بسم الله الحمن الرحيم

Meaning of Bismillah

There is a controversy among the Ulama regarding Bismillah as to whether this is an initial verse of each Surah of the Qur'an or an independint vers on its own, which has been stated to mark the intermediate distances between the Surah, and for blessing. The second opinion is preferred.

The Ulama are agreed that Bismillah is a part of the verse of Surah An-Naml (The And) and Likewise they are agreed that Bismillah has been left out in the beginning of Surah At-Tauba (The Repentance for, this and the surah Al-Anfal (The Spoils of War) ocurring prior to it are both like on continous Surah.

The Arabic letter Baa in Bismillah stands for seeding help. From a syntactical point of veiw it relates to a noun or verb dropped by aphasia. The Qur'an contains examples of its relationship with both verb and noun. The example of verb is (Iqra Bism-e-rabbika) "Read: In the Name of your Lord....." and the example of noun is (Bismillah-e-majreha), "In the Name of Allah will be its moving course..."

It is better to regard the word with which Bismillah is related as occurring later, for the Name of Allah deserves priority. By giving priority to the preposition and the word governed by the perposition it is evident that the Name of Allah is particularly meant for blessing.

A noun (Al-Ism) in Arabic language is defined as a word formed to make a sense definitive of distinct. This word has either been derived from Simatun which mean a symbol, or from Sumoo which means height. The second statement is preferred. The letter Hamza occurs in it for providing conjuntion. Ism and Musamma are not the same for Ism stands for that word which signifies and Musamma is that sense which has been signified. Likewise Ism and Tasmiyah are not the same for Tasmiya is the verb Musamma.

The word "Allah" has either been derived from the Uloohiat which means worship or from Aalehan which means amazement. The first statement is correct and Ilah means that which is worshipped.

Rahman and Raheem are from amongst the elegant Names of Allah. They show that Allah has the attribute related to His Self. It is not correct to say the Rahmah is meant in its implied sense wuch as gratitude etc.

Ibn Al-Qayim writes that the word Rahman denoting that attribute of Allah which exists along with His Self, and Raheem denotes that the attribute is related to that Self which has been the recipient of Rahmah.

Ibn Abbas reports that both these names comprise gentleness and softness. The word Tahman is an attribute of Allah and so it is His Name.