“Bismillah
ir-rahman ir-raheem”. Some scholars say that this phrase is a verse (ayah) that was revealed by
itself. Other scholars say that it is a part of the Fatiha. For this
reason some schools of thought connect Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem
with the Fatiha when they pray. Others do not connect it but instead
recite it separately. They do not consider it part of the Fatiha.
Shaykh Isma`il al-Haqqi says:
“Kullu `uloom bil kutub
al arba`a wa `uloomuha fil Qur’an.”
- “It is said that all the knowledge that Allah gave to humanity in this
universe is found in the four holy books: az-Zabur (Psalms), the Taurat
(Torah), the Injeel (Gospel or New Testament), and the Holy Qur’an”.
“Wa `uloomul Qur’an bil Fatiha.
Wa
`uloom ul-Fatiha bil-basmala.
Qad `awda Allah jam`iyyal ‘uloomi fil
Ba bi Bismillah ir-rahmaan ir-raheem.” – “and the complete knowledge of
the Holy Qur’an is contained in the Faatiha.
And all the knowledge in
Fatiha is contained within the Basmala (Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem).
And all the knowledge in the Basmala is contained in the letter
‘ba’ (harful ba).
The wisdom of the other three holy books is in the Holy
Qur’an, the Essence of which is in the Fatiha whose meaning is contained in
the Basmala.”
BA- And the Bahr
Qudra- Spinning Universes Oceans of Power
It is said that all the
knowledge that Allah (swt) revealed was placed in the ‘ba’, the first
letter of Bismillah ir-rahman ir-raheem.
Allah said, “Bee
kaana wa yakoon” - “In Me, i.e. through My Power, all came to be and all
is continuing in existence.”
Bi is formed from two letters ‘Ba’
{2}and ‘Ya’.{10}{
= 12 or Completion reflection is 21 in Akhira }
And He said,
“Bee kaana ma kaan wa bee yakoon ma yakoon.”
The letter ‘Ba’
is like a ship with the dot, ‘nukta’, under it.
‘Ya’ refers to
Allah (swt). With Me (“Bee”) what will be, will be – whatever
happens, happens, and what was, was. { Come back to the Bahr Qudra}
That is a small understanding of the
saying that all knowledge is contained within the ‘Ba’. That is why
the first letter of the Holy Qur'an is the ‘Ba’.
Shaykh al-Haqqi says, “The
existence of all the universes and all within them is in the ‘Ba’.”
This is because the ‘Ba’ is with Allah (swt).” It is He who brought that
letter. With that ‘Ba’ He created all the universes.
Someone
said, “Maa
nadharru shayan illa
wa r`aytullaha feeh” - “I never look at something without seeing a sign
of Allah (swt) there.”
Ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Shaykh al-Haqqi says,
“Wa `allam anna ar-Rahmata min siffat idh-dhaat wa huwa iraadatuhu isaal ul-khair
wa daff`u sharr” – “Let it be
known that ar-Rahmah, Mercy, is from the
Attributes of the Essence.
Allah (swt) desires that goodness (khair) reaches His servants, and
that the evil (sharr) be kept away from them.” That is why He swt
said if the believer wants evil to be kept away from him, he should recite,
“A`udhu billahi min ash-Shaytan ir-rajeem.” When he says “A`udhu
billahi min ash-Shaytan ir-rajeem”, he is expelling Shaytan from his
heart and approaching Allah (swt).
He continues this by saying Bismillah
ir-rahman ir-raheem.
Every deed ( ‘amal)
that the believer wishes to perform should be begun by saying, “A`udhu
billahi min ash-Shaytan ir-rajeem”. It is a request from his Lord for
refuge,
istighaatha (seeking a means)
and madad (support).
He
is seeking refuge in Allah (swt) from Shaytan ir-Rajeem. Allah (swt)
removes Shaytan ar-Rajeem by opening for the believer “Bismillah
ir-rahmaan ir-raheem.
The reality of the knowledge contained within the
‘Ba’ will be opened. When doing anything, great or seemingly
insignificant the believer should start with this phrase.
For example when
about to take a drink of water, the believer should say, “A`udhu billahi
min ash-Shaytan ir-rajeem, Bismillah ir-rahmaan ir-raheem”. After this
Shaytan is unable to remove baraka from his water.
Yahya related to me
from Malik from Abu Nuaym that Wahb ibn Kaysan said, "The Messenger of
Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was brought food while his
stepson Umar ibn Salama was with him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, said to him, 'Say "Bismillah," and eat
what is in front of you.'
The greatest sign of
Allah’s (swt) Mercy (rahmah) is the creation of the universes and
humanity - khalqil makhlooqaat.
From His Mercy, which is connected to
His Essence, is the attribute ar-Raheem and the creation of
al-khalq (all of creation, among which are human beings).
If Allah (swt)
was not Raheem, then mankind would have been unknown.
When He creates
something, it becomes known. He wants creation to know about Him. He said,
“I created the creation so that they might know Me.”
If mankind had not been
created he would not know Allah (swt). From His Essential attribute of Mercy
(siffatur Rahmah adh-Dhaatiyyah) the description of His Mercy is the
creation of human beings. By creating him, He made mankind reach what is
known. Without creating mankind, He would have stayed as unknown.
From His
Rahmah He created mankind. { ALR-HM-N}
The Prophet (s) said,
`Inna lillahi `edur Rahma. ‘ata Wahidatan minha li `ahl id-dunyawad dakhala tis’an wa tis’eena `ilal `aakhira yarhamu bi
naa’imat “Allah (swt) has 100
Mercies. He gave one mercy to all creations in dunya and left ninety-nine
mercies for the hereafter in order to forgive His servants.” All life exists
by means this single mercy. There is so much happiness present in dunya from
only a single mercy that one can only imagine what the remaining ninety-nine
left for `aakhira and the Judgment Day are like.
The entire nation of
Muhammad (s) (`ummatun Naby (s) jami’an) will be protected by
these ninety-nine mercies. As long as people say, “La `ilaha `illallah,
Muhammadan Rasool Allah” and establish prayer, give poor-due, fast
Ramadan and make the pilgrimage if they are ablethey will be in
Paradise under those ninety-nine mercies. This blessing is from Allah’s
attribute of Mercy.
Allah described two
types of mercy in “Bismillah ir-rahmaan ir-raheem”.
They are the
general one and the private one (ar-Rahmat al-‘aama wal-khaasa). The
general mercy is for everyone, and the private one is for a select few. In
`aakhira Allah (swt) will forgive the people of Islam (`ahlul-Islam)
and send them to paradise.
He will put them there by saying “Bismillah
ir-Rahmaan ar-Raheem”.
Shaykh al-Haqqi
relates “Qaalu lillahi ta’aala thalaathatul `aalaf ism. Alfun
ar-rawaha malaa`ika.”
– “It is said that Allah (swt) has 3,000 names. One thousand of them
He gave the angels to know.” They describe the greatness of His Mercy.
Within every name there is a Rahmah with which Allah (swt) will
bless His servants on Judgment Day. Wa `alf, ar-rafahul `anbiya. One
thousand He gave to `anbiya (prophets). Three hundred in each of the
Holy books (the Taurat, the Injil and the Zabur) and ninety-nine in the Holy
Qur`an.
One name He left for Himself and no one knows this name. He placed
all these attributes within three names: Allah, Ar-Rahman, and
Ar-Raheem.
That is why Bismillah is followed by ar-Rahmaan
ir-raheem.
Shaykh al-Haqqi says, “Faman
`aalimaha wa qaalaha fa kaannama dhakarallahu ta’aala bi kulli `asma`I”
– “Whoever learned the Basmala and repeated it, it will be as if he
had called upon his Lord by all three thousand of His Names.” (Anyone who
repeats Bismillah ir-rahmaan ir-raheem it is as if he has called
upon his Lord by His three thousand Names). This is why Muslims should teach
it to their children and teach them to repeat this phrase when beginning any
action.
It is related that the
Prophet (s) said, “The night that I ascended to Paradise, the four rivers of
Paradise were beneath me:
one from water;
one from milk;
one from wine and
one from honey.
I asked Jibril (as), ‘Ya Jibril (as), from where do these
rivers come, and where do they go?’
He said, ‘All of them go to your Pond, Nahr ul-Kauthar, but I do not know where they come from. If you want to
know, Ya Muhammad (s), ask your Lord, and He will teach you.’ I asked, ‘Ya
Rabbi, from where do they come?’ An angel came and greeted the Prophet (s)
and said, ‘Ya Muhammad (s), close your eyes.’ Then he said, ‘Open your
eyes.’
The Prophet said,
“I
opened my eyes, and found myself by a tree,
with a white dome of pearl,
and
a door of red gold.
I saw all of universes that Allah has created, with the
jinn, animals and human beings and that dome was able to carry them all, and
it was able to carry still more.
The dome was made from a single pearl.
A normal pearl is so small that it must come
from a big ocean.
Allah (swt) showed me that all these
universes that were put on that dome were like birds sitting on a mountain.
I saw the four rivers coming from under that dome.
“When I began to
return,
the angel said to me, ‘Why don’t you go inside?’ I replied, ‘How can I go
inside when the door is locked and I don’t have the key for it?’ The angel
said, ‘Ya Muhammad (s), the key to that lock is <<Bismillah ir-rahmaan
ir-raheem>>, so say it.’
So I approached, and I said, ‘Bismillah
ir-rahmaan ir-raheem’, and the lock opened.
I entered and saw four
rivers coming from the four sides of the dome.
Written on the top of each
side of the dome was ‘Bismillah ir-rahmaan ir-raheem’.
The river of
water was flowing from the letter ‘mim’ of
Bismillah.
The
River of Milk was flowing from the
‘Ha’
of Allah (swt).”
“I saw the
River of Wine coming from the
‘Mim’ of the word
ar-Rahman.
I saw the
River of Honey, coming from the ‘Mim’ of
the word ar-Raheem. [ Together is Mhmm Muhamma ]
I knew then that the source of these four rivers
is the Basmala from Bismillah ir-rahmaan ir-raheem. Allah
said, ‘Ya Muhammad (s), if your ummah comes to Me and asks Me with a a pure
heart, without arrogance, and they begin with Bismillah ir-rahmaan
ir-raheem I will allow them to quench their thirst from these four
rivers.’”
The milk mentioned here
symbolizes innocence as the letter ‘Ha’ denotes Hu and refers
to the absolute unseen, the absolute innocence that no one knows
[except the Prophet].
That is why the Prophet (s) said, “Human beings are born innocent.”
Like a child submitting to his father. If one surrenders to Allah (swt) like
a child surrenders to his parents, Allah will grant him everything.
The wine here represents…Sustenance Food ,Water The air we breath.
The
honey represents… Shifa and
Shafa Healing and Intercession for day of accounting
The
water represents…. Life
A hadith relates that a
du’a will never be rejected by Allah (swt) when it begins “Bismillah
ir-rahmaan ir-raheem”.[10]
Wa fil hadeethy
‘aydan ‘an an Naby (s), Man rafa’a firtaasa minal ardi maktooban ‘alayhi
Bismillah ir-rahmaan ir-raheem `ijlaalan lahu wa ismihi
‘an anludanna `askaya ‘indallahminas
Siddeeqeen, wa khaffafa ‘an waalidayhi wa `in kaana mushrikeen.
“If anyone sees a paper on the floor with Bismillah ir-rahmaan ir-raheem
written on it, and takes it and puts it in a safe place, and shows respect
for the Name of Allah (swt) he will be raised to the level of Siddiqeen
(trustworthy) and even if his parents were polytheists (mushrikeen),
their punishment will be reduced because of that.”[11]
It was also said by the
great scholar Shaykh Ahmad Boony in
Nataa`ib `Ishaar that `inna
shajaratun wujooda qara`at ‘an Bismillah ir-rahmaan ir-raheem.
Wa `innal ‘aalama kullahu qaa`imun biha”– “The tree of existence for
everything came from ‘Bismillah ir-Rahmaan ir-Raheem.’ And indeed all
the universes exist (or continue in existence) by means of ‘Bismillah
ir-Rahmaan ir-Raheem’.”
According to Malik, the
Basmala is not an ayah of the Fatiha nor of anything else except
for specifically in an-Naml (the Ant). According to ash- Shafi`i
it is an ayah of the Fatiha, and according to Ibn `Abbas it is an
ayah of the beginning of every sura. Malik’s argument is
that which is narrated in the sound hadith that the Messenger of Allah,
(s), said, “There has been revealed to me a surah the like of
which is not in the Tauraat, the Injeel, or the Qur’an.” Then he said, “Praise
belongs to Allah, the Lord of the
worlds…” [1: 1] and he began without the Basmala. There is
also that which is mentioned in the sound hadith “Allah says, ‘I have
divided the salaat between Me and My slave in two halves. The
slave says: Praise belongs to Allah,
the Lord of the worlds…’”and He began without the Basmala. [And Qatada wrote that
Anas b. Malik had narrated to him: I observed prayer behind the Apostle
of Allah (s) and Abu Bakr (r) and Umar (r) and 'Uthman (r). They started
(loud recitation) with: Alhamdulillahi Rabb il-`alameen [All
Praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds] and did not recite
Bismillah r- Rahman-ir-Raheem (loudly) at the beginning of the
recitation or at the end of it. Sahih Muslim,Book 4, #788.]
Ash-Shafi`i’s
argument is that which is narrated in the hadiththat the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, used to recite “In the name of Allah the Merciful the
Compassionate, All praise belongs
to Allah Lord of the worlds.”
The argument of Ibn
`Abbas is that the Basmala is written with every sura in
the mushaf.
[6]
Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 9, Book
93, #493 andSahih Muslim, Book 8, #3359.
[7]
The unbelievers of the Quraysh identified the Basmala with
rejection of their idols and refused use of this phrase. It is related
on the authority of Anas (r) regarding the Treaty of Hudaybiyya: ... The
Prophet (s) said to 'Ali (r): Write" In the name of Allah, most Gracious
and most Merciful." Suhail [representing Quraysh] said: As for"
Bismillah," we do not know what is meant by" Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Raheem".
But write what we understand, “B’ismik’allahumma - in thy name. O
Allah”.... [Sahih Muslim, Book 19, #4404]
[8]
Imam Malik’s Muwatta, Book
49, Number 49.10.32.
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