It is with sadness that I learn of a fellow Blogger and a member of The Muslim Bloggers Alliance @ Brother Bakaq of http://www.penarikbeca.blogspot.com has been arrested for sedition by the Malaysian Police.

He is known to be quite a simple man with no airs about him but he is a man with very strong principles and does not shy away from giving it to those who deserve it in their face - his points of view, of course!

Brother Bakaq is a straight talking guy who has not pulled any punches with anyone and has even tangled with yours truly before when we disagreed on certain issues with regards to street protests, etcetera.

We made up and have nothing but sincere admiration for each other’s commitment to see this nation be a better place for all and have almost similar interests and aspirations.

I learn from Nat and Kickdefella that Bakaq was arrested at his home in Taman Greenwood, Gombak last night by four plainclothes police officers under the Sedition Act.

It seems that the police officers confiscated his laptop and handphone and are holding him at the Commercial Crimes Division at Bukit Perdana, just close to Bank Negara.

The word is out that there will be a gathering of fellow bloggers and supporters of Bakaq at the same place today at 2.00pm.

I just hope that the authorities will be treating Bakaq properly and release him safely once they are done with their investigations.

I know that we bloggers are a pain in the ass for the ruling BN but to come down to arresting bloggers just shows the level of desperation by the powers that be to stifle the spread of unedited information that is the hallmark of the Blogosphere.

The thing that our nation’s police need to consider is that we who are Malaysian Bloggers do play an important part in the dissemination of information to the online community.

Just like the mainstream media, we too serve our nation by publishing articles and reports that concern the wellbeing of our people.

Unlike the mainstream media, we do not make money by blogging tirelessly save for a few ringgits that are paid by advertisers such as Nuffnang, Google Adsense, Advertlets, etc.

Not even enough to pay for the internet service bills, mind you.

Yet, we do blog for the good of the nation and in my case, as a means for me to spread truthful information about Islam, Socio-political views and perspectives from my point of view.

Brother Bakaq is wellknown for his apolitical stand and although he comes across as a very strong supporter of PAS, he has also taken to tasks the PAS leaders for their errors and slip ups especially recently when PAS leaders were willing to hold muqabalah talks with UMNO!

I hear that Nasharudin Mat Isa, PAS Deputy President was quite pissed off with Bakaq for attacking his overtures to UMNO together with the likes of Mustafa Ali, etc.

I don’t quite know where Bakaq is said to be guilty of sedition but I hope that this arrest will be a temporary measure to learn about the truth of Bakaq’s publishings and that he will be accorded proper respect and treatment that he deserves as a true Malaysian citizen blogger?

May Allah SWT protect and bless Brother Bakaq from harm and see him released soon.

Ameen.

Assalamualaikum dear MBA members.

I have selected this refreshing story from one of our distinguished MBA Bloggers, Sister Zabrina A.Bakar, a motivational stories author who has published her second book ‘ Life is an Open Secret; You, Me and We’ recently.

We are pleased to have Sister Zabrina kindly consent to having her story published here for your reading pleasure.

Without further adieu, I present to you Sister Zabrina’s contribution for our main page today.

The Story of the New Emperor and His Seed- Motivational and Inspirational Story about Being Honest

Bismillaah

As Salaamu ‘alaykum and peace to all,

First of all, i apologize to all my dearest blog readers for the lack of new stories in July 2008. I had bitten more than i could chew, and well, you saw what happened- i didnt get to write stories for my blog. But, i am still very thankful to everyone who still has patiently visited this motivational blog despite the lack of new stories. So, to compensate my loyal readers, i have decided to give away another story from my latest book- Life is an Open Secret- You, Me and We. Although this is not the full version of it as i think it will be a little too long, but, i only did cut out a few paragraphs in total; and i did that for one simple reason- following the rule of blog posting that readers might lose focus if the post is tooooooo loooonngggg! And inshaAllaah, from this month of august 2008 onwards, the posting on this motivational blog will resume as usual, inshaAllaah! So, grab a cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate, and enjoy the story, inshaAllaah!

The Story of the New Emperor and His Seed

I usually do most of my banking electronically. But that day, for some reasons, I had to go manually. So, I decided to be brave and drive to the bank, despite the blazing sun and blistering hot weather. About fifteen minutes later, I reached my destination. As I entered the beautifully-decorated and most importantly, the fully air-conditioned bank’s lobby, I noticed that there were quite a few customers in the bank. So, I pressed the button on the small number-ticketing machine at the door entrance.

“Hmmm… Twelve more people before me? That’s not so bad” I thought, as I looked at the two digit number of yet-to-be-served-customers on my tiny white ticket.

Fortunately, I had a good book in my backpack, alhamdulillah, so, I quickly looked around for a good spot and began reading while waiting for my number to be called.

About ten minutes later, my eyes became tired and dry, so like a good patient who followed her eye doctor’s advice, I knew I needed to roll my eyeballs up, down and sideways too. I could assure you that it is definitely not a pretty sight to behold.

Just as I was about to start the exercise by lifting my book up to cover my face (didn’t want anyone to see me, of course!) suddenly my eyes caught something interesting- the bank teller.

Bank teller? Yes, the bank teller!

I just realized something. I have never paid much attention to bank tellers before, but they are the ones who receive our deposits and do all the nitty-gritty things for us, (the mostly nice but occasionally grumpy customers), right? And as they handle tons of money on daily basis, I figured one of the most important qualities that they must have is honesty, right?

Absolutely!

In fact, come to think of it, whatever it is that people decide to do in their life would really require honesty, don’t you think so? I mean would you dare to trust someone of whom you doubt their honesty? Wouldn’t it be like saying to the burglar “Excuse me (tap on his shoulder), in case you are curious, I left my house key under the doormat!”

Nope! Not going to happen, right?

Brigham Young (1801-1877) tried to explain why being honest is important:

“Honest hearts produce honest actions.”

Totally! Be it from full time jobs like computer programmers (not to sell unstable programs that crash), doctors (not to do unnecessary procedures on patients), policemen (not to protect the criminals and blame the innocent), employees (not to take home office supplies), businessmen (not to sell harmful products), lawyers (not to lie just so they could win) and all the way to part time ones like babysitters (not to invite friends into customer’s homes). Yup, they all must possess this one very important quality- the quality of an honest person.

Suddenly Felix the Cat in me became curios- if someone is said to be honest, what are we really saying about that person?

Then I remembered a hadith of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),

“The signs of the hypocrite are three: when he speaks, he lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he is entrusted with something he breaks that trust. (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Wait a minute! Stop right there, please.

All these mentioned characteristics - lying, breaking promises and betraying trust- don’t they all sound like what a dishonest person would do?

Okay, let’s see. Say you saw your friend cheating in an examination, but when you asked him about it he denied it totally. Would you feel that he is an honest or dishonest person? If you have a colleague who would never take an extra minute for his coffee breaks, would you think that person is being honest to the company or not? Perhaps your team leader took all the credit for the success of a project you did together with him, would you honestly want to trust him with your brilliant ideas in the future? Think about it.

I absolutely love what Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) once said in the Book of Wisdom:

“Wealth that you get by dishonesty will do you no good, but honesty can save your life.”

Subhanallah! Don’t you feel that by just becoming an honest person, we are actually wearing these protective shields like the striking orange lifejacket the beautiful stewardess painfully told us to wear just in case our plane lands in trouble, or the seat belts our wonderful mums make us buckle to avoid being thrown out of the car upon impact or the helmet we willingly put on when riding a bike to safeguard our heads in case we crash?

And all these things that we allow ourselves to be strapped on- what’s the use of it? Why are we wearing them?

Of course for only one reason, right? Peace of mind. Peace of mind, my brothers and sisters, peace of mind.

I asked myself- could we really have tranquility if at the back of our minds, we are always fearful others would find out some skeletons we carefully hide in our closets? Would we be able to sit back and relax, expecting to be in serenity knowing very well that the few cans of worms which we buried years back might be discovered by someone?

Astaghfirullah, thinking about it made the butterflies in my stomach come to life and decide to have a party in my tummy! Stop partying please, little butterflies…

No wonder a Chinese proverb once said:

“Slander cannot destroy an honest man - when the flood recedes the rock is there.”

This proverb reminded me of a few people I knew who were slandered severely during some parts of their lives. And even if it took a few years for their horrible “flood” to subside,when it actually does, those people still stood there, standing tall- as solid as a rock, as solid as the Great Wall of China and as solid as mount Everest so to speak, mashaAllah! The flood didn’t impact them a single bit.

They taught me very valuable lessons in life.

This was when I sat and asked myself- despite the lessons I think I learned from them, do I really and truly live a life of an honest person? Do you, my brothers and sisters?

Let us ponder upon it for a bit- When we borrowed a book or CD from a friend, did we return it as promised or did we make them as among our collections in our personal library? Did we whisper to others not to tell the secret a friend told us not to tell others about or did we keep mum regardless of how big the temptation was to blurt it out? Did we pay back the money we borrowed at the agreed time or did we pretend not to remember every time we bumped into the person who had so graciously lent us the money? Did we really study for our exams as we promised our mum before she left for work or did we go on to play the videogames the moment she closed the front door? Did we really care, love and protect our spouse after we pledged in the name of our Lord to do so when we slipped that ring on their fingers, or were they the first ones to take the heat from us when we needed to let off some steam? What about when we signed on those dotted lines, pledging to give full commitment and dedication to our employers, did we really do that, or did we actively find clinics that give away fake medical certificates?

Ya Allah, I surely do have a lot of reflections to do today…

I remember my dad once told me that honesty is the best policy, but unfortunately there are not too many policy holders nowadays! As funny as it sounds, I feel it is kind of worrying if you think about it, you agree? But, his words amused me so much that every single time I thought about it, I couldn’t stop smiling. I know at some level, he was absolutely right.

But why is that? Why is it that being honest is not easy to do?

Our beloved Prophet(peace be upon him) told us this once,

“Verily, this world is sweet and appealing, and Allah placed you as vicegerents therein; He will see what you will do. So, be careful of [what you do in] this world…” (Muslim)

Ahhh… No wonder. Now I got it!

This world is indeed like a funfair or carnival that is full of amazing current attractions. Where everyone looks like winners and having so much fun, too- giggling and laughing, enjoying themselves with all the sweets, candies, toys, rides and games, you agree? So, of course we would all want to have as much of those things too, right? Especially if we saw someone else licking that big huge spiraled-colored juicy lollipop!

Hey! We want one too!

And this French proverb sure doesn’t provide much help:

“The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest person.”

So, if we believe in that, what happens? In the efforts to get what we desire in life, to please someone we love, to gain wealth we dream of, to win the love of a person we long for and to achieve our career goals and ambitions, dishonesty might slowly creep into our clean and pure heart, don’t you think?

This is when the avowed enemy of our Lord would start to play his role, by slowly and gradually whispering into our hearts, increasing our desires and wants. And just like how the cunning Vince McMahon plotted the wrestling storyline in WWF, making many men (and some women too!) salivate in front of the TV set thinking “What’s going to happen next?!”, he(the avowed enemy) plans a game too with us, too.

Yup! A one-on-one between us and our conscience.

Gulp! Help! Mayday! Mayday!

But you know something? If we could actually restrain ourselves from temptations, if we could exercise self-denial from getting the pleasures of life through the wrong means, if we trust Allah in our lives and not commit fraudulent acts in any way, if we could withstand desires to get things quickly or easily by using immoral ways; if we could fight the urge to cheat, lie, betray, deceive, misled, swindle, con, rip off and trick another human being who is created by our Lord, Allah has promised us with a fantastic reward, as is mentioned below.

“Honesty leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to Paradise…” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

SubhanAllah! Just look at what He promised us if we are honest to His creations and for treating His creations right! Totally!

He promised us something more, beyond and above what we deserve, you agree?

Just think- be honest and get Paradise in return! I couldn’t help but felt it is like our teacher saying, learn these A-B-C’s in class and I shall give you a Doctorate degree!

Don’t I want to take advantage of such an absolutely outstanding, amazing and unbelievable offer? Don’t you want to, my friends? .

Let me share with you a story I once read about the emperor and the seed.

Once there was an emperor who needed to choose his successor. So, he decided to call the young people in the kingdom and announced, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. So, I am going to give each one of you a seed today- a very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here after one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then choose the next emperor based on the plants that you bring!”

So, everyone took a seed and started planting, including a boy called Ling. After about four weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Six months went by and Ling heard that everyone else had grown various types of trees, plants and flowers. But still, he had nothing.

Then, the day came when all the youth of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Although afraid, Ling went to the castle anyway. There, he was amazed at the variety of beautiful plants grown by the other youths. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kids laughed at him.

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. “What great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the emperor. “Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!” All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards
to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. “The emperor knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!”

When Ling got to the front, the emperor asked his name. “My name is Ling,” he replied. All the kids began laughing, but the emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, “Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!” Ling couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But what you didn’t know was that I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow. All of you have brought me trees, plants and flowers. All except Ling! When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the only one I know fit to be the new emperor!”

SubhanAllah! What a magnificent reward for a simple act of honesty!

This story made me ponder- do I have the courage and honesty like Ling, to have an empty pot when all my friends’ plants are growing beautifully? How many pots have I tried planting new seeds in, instead of seeds that the emperor gave me? Who are the emperors I tried to trick? Is there any emperor who gave me boiled seed to see if I am honest? What do these emperors think of me now?

What about you, my friends? Is honesty your middle name? Have you ever laughed cynically at your Lings thinking that you beat them to becoming an emperor, only to find later that they were crowned instead? Have you ever been a Ling yourself, ready to face whatever comes as long as you stayed honest? How many times have you been made the emperor because of your honesty?

So, every time we felt the urge to be dishonest, let us all remember these words-
Hail the New Emperor! And ask ourselves- is that us?

Sis Zabrina also known as Zabrina A. Bakar, is a Life Storyteller, motivational and inspirational writer and speaker; and author and creator of Islamic motivational book Life Open Secret book series http://wwww.LifeOpenSecret.com. She maintains an active blog at http://www.WisdomThruWords.blogspot.com. and social networking platform a Web 2.0 at http://www.LifeStoryteller.ning.com

Copyright © Sis Zabrina 2008

Sis Zabrina
Life Storyteller
Author of Life is an Open Secret Islamic Motivational Book Series:
Life is an Open Secret- Think about It
Life is an Open Secret- You, Me and We
Hidup Bukan Rahsia http://www.lifeopensecret.com

-18 Inspirational Stories from Ordinary life experiences-

Now blogging at http://www.wisdomthruwords.blogspot.com

Assalamualaikum Brothers & Sisters of the Muslim Bloggers Alliance.

Please join me in welcoming Brother Ibrahim bin Ujar, 34 years old, a
Real Estate Valuer from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Brother Ibrahim blogs at http://nekadislam.blogspot.com.

May Almighty Allah bless and guide us all into becoming a vibrant and
beneficial Muslim Bloggers Alliance and do our part for the Dakwah al
Islamiyah online and in the cities and areas that we are located in
this dynamic multi ethnic, multi faithed country.

Brother Ibrahim,

Do us proud and start contributing your articles for publication at
our main website here at http://www.themuslimbloggersalliance.org

I wish you the best in your blogging efforts and look forward to your
helping to spread the awareness about our MBA in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Insya Allah, through our mutual interests in spreading the Truth of
Islam, we can network throughout Malaysia and eventually the Asian
region and from there to the rest of the world.

Keep blogging and do your best for Islam!

Wabillahi Taufik Wal Hidayah.

Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

Assalamualaikum dear MBA members.

This is an article by Sister Aliya Yeoh Abdullah who blogs at http://pukullima.blogspot.com/

Sister Aliya is a Malaysian Secondary Schoolteacher and writes absolutely heartfelt life stories based upon her own very interesting life as a Revert to Islam.

I have always enjoyed reading her stories and appreciate the sincerity that she types into each word and sentence, it’s like watching a movie come alive from the way she expertly conjures up the feelings and expressions into her words.

Sister Aliya’s works are a joy and a source of inspiration to her readers and friends.

Enjoy her first contribution to the MBA here.

BLESSING OR CURSE? by Sister Aliya Yeoh Abdullah

“You’re not going to the surau today?” Mrs. Tan (not her real name) asked me.
“Nope, I’m having my day off.”
“Day off?”
“Menses.. monthly period.”

“Oh… It’s degrading isn’t it, the way women are treated in Hindu and Islam. You can’t pray when you’re having your periods.”

I was shocked at her comment. Recovering quickly, I replied, ” Well actually no. Islam treats women so well that we are given the days off when we’re having our monthly menses.”

“What do you mean?”
“Well, as we all know, having menses can be very messy and physically tiring for women. Some suffer from cramps. Allah is Most Merciful, so Muslim women are excused form performing the prayer and fasting when she is coping with the monthly menses. In fact, it’s a sin for the woman to perform the 5 times a day solat during this time of the month. It’s not a punishment but rather, a compassionate gift for women.”

“But I thought women can’t pray at this time because they’re unclean?”

“Muslim women can still pray or doa to Allah, and recite the zikir or praises to Him. It’s just that she doesn’t need to perform the 5 times a day prayer ritual or solat, because it’s physically taxing on her during her menses. Allah in His wisdom lifted the load of solat prayer and the burden of fasting for Muslim women during these times of her life. Uncleanliness is only in her menstrual blood, not her physical self. She can still be with her husband, except having sexual intercourse.”

“But why prevent a woman from praying as usual? Isn’t menses a natural part of a woman’s biological cycle that God makes for a woman?”

“Tell me, are you in a good mood when you’re having your menses? Would you voluntarily wake up at the early hours of dawn, or you’d prefer to sleep a little longer? Do you like to perform exercises when you’re suffering discomfort from menstrual cramps? Do you want to go hungry for hours when you’re having your menses?”

“Of course I’d prefer to sit and rest if I can.”

“Naturally. So Muslim women are exempted from observing prayer or solat, and fasting during her menses because both these tasks are difficult and physically demanding. It’s not a punishment. It’s actually Allah’s gift for the Muslim woman during her menses, to remove hardship and religious obligations from her and allow her space to focus on what she is experiencing during her monthly cycle.”

“So you mean it’s actually to help the women, not as a form of treating women as second-class worshippers?”

“Women are respected in Islam, contrary to what many people prefer to believe. Allah in His wisdom and mercy has ordered women to stop performing her prayer and fasting at such times. So a Muslim woman who does not perform prayer and fast during her menses is actually worshipping Allah too. She obeys His commands and submit to Him.”

“But why can’t she go to the mosque and read the Quran at these times?”

“Actually anyone who is impure, like a man who has just made love to his wife, can’t read the Quran or go to the mosque unless they wash themselves clean first through ablution or mandi hadas. It’s nothing to do with being a woman or a man. In Islam, we show great respect and reverence for the Creator, which is why we wash ourselves clean first and wear clean clothing when we perform the prayer before Him, as well as touch the Holy Quran.”

“So a Muslim woman is actually respected when she’s having her menses?”

“Yes, of course. Muslim women are prevented from praying not because she’s dirty/unclean during her menses. Actually she’s given the holidays from God Almighty so that she can rest and regain her strength. Allah does not intend to place any difficulty on the shoulders of His servants. When a person is experiencing difficulty, Islam will give him or her some concessions that make life easy.”

” I see..”

“Do you know how many days a woman is exempted from performing the solat every month?”

“One week?”

” As long as she’s having her menses.Maximum is 14 days. And she doesn’t have to replace the number of prayers she doesn’t perform at those times. That’s how merciful Allah is to Muslim women.”

“Ok… now I understand.”

~ @ ~ @ ~ @ ~ @ ~

Such is the beautiful short article penned by Sister Aliya Yeoh who has through her wisdom shared with her Non Muslim Chinese schoolteacher colleague about the beautiful manner by which Almighty Allah honors the women in Islam and that instead of being ostracised as they were in the Age of Ignorance, the Muslim women are accorded due respect and given their dignity in the Muslim society when it is that time of the month and they are having their menses.

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala has in His Infinite Wisdom given the Muslimah her special time during each month when she is having her menses to rest and recuperate and doesn’t burden them with having to repeat or restitute any of the Solat that she misses during the flow of her menses.

The Muslimah is honored with the respect, mercy and care shown to her by her husband and she is not shunned as in the Age of the Jahiliyyah.

Sister Aliya beautifully captures the essence of our Islamic teachings and shares it so wonderfully with her readers.

We are honored to have Sister Aliya as a member of The Muslim Bloggers Alliance.

May Almighty Allah bless and shower her with the best of this life and in the hereafter. Ameen.

To read more great articles from Sister Aliya, click on to Musings of a Mualaf.

Assalamualaikum dear MBA members,

Please join me in welcoming Sister Azeeza Abdullah, a 46 years old
Advertising Design Director (Self-Employed)  residing in Melaka.

Azeeza blogs at http://mantra-indeeptots.blogspot.com.

I wish Azeeza all the best in her career and welcome her to share with
us anything that is worth our time and attention for the sake of
improving our life’s as dynamic and dedicated Muslim Bloggers.

To Azeeza,

Make us proud sis.

Thank you for visiting our new website here.

It’s still in the preliminary set up stages and we sure need all the tips and suggestions from the pros we have here in the MBA to make this site better.

Kindly send in your proposals and ideas to the group for consideration.

Thank you.

Wassalamualaikum wr wb.

Zainol Abideen @ Mahaguru58

President (Protem),

Muslim Bloggers Alliance.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

The Arabic script above reads ‘ In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Muslims start every good deed with this recitation.

The following are excerpts from an article by Dr.Basharat Ahmad who explains very clearly about the Basmallah here and further clarifications by myself @ Zainol Abideen.

Bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim: “In (or with) the name of Allah, the Gracious @ Beneficent, the Merciful.”

Not only does the Holy Quran begin with this verse, but it also heads every chapter of the Quran, except for Chapter 9.

This verse is a part of the Quranic revelation and through which the Holy Prophet Muhammad Sallalahu Alaihi Wassallam distinguished the separation of the various chapters.

In short, this verse keeps on recurring and possesses such depth that it has been said that just as the Al-Fatihah (the first chapter of the Quran) summarizes the entire Holy Quran so does this verse summarize the Al-Fatihah.

In other words this verse is the summary of the summary of the Quran.

Therefore, I will make a general commentary on this verse, so that it will not be necessary to comment on this verse at the beginning of every chapter. It may be noted, however, that like the daily sun, this verse too shines with a new splendour and power at the beginning of each chapter of the Quran.

Meaning :
This verse is translated as “In (or with) the name of Allah, who is Beneficent and Merciful”. Here, the particle “Bi” (meaning in or with) in the word “Bism” represents a call for help.

So the verse means:    “With the help of the name of Allah…”

Now it is apparent that a verb or action is implied in this sentence and by studying the Quran one realizes that this verb is iqra which means ‘read’ or ‘recite’.

This is in line with the hadith where it is written that Jibreel Alaihis Salam, the Archangel appeared to the Holy Prophet, while he was engaged in his usual worship of God at the cave of Hira.

Jibreel said: ‘Iqra!’ @ read. The Holy Prophet replied: “I do not know how to read”. The angel repeated the same words and the Holy Prophet repeated his answer. And so it happened three times. The fourth time the angel said: Iqra bismi rabbi-ka alladhi khalaq, i.e. read in the name of your Lord who created (the Holy Quran, 95:1).

Then the Holy Prophet started reciting. So it is clear that the verb implied before “In the Name of Allah” is iqra, i.e. to read or recite with the name of Allah.

This verb is not explicitly stated because when a person recites the Quran, the use of the word iqra, which is a command, would not be eloquent. The worshipper at that time is fulfilling the order.

Therefore at the time of recitation the implied verb is aqrau, i.e. “I read”. The subtlety in this is that when the revelation descended from God, then because the sentence reflects a command of God, so the implied verb is iqra, i.e. “Read” (imperative), and when the worshipper recites the Quran then because he is at that time fulfilling the commandment of God, the implied verb would be understood to be aqrau i.e. “I read or recite with the help of the name of God…”

Another advantage of keeping the verb implicit is that when a person recites bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim at the beginning of any work then whatever he is going to do would be considered implied in the sentence.

That is, this call for God’s help is not restricted to the recitation of the Holy Quran but is asked for at the beginning of each and every work so that God’s help is asked for in that work.

Thus in the hadith “kul amr la yabd fihi bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim fa huwa ajzam,” that is “any work started without reciting bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim is without blessing”, and certainly if any person starts his works by asking for the help of God then his work will be blessed.

The word Allah
To understand the meaning of the two attributes of God ar-rahman and ar-rahim specially mentioned here, it is necessary to study the meaning of these words.

Allah is the personal name of God the Most High, and this is the greatest name and incorporates within it all the other names of God.

It is certainly not derived from ilah (God) for ilah is used for that which is worshipped besides God, whereas the word Allah has never, either before or after the advent of Islam, been used for any other object of worship. Nor is “Allah” a shortened form of al-ilah (the God), for if it were so then when the particle of invocation ya (O!) preceded it, then al would be dropped.

For instance, al-Rahman (The Beneficent, pronounced ar-Rahman) is a name of God. When the particle ya precedes it, the al is dropped.

We call on God by saying: ya Rahman (O Beneficent!) and not as ya al-rahman (O the Beneficent!). In the same way if Al in Allah was an addition to the word ilah then on using the invocative ya, the prefix Al would be dropped and instead of saying ya Allah (O Allah) we would say ya ilah. But this is not what happens, so it is apparent that Al is not a prefix to ilah but is an integral part of the word Allah.

To sum up, Allah is an independent word which is the personal name of God, and this is unique to the Arabic language as no other language has a personal name for God.

The Quran itself explains the meaning of the name Allah where it states:

La-hu al-asma al-husna “To him belong (all) the beautiful names.” (20:8)

That is, Allah means a being who possesses the complete perfect attributes. Now no attribute is perfect unless it possesses within itself both Husn (beauty) and Ihsan (beneficence).That is, on the one hand the attribute has no fault, flaw or dependency and is thus perfect in its Husn and on the other hand its Ihsan, that is the benefits of the attribute, should also be reaching creation.

For instance generosity is a husn but no matter to what extent it is present in any being, until its Ihsan, that is its beneficence, reaches some other being, then until that time it is of no import whether that attribute exists or does not exist.

That is why God’s attributes are not only perfect in their Husn (Goodness/beauty) but are also perfect in their Ihsan (Beneficence) and it is the blessing of these attributes which is responsible for the emergence and sustenance of the entire creation.

Rahman and Rahim
Ar-rahman (the beneficent) is he whose generosity is so great that before the birth of man and without any effort or labour on man’s part, the entire resources required for his sustenance were provided while Ar-rahim refers to the mercy which is granted repeatedly, and these attributes manifest themselves time and again and have an excellent and improving effect on each person’s actions.

That is why it is stated in the Hadith that God most high, is the rahman (beneficent) of this world and the rahim (merciful) of the hereafter. This is because Rahman before the birth of man, merely out of his beneficence, provided the entire resources for the sustenance and progress of man. So this entire world is a manifestation of the attribute Rahman. The attribute Rahim rewards man for good works and this is fully manifested in the hereafter.

That is, the initial resources are provided to man through Rahman and when man through effort takes advantage of these resources, the results achieved are decided through Rahim.

Land, water, fire, the sun, the moon, rain etc. exist due to the stipulation of the attribute Rahman.

Man’s labour of ploughing and watering the land, is rewarded manifold through the necessary stipulation of the attribute Rahim,so that each seed sown can be returned seven hundred fold.

In the same way eyes, ears, hands, feet, intelligence and knowledge are all a manifestation of God’s Rahman (beneficence). When man utilizes these resources and gets excellent results this is necessary stipulation of the attribute Rahim.

So when a person starts a work by reciting Bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim he acknowledges and thanks God the most high for the blessings which God provided merely out of the demands of his attribute of Rahman.

On the one hand, man is asking God’s help for knowledge, provided due to the attribute Rahman, of the right path to achieve his objective and on the other hand he is asking God’s help, provided through the attribute Rahim, that the works he carries out produce excellent results.

For example when a surgeon recites Bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim before an operation then at that time his recitation is a prayer of help from God. He acknowledges God’s attribute of Rahman has provided him eyes, ears, hands, feet, instruments and medicine and he uses them. But furthermore he seeks that God through the attribute Rahman to provide him with the correct knowledge and lead him on the correct path so that he would achieve his purpose. From God’s attribute Rahim he seeks help that the results of the application of his surgical knowledge are successful.

Similarly at a time of reading the Quran when a person recites Bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim he acknowledges this blessing of God, that merely due to God’s attribute of Rahman (beneficence) a blessing such as the Quran was granted. As the Quran itself states:

Al-Rahman `alam al-Quran “the Beneficent, He taught the Quran”. (55:1-2)

Now at this time of taking advantage of the Quran he seeks from the attribute al-Rahman that true knowledge of the Quran, which when acted upon would lead to achieving his purpose in life and from the attribute al-Rahim he seeks help that his good actions would produce excellent results.

In other words from the attribute Rahman he seeks excellence in knowledge and from the attribute Rahim he seeks excellence in works. It is apparent in this call for help both this world and the hereafter are included.

To be successful in the world it is essential to possess correct knowledge for without correct and complete knowledge no action, whether for the world or the hereafter, produces effective or correct results. And unless the results of works are correct and complete there can be no success in the hereafter.

The Quran contains all the principles and guidance, by acting upon which, man can achieve the goodness of this world and the hereafter.

So at the time of the recitation of the Quran, the prayer and call for help to God that man utters in the form of Bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim means that from God’s attribute Rahman he seeks such a complete knowledge of this perfect Book of God, that acting in accordance with this knowledge would lead him to inherit the goodness of this world and the hereafter. From the attribute Rahim he seeks that his works be of such perfection that from them would be produced excellent and better results.

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Brothers and Sisters,

Now that you have learned about the significance of saying the Basmallah with full knowledge of what it really means and what reciting it brings to one who seeks the Blessings and Protection of Allah, Almighty God?

Okay, now let’s move on to the meaning of Islam.

ISLAM.

The deeper meaning of Islam is of obedience and servitude of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala by those amongst Mankind who seek His Mercies.

The root word Islam comes from the joining of 3 Arabic letters ; Sin, Lam, Mim which makes up the word Salama or AsSalam @ Islam.

It’s common meaning is peace, purity, submission, obedience.

The meaning of the word Islam also means in the religious context of submission to Allah’s Will and obedience to Allah’s Syariah @ Laws, in order to achieve true peace and everlasting happiness and achieve purity of one’s soul and absolute fulfillment of one’s inner search of salvation of one’s being by surviving through the myriad of challenges that face us here in this mortal world and go on with our achievements into the Akhirat @ the Hereafter.

A person who submits to Allah is known as a Muslim. A male Muslim is called as a Muslim and a female submitter to Allah is called as a Muslimah.

The word Islam is also imbued in the Salam. The Universal greeting of Muslims who greet each other with ‘As Salamu Alaikum’ meaning ‘ May peace be with you!’.

It is enjoined to further honor and respect one another by adding ‘Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh’ which means ‘With Allah’s Mercy and His Blessings’.

Such is the beautiful beneficial prayer that the Salam actually is?

A wish that the one whom we are greeting is blessed by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala with His Peace, His Mercy and His Blessings.

Isn’t this form of greeting the best form of best wishes that you would want to be prayed for by those who greet you or bid you farewell?

Being a Muslim is to surrender one’s self to the Will of Allah. To accept and put to practice all that the Last and Final Messenger of Allah, the Blessed Prophet Muhammad Sallalahu Alaihi Wassallam has passed on to us from Almighty Allah.

The Blessed Prophet Muhammad Sallalahu Alaihi Wassallam came to complete and finalize all the teachings and messages of all the Prophets and Messengers of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala.

The Holy Al Qur’an Al Kareem is the Complete and Final Testament of Allah to All Mankind.

Learning about the Qur’an and Al Islam is the duty of each sane and rational human being who seeks the Peace, Mercy and Blessings of All Mighty Allah.

I will share more with you about Islam in the following articles.

May Peace be with you.

Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

Zainol Abideen @ Mahaguru58.