What does Al Hamdulillah mean?
Al Hamdulillah is the formula of gratitude pronounced by Muslims around the entire world on many occasions to express their thankfulness to Allah for His Favors and His Blessings upon them. Here is a more thorough explanation of this expression, so often poorly written and poorly pronounced, but whose translation is unanimously agreed upon.
Translation of Al Hamdulillah
Many Muslims often express their gratitude to God clumsily without realizing it. While it is often wrongly pronounced as a single block " Hamdoulah ", the acknowledgment of Allah's blessings upon us is normally written and pronounced in several words that form a short nominal sentence:
Al Hamdou li Llah !
All praise belongs to Allah !
Al is the determiner (the) of the common noun Hamd, which means " praise(s)". It therefore means the praise or the praises.
One can say, so as to simplify an Arabic grammatical concept, that al hamd ends with the vowel " u " because it is the subject in this nominal sentence.
Li is a particle in the Arabic language that means "to, for ".
Llah is the Name of Allah whose first letter Alif does not appear in this formulation for reasons of liaison.
Thus AL Hamdou li Llah means " (The praise or) all the praises belong to Allah ", whereas the colloquial form hamdoulah commonly pronounced by Muslims around the world translates as "a praise Allah"… which is not correct in Arabic and makes no sense.
Deeper meaning of Al Hamdou li Llah
Al hamdou li Llah means both the gratitude and the praises that the Muslim addresses to his Lord, whether in prayer or on various occasions.
Hamd indeed encompasses the meaning of praise as well as thanks.
It springs from an impulse of the heart and is formulated by the tongue of the believer, but it can also be transformed into actions that one devotes to Allah as an expression of one's gratitude.
Al Shukr also means gratitude, thanks; that said, it is used in response to a blessing or a situation where gratitude is required. However, al hamd, for its part, can be used as a remembrance of Allah without the need to thank Him for a specific fact. Indeed, even though Allah Himself reveals to us that one could not count the blessings of Allah upon us, the believer praises Allah with this formula, He who alone is Worthy of being worshiped and praised.
At Tahmid is therefore the glorification of Allah by addressing to Him the most beautiful praises. The practice of tahmid is the act of repeating the formula Al Hamdou li Llah several times, pressing on each phalanx of one's fingers for each formula pronounced.
Thus, glorifying Allah is the formula of TASBIH; praising Him is the formula of TAHMID; proclaiming His All-Greatness is the formula of TAKBIR.
According to a hadith of Abu Hurayra (RA), the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said:
"Whoever, at the end of each prayer, glorifies Allah (by saying Subhan'Allah) 33 times, praises Him (by saying Al hamdulillah) 33 times, and proclaims His all-greatness (by saying Allahu Akbar) 33 times, that is a total of 99, then completes the hundred by saying:
"La ilaha illa'Llah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul mulk wa lahul hamd wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir (There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, Alone, without partner, to Him belongs the sovereignty and the praise, and He is the Omnipotent)", his sins will be forgiven even if they are as abundant as the foam of the sea. " [Reported by Muslim no. 597]
Thus, on several occasions, the Muslim thanks Allah by saying AL Hamdou li Llah.
- In the morning upon waking, by saying:
Al hamdou li Llah aladhi ahyana ba3da ma amatana wa ilayhin nouchour
" Praise be to Allah who has brought us back to life after having made us die, and to Him is the return "
الحَمْـدُ لِلّهِ الّذي أَحْـيانا بَعْـدَ ما أَماتَـنا وَإليه النُّـشور
Or again :
" Praise be to Allah who has restored my life to me, has preserved me in my health and has allowed me to mention Him. "
الحمدُ للهِ الذي عافاني في جَسَدي وَرَدّ عَليّ روحي وَأَذِنَ لي بِذِكْرِه
Al hamdu li-l-Llahi l-ladhi 'afani fi jasadi wa radda 'alayya ruhi, wa adhina li bi-dhikrihi
- After having eaten :
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَطْعَمَنِي هـَذَا، وَرَزَقَنِيْهِ، مِنْ غَيْرِ حَوْلٍ مِنِّي وَلَا قُوَّةٍ
" Praise be to Allah Who has granted me this food and bestowed it upon me without any power or strength on my part ".
- After having sneezed, the Muslim is encouraged to pronounce the formula of the Tahmid, as Allah inspired our father and first prophet Adam. When the Muslim hears someone sneeze and pronounce the Tahmid, it is a duty for him to supplicate for the one who sneezed by asking the Mercy of Allah upon him. This recommendation to supplicate for one another, drawn from the prophetic Tradition (Sunnah), is done in these terms:
The one who sneezes :
- "Al Hamdou li Llah !"
= The praises belong to Allah!
The one who hears him :
"Yarhamoukoum Allaho !"
= May Allah have mercy on you !
The one who had sneezed :
"Ihdikoum Allaho wa yasslaha baloukoum !"
= May Allah guide you and improve your condition !
- When one sees a sick or afflicted person :
" The praises belong to Allah, who has preserved me from the trials with which you are afflicted and has favored me over many of His creatures."
الْحَمْـدُ للهِ الّذي عافاني مِمّا ابْتَـلاكَ بِهِ، وَفَضَّلَـني عَلى كَثيـرٍ مِمَّنْ خَلَـقَ تَفْضـيلا
Al hamdu li-L-lahi l-ladhi 'afani mimma btalaka bihi wa faddalani 'ala kathirin mimman khalaqa tafdilan.
Some verses in the Holy Quran contain the formula of the Tahmid "Al Hamdou li Llah"
Five surahs begin with al-Hamdou li-Llah (praise be to God). They are al-Fatiha, The Cattle, The Cave, Saba and The Originator.
In Surah Al Fatiha :
2 Praise be to Allah, Lord of the universe.
In the Surah The Cattle :
1 Praise be to Allah who created the heavens and the earth, and established the darkness and the light. Yet the disbelievers ascribe equals to their Lord.
In Surah The Cave :
1 Praise be to Allah who has sent down upon His servant (Muhammad) the Book, and has not placed therein any crookedness (ambiguity)!
In Surah Saba :
1 Praise be to Allah to whom belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth. And praise be to Him in the hereafter. And He is the Wise, the All-Knowing.
In Surah The Originator :
1 Praise be to Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth, who made the Angels messengers endowed with two, three or four wings. He adds to creation whatever He wills, for Allah is Omnipotent.