It is the gateway to the Quran e Majeed; it is a line a mumin utters many times each day. is the most perfect and beautiful of beginnings. Through the ages the different ummahs have had various beginnings, but none can compare to the fatehat revealed to Rasulullah (SA).

A parable…

Once upon a time, one Shaitan met another: one was fat and the other thin and lanky. The fat one asked the other: why have you become so thin? Pat came the reply: I have been given power over a man who recites Bismillah every time he leaves or enters his home. I am constantly running away from him: I am never able to achieve my ends. The fat one explained: I rule over a man who never says Bismillah, I am a partner in all his deeds: as soon as he leaves home, I ride on his back.

To begin with…

• Begin with Bismillah: success and barakat will be yours.


• Start your meal with Bismillah and you shall never complain of stomachache.


• Imam Jafar us Sadiq (SA) has said: Allah forgives the sins of those who start their meals with Bismillah and end with Alhamdolillah.


• Consume both food and drink with Bismillah for it will turn into noor.


• Drink water in three breaths and recite Bismillah with each breath.


• Begin with Bismillah: even poison will prove harmless.


• Recite Bismillah on a fish caught alive before consuming it.


• Recite Bismillah prior to copulation.


• Begin Wuzu with Bismillah and your sins shall be washed away.


• When a mumin recites Bismillah, Allah records that his parents and teachers shall be delivered from hell.


• Aqa Maula (TUS) has commended doctors who recite Bismillah prior to injecting their patients.


• Out of 114, 113 surahs of al Quran begin with Bismilllah. The one that does not is Sura tul Bara'at.


• Imam Zain ul Abedeen (AS) has taught that if one fears that he may sometimes forget Bismillah and be deprived of its barakat, he should recite this dua at the beginning of each day. This dua will compensate for forgetting Bismillah.



• Syedna Taher Saifuddin (RA) commenced Aqa Maula's (TUS) tutoring with Bismillah.

The letters…

Bismillah has nineteen letters. The number nineteen has a significance elucidated in several books of dawat. The number of Ahl e Bayt martyred in Kerbala with Imam Husain (AS) adds up to nineteen. The names of the 51st and 52nd Dai al Mutlaq, each have nineteen letters:

Speaking of its virtues…

One night Amir ul mumineen (AS) started explaining the virtues of Bismillah. Until dawn he had yet to complete the virtues of the dot under the first letter .

A treasure…

• Mumineen treasure Bismillah, which is known as Alamat Sharifah, written by the hands of Awliyaullah (AS). Mahad uz Zahra in Surat has a rare collection of Alamat sharifah of several Duat Mutlaqeen (RA).


• When Syedna Taher Saifuddin (RA) presented his Alamat Sharifah carved in gold and silver to King Saud, the latter exclaimed: "By Allah! This is indeed barakat."


• Aqa Maula (TUS) graciously bestows mumineen with his and Syedna Taher Saifuddin's (RA) Alamat Sharifah on special occasions, such as ziyafats.

The argument…

Some interpreters deny that Bismillah is an integral part of the Quran, but Awliyaullah (AS) have proved otherwise. The 'ayat comprises of four words. The third and the fourth words, i.e., "al Rahman" and "al Rahim" form an 'ayat of Surah tul Fatihah, and the third word itself is a complete 'ayat at the beginning of Surah tur Rahman. The second word "Allah" is repeated numerous times in the Quran. Finally Bismillah, in its entirety, has been revealed in Surah tul Bara'at.

Imam Jafar us Sadiq (AS) has stated that taqiyat (dissimulation-- to do as the oppressor says in times of fear) is our deen and has to be practiced whenever needed. However he emphasized that there can be no taqiyat in the following: consumption of alcohol, performing maseh on socks and not reciting Bismillah aloud in namaaz.