بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
The "
Bismillah" is the first sentence in the holy Qur'an. It opens Surat al-Fatiha, which is called itself "The opener".
The first two words "bism-illah (in the name of God)" are frequently used in arabic speaking countries as a simple phrase of politeness.
The other two words, belonging to the 99 most beautiful names of Allah, have the following (similiar) meaning:
The Exceedingly Compassionate and The Exceedingly Merciful.
The first two words as well as the whole phrase are to be found on a vast number of
islamic coins. On early Dirhems and Dinars (Umayyad, Abbasid,
Fatimid...) the "
mint formula" which contains the
mint and the year starts with "
bismillah".
Note that the ninth sura, "Surat at-Tawbah" (containing the controversial "āyat as-sayf" (Sword Verse)), is the only sura without the
Bismillah!
The āyat as-sayf, according to mainstream
Islamic theologians, abrogated as many as 124 verses of the Qur'an.
This is what Salafi are eager for hearing: a legitimation for Dschihad!
Ahmadiyya muslim for instance don't believe in abrogation at all.
And this is my humble opinion:
Not even a single verse of a sura preluded with the
Bismillah should be abrogated by any verse of a sura that is NOT preluded with the
Bismillah.
Another phrase that is really always to find on
islamic coins is the
Shahada:
لا إله إلا الله
This is the first
part of the
Shahada.
Literally it means "There is no god but Allah"
But there is a deeper meaning in it:
"There is no reality but Allah (God)"
"The term Allāh is derived from a contraction of the Arabic definite article al- "the" and ilāh "deity, god" to al-lāh meaning "the [sole] deity, God". Cognates of the name "Allāh" exist in other Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Aramaic. The corresponding Aramaic form is Elah (אלה), but its emphatic state is Elaha (אלהא). It is written as ܐܠܗܐ ('Ĕlāhā) in
Biblical Aramaic and ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ ('Alâhâ) in Syriac as used by the Assyrian
Church, both meaning simply "God".
Biblical Hebrew mostly uses the plural (but functional singular) form Elohim (אלהים), but more rarely it also uses the singular form Eloah (אלוהּ).
In the Sikh scripture of Guru Granth Sahib, the term Allah (Punjabi: ਅਲਹੁ) is used 37 times.The name was previously used by pagan Meccans as a reference to a creator deity, possibly the supreme deity in pre-Islamic
Arabia. The concepts associated with the term Allah (as a deity) differ among religious traditions. In pre-Islamic
Arabia amongst pagan Arabs, Allah was not considered the sole divinity, having associates and companions, sons and daughters–a concept that was deleted under the process of Islamization. In Islam, the name Allah is the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name, and all other divine names are believed to refer back to Allah. Allah is unique, the only Deity, creator of the universe and omnipotent. Arab Christians today use terms such as Allāh al-Ab (الله الأب, 'God the Father') to distinguish their usage from Muslim usage." [
Wikipedia]
محمد رسول الله
This is the second
part of the
Shahada:
"Mohammed is the messenger of Allah"
It is said that Iblis (Shaitan) has no problem accepting
the first
part, but he refuses to accept
the second
part. Since he hates the children of Adam,
he feeds the ego or "nafs", the dark veil between Allah and mankind.
In order to understand the inscribtion of the bilingual Dirhem of Mahmud
we have to attend somewhat to Hinduism too:
"
Contemporary Hinduism can be categorized into four major sects: Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism worship Vishnu, Shiva, and Devi — the Divine Mother — as the Supreme Being, respectively, or consider all Hindu deities as aspects of the Supreme Being or Brahman (see advaita, or impersonalism). Other minor sects such as Ganapatya and Saura focus on Ganesha and Surya as the Supreme.
Even the earlier mandalas (books) of the Rig Veda (books 1 and 9), which contain hymns dedicated to devas, are thought to have a tendency toward monotheism.[7] Often quoted isolated, pada 1.164.46 of the Rig Veda states (trans. Griffith):
Indraṃ mitraṃ varuṇamaghnimāhuratho divyaḥ sa suparṇo gharutmān,
ekaṃ sad viprā bahudhā vadantyaghniṃ yamaṃ mātariśvānamāhuḥ
"They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni, and he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutmān.
To what is One, sages give many a title — they call it Agni, Yama, Mātariśvan."
The Brahma Samhita 5.45 declares, Lord Vishnu is milk; Lord Shiva is yogurt. Other aspects of God are expansions or aspects of Vishnu or Shiva, which is detailed in various Puranas. Vaishnavites, like other Hindus, have tolerance for other beliefs because Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, said so in the Gita. Krishna says: "Whatever deity or form a devotee worships, I make
his or her faith steady. However, their wishes are only granted by Me alone" (Gita 7:21-22). Another passage in the Gita states: "O Arjuna, even those devotees who worship other lesser deities [e.g., devas, for example] with faith, they also worship Me, but in an improper way because I am the Supreme Being. I alone am the enjoyer of all sacrificial services [Seva, Yajna] and Lord of the universe" (Gita 9:23)" [
Wikipedia]
All the gods (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna, Ganesha, Kali etc.) are nothing more than aspects (comparable to the 99 most beautiful names of Allah) of the Absolute or "Brahman".
Moslems know that all names belong to Him, but not every Hindu knows that
his (personal) god is a mere aspect of the infinite and formless Brahman. For a sophisticated Hindu it is a matter of fact that the absolute truth (compare al-Haqq) cannot be found in an image of any deity. But who knows? If the Bhakti (love and devotion) is
complete...
In the Bhagavad Gita the Avatar (incarnated god) Lord Krishna declares how to finish the cycle of birth. There are two ways: the Bhakti for himself (Krishna) and the Bhakti for the Absolute (Brahman).
Since people want to see, want to touch, what they adore, they are going to build idols from clay or from flesh. The latter is called "guru".
I do not say, that true gurus (
Sat Guru) or - in the
islamic tradition - the friends of Allah (Auliya/Vali) do not exist, but they are not advertising themselves.
They are supreme examples for humility.
I want to end this onetime jaunt in "god's garden" with a poem of such an opener of the heart, whom I
had the opportunity to meet about 30 years ago:
"When the
flowers of the
church, mosque and
temple gather together,
spring will blossom forth
in Your garden, o Lord."
In 711 AD the first Arab conquerors under Muhammad bin Qasim established the so-called Emirate of Sind in northern
India (
Punjab). Later on the Ghaznavid conquered this
area.
"The Ghaznavid dynasty (Persian: غزنویان) was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic mamluk origin at their greatest extent ruling large parts of
Persia, much of Transoxania, and the northern parts of
India from 977 to 1186. The dynasty was founded by Sebuktigin, upon
his succession to rule of Ghazna (modern-day Ghazni Province in Afghanistan) after the death of
his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, who was a break-away ex-general of the Samanids from Balkh,
north of the Hindu Kush in Khorasan.
Although the dynasty was of Central Asian Turkic origin, it was thoroughly Persianized in terms of language, culture, literature, and habits, and hence is regarded by some as a "Persian dynasty" rather than Turkic.
Sebuktigin's son, Mahmud of Ghazni, declared independence from the Samanids[27] and expanded the Ghaznavid Empire to the Oxus River (Amu Darya), the Indus Valley, and the Indian Ocean in the east, and to Rey and Hamadan (in modern-day
Iran) in the
west. Under the reign of Mas'ud I, the Ghaznavid dynasty began losing control over its western territories to the Seljuqs after the Battle of Dandanaqan, resulting in a restriction of its holdings to modern-day Afghanistan, Western
Punjab, and the Balochistan region. In 1151,
Sultan Bahram Shah lost Ghazni to the Ghurid
king Ala al-Din Husayn." [
Wikipedia]
The following coins were minted under the richest
man at that time, Mahmud, who is (in)famous for
his numerous attacks on northern
India and the destruction of the great temple at Somnath in 1024 AD. Under the banner of the Islam he robbed a lot of gold and jewelries. Hence the gold coin (Dinar) was the preferential currency. Since Mahmud annexed regions that lie in modern Pakistan he
had to reign over inhabitants who did not speak Arabic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmud_of_Ghazni And now let's have a look at the coins, a subtle hint of real beauty:
Dinar left:
Ghaznavid; Mahmud bin Sebuktekin; 389-421h (998-1030AD); Dinar, Herat, 405h; 4.25g
Ob. Center :
Ornament عدل
لا الاه الا
الله وحده
لا شريك له
القادر بالله
Ob. Outer Margin :
لله الأمر من قبل و من بعد ويومئذ يفرح المؤمنون بنصر الله
Obv. inner Margin :
بسم الله ضرب هذا الدينار بهراة سنة خمس و اربعمائة
(
mint formula)
Rv. Center :
لله
محمد
رسول الله
يمين الدولة
و أمين الملة
أبو القسم
(Allah
Mohammad
rasūlu 'llāh
Yamin ad-Daula
wa Amin al-Millah
Abul-Qasam)
Rv. Margin :
محمد رسول الله ارسله بالهدى و دين الحق ليظهره على الدين كله ولو كره المشركون
Dinar right: Ghaznavid; Mahmud bin Sebuktekin; 389-421h (998-1030 AD); Dinar,
Nishapur, 392h? (Date plundered); 5.62g
Dirham above:
Ghaznavid: Mawdud ; 432-440 AH (1041-1048 AD);
Dirham (2.83g, 19 mm),
Mint of Balkh (now in Afghanistan)
Dirham below:
Ghaznavid; Mahmud (998-1030 AD);
Dirham, bilingual
type; Mahmudpur (Lahore),
418/419AH (1027/1028AD) 2.8g; 19 mm
Since Hindus are not familiar with the term "Messenger of God", Mohammed has been named "Avatar", which is, as said before, an incarnation of (a) god. The Qur'an repeatedly emphasizes that Moses, Jesus and Mohammed were/are prophets or messengers, not incarnations, like Christians believe concerning Jesus. Mohammed would have been shocked, if he would have lived in the 11th century and would have understood the Sankrit text on the coin!
Ob (Arabic script):
Central
inscription:
lā-ilāhe ill-allāh / muhammad rasūl-ullāh / yamīn ud-dawlah / wa amīn ul-millah Mahmud
(There is no God but Allah / Muhammad is
His messenger / protector of the state / and custodian of the community Mahmud).
12 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions:
al-Qādir billah (Abbasid caliph (381-422h)).
Margin:
bismillāh duriba hāza ad-dirham mahmudpur theman/tis’a ‘ashra wa arba’ mi’at
(In the name of Allah this
dirham struck at Mahmudpur 418h or 419h).
Since the date is plundered it is hard to say.
Rv (Sharada script*):
Central
inscription:
avyaktameka; muhammada avatāra; nripati mahamudah
(The Invisible is one; Muhammad is the manifestation (avatar); Mahmud (is) the
king)
Margin:
avyaktīya nāme ayam tankam mahamudapura ghatita tajikiyera samvati...
(In the name of the Invisible this tanka struck at Mahmudpur in the Arabic year...)
*The Sharada script, used in this
area, is the predecessor of the Gurmukhi and Kashmiri scripts
Kind regards
AvP
