means to kneel down or to make a camel kneel down so that it is firmly in place. The word’s other meaning is to bless or to invoke blessing. In this latter meaning barakah and its derivatives are used 32 times in the Qur’ān, either as a noun or as a verb. In the Qur’ān this word is overwhelmingly used for spiritual and immaterial prosperity. The following five meanings are narrated by eminent lexicographers:
a.Growth, increase and advancement, especially in crops and cultivation (al-Aʿrāf 7: 96)
b.Dignity, exaltation and high status
c.Permanence and continuity of blessings, as in Sūrah Hūd 11: 73 for household of the Prophet Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him)
d.The increase and upsurge in goodness and benevolence (al-Isrā’ 17: 1)
e.Auspiciousness and prosperity.
Words from the Same Root
Barakāt, the plural of Barakah, is widely used to denote that something is endowed with Allah’s blessings. “If the people of the towns had but believed and feared Allah, We would indeed have opened out to them (all kinds of) blessings” (al-Aʿrāf 7: 96). It is also used for the tidings of grace and blessings given by angels to the household of the Prophet Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) (Hūd 11: 73). This prayer of blessing for the Prophet (peace be upon him) is recited in Tashahhud and Ṣalāt.
The word Bāraknā (We have blessed) is used to convey the meaning that Allah, the Almighty, has showered His benediction on Bayt al-Maqdis and its precincts and consecrated it (al-Isrā’ 17: 1). This word is used in several other sūrahs in this meaning.
Mubārak means a thing that is full of blessings and goodness. The Qur’ān is called Mubārak in several verses so is Laylat al-Qadr. This indicates that all five meanings mentioned above are embodied in this blessed Book and night.
The blessings from Allah are not perceivable and cannot be felt. They are manifested by different means, such as an increase in goodness. This is called Barakah (pl. Barakāt).
Tabāraka denotes that Allah is the Blessed One and He is the one Who bestows benediction and goodness (al-Mulk 67: 1; al-Furqān 25: 1, 10 and 61 and many other places as well).
References
Barakah: 7: 137; 17: 1; 25: 61; 41: 10; 67: 1.
Barzakh [
Meaning
According to Imām al-Rāghib, the word barzakh came into Arabic from the Persian word pardah (barzah) which mean a barrier. The literal meaning of Barzakh is interval, gap, break, as well as partition, barrier or obstruction. It is used in the sense of barrier in Sūrah al-Raḥmān: “The two bodies of flowing water meeting together: between them is a barrier which they do not transgress.” (al-Raḥmān 55: 19–20); there is a similar reference in Sūrah al-Furqān (25: 53).
As a key concept the word barzakh means an interval or a break between individual death and resurrection. At present there is a barrier between the deceased and the living. This barrier prevents the dead returning to this world; thus they will stay on the other side of it until the Day of Judgement (al-Mu’minūn 23: 100).
Analysis
According to the Qur’ān and aḥādīth, the period of stay in the barzakh will give the foretaste of the things to follow. Conversations between the angels and the person approaching death as recorded in the Qur’ān give a vivid description of what happens in barzakh (al-Naḥl 16: 28–29). Those who went through their lives in transgression and wrongdoing will face torments in barzakh. We are told “The people of the Pharaoh are exposed to fire every morning and evening” (Ghāfir 40: 46). In contrast those who lived and died for the cause of truth, like the person mentioned in Sūrah Yā Sīn who was martyred while he was pleading with his people to obey the Prophets, will be rewarded and honoured (36: 26). The pleasure and pain which one will experience in barzakh will be real in the sense that one will feel in full consciousness.
References
Barzakh: 23: 100; 25: 53; 55: 20.
Bāṭil [
Meanings
The root of Bāṭil is BṬL meaning to be or to become null and void, invalid, false, vain, futile, ineffective, worthless and obsolete. Hence Bāṭil means something baseless, a lie, falsehood or deception. Its opposite is Ḥaqq which means truth, correctness and rightness.
The word bāṭil is used with several different shades of meaning in the Qur’ān:
a.Falsehood as against truth (al-Baqarah 2: 42; Āl ʿImrān 3: 71)
b.Illegal acts such as the misappropriation of goods and property belonging to others (al-Baqarah 2: 188; al-Nisā’ 4: 29 and 161; al-Tawbah 9: 34)
c.False deities whom some people believe in and invoke for help (al-ʿAnkabūt 29: 52 and 67; Luqmān 31: 30)
d.Worthless and futile religion which is destined to be destroyed and annihilated by the force of truth (al-Isrā’ 17: 81; Sabā’ 34: 49)
e.Purposeless and fruitless exercise (Āl ʿImrān 3: 196; Ṣād 38: 27).
Analysis
There are forces of evil that try to overcome the truth by misleading people and alluring them to falsehood and untruth. These can assume the forms of gods and goddesses or false ideologies or ways of life. The Qur’ān emphasizes that falsehood cannot succeed against the truth. Allah will make the truth triumph over falsehood “as falsehood by its nature is bound to perish” (al-Isrā’ 17: 81). It may be possible for truth to be suppressed for a time and falsehood may seem to be prevailing but this would be a temporary situation as truth will always come back and restore the balance whereas falsehood is bound to perish.
The other thing to note is that the pure falsehood will never succeed and hence falsehood carries with it some grains of truth to enable it to prevail for a short time. There are many systems and isms prevalent in the world; despite their defective and false premises they prevail as they include some elements of goodness. But in the end they are destroyed as the Qur’ān says: “Nay, We hurl the Truth against falsehood, and it knocks out its brain, and behold, falsehood does perish” (al-Anbiyā’ 21: 18).
References
Bāṭil: 2: 42; 9: 34; 31: 30; 34: 49; 38: 27.
See also Ḥaqq
Bayʿah | 33
Bayʿah [
