Tasbih

Tasbīḥ (Arabic: تسبيح‎) is a form of dhikr that involves the repetitive utterances of short sentences in the praise and glorification of Allah, in Islam. To keep track of counting either the phalanges of the right hand or a misbaha is used. The misbaha is similar to the prayer rope of the Eastern Church and the rosary in the Roman Catholic Church.

Etymology

The term tasbih is an irregular derivation from subhan, which is the first word of the constitutive sentence of the first third of the canonical form (see below) of tasbih. The word literally means, as a verb, "to travel swiftly" and, as a noun, "duties" or "occupation." However, in the devotional context, tasbih refers to Subhana Allah, which is often used in the Qur'an with the preposition 'an (عن), meaning "'God is [de]void' [of what they (polytheists) attribute to Him]" (Al-Tawba: 31, Al-Zumar: 67 et al.). Without this preposition, it means something like "Glory be to God."

Tasbih of Fatima

Qur'an and Tasbih of Fatimah

In the early years of the marriage of Ali and Fatimah, Ali earned little money, and was unable to afford a servant for Fatimah. Fatimah’s hands were blistered from constant grinding; her neck had become sore from carrying water; her clothes had become dirty from sweeping the floor. One day Ali was aware that the prophet had some servants, and advised Fatimah to ask the prophet for one of his servants. Fatimah went, but she was unable to ask. Finally Ali went with Fatimah to the prophet's house. The prophet did not accept their request, saying “there are many orphans (starved), I must sell these servants to feed them”. Then prophet said “I will give you one thing better than helping of servant”. He taught them a special manner of dhikr which is known as the ‘’ tasbih of Fatimah’’. [1]

  1. Subhan'Allah (سبحان الله) (Glory be to Allah) – repeated 33 times.
  2. Alhamdulillah (الحمد لله) (Praise be to Allah) – repeated 33 times.
  3. Allahuakbar (الله أكبر) (Allah is the Greatest) – repeated 34 times.

After this adventure, Muslims have used to tasbih of Fatimah after his prayer.[2]

Hadith

Narrated by Abu Huraira: Some poor people came to the Prophet and said, "The wealthy people will get higher grades and will have permanent enjoyment, and they pray like us and fast as we do. They have more money by which they perform the Hajj and 'Umra, fight and struggle in Allah's Cause and give in charity." The Prophet said, "Shall I not tell you a thing upon which if you acted you would catch up with those who have surpassed you? Nobody would overtake you, and you would be better than the people amongst whom you live except those who would do the same. Say "Sub-han-al-lah", "Alhamdu-lillah" and "Allahu Akbar" thirty three times each after every (compulsory) prayer." We differed, and some of us said that we should say "Subhan-al-lah" thirty three times and "Alhamdu lillah" thirty three times and "Allahu Akbar" thirty four times. I went to the Prophet, who said: "Say, "Subhan-al-lah" and "Alhamdu lillah" and "Allahu Akbar" all together for thirty three times." (Book #12, Hadith #804)

Dhikr is of great importance to the Muslims and believe that it has to be done as taught. However, adherents of the Salafi sect shun the use of Misbaha (prayer rope) as an innovation, preferring to stick to use of the fingers, one of the methods used by the Prophet Muhammad. He is recorded to have ordered to count dhikr on fingers in an accepted book of hadith, Abu Dawood: 1501.[3]

Misbahah

An Ottoman Marbled Faturan Prayer Bead

A Misbahah (Arabic: مسبحة), subhah (Arabic:سبحة), tasbih (Persian and Hindi-Urdu), or tespih (Albanian, Turkish and Bosnian) is a string of prayer beads which is often used by Muslims to keep track of counting in Tasbih. Also, it is the Arabic word for a prayer rope used by Christians to say the Jesus Prayer.

The Misbaḥah is also known as tasbih—not to be confused with Tasbih, a type of dhikr—in non-Arab Muslim regions, or subhah in Arabic. In Turkey, the beads are known as tespih.[4]

Made of

A Misbaḥah is a tool used to perform dhikr, including the 99 Names of Allah, and the glorification of God after regular prayer.

It is often made of wooden beads, but also of olive seeds, ivory, amber, pearls or plastic. A misbaha[5] usually consists of 99 beads (corresponding to the 99 Names of Allah), or sometimes 33 beads (in which case one cycles through them 3 times to equal 99).

History

It is thought that in the early Muslim era, loose pebbles were used or that people counted on their fingers.[6]

According to the 17th-century ʻAllāmah Muhammad Baqir Majlisi, after the Battle of Uḥud, Fāṭimah would visit the Martyrs' Graveyard every two or three days, and then made a misbaḥah of Ḥamzah ibn ʻAbd al-Muṭṭalib's grave-soil. After that, people started making and using misbaḥahs.

According to a book written by Sidi Gabalza, the first who used misbaha is sufism, which combined the thought between Islam, Jews, Catholic, Manawi, Majus, Hindu and Buddha, along with the mystical philosophy of Pythagoras.[7] However some hadiths state the benefit of using the fingers of the right hand to count tasbīḥ.[8]

See also

Citations

  1. ↑ "Tasbih/Tasbeeh of Fatimah Zahra (pbuh) / Hazrat Fatima Zahra". islamicoccasions.
  2. ↑ Tarvin, William (2009). The Mysterious Plus. ISBN 978-1-4415-7080-2.
  3. ↑ Abu Dawood: 1501
  4. ↑ Leone, Stacie (May 2006). "The Tespih Works in Mysterious Ways". Turkey Now. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
  5. ↑ for more information on prayer beads in Islam
  6. ↑ (Indonesian) Hadits Shafiyah binti Hayyi (isteri Rasulullah) yang berbunyi: عَنْ كِنَانَةَ مَوْلَى صَفِيَّةَ قَال سَمِعْتُ صَفِيَّةَ تَقُولُ دَخَلَ عَلَيَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَبَيْنَ يَدَيَّ أَرْبَعَةُ آلَافِ نَوَاةٍ أُسَبِّحُ بِهَا فَقَالَ لَقَدْ سَبَّحْتِ بِهَذِهِ أَلَا أُعَلِّمُكِ بِأَكْثَرَ مِمَّا سَبَّحْتِ بِهِ فَقُلْتُ بَلَى عَلِّمْنِي فَقَالَ قُولِي سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَدَدَ خَلْقِهِ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ غَرِيبٌ لَا نَعْرِفُهُ مِنْ حَدِيثِ صَفِيَّةَ إِلَّا مِنْ هَذَا الْوَجْهِ مِنْ حَدِيثِ هَاشِمِ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ الْكُوفِيِّ وَلَيْسَ إِسْنَادُهُ بِمَعْرُوفٍ وَفِي الْبَاب عَنْ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ "Dari Kinanah budak Shafiyah berkata, saya mendengar Shafiyah berkata: Rasulullah pernah menemuiku dan di tanganku ada empat ribu nawat (bijian korma) yang aku pakai untuk menghitung dzikirku. Aku berkata,”Aku telah bertasbih dengan ini.” Rasulullah bersabda,”Maukah aku ajari engkau (dengan) yang lebih baik dari pada yang engkau pakai bertasbih?” Saya menjawab,”Ajarilah aku,” maka Rasulullah bersabda,”Ucapkanlah : سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَدَدَ خَلْقِهِ. (Maha Suci Allah sejumlah apa yang diciptakan oleh Allah dari sesuatu).” (HR Tirmidzi, beliau berkata,”Hadist ini gharib. Saya tidak mengetahuinya, kecuali lewat jalan ini, yaitu Hasyim bin Sa’id Al Kufi.” Ibnu Hajar dalam kitab At Taqrib menyebutnya dhaif (lemah), begitu juga gurunya, Kinanah Maula Shafiyah didhaifkan oleh Al Adzdi.)
  7. ↑ Sidi Gazalba, Sistematika Filsafat (Jakarta, Bulan Bintang, Juli 1991), Cet. Kelima, hlm. 20. Untuk mengetahui hubungan antara tasawuf dengan agama Hindu, Budha dan lainnya, lihat di dua kitab Ihsan Ilahi Dzahir, Mansya’ Wa Al Mashadir; telah diterjemahkan dengan judul Sejarah Hitam Tasawuf Latar Belakang Kesesatan Sufi, oleh Fadhli Bahri, (Jakarta, Darul Falah, 2001), Cet.I. dan Dirasatun Fi At Tashawuf; telah diterjemahkan dengan judul Tasawuf, Bualan Kaum Sufi Ataukah Sebuah Konspirasi? oleh Abu Ihsan Al Atsari, (Jakarta, Darul Haq, 2001), Cet. I.
  8. ↑ Narrated Yusayrah, mother of Yasir: The Prophet (saw) commanded them (the women emigrants) to be regular (in remembering Allah by saying): "Allah is most great"; "Glory be to the King, the Holy"; "there is no god but Allah"; and that they should count them on fingers, for they (the fingers) will be questioned and asked to speak. (Book #8, Hadith #1496)

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, January 16, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.