Jawshan Kabir

Jawshan Kabeer (Arabic: جَوْشَن ٱلْكَبِير‎) is a long Islamic prayer that contains 1001 names and attributes of God.[1] Jawshan means "steel plate" or "mail" and thus the name of the prayer refers to Muhammad’s heavy armor in battle.[1] According to Muslims, God taught the prayer to him as a protection from injuries in war, instead of hard armor.[2] The prayer was codified by Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin and mentioned in Balad al-Amin.[2][1]

History

The Islamic prophet Mohammed used hard and heavy armor during fighting in the war. Because of the tightness of his armor, his body was injured. According to Muslims, during the war, the angel Jibra'il (Gabriel) came and brought him a message from God, teaching prayer to Muhammad to protect him from bad events. Jibra'il said: "O’ Muhammad! Your God conveys his salutations to you and has said to take this coat of armor and to recite it as this is a protection for you and your Ummah."[3] The prayer became his armor to protect him against injuries.[2] The name of the prayer was taken from Muhammad’s heavy armor (Jawshan) in the battle.[1]

Text

The context of the prayer was written by Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin and came to him from his great grandfather Muhammad by word of mouth. Afterwards, a narrator and faqih of Shia Islam, Ibrahim ibn Ali A’meli Kafa’mi, mentioned the Jawshan Kabir context in book Balad al-Amin.[1]

The Jawshan Kabir prayer contains 100 parts. 25 of these parts start with I entreat You by Your Name. Names of God are recited after the phrase. In all, the supplication comprises 250 names of Allah and 750 attributes of Allah and request from Allah. For this reason, the Jawshan Kabir prayer is known as Ism-e-A’ẓam, i.e., the greatest name (of God). A same phrase is repeated at the end of each part. The meaning of this sentence is "Praise be to Thee, there is no God but Thee, The Granter of all Succor (Mercy!, Mercy!), Protect us from the Fire, O Lord."[4][1][2]

Part of the Jawshan Kabir Prayer
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّی أَسْأَلُکَ بِاسْمِکَ یَا حَنَّانُ یَا مَنَّانُ یَا دَیَّانُ یَا بُرْهَانُ یَا سُلْطَانُ یَا رِضْوَانُ یَا غُفْرَانُ یَا سُبْحَانُ یَا مُسْتَعَانُ یَا ذَا الْمَنِّ وَ الْبَیَانِ
سُبْحانَكَ يا لا اِلهَ اِلاّ اَنْتَ الْغَوْثَ الْغَوْثَ خَلِّصْنا مِنَ النّارِ يا رَبِّ[5]

English translation of the part is:

I entreat You by Your Names:

O the All-Kind and Caring, (Who manifests Himself with His Mercy and is inclined (even) toward those who turn away from Him,)
O the All-Bounteous and Favorng,
O the Supreme Ruler and All-Requiting (of good and evil),
O the All-Forgiving and Demonstrating,
O the All-Proving and Demonstrating,
O the Absolute, Eternal Authority,
O the All-Glorified, Who is absolutely free from all deficiencies and imperfections and from doing anything wrong or in vain,
O He Whose help is always sought,
O the Owner of all bounty and goodness and eternal exposition, (Who nourishes his creature with His infinite blessings, and who communication His decrees to all His creatures in the most perfectly eloquent way,)
O He Whose protection is sufficient against all fear and danger,

All-Glorified are You; there is no deity but You! Mercy! Mercy! Save us from the Fire![1]

Recitation

Muslims often read the Jawshan kabir in Laylat al-Qadr in Ramadan but some Hadiths recommend reading it at the beginning of Ramadan.[2] Imam Ali said to his son, Husayn ibn Ali, to memorize and write this supplication on his kafan (burial shroud).[2] Also, there are several hadiths from the prophet Muhammad that state that whoever recites this prayer will receive rewards in the world and Akhirah. Abbas Qumi wrote the prayer in his book Mafatih al-Janan.[1][2]

Writing

According to the book of Urwath al-Wutha of Mohammed Kazem Yazdi, writing Dua Jawshan Kabir (as well as writing the whole of Quran and Du'a Jawshan Sagheer) on the shroud is deemed as a Mustahab practice;[6] it has also been mentioned through Husayn ibn Ali that it is permissible to write Jawshan Kabir and Jawshan Saqeer on the shroud, but, in order not to be Najis, it is better not to write on the parallel or lower of Awrah.[7]

See also

References
  1. Said Nursi (21 April 2014). al-Jawashan al-Kabir. Işık Yayıncılık Ticaret. ISBN 978-1-59784-642-4.
  2. "Importance of Joshnkabir" (PDF). Duas.org.
  3. Ali Kose; Hakan Yesilova (2006). Al-Jawshan Al-Kabir. Tughra Books. ISBN 978-1-932099-98-0.
  4. Kamalkhani (28 October 2013). Womens Islam. Routledge. pp. 18–. ISBN 978-1-136-17379-0.
  5. "The Text of Jawshan Kabir". www.erfan.ir, The official website of professor Hossein Ansarian.
  6. Yazdi, Urwat al-Wuthqa, Vol. 2, P.76
  7. Lawame' Sahebqerani, Vol. 2, P.230
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