Alhamdulillah Explained

(Arabic: ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰهِ, ) is an Arabic phrase meaning "praise be to God",[1] sometimes translated as "thank God" or "thanks be to the Lord".[2] This phrase is called Tahmid (Arabic: تَحْمِيد|lit=Praising|link=no).[3] A longer variant of the phrase is al-ḥamdu l-illāhi rabbi l-ʿālamīn (Arabic: ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَالَمِينَ), meaning "all praise is due to God, Lord of all the worlds", the first verse of Surah Al-Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Quran.

The phrase is frequently used by Muslims of every background due to its centrality in the texts of the Quran and Hadith, the words of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Its meaning and in-depth explanation have been the subject of much exegesis. It is also commonly used by non-Muslim speakers of the Arabic language.

Meaning

The phrase has three basic parts:

The phrase is first found in the first verse of the first sura of the Qur'an (Al-Fatiha). So frequently do Muslims and Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians invoke this phrase that the quadriliteral verb hamdala (Arabic: حَمْدَلَ|link=no), "to say al-ḥamdu li-llāh" was coined, and the derived noun ḥamdala is used as a name for this phrase.

The triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D (Arabic: ح م د|link=no), meaning "praise", can also be found in the names Muhammad, Mahmud, Hamid and Ahmad, among others.[4]

Translation

English translations of alhamdulillah include:[5]

Variants

Various Islamic phrases include the Tahmid, most commonly:

Phrase
Arabic: ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰهِʾalḥamdu lillāh
/ʔal.ħam.du lil.laː.hi/
All praise is due to God.
Arabic: ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَالَمِينَʾalḥamdu lillāhi rabbi l-ʿālamīn
/ʔal.ħam.du lil.laː.hi rab.bi‿l.ʕaː.la.miː.na/
All praise is due to God, Lord of all the worlds.
Arabic: سُبْحَانَ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِsubḥāna -llāhi wa-bi-ḥamdih
/sub.ħaː.na‿ɫ.ɫaː.hi wa.bi.ħam.di.hiː/
Glorified is God and by His praise.
Arabic: سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ ٱلْعَظِيمِ وَبِحَمْدِهِsubḥāna rabbiya l-ʿaẓīmi wa-bi-ḥamdih
/sub.ħaː.na rab.bi.ja‿l.ʕa.ðˤiː.mi wa.bi.ħam.di.hiː/
Glorified is my Lord, the Great, and by His praise.
Arabic: سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ ٱلْأَعْلَىٰ وَبِحَمْدِهِsubḥāna rabbiya l-ʾaʿlā wa-bi-ḥamdih
/sub.ħaː.na rab.bi.ja‿l.ʔaʕ.laː wa.bi.ħam.di.hiː/
Glorified is my Lord, the Most High, and by His praise.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Oil found in Gambia, West African nation. The Day. New London, Connecticut. 18 February 2004. en.
  2. Web site: alhamdulillah . https://web.archive.org/web/20200227042540/https://www.lexico.com/definition/alhamdulillah. dead. February 27, 2020. 2021-10-16. Lexico.
  3. Encyclopedia: taḥmīd . 2012 . Encyclopaedia of Islam, Glossary and Index of Terms. 2nd. Brill . P. Bearman . Th. Bianquis . C. E. Bosworth . E. van Donzel . W. P. Heinrichs . 10.1163/1573-3912_ei2glos_SIM_gi_04657 .
  4. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus – Quran Dictionary .
  5. Web site: Ayah al-Fatihah (The Opening) 1:2 .