With every breath, let there be prayers you repeat Bismillâhirrahmanirrahîm
Basmala is the most important word covering the life of Muslims. A Muslim does not start any work without Eûzü basmala. When getting out of bed, performing ablution, starting the prayer, holding a job, setting the table, sitting down to eat, starting to eat and drink, setting off, intending to read the Qur’ân al-kerim, and going to bed, the besmela is always said.
In this way, a person connects to Allah in his life and in all his affairs, establishes closeness to Him, takes refuge in Him, relies on His safety and becomes spiritually sound. Indeed, the importance of the basmala is great in the life of a Muslim. A person adorns his life by saying “bismillâhirrahmânirrahîm” throughout his life and he is with Allah…
Human life gains value with it. This also has repercussions in society. In literature, art, science, trade, school, madrasah, school, calligraphy, almost every field has basmala. Muslim nations have valued this and kept the individual’s and society’s devotion to Allah alive and vibrant by this means.
The Turkish nation has also valued this since the time it accepted Islam, has carried the basmala above its head at every stage of its life, over the centuries, and has known to protect its spiritual richness by repeating it continuously. Regardless of the field of science and art, the basmala has been at the beginning of every work written. Basmala has been our richness, illuminated our face and our world of faith, connected our tongue and our body to Allah and enlightened our heart.
Our glorious Prophet declared:
“Respecting the Quran is beginning to read it by saying the Audhu Basmala, and the key to the Quran is the Basmala. “When the teacher says Basmala to the child and the child repeats it, Allahu Taala has a voucher written down lest the child and his parents and his teacher go to Hell.”
Abdullah ibn Mas’ûd said: “If you want to get rid of the nineteen angels who torment in Hell, recite the basmala! Basmala is nineteen letters.”
Three names of Allâhu ta’âlâ are mentioned in the Basmala. These are Allah, Rahmân and Rahîm. Allâhu ta’âlâ began the Qur’ân al-kerîm with these three names. Because man has three states: The world, the grave and the Hereafter. If a person worships Allâhu ta’âlâ, He makes his affairs easier in the world. He pities him in the grave and forgives his sins in the Hereafter. All these are gathered in these three names.
Every work that does not begin with the Besmele is unfruitful…
How to endear the school!
In the Ottoman Empire, children would start their first schooling with “Basmala“. However, this would start with such a beautiful and striking ceremony that children would be eager to go to school. When children were four or five years old, this ceremony was called “Bed’-i Basmala/Bed’-i Basmala Society“. Since the prayers recited during the ceremony were collectively called “âmîn”, it was also called “Âmîn Alayı“. Bed’-i Basmala means “to begin the Basmala“.
Coinciding this ceremony with the holy days of the month, especially on Mondays or Thursdays was taken great care in. The child would be taken to the tombs of the saints, especially to the tomb of Eyüp Sultan, by his/her family, with his/her newly purchased clothes, to ask for their blessings for clarity of mind and success.
Other children from the school would also participate in the ceremony. The teacher of the school would inform the students in advance and tell them to wear their best clothes for the ceremony.
On the day of the ceremony, the children would gather at the school in their clean clothes, followed by their teachers, kalfa and bevvab, the hymn singer team and shouting “Amen” at the places indicated. Children who had started school in advance and learnt hymns and had beautiful voices were taken to the front.
Meanwhile, the phaeton that would take the child away would be ready in front of the door of the house. Hangers are hung on the lanterns of the carriage, the round or square cushion made of precious fabrics such as velvet, on which the child would sit in the school, would be carried on the head of the bevvâb and in front of the carriage. In the times when the streets of Istanbul were narrow and steep, children were often taken on a pony instead of a car.
After the child was taken from the house, the people of the neighbourhood would also participate in the ceremony. The teacher would be in the front row, followed by the assistant carrying the priest, and on top of the priest would be the child’s cushion and sac.
All together as soon as they left the front of the house:
Let us repent our sins Repent, illallah, ya Allah
Have mercy on us with your grace Oh my Allah, oh my Allah
After they were said, they would be accompanied with “Amen, Amen”.
After the child, the chanting team and other children would walk. Women would walk at the back. Sometimes women who had a passion for science would carry the child on their backs at least halfway for the sake of reward. For this reason, women would even argue among themselves, “You will get the reward, I will get the reward”.
Then the hymn leader would start singing hymns in his sweet and warm voice:
Let’s start with the name Bismillâh
Let us open our hands to this prayer with the name of Bismillâh May You accept our prayer in honour of the Basmala
Grant your knowledge, O Ilâhe la-âlamîn
Help us for the sake of O Muhammad, O Mu’în Grant your knowledge, O Ilâhe la-âlamîn
After travelling along the predetermined route, the Amen procession would stop in front of the door of the child’s house. After praying for the child, his parents who sent him to school and all those on the path of knowledge, the child would enter the house…
Cushions and prayer rugs would be laid out in the living room or the biggest room of the house where the ‘Basmala’ was to be started, and incense would be burnt with oud wood. The teacher of the school would sit on a cushion in the centre of the room, and the child who would begin ‘Basmala’ would sit opposite the teacher. If there was a scholar or sheikh in the house, he would take the place of the teacher…
“I thought I was a prince!”
Firstly, the child would take out the Elifba book around his neck and put it on the priest. After the teacher recited the besmela and made the child do the same, the prayer part at the beginning of the Elifba book and a few letters would be read. Sometimes the teacher would read only the letter “elif” and after having the child repeat it, he would say, “Well done, this is our lesson for today!”. Then, the prayer “Rabbi zidnî aklen ve ilmen ve fehmen” or “Rabbi Yessir velâ tüassir Rabbi temmim bil-hayr”, which means “O Lord, increase my knowledge, wisdom and understanding”, would be repeated to the child…
After the student kissed the hands of both the teacher and the people in the room, the teacher or someone else would recite a prayer and the ceremony would be completed. If the house was not available, the ceremony could be held in the neighbourhood masjid or school.
After the Bed’-i Besmele ceremony was completed, it was time for the catering. Tables would be set and food would be served to the students attending the ceremony and those present. Sometimes only lokma dessert was served…
Bed’-i Besmele ceremonies, an indication of the importance the Ottomans attached to education, had many positive effects in terms of pedagogy.
The child would see the importance attached to science and would value his/her works in the name of science for the rest of his/her life.
The enthusiasm and desire to learn would have been instilled in both the child for whom the ceremony was organised and the children who participated in the ceremony.
This joyful ceremony used to help children overcome their fear of school. It would cause them to start reading with desire and enthusiasm. Children would socialise with their friends. These ceremonies would also give parents the love to send their children to school…
Finally, at the end of the ceremony, the child realised that he or she had acquired a new value and status both within the family and in society.
As a matter of fact, Ahmet Rasim, who is known for his anecdotes about Istanbul life, underlines these facts in a sense when he describes the school commencement ceremony in his memoirs. As follows:
“Because I was going to start school, I felt like I was moving up a step at home. Everyone’s behaviour towards me changed. A few days later, my festive dress was taken out of the chest and put on. A precious lahur shawl was tied around my waist and a fez with a gold evil eye on it was put on my head… The whole household set off. First we went to kiss the hands of my grandfather and grandmother. We stayed there that night. The next day we went to the hammam and washed until the evening. In the morning my mummy dressed me in brand new clothes again. I looked like a prince. The whole school was there. There was also a team of chanting, loving, kissing, crying, praying, you name it, there were a hundred people. They put me on a horse. We first came to my house and then to the school with hymns and amens. In the classroom, my cushion was placed. I kissed the blessed hand of my teacher, then I knelt down and sat in front of him. I learnt Elif for the first time…”
Unfortunately, this excellent tradition, which instils in our children a love of science and a sense of respect for knowledge and teachers, has been forgotten…
REFLECTION
May You accept our prayer in honour of the Basmala
Help us for the sake of Muhammad, O Mu’în
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Şimşirgil
22th March 2024
Türkiye Gazetesi