Tasbih

Tasbih of Silver

Tasbih (تسبيح) is a form of dhikr that involves the repetitive utterances of short sentences glorifying God, in Islam. To keep track of counting either the phalanges of the right hand or a misbaha is used. The tasbih is similar to the komboskini of the Eastern Church and the rosary in the Roman Catholic Church.

Etymology

A misbaha, a device used for counting tasbih

The term tasbih is an irregular derivation from subhan, which is the first word of the constitutive sentence of the first third of the canonical form (see below) of tasbih. The word literally means, as a verb, "to travel swiftly" and as a noun, "duties" or "occupation." However, in the devotional context tasbih means to say, Subhana Allah, which is often used in the Qur'an with the preposition 'an (عن) with the meaning, "'God is [de]void' [of what they (polytheists) attribute to Him]", for example (Al-Tawba: 31, Al-Zumar 67, et. al). Without this preposition it means something like "Glory be to God."

Canonical form "Tasbih of Fatima"

In order:

1. Allahu akbar (الله أكبر) (God is the Greatest) – repeated 34 times.
2. Alhamdulillah (الحمد لله) (Praise be to God) – repeated 33 times.
3. Subhan'Allah (سبحان الله) (Glory be to God) – repeated 33 times.

Made of

"Tasbih" are most commonly made of various stones or wooden bead, but also of olive seeds, ivory, amber, pearls or plastic. Stone beads (mineral and animal based) are made of; carnelian, amber, tortoiseshell, glass, meerschaum, ivory, pearl, coral, coconut, pebble, mother of-pearl, jade, rhino horn, etc. whereas wooden beads are made of; ebony, agalloch, rosewood, olive wood, etc. Besides 99 beads, tasbih also consists of: the "nisane", a disc which separates each 33 beads, the "pul", a small bead that marks the seventh position, the "tassel", which is a long piece marking the beginning of the string, and the "tepelik" at the top of the tassel. In 33 bead tasbih, "nisane" separates 11 beads and there is no "pul". its 33 34 33

See also

• Dhikr
• Prayer rope