'786' As 'bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem'

[Sybarite]

Today, I got a forward email in which someone tried to prove that the numeral'786' does not mean bismillahi rahman iraheem and it is an innovationmade by ignorant people. Moreover he copied the 7-8-6 Numerals ofSanskrit Language then flipped/arranged them in a way that makes thesymbol for Hare Krishna and said that it also spells out Hare Krishna.

 

ANSWER:

 

Praise be to Allah Almighty who is the Lord of the Worlds, and mayEndless Blessings be showered upon His Most Beloved Prophet MuhammadMustafa (Salla Allahu Ta'ala 'Alayhi wa 'Aalihi wa Sallam)

 

Well, there are hundreds of scripts and languages in this world, takeany sentence or numeric’s, write it in NON-TRADITIONAL styles, FLIPhorizontally or vertically, ARRANGE it as you want and produce anyrubbish as the people did. Don't they have anything better to do withtheir time than mess around with stupid letters and flip them whatever?Ask then to Go and do some proper research in quran and hadith ratherthan wasting their little brain's cells on imaginary letters. Peopleuse 786 to represent bismillah as a short or to prevent disrespect whenwriting letters and posting.

 

786 is indeed the numerical value of "Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem",what difference does it makes if it coincides with the numerical valueof the name "Hare Karishna"? A Muslim writes 786 with the intention of"Bismillah...". It is mentioned in the first Hadeeth of Bukhari Shairfthat for everyone it is their intention that matters. A person whoperforms Salaah for the pleasure of Allah he is rewarded duly and theone who performs Salaah to be noticed by people is not rewarded.

 

In the period of our beloved Nabi numerology (the knowledge ofinterpretation of words according to numbers) was present, as evidentfrom the following incident.

 

Hadrat Abdullah Ibn Abbaas narrates, Abu Yasir Bin Akhtab, hisbrother Hayy Bin Akhtab and Ka'b Bin Asharaf asked RasoolullahSallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam "to swear and tell us if the Alif Laam Meemhas been revealed on you as is"? Our beloved Nabi Sallallaho Alaihi waSallam replied "yes". Hayy then said "if you are truthful then yourUmmah will remain for a few years, so how can we accept this religion."They pointed out that according to the knowledge of numerical value itis obvious from the letters of Alif Laam Meem that this nation will beobliterated within 71 years. Hayy asked, "is there any other word likethis." The Beloved Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam replied "yes, there isAlif Laam Meem Saad." Hayy said. "this value is 161 which is more thanprevious". Then he asked, "is there any more?" the Beloved SallallahoAlaihi wa Sallam replied "yes there is Alif Laam Raa." Hayy said "thisis even more than first and the second, and we bear witness that yourUmmah will only be dominant till 231 years." Then he said "is thereanything else besides these?" The beloved Rasool Sallallaho Alaihi waSallam replied "yes Alif Laam Meem Raa is also revealed on me." Hayysaid, "we won't believe in you because we are not sure as to which oneof your words we should believe." Then Abu Yasir spoke, "we bearevidence that our Prophets have informed us that this Ummah will rulebut they did not tell us for how long, so if Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihiwa Sallam is truthful in his statement then according to myunderstanding Alif Laam Meem, Alif Laam Meem Saad, and Alif Laam MeemRaa all will be gathered for this Ummah." Then all the Jews got up andleft by saying "your matter is doubtful to us." (Hashiya Saikh Zaazah,Tafseer al Bedawi, Vol 1, page 65)

 

It is clearly evident from this narration that the knowledge ofNumerology was used in the discussion and the beloved Rasool(saw) was wellacquainted with the subject matter, and answered questions according totheir level of understanding. It also indicates that this knowledge wasnot hidden from Rasoolullah Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam. However it mustbe noted that numbers cannot have the same significance as the actualrecitation orally or in the written form of the complete Quranic wordsand cannot replace it.

 

So, To write 786 in lieu of the Bismillah is permitted. The numeral 786represents the abjad [letter-numeral] value of the Bismillah[Bismillaah al-Rahmaan al-Raheem]. If there is fear of disrespect forthe Bismillah if written in full then it may be preferable to use thenumber 786 instead. Occasional use of abjad numerals has long beencurrent among the Ulema.

 

Following is the table of "Abjad" [letter-numeral] values:

 

Abjad letter-numerals are the letters of the Arabic alphabetgiven numerical values. They could thus be used in various combinationsto represent any number from 1 to 1999. It is not a place-notationalsystem, for their value does not depend upon their position relative toone another. Thus the number 652 would be represented by the letterskha', [= 600], nun [= 50], and ba' [= 2], no matter in what order theletters were arranged. The name abjad comes from the first four lettersin the sequence to which values 1, 2, 3, and 4 were assigned, that is,letters, alif, ba', jim, and dal. The symbol for zero was derived fromGreek astronomical and mathematical manuscripts where a symbol wasoften used as an abbreviation for the Greek word ouden, meaning"nothing". The letter-numerals for numbers 1 through 50 were the samethroughout the Islamic lands, but there were differences between theWestern areas and the Eastern when it came to assigning letters to theremaining values, as can be seen in the following table:

 

Objections to using 786 in the sense of the Bismillah fall into three categories:

1. The objection that the numeral 786 does not represent the Bismillah.This is simple ignorance of abjad values. Such an objection carries noweight at all.

 

2. The objection that using 786 is a novelty. This is correct but so isthe spread of printed matter and worldwide literacy. The Sunna way inthis regard is to find ways to curb the risks of heedlessness anddisrespect to sacred things in print. The use of 786 is one such way. Abetter one is to write the Arabic letter Ba' to stand for the Bismillahor to write: Bismihi Ta`ala = "In his Name, Most High."

 

An important point of principles. The use of abjad numerals wasaccepted by the Ulema of Islam East and West long ago and thereforecannot be called a bid`a except by those constantly and/or essentiallyat odds with the Umma's understanding and practice i.e. the bid`a sectsthemselves. They can be exposed by their own key statements, such as"Was the verse, 'Today I completed your religion for you', revealed tothe Prophet or to the so-called scholars of our age who are all bent toamend the Divine principles?"

 

3. The objection that it is potential kufr because 786 also happens tostand for the abjad value of "Hare Krishna" if Arabized asHa'-Ra'-Ya'-Kaf-Ra'-Shin-Nun-Alif.This is a grave charge and false on many fronts or rather backsides toboot. It is ironic that this objection was published in a country thathas allowed the name of their king to be engraved on the very door ofthe Ka`ba in full letters, yet they do not raise a peep against such anact! More importantly:

 

(i) False witness against fellow Muslims, chronic suspicion of fellowMuslims, and diseased pride are all among the Kaba'ir. They must beavoided at all cost and such an accusation should have never seen thelight of day nor be given the time of day. Instead, it is beingreposted and circulated!

 

(ii) Those that leveled these false accusations of potential kufr andbid`a against Muslims should repent, as the accusations have nowreturned upon them. The same applies to the propagators. Allah MostHigh has placed the Hurma or sanctity of a Muslim too high to allowsuch reckless accusations to be thrown about without consequences.

 

(iii) The correct abjad value of Hare Krishna is NOT 786 but 776. Thereis no long Ya at the end of Hare but a brief vowel that does not standfor a letter. The result is:

 

NOT h-5, r-200, i-10, k-20, r-200, sh-300, n-50, a-1 = Aggregate 786

 

BUT h-5, r-200, k-20, r-200, sh-300, n-50, a-1 = Aggregate 776

 

(iv) The numeral 786 might apply to any number of names or phrases.However, it is used by Muslims only and in the Bismillah sense only.Other senses are precluded from the usage of those Muslims. Apseudo-censor comes along and claims that other senses are notprecluded: such a false judge is ignoring the fundamental principlesthat

 

{Deeds Count Only According to Intentions}

 

and that

 

{The Lawful Is Crystal Clear and the Unlawful is Crystal Clear}.

 

He has put aside half of the Shari`a by ignoring these two principles.Who will possibly follow him except those Allah misguides?

 

The reverse is true also: even if 786 meant only "Bismillaah al-Rahmaanal-Raheem" and nothing else, it would still be meaningless to use itwithout the intention of Bismillah.

 

(v) Suppose 786 does stand for Hare Krishna, which means "HolyKrishna." There is nothing in Islam - and Allah knows best - thatprecludes the possibility that Krishna was a Prophet of Islam. "We findpopular Muslim poets in India, such as Sayid Sultan, writing poemsabout Krishna as a Prophet. There is no final theological proof that hewas one, but the assumption is nonetheless not in violation of theKoran" (Abd al-Hakim Murad, "British and Muslim?" Based on a lecturegiven to a conference of British converts on September 17 1997).Writing the name of a Prophet as one's letterhead can never be"infidelity."

 

Someone had requested a response on this issue two years ago on themail-list msa-ec. The lengthiness of this response is due to the sadfact that extremism has shifted the issue from a one-line ruling ofsecondary importance (Use of the numeral 786 in lieu of Bismillahoffensive or permitted? - Permitted) to the grave disease of takfir andtabdi`, and Allah is our help.

 

{And speak not, concerning that which your own tongues qualify(as clean or unclean), the falsehood: "This is lawful, and this isforbidden," so that ye invent a lie against Allah. Lo! those who inventa lie against Allah will not succeed} (16:116).

 

May Allah the Almighty, give us the opportunity (tawfiq), of learningas many sciences there are that are in connection to Islam, and may Hemake it a means of success for us, in this world, and the hereafter(Ameen).