Bismillah: why we say it first
We say Bismillah before we start anything, and if we forget, we say it as soon as we remember.
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بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ Bismillah In the name of Allah
If you forget Bismillah and remember halfway through بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ أَوَّلَهُ وَآخِرَهُ Bismillahi awwalahu wa akhirahu In the name of Allah, at its beginning and its end
The story
Yusuf is so hungry that he rushes breakfast and everything goes wrong: pancake on the floor, juice everywhere, a sticky sleeve. Mama and Maryam explain that Bismillah is not a magic word but a way of remembering Allah and asking Him to put barakah in what we do, and Baba teaches what to say when you forget.
What your child learned
- We say Bismillah before we eat, drink, or start anything.
- Bismillah is not magic. It means we remember Allah and ask Him to put barakah, goodness, in what we do.
- Things can still go wrong after Bismillah, and that is fine. What matters is that we remembered Allah.
- If we forget, we say Bismillahi awwalahu wa akhirahu as soon as we remember. It is never too late.
Talk about it at dinner
- What did Yusuf forget before his pancake? What happened next?
- Is Bismillah a magic word? What does it really mean?
- What can we say if we forget Bismillah and only remember in the middle?
Try this week
Say Bismillah together before every meal this week, and let your child be the one who says it first. If someone forgets, anyone at the table may gently say the "if you forget" dua.
Print and do
The free pack for this episode: a colouring page of the scene, the fridge cards with the phrase, and Raiha's sticker chart for the habit of the week. Three pages, as a PDF to print at home.
Download A4 (810 KB) US Letter
More to print from the same art, including the colouring book and the phrase posters, is in the shop.
Where it comes from
The teaching in this episode rests on these sources. The links open quran.com and sunnah.com, where you can read each one in Arabic and English.
- Saying Bismillah before eating: Sahih al-Bukhari 5376
- What to say if you forget: Abu Dawud 3767
- The same dua: Tirmidhi 1858
In this episode
- 0:00 Welcome
- 0:03 Pancake trouble
- 0:46 What Bismillah means
- 2:08 Yusuf practises
- 3:03 If you forget
- 3:39 The Bismillah song
- 4:15 Goodbye
From the same episode
- Bismillah and Alhamdulillah! Two Episodes, a longer sitting (from Sunday 8 November).
- Bismillah, Alhamdulillah and Salam! Three Episodes, a longer sitting (from Sunday 15 November).
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