The Jargon of Hamdalah-Salwalah: The Best Beginnings as the Means of Competence in Writing (Barā‘at al-Istihlāl)

Abstract

It is considered more significant in Muslim societies to commence a manuscript with hamdalah and salwalah than to endow it with a name. Hence, hamdalah and salwalah are found in manuscripts, most of which either do not possess the author’s name or were not named by their authors at all. However, hamdalahs and salwalahs signify/point to some things in addition to their given meaning. For instance, some authors, beginning their work with basmalah, hamdalah and salwalah, employ a literary art known as Berāet al-Istihlāl. This provides the reader with clues to the content of the work indirectly by means of using the literal meanings of a myriad of terms regarding the manuscript along with the specific terminology included in that manuscript. The clues pointed to by Berāet al-Istihlāl stand as one of seven things; these are the discipline-related terminology included in the manuscript, sometimes the name of the work to which the Dîbâce belongs, the name of the source text, the names of reference books in the text, the names of other works penned by the author, the name of the discipline, and ideological discussions.