Brothers and sisters! In today’s khutba, I want to share some thoughts with you on the explanation of the Qur’anic expression, Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim, which means “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.” This phrase is so central to our everyday life activities that not a single day should pass by without uttering it.
One of the many practices taught by Islam is that its followers should begin their activities in the name of Allah. This principle, if consciously followed, will necessarily yield good results. One will be able to restrain oneself from evil, since the habit of pronouncing the name of Allah is bound to make one think when one is about to commit an evil act, as to how such an act can be reconciled with the uttering of Allah’s name. Also, when a man begins something by pronouncing Allah’s name, he will enjoy Allah’s help and guidance. Allah will bless his efforts and protect him from the whispering and temptations of Satan, for whenever man turns to Allah, Allah turns to him as well. Saying Bismillah is actually a prayer. By virtue of this prayer, a man seeks help from two great attributes of Allah: Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim. Both these attributes secure him the blessings and help of Allah. Anything done without this prayer certainly fails to reap all these blessings.
It was a custom in the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah) before the advent of Islam that people began everything they did with the names of their idols or gods. It was to eradicate this practice that the first verse of the Qur’an which Jibril (AS) brought down to the Prophet (SAW) commanded him to begin the Qur’an with the name of Allah.
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
“Recite: In the name of your Lord, who created” (al-Alaq, 96:1)
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim appears in the Qur’an at the beginning of every surah except Surat al-Taubah. It also appears once within the text in verse # 30 of Surat al-Naml. The famous exegete (mufassir) of the Qur’an, Jalal-ud-Deen al-Suyuti says that besides the Qur’an, all other divine books also begin with Bismillah. A study of the Qur’an reveals that since ancient times there has always been a mention of the meaning of this expression in the revealed scriptures in one form or another. For example, Nuh (AS), when his followers were boarding the ark, said something quite similar.
وَقَالَ ارْكَبُوا فِيهَا بِسْمِ اللَّهِ مَجْرَاهَا وَمُرْسَاهَا إِنَّ رَبِّي لَغَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ
“He (Noah) said, ‘Board it. In the name of Allah it shall sail and anchor. My Allah is most forgiving and merciful.” (Hud, 11:41)
Similarly, Sulaiman (AS) began his letter, addressed to the Queen of Sheba, with these blessed words.
إِنَّهُ مِن سُلَيْمَانَ وَإِنَّهُ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
“It is from Solomon, and it says, In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful (an-Naml, 27:30).
By instructing man to begin everything with the name of Allah, Islam has given to the whole of his life an orientation towards Allah so that he may, with each step he takes, renew his allegiance to the covenant made with Allah. Thus, all worldly activities of man; each movement and gesture becomes transformed into an act of worship. How brief is the action, which consumes neither time nor energy, and yet how immense is the gain.
There is a difference of opinion among scholars as to whether Bismillahir-Rahmanir Rahim is an integral part of Surat al-Fatihah and all other surahs or not. According to Imam Abu Hanifa, it is not an integral part of any surah, except Surat al-Naml; rather it is in itself an independent ayah of the Qur’an which has been revealed for being placed at the beginning of every surah in order to separate and distinguish one surah from another. The other opinion is that Bismillahir-Rahmanir Rahim is a part of Surat al-Fatihah. However, there is consensus of majority of the scholars from early generations that Surat al-Fatihah contains seven verses. Those who consider صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلا الضَّالِّينَ as one ayah consider Bismillahir-Rahmanir Rahim to be the first ayah of the surah, and those who consider this as two separate verses, i.e., صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ as one ayah, and غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلا الضَّالِّينَ as another ayah do not consider Bismillahir-Rahmanir Rahim to be an ayah and an integral part of Surat al-Fatihah.
The term Bismillah is a combination of three words: bi, ism, and Allah. The particle bi stands for ‘by’, ‘in’, ‘for’, ‘with’, ‘through’ or ‘by means of’, and points toward that which comes next. The next word in this phrase is ism, which stands for ‘a distinguishing mark of a thing’ and points toward the very essence of something—the underlying reality of something. Allah is the Arabic word for God. It is a personal name by which Allah calls Himself in the Qur’an. The word Allah does not admit of any plurality or gender. Allah is the real Existent—the Real Being who possesses the most beautiful names and attributes.
اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ لَهُ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰ
“Allah, there is no god but Him. The Most Beautiful Names are His.” (Ta Ha, 20:8)
The connotation of the word Allah also existed in pre-Islamic times in Arabia. The people of Arabia practiced polytheism, yet they never equated any of their deities with Allah. They always acknowledged Him as the sole Creator of this world. They worshiped other deities only because they wrongly believed that these deities were close to Allah and could intercede for them. Their views are stated in the Qur’an.
مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى
“We worship them only that they may bring us nearer to Allah. (Az-Zumar, 39:3)
Two attributes of Allah are mentioned in Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. They are: Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim. The roots of both these names of Allah are made up of the same root letters from which is derived the word rahmah, which conveys the meaning of mercy and compassion; a sense of loving tenderness and grace. The word Rahman indicates the meaning of excessiveness and vastness of the attribute of mercy. No one else is more merciful than Allah. He shows mercy to everyone; to every creature; even to those who do not believe in Him. It is Allah’s attribute of being Ar-Rahman, which made Him create man, grant him the ability to speak and, as a result, teach him the Qur’an.
الرَّحْمَنُ () عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآَنَ () خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ () عَلَّمَهُ الْبَيَانَ()
“It is the Most Merciful. who taught the Qur’an; He created man, and taught him speech.” (Al-Rahman, 55:1-4)
These blessed words remind man of the reality that one of the greatest favors of Allah on human beings is that He has blessed them with the faculty of speech. The aspect of mercy in the word Rahim conveys a sense of permanence and continuity. Allah’s blessings are not confined to this world only. Those who lead their lives according to the path prescribed by Him shall be blessed with eternal life and joy in the Hereafter.
A little deliberation shows that Allah’s mercy on His creation possesses both these characteristics. The excessiveness and vastness; the enthusiasm and warmth of mercy expressed in Ar-Rahman are complemented by the permanence and continuity of mercy in Ar-Rahim. It is not that His attribute of Ar-Rahman induced Him to create, and He later forgot to sustain His creation. Indeed, He is nourishing them and taking proper care of them because He is Ar-Rahim as well. Whenever a person invokes His help, He hears his calls and accepts his prayers.
وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ
“And when My servants ask you about Me, say that I am near. I respond to the call of one who calls, whenever he calls Me:.” (al-Baqarah, 2:186)
It should also be known that Ar-Rahman is the exclusive attribute of Allah (SWT) and the word is employed only when one is referring to Him. It is not permissible to qualify any created being as Ar-Rahman, for there cannot possibly be anyone else, other than Allah, whose mercy should be all-embracing and all-inclusive. Just like the word ‘Allah’, there is no dual or plural for the word Ar-Rahman, because these words are in their signification exclusive to the One and Absolute Being. The Qur’an says,
قُلِ ادْعُوا اللَّهَ أَوِ ادْعُوا الرَّحْمَٰنَ أَيًّا مَّا تَدْعُوا فَلَهُ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰ
“Invoke Allah or invoke Ar-Rahman, by whatever name you invoke Him (it is the same), for to Him belong the Best Names.” (al-Isra’, 17:110)
The signification of the word Ar-Rahim, on the contrary, does not contain anything which it should be impossible to find in a created being, for a man may be perfectly merciful in his dealings with another man. So, the word Ar-Rahim may justifiably be employed in the case of a human being. The Qur’an itself has used the word Raheem in speaking of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)
لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ
“A Messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering distresses him: he is deeply concerned for you and full of kindness and mercy towards the believers” (at-Taubah, 9:128).
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
The expression Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim also testifies to the truth of a prediction that was made about the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) found in previous scriptures. According to this prediction, he would teach and instruct people in the name of Allah. The Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible says, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name, I myself will call him to account.” (Deuteronomy, 18:18)
Saying Bismillah transforms the profane into the sacred. It alters the dunya into the deen. A disbeliever eats and drinks just as a Muslim does but in saying Bismillah, as he begins to eat, the Muslim affirms that it was not in his power to obtain this little morsel of food which has passed through innumerable stages from the sowing of the seed to the reaping of the grain corn, and which has during this process required the labors of the wind, the rain, the sun, of the heavens and of the earth, and of numerous people, and that it is Allah alone who has granted him this morsel of food by making it go through all these stages. A disbeliever goes to sleep, wakes up and goes about as much as a Muslim. But while going to sleep or waking up, the Muslim mentions the name of Allah, renewing his relationship with Him. Thus his economic and worldly needs and activities acquire the nature of the remembrance of Allah, and are counted as acts of worship.
Brothers and sisters! Let’s make it a point to bring Bismillah more into our lives and to start all our tasks in the name of Allah by saying Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim whenever we begin to start an activity.
