786

I received an email and not only myself, many others would have received such kind of an email in which someone tried to prove that the numeral '786' does not refer to Bismillahir raHmanir raHeem and it is an innovation by ignorant people. Moreover he copied the 7-8-6 Numerals of Sanskrit Language then flipped/arranged them in a way that makes the symbol for Hari Krishna and said that it also spells out Hari Krishna.
 

REFUTATION TO THE BASELESS ACCUSATION

Praise be to Allah Almighty who is the Lord of the Worlds, and may Endless Blessings be showered upon His Most Beloved Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (SallaAllahu Ta'ala 'Alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sahbihi wa Baaraka wa Sallam)

Well, there are hundreds of scripts and languages in this world, take any sentence or numeric’s, write it in NON-TRADITIONAL styles, FLIP horizontally or vertically, ARRANGE it as you want and produce any rubbish as the people did. Don't they have anything better to do with their time than mess around with stupid letters and flip them whatever? Ask then to Go and do some proper research in Quran and Hadith rather than wasting their little brain's cells on imaginary letters. People use 786 to represent Bismillah as a short or to prevent disrespect when writing letters and posting.

‘786’ is indeed the numerical value of "Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem", what difference does it makes if it coincides with the numerical value of the name "Hare Karishna"? A Muslim writes 786 with the intention of "Bismillah...". It is mentioned in the first Hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari that for everyone it is their intention that matters. A person who performs Salah for the pleasure of Allah he is rewarded duly and the one who performs Salah to be noticed by people is not rewarded.
 

In the period of our beloved Prophet Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him, numerology (the knowledge of interpretation of words according to numbers) was present, as evident from the following incident.

Hadrat Abdullah Ibn Abbaas narrates, Abu Yasir Bin Akhtab, his brother Hayy Bin Akhtab and Ka'b Bin Asharaf asked Rasoolullah Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam "to swear and tell us if the Alif Laam Meem has been revealed on you as is"? Our beloved Nabi Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam replied "yes". Hayy then said "if you are truthful then your Ummah will remain for a few years, so how can we accept this religion." They pointed out that according to the knowledge of numerical value it is obvious from the letters of Alif Laam Meem that this nation will be obliterated within 71 years. Hayy asked, "is there any other word like this." The Beloved Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam replied "yes, there is Alif Laam Meem Saad." Hayy said. "this value is 161 which is more than previous". Then he asked, "is there any more?" the Beloved Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam replied "yes there is Alif Laam Raa." Hayy said "this is even more than first and the second, and we bear witness that your Ummah will only be dominant till 231 years." Then he said "is there anything else besides these?" The beloved Rasool Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam replied "yes Alif Laam Meem Raa is also revealed on me." Hayy said, "we won't believe in you because we are not sure as to which one of your words we should believe." Then Abu Yasir spoke, "we bear evidence that our Prophets have informed us that this Ummah will rule but they did not tell us for how long, so if Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam is truthful in his statement then according to my understanding Alif Laam Meem, Alif Laam Meem Saad, and Alif Laam Meem Raa all will be gathered for this Ummah." Then all the Jews got up and left by saying "your matter is doubtful to us." [Hashiya Saikh Zaadah, Tafsir al Baydawi, Vol. 1, Page 65]
 

It is clearly evident from this narration that the knowledge of Numerology was used in the discussion and the beloved Rasool was well acquainted with the subject matter, and answered questions according to their level of understanding. It also indicates that this knowledge was not hidden from Rasoolullah Sallallaho Alaihi wa Sallam However it must be noted that numbers cannot have the same significance as the actual recitation orally or in the written form of the complete Quranic words and cannot replace it.

So, To write 786 in lieu of the Bismillah is permitted. The numeral 786 represents the Abjad [letter-numeral] value of the Bismillah [Bismillaah al-Rahmaan al-Raheem]. If there is fear of disrespect for the Bismillah if written in full then it may be preferable to use the number 786 instead. Occasional use of Abjad numerals has long been current among the Ulama.
 

Following is the table of "Abjad" [letter-numeral] values:
 

Abjad letter-numerals are the letters of the Arabic alphabet given numerical values. They could thus be used in various combinations to represent any number from 1 to 1999. It is not a place-notational system, for their value does not depend upon their position relative to one another. Thus the number 652 would be represented by the letters kha', [= 600], nun [= 50], and ba' [= 2], no matter in what order the letters were arranged. The name abjad comes from the first four letters in the sequence to which values 1, 2, 3, and 4 were assigned, that is, letters, alif, ba', jim, and dal. The symbol for zero was derived from Greek astronomical and mathematical manuscripts where a symbol was often used as an abbreviation for the Greek word Ouden, meaning "nothing". The letter-numerals for numbers 1 through 50 were the same throughout the Islamic lands, but there were differences between the Western areas and the Eastern when it came to assigning letters to the remaining values, as can be seen in the following table:

Objections to using 786 in the sense of the Bismillah fall into three categories:

1. The objection that the numeral 786 does not represent the Bismillah. This is simple ignorance of abjad values. Such an objection carries no weight at all.

2. The objection that using 786 is a novelty. This is correct but so is the spread of printed matter and worldwide literacy. The Sunnah way in this regard is to find ways to curb the risks of heedlessness and disrespect to sacred things in print. The use of 786 is one such way. A better one is to write the Arabic letter Ba' to stand for the Bismillah or to write: Bismihi Ta`ala = "In his Name, Most High."

The use of abjad numerals was accepted by the Ulama of Islam East and West long ago and therefore cannot be called a bid`ah except by those constantly and/or essentially at odds with the Ummah's understanding and practice i.e. the bid`ah sects themselves. They can be exposed by their own key statements, such as "Was the verse, 'Today I completed your religion for you', revealed to the Prophet or to the so-called scholars of our age who are all bent to amend the Divine principles?"
 

3. The objection that it is potential kufr because 786 also happens to stand for the abjad value of "Hari Krishna" if Arabized as Ha'-Ra'-Ya'-Kaf-Ra'-Shin-Nun-Alif. This is a grave charge and false on many fronts or rather backsides to boot. It is ironic that this objection was published in a country that has allowed the name of their king to be engraved on the very door of the Ka`bah in full letters, yet they do not raise a peep against such an act! More importantly:

(i) False witness against fellow Muslims, chronic suspicion of fellow Muslims, and diseased pride are all among the Kaba'ir. They must be avoided at all cost and such an accusation should have never seen the light of day nor be given the time of day. Instead, it is being re-posted and circulated!

(ii) Those that levelled these false accusations of potential kufr and bid`a against Muslims should repent, as the accusations have now returned upon them. The same applies to the propagators. Allah Most High has placed the Hurma or sanctity of a Muslim too high to allow such reckless accusations to be thrown about without consequences.

(iii) The correct abjad value of Hare Krishna is NOT 786 but 776. There is no long Ya at the end of Hari but a brief vowel that does not stand for a letter. The result is:

 

NOT h-5, r-200, i-10, k-20, r-200, sh-300, n-50, a-1 = Aggregate 786

BUT h-5, r-200, k-20, r-200, sh-300, n-50, a-1 = Aggregate 776

(iv) The numeral 786 might apply to any number of names or phrases. However, it is used by Muslims only and in the Bismillah sense only. Other senses are precluded from the usage of those Muslims. A pseudo-censor comes along and claims that other senses are not precluded: such a false judge is ignoring the fundamental principles that

{Deeds Count Only According to Intentions}

and that

{The Lawful Is Crystal Clear and the Unlawful is Crystal Clear}

He has put aside half of the Shari`ah by ignoring these two principles. Who will possibly follow him except those Allah misguides?

The reverse is true also: even if 786 meant only "Bismillaah al-Rahmaan al-Raheem" and nothing else, it would still be meaningless to use it without the intention of Bismillah.
 

An Interesting Incident

An incident occured with Allama Mawlana Sayyid Shah Turab al-Haq Qadiri in Karachi. He was asked to come over in a university and deliver a lecture on the numeric values of the letters of the Arabic language.

After the lecture, there was one student making fun of Taaweez (Amulets) and the concept of numeric values. The Noble Sayyid watched him for sometime, when he finished, He went to him and said,'Son! I did not mind what you said at all, now it is my right that you do not mind what I will do next' The boy agreed that the Noble Sayyid was very polite to him.

Allama Mawlana Sayyid Shah Turab al-Haq Qadiri then said, 'You believe that these numeric values hold no importance and meaning then I would like to write a big 420 on the back of your shirt and would want you to spend the rest of the day in college like this and because it holds no meaning, no one will take notice of it nor mock you.' This point really opened the student's eye and he apologised for his mischief.

For some people, they do not understand theories or Shariah, they require practicals or call it Lesson number 11, that really puts something in their mind.
 

May Allah the Almighty, give us the opportunity (tawfiq), of learning as many sciences there are that are in connection to Islam, and may He make it a means of success for us, in this world, and the hereafter .