1. This is the opening verse of the Quran. Every chapter of the Quran except Surah Taubah (Repentance) begins with it. It is like a preamble constructed out of a few but highly significant words. These words are full of blessings. This verse mentions Allah’s sacred name and His attribute of kindness. A sincere reflection on these words helps us to recognise Allah truly, which is the greatest imaginable blessing.

One cannot imagine more appropriate words which should meaningfully be uttered before starting any good work. These words have become such an integral part of a Muslim’s life and culture that even before taking his meal he says: “Bismillah ...i.e. I begin with the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

The first revelation of the Quran received by Prophet Muhammad reads:

‎﴾١﴿ ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ

’Read with the name of your lord who has created”.

To carry out this order, the Prophet was then taught the verse under reference ( Bismillah).

There is a prophecy in the Old Testament (The Torah) that Prophet Muhammad will persent the divine discourse in Allah’s name. The relevant portion (in the Deuteronomy) of the old Testament runs:

‘’I will raise up for them a prophet like you (Moses) from among their brethren, and I will put My words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not give heed to My words which he shall speak in My name I myself will require it of him”. (The Deuteronomy 18: 19, 8)

Bismillah, the opening verse of the Quran is in the manner of a prayer of the seeker of the truth. Before beginning to read His Book, a man humbly prays to Allah and says that only His grace can help him to understand the Book, that only with His help can he know the right path and that only with His blessings can he pick up the pearls of wisdom from the fathomless ocean of knowledge that His Book is.

Ba (B) the first letter of the verse Bismillah is known as ‘Ba-e-istiaanat’ (Ba of help) in the Arabic grammer. This, the very first word of the Quran, determines the position of the reader as the one in need of help, as a humble slave seeking the right path from Allah, the All- Knowing. Allah then opens his guidance to only such as truly realise that humble position of ignorance and need and are not conceited to think themselves as all-knowing and wise.

2. The name of the Creator of the whole Universe is Allah. This is His specific name. In Arabic, that means one who is truly worthy of worship. It is difficult to find its exact synonym in other languages. The Urdu word ‘Khuda’ and the English word ‘God’ denote a creator of the universe without implying monotheism. ‘God’ applies to many Devis and Devatas, the feminine gender being ‘Goddess’. In Marathi and Hindi the words ‘Ishwar’ and ‘Parameshwar’ denote the Supreme Being but they are also the honorifics for Shiv and Vishnu. ‘Ish’ means Master or Lord and ‘War’ means ‘great’. ‘Ishwar’ thus means ‘great god’. Its feminine gender is ‘Ishwari’ and is applied to goddess. Again ‘Param’ means ‘supreme’ and’ Parameshwar’ means ‘supreme Ishwar’. But the use of these words suggests that though they are used for the creator of the universe, they do not apply to Him exclusively. They are used for a number of gods and goddesses as their titles or attributes, nor is the word ‘Bhagwan’ applicable to the one creator of the universe alone; it is used as an attribute or a honorific of others too as in Bhagwan. Vasudeva, Shiv and Vishnu are also called Bhagwan. The Quranic word Allah is reserved exclusively for the only Creator and Lord of the Universe; it is free from all misconceptions and doubts. The word Allah has been retained in the translation also, because no word of any other language really brings out the strict connotation of this word.

In the Quran, the name Allah appears 2697 times. This should suggest the wealth of details and elucidation concerning His name that has been presented in the Quran to facilitate a true understanding of Allah and His attributes.

3. The textual words’ “Ar-Rahman” and “Ar- Rahim” derived from “Rahmat” are used as attributes of Allah. ‘Rahman’ is the superlative form meaning extremely gracious and kind. This indicates that the world is not created as a result of His wrath but as a consequence of His extraordinary kindness.His kindness knows no bounds; it encompasses all. It is not for this or that group, community or nation, but it envelopes the whole mankind. Further His Kindness spreads to the whole universe, all the worlds. Because of this limitlessness and universality, the name ‘Ar- Rahman’ is also specific to Allah alone.

The adjectival word, ‘Ar-Rahim’ denotes His constant and eternal attribute of mercifulness. The mention of this name means that Allah has not only created man out of His kindness but also that, He constantly showers His mercy upon him. Those who follow His path will be blessed for ever.

‘Ram’ should not be taken as an equivalent or synonym of ‘Rahim.’ Ram is the name of a religious leader, while Rahim is the attribute of the one and the only Allah.

4. The Arabic word ’Hamd’ means ‘praise’ as well as ‘thanks’. Allah is all Excellence. He is absolute Beauty and Perfection, the very source of virtue and bounty, free from all defects and weaknesses. He is unique in His attributes and His attributes are personal and eternal. This being so, He alone is praiseworthy. None else has attributes in his own person; all depend on Him for what they have. There is thus no ground for more than one God. There is then no question of singing praise of anyone else or telling the beads of any other entity but Allah, or raising others to occupy the throne of godhood beside Him.

Our thanks are due to Allah for His bounty, which is boundless. Our lives, the delicacies in foods and drinks, the provision of articles of food to satisfy different tastes, our children, our wisdom, our conscience, our knowledge and many other manifest and hidden things are the gifts of Allah. He alone is worthy of our thanks. We should always admit His generosity and be aware of ourselves as His grateful slaves.

This sense of gratefulness is the master- key to the door of guidance. And this therefore is the quality the Quran inculcates in the sincere reader. This makes the reader feel thankful to Allah and makes him adore Him.

5. ’Rab’ is used in the text. It means ‘’sustainer, master, lord”. Allah then is not only the Creator and the Sustainer of the Universe, but also its Master and Owner. In Him is vested all authority. He alone attends to the administration of the whole universe. He is the real Ruler and Sovereign, every thing else is helpless before Him. His overlordship is not limited to this world alone; it extends to all the worlds beyond the stars. He is in short, the Creator and Master of everything, men, animals, genii, angels, this world and the hereafter.

It must be noted that Allah calls Himself the ‘Lord of the worlds’ and not the ‘Lord of the Muslims’ because He is not the Lord of any one group, class or community. He is the lord of the entire mankind,wherever it be.

6. This refers to the Day of Resurrection when Allah will revive all the dead of all times and hold Court to evaluate their lives on earth in order to mete out punishment or reward earned by their own deeds.

Justice is another attribute of Allah. It demands that the faithful followers of the path of Allah should be fittingly rewarded and His rebels severely punished.

This must not be confused with the doctrine of transmigration of souls (Awagaman) according to which the cycle of births and deaths moves in a circle and has neither a beginning nor an end. This doctrine reduces this world to a cell for chastisement. There is in it no conception of the world being a temporary sojourn, of the revival of the dead, of the divine Court, of the accountability to Allah for one’s deeds and the meting out of justice by Allah.

The idea of justice is inherent in man’s makeup. That is why he establishes courts of law in this world. The Ruler of the world holding Court to mete out justice should, therefore, not appear as something extraordinary and incredible, but something quite natural in the fitness of things.

The inevitability of the Day of Judgement is strengthened by the numerous references in the Quran to Allah’s attributes of Overlordship, Wisdom and Justice. Man sees clearly the bounties and favours Allah bestows upon him. It should then be natural for man to think that there would be a day of judgment when the pious would be rewarded and the wicked punished. The Quran is explicit about this. Allah has spread the flooring of Earth for man, provided roof to the sky, given brightness to the sun and the moon so that there is light, arranged the twinkling galaxies of stars which fascinate and satisfy men’s aesthetic sense; put winds at man’s service; provided water through the wonderful arrangement of rains; has provided numerous types of fruits and flowers, crops and vegetables, animals to work for man, material to make dress for protection against climates as well as indecency and so on. After enumerating a few of Allah’s bounties, the Quran asks: “Do you think He has created His elaborate and vast machinery of the world just for fun, without any purpose? Have you no responsibility in return for the favours bestowed upon you? Are you not accountable for what you do?” The answer is clear: only he who is a slave to his carnal desires can disbelieve the Day of Judgment, for the belief in it involves restriction on his liberties, denial of irresponsibility and regard for the dues of others. According to the Quran, everyone is accountable on the Day of Judgement, one who has fulfilled his responsibilities would be successful and the one who has ignored them would be a failure.

The belief in the Hereafter and the final justice motivates man to order his life in a certain way. He then renders his dues towards Allah as well as towards his fellow- beings. The benefictions of this belief in fact manifest themselves even in this life if the belief is accepted consciously and whole-heartedly as an inevitable truth.

7. The Arabic word ‘ibadat’ is derived from the root-word ‘abd’ which means ‘slave’. ‘lbadat’ then means slavery and also connotes obedience. All forms of worship such as standing in prayer, bowing the head, prostration, going around the ‘kaaba’, come within the meaning of ‘ibadat’. Also recital of the name and praises of Allah, seeking His refuge, calling for His help in need and so on come within the meaning of ‘ibadat’. All these are expressions of inferiority, humbleness and devotion.

The word ‘ibadat’ is used in the Quran in a wider sense, it means worship, subjugation, total and unconditional surrender to the will of Allah.

‘Ibadat’ in its foremost meaning of worship is reserved exclusively for Allah, since He alone is worthy of being worshipped, it is improper to give this status to anything else, be it a stone or a tree, the sun or stars, men or genii, prophets or angels. (See S. Kahf Note 135)

8. Allah alone is the real Helper. We must therefore, seek His help alone, whether in the matter of worship or in respect of any other problem. It is futile to invoke saints, prophets, angels, devis or devatas; such invocation is strictly forbidden by the Quran.

Here Allah’s help is sought in the matter of worship specifically because man cannot achieve on his own the good fortune of even worshipping Allah without His help.

9. The right path means the path which leads straight to Allah, the path by following which man earns Allah’s pleasure and reaches the coveted destination. This is the path of Islam.

Just as only one straight line can be drawn between two points; so also there is only one straight path which leads to Allah and that is the way of Islam. It is patently false that all paths lead to Allah. The Quran unambiguously denies this and insists on the path of Islam, the only path which leads to Allah. The belief in many paths leading to Allah is a symptom of false tolerance. The Quran does not leave man to grope in darkness but shows him the path unmistakably.

It is appropriate to call Islam the grand path. Deen (religion) of Islam is not the name for a ‘collection of religious rituals but a way of life which a man must follow, in fact struggle to follow, in order to reach his destination successfully.

10. Allah has always been showering His blessings and favours on his prophets, the true and sincere followers (Siddiqeen), martyrs and virtuous people. In this prayer, men seek from Allah the real reward. They come in His presence with supplication and beseech Him to open to them the path of guidance and shariah (divine law) and bless them with His favours and pleasure as He has always done to the righteous. This necessitates the belief in the prophethood of His chosen ones. How is the man to know the right path, the forms for prayers and other things that, please or displease Allah? All this can be known only if Allah reveals His teachings. Allah chooses His prophets for this purpose. It is for this purpose that Allah has sent His prophets at different times in different countries to propagate the word of Allah through different languages.

11. This refers to those people who had accepted His Deen (religion) and Shariah (The divine laws) not wholeheartedly, but only in name. Being slaves to their own desires, they violated the rules of Shariah and therefore incurred His wrath. Jews are the example of rebellious people.

12. The people who have gone astray are those who accepted His Deen but exceeded the limits. They deviated from the right path and went far astray by adding uncalled for innovations into the original religious teachings and by involving themselves in fruitless philosophical polemics. Christians are the example of such people.

Here misguidance or the straying of the Jews and Christians is hinted at, for these are the living examples of finding and then losing the straight path (Religion of Truth).And the purpose of this is to make the Muslim Ummah , realise that they should not adopt a similar attitude i.e. the attitude of the misguided communities. As for the polytheists, unbelievers and atheists, they are misguided people of the highest degree and their misguidance needs no comment.