The Name Al-Rahman and Its Significance in the Quran

The name Al-Rahman as explained here is most meaningful when interpreted as the Almighty, forming a clear Yang/Yin relationship with the name Al-Raheem, the All-Merciful. It is mentioned 57 times in Quran, in 56 ayat (because one aya contains 2 mentions) in 18 suras. This subject is so vast it needs multiple posts, but here I will try to convey the Quranic significance of the name to begin with.

Everything in the Basmalah is important, far more than most of those who analyze Quranic structure think. But the name Al-Rahman is particularly so, and also not well-understood, or at least the translations and a number of presumptions do not take into account all the indicators of its depth of meaning. Here we list some important indicators of that meaning.

We Are Worshipers by Nature

Previously I asked the question “What Is Worship of Allah?” But because people worship many things, it’s important to define worship itself, a word which in English is given rather vague and circular meanings. According to the Quran, we are all worshipers, in the sense that Allah did not create humankind except to worship Him. The whole point of our existence is supposed to be worship, which in Arabic is ‘abud. Of course there are many people who do not worship God at all, and thus are not fulfilling their actual purpose, but they may not realize they are worshiping something. So what then does “worship” actually mean or entail? Interestingly, a novelist raised as an atheist who as a child used to secretly pray to God, gave a famously popular commencement speech which makes the very same point we find in the Quran, that we are all created to worship. We can choose what or whom to worship, but cannot choose to not worship – to think so is to be deluded.

Du’as for Accepting Repentance

There are many du’as for forgiveness, which is in many ways similar or a part of asking for Allah to accept one’s repentance, but there is a distinction. Repentance is especially required in the event of major sin or transgression. Often this involves repeated bad behavior or an attitude that leads to oppressing others. But it can also be for any kind of transgression, even done out of ignorance. The first example of this is that of Adam/Eve (Eve is not named in the Quran but I use it here to avoid confusion since that is commonly used to refer to her even in Arabic, as Hawa’.) And since Ramadan is the month associated with repentance, this is a good way to begin our examples of du’as.

Why Is There No Basmalah on Surah 9 Al-Tawba (Repentance)?

The Basmalah precedes every surah except Al-Tawba, “Repentance,” for a profound reason, not just as a “fluke” confusing the two adjacent suras, Al-Tawba (9) with Al-Anfaal (8). In fact, we can understand the reason for the missing Basmalah from the surah that follows it, Yunus (Jonah). First, note that the Basmalah is the featured dhikr in the Quran, highlighting that the Quran is directly from Allah the Most High, and it shows the dynamic nature of our Creator as Almighty, All-Merciful, the ultimate authority and ultimate source of comfort, meaning, and security. Without knowledge of and faith in Him, our lives would be random and meaningless. Are we seriously satisfied to think that after we die, all that’s left is our bodies which disintegrate and everything we thought or believed or did or felt is for no reason? Do we seriously see truth and beauty in the concept, tossed around these days to “make sense of it all,” that we “become stardust?” So the Basmalah encapsules that which gives meaning and value to existence: Allah the Almighty All-Merciful. Rejecting this in effect dissociates us from Him. And the first word in Al-Tawba is “dissociated.” From which the only way out is tawba, repentance.