Why Muslim Believe In 786 (2024)

Believe In 786

Especially among the Muslims living in the South East Asia like Pakistan, India and Myanmar, there is a common practice of writing '786' while starting anything in written. They too mention this number in their sign boards and other documents. It is believed that this number depicts the total numerological value of the Quranic expression "Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim".

Arrange the letters

The Arabic letters are arranged in two ways. The most common method arranges them in the alphabetical order like Alif, ba, ta, tha etc. The other method also called as the Abjad method has assigned an arithmetic value to each of the alphabets starting from one to thousand. In this way, the letters are arranged as Abjad, Hawwaz, Hutti, Kalaman, Sa'fas, Qarshat, Sakhaz, Zazagh. This arrangement followed the method of the other Semitic languages like Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac and Chaldean.

Bismillah

The Abjad method of numerals gained immense popularity among the Muslims living in India and Pakistan. Taking together the numeric values of the letters of the word 'Bismillah', we arrive at the total 786. Therefore, some Muslims in Pakistan and India use the number 786 as a substitute to Bismillah meaning Allah. This method is followed in order to avoid writing the holy name on ordinary papers.

Abbasid period

It needs to be noted that this tradition started much later during the Abbasid period and not during the times of the Prophet. We do not find the practice of using this number as a substitute for the term Bismillah among the Imams and Jurists. Some devout and orthodox Muslims do not support this practice and even condemn it vehemently stating that some numerals can never equate the Holy name of Allah.

Statement of Quran

It is also said that the Quran or the Sunnah does not approve of using this number and therefore this practice goes against the teachings of Islam and those of the prophet. While it is used as an abbreviation of the opening statement of Quran 'bism illāh ir-raḥmān ir-raḥīm' meaning 'In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful', it is argued that converting this lofty expression into numerals is rather an absurd practice.

Holy name of Allah

Islam is very strict with regard to permitting innovations in religion. The verses of the Quran and the holy names of Allah are deemed with great veneration and respect. The forbidden practices and those acts that go against of the injunctions of Islam are called Biddah and the devout Muslims claim that trying to denote the holy name of Allah through numerals in an abbreviated form amounts to Biddah.

Lucky Number

The number 786 is deemed highly lucky among several circles. Therefore, the vehicle numbers featuring this number are in great demand and a good number of them are willing to pay huge extra cost to get those numbers. While a considerable Muslim population attaches a great importance to the number 786, the practice of depicting Allah's name in this way is rather not approved of in several conservative Muslim circles. Thus, this number is received with varying responses among different Muslim communities.

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