Alhamdulillah
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| Arabic |
| الحمد لله |
| Transliteration |
| Al-Hamdulillah, Alhamdulillah |
| Translation |
| Praise to God |
Alhamdulillah (الحمد لله) (Turkish: Elhamdülillah) means "Praise to God" in Arabic, similar to the Hebrew Halelu Yah. In everyday speech it simply means "Thank God!" It is used by Muslims as well as Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians, but primarily by Muslims due to centrality of this specific phrase within the texts of the Quran and the speech/sayings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
However, its meaning and in-depth explanation has been the subject of much exegesis and explanation.
The phrase has three basic parts: Al - The
Hamd-u - Praise/Glorification/Thanks - untranslatable in it all shades of meaning
li - preposition - for/to/belonging to
Allah - (lit. The God, God)
When one says the phrase, one is saying that:
All Praise, Glorification, Thanks, Gratitude, that Praise ITSELF, Glorification ITSELF, the very concept, idea, and attibution of it - belongs to God and to God alone, and to no one else.
It also means that anything in existence which is ascribed praise, thanks, glorification, or gratitude, is in fact only is able to achieve anything due to God's infinite Mercy and Grace.
Alhamdulillah - is to be said with a profound sense of love, adoration, and awe of the power, glory, and mercy of God.
Furthermore, it is a type of praise which not only praises God in general for the above-mentioned qualities, but also seeks to praise God specifically for those attributes of His in Islam, which He did not have to have as being Omnipotent (such as all-seeing, all-hearing), but rather CHOSE to have out of his Mercy (the Loving (Al-Wadud), the Merciful (Ar-Rahman)) and showers His Grace upon His servants.
Some of the 99 Names of God in Islam, being referred to by this idea are:
Al-Wadud (the Loving) Ar-Rahman (The Merciful) Ar-Raheem (The Beneficient) Al-Kareem (The Generous) Al-Ghafoor (The Forgiving) As-Salaam (The Peace)
The phrase is first found in the first verse of the first surah of the Qur'an. So frequently do Muslims and Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians invoke this phrase that the quadriliteral verb Hamdala حمدل, "to say al-Hamdu li-'llah" was coined, and the derived noun Hamdalah حمدلة is used as a name for this phrase.
In Islam, Alhamdulillah is used in the following situations:
- After sneezing.
- Alhamdu lillahi
- All thanks and praise be to Allah.
- Waking up.
- Alhamdulillah-hillathee ah-yana ba'da ma ama tana wa ilayhi nushoor.
- Many thanks to Allah who has given us life after having giving us death (sleep) and that our final return (on the Day of Qiyaamah End of the world) is to Him.
- Response to "How are you?"
- Keifik? or Keifilhal?
- Alhamdu lillahi
- Thanks to Allah, I am fine.
- In general, every time a Muslim desires to praise Allah Almighty, he says
- Alhamdulillah (الحمد لله).
The triconsonantal root H-m-d (ح م د), meaning "praise," can also be found in the names Muhammad, Mahmud, and Ahmad. Allah, "God", is the Arabic cognate of the ancient Semitic name for God, El.
[edit] See also
NB: As there is a probability of making an error when reading the transliteration; the Arabic text of the above mentioned prayer (prayer said when one wakes up in the morning) can be found here. [1]
