Basmala

The Basmala (Arabic: بَسْمَلَة, basmalah; also known by its opening words Bi-smi llāh; بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ, "In the name of God"),^[1] or Tasmiyyah (Arabic: تَسْمِيَّة), is the titular name of the Islamic phrase "In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful" (Arabic: بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ, bi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīmⁱ).^{[Notes 1]} It is one of the most important phrases in Islam and is used by Muslims mostly before starting "good deeds" (for instance, during daily prayer) as well as beginning of most daily actions.^{[citation needed]}

It is used in over half of the constitutions of countries where Islam is the official religion or more than half of the population follows Islam, usually the first phrase in the preamble, including those of Afghanistan,^[2] Bahrain,^[3] Bangladesh,^[4] Brunei,^[5] Egypt,^[6] Iran,^[7] Iraq,^[8] Kuwait,^[9] Libya,^[10] Maldives,^[11] Pakistan,^[12] Saudi Arabia,^[13] Tunisia^[14] and the United Arab Emirates.^[15]

It is the phrase recited before each chapter (surah) of the Qur'an – except for the ninth At-Tawbah.^{[Notes 2][16]} Muslim disagreement over whether to include the Basmala within the Quranic text reached consensus following the 1924 Cairo Edition, which included it as the first verse (āyah) of Quran chapter 1 but otherwise included it as an unnumbered line of text preceding the other relevant 112 chapters.^[17]

The Islamic Basmala appears to be related to earlier variants of the phrase appearing in Arabian inscriptions from the 5th and 6th centuries.^[18]

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