Alhamdulillah

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Arabic
الحمد لله
Transliteration
Al-Hamdulillah, Alhamdulillah
Translation
Praise to God

Alhamdulillah (الحمد لله) is an Arabic phrase meaning "Praise to God" or "All praise belongs to God," similar to the Hebrew phrase Halelu Yah. In everyday speech it simply means "Thank God!" It is used by Muslims and also by 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 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 all shades of meaning
  • li - preposition - for/to/belonging to
  • Allah - God, the same God worshiped by the "ahlul-Kitab" (People of the book, i.e. Christians and Jews)

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 - in theory, it is to be said with a profound sense of love, adoration, and awe of the power, glory, and mercy of God. In practice, however, its use is so widespread in Arabic-speaking countries that it might better be understood as meaning "thankfully" or "thank goodness". Not all Arabic speakers who use the phrase are praising God when they say it.

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 God's in Islam, which God did not have to have as being Omnipotent (such as all-seeing, all-hearing), but rather CHOSE to have out of God's Mercy (the Loving (Al-Wadud), the Merciful (Ar-Rahman)) and showers Grace upon God's 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 Beneficent)
  • 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 given us death (sleep) and that our final return (on the Day of Qiyaamah End of the world) is to God.
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/she 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]

[edit] External links