buni. Sündermann (2006) reports that a contemporary "spiritual healer" from Syria recommends the recitation of the basmala 786 times over a cup of water, which is then to be ingested as medicine.[26] 786 as a number, however, does not appear in Quran or Hadith.[27]
It has also become common to abbreviate the phrase by typing "786", especially in online communication, and especially among South Asian Muslims.[citation needed] License plates, phone numbers, and serial numbers on currency containing 786 have garnered a particularly high price in South Asia and Dubai.[28][29] Businesses in Myanmar have displayed 786 to indicate that they are owned by Muslims.[30]
^"Iraqi Constitution"(PDF).Republic of Iran - Ministry of Interior - General Directorate of Nationality. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 28 November 2016. Retrieved5 January 2016.
^"Kuwait Constitution".International Constitutional Law Project. Retrieved5 January 2016.
^Ahmad al-Jallad (2020). "The Linguistic Landscape of pre-Islamic Arabia: Context for the Qur’an", in Mustafa Shah & Muhammad Abdel Haleem (eds.),The Oxford Handbook of Quranic Studies. Oxford University Press, p. 123.doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199698646.013.44.
^abA New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language by J.A. Haywood and H.M. Nahmad (London: Lund Humphreys, 1965),ISBN0-85331-585-X, p. 263.
^Momen, M. (2000).Islam and the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. p. 242.ISBN0-85398-446-8. In note 330 on page 274 of the same book Dr. Momen states the following: "At-Tabarí,Jámi’-al-Bayán, vol. 1, p.40. Some of the abbreviated editions of this work (such as the Mu’assasah ar-Risálah, Beirut, 1994 edition) omit this passage as does the translation by J. Cooper (Oxford University Press, 1987). Ibn Kathír records this tradition,Tafsír, vol. 1, p. 17.As-Suyútí inad-Durr al-Manthúr, vol. 1, p. 8, also records this tradition and gives a list of other scholars who have cited it including Abú Na’ím al-Isfahání inHilyat al-Awliya’ andIbn ‘Asákir inTaríkh Dimashq."
^abShah & Haleem (eds.),The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studies, Oxford University Press, 2020, pp581, 587-88
^Katja Sündermann,Spirituelle Heiler im modernen Syrien: Berufsbild und Selbstverständnis - Wissen und Praxis, Hans Schiler, 2006,p. 371.
