حمد
ḥamada
To praise God and thank Him for all His deeds.
What it means
Ḥamada is the verb of praise offered to God, joined with gratitude for what He has done. It is at the center of the believer’s speech. The Quran opens with it in the Fātiḥa: “Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds” (1:2). Surah 17 says that all creation praises Him: “The seven heavens and the earth and all within them glorify Him” (17:44).
The Prophet’s own name Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the name Aḥmad come from this root, meaning one much praised, and one who praises most. A believer says al-ḥamdu lillāh on rising, eating, and after sneezing, and the listener replies yarḥamuka Allāh, “God have mercy on you” (Sahih al-Bukhari). The Prophet is also reported to have taught that the praise of God fills the scale on the Day of Judgment, in a hadith in Sahih Muslim.
Often misunderstood as
Translated “to praise” alone, which leaves out the thanks for specific deeds that Faruqi includes.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 30, listed as ḤAMADA. The definition is restated here.