The SEBHA's History

The daily prayer ritual is the most conspicuous outward manifestation of the spiritual life of Moslems . Tasbih is an order contained in the Holly Koran.

It is in the literature of the mystics and in the popular prayer-manuals called Azkar & Awrad that we learn what is “praying without ceasing.” To reach that ecstasy is the goal of the mystic; to multiply and facilitate the meditations that lead to it, we use a rosary “The Sebha”.

The proper name for the rosary in Islam is Sebha. It is derived from sabbaha, (to give praise); that is, to declare God free from every imperfection or impurity or from anything derogatory of His glory. The word was first used for the performance of supererogatory prayer and then, in post-classical literature, applied to the rosary used for this purpose.

The simplest and perhaps earliest form of the rosary in Islam was a string having ninety-nine shells or beads with a marker after each thirty-three, with which, by counting them, one performs the act termed al-tasb ih, i.e. the repetition of the praises of God. This generally consists in saying subhan Allah thirty-three times, al-hamdu-lillahi thirty-three times, and Allahu-akbar thirty-three times.

Nowadays the Sebha” is used by all classes of Muslims and in all lands. There is evidence, however, that its use was an innovation introduced centuries after Mohammed (sala Allah allayh wa salam), by Sufi circles and among the lower classes. Opposition against the use of the rosary made itself heard as late as the fifteenth century A . D . The rosary was taken as one of the strange new practices (Bidaa) in Islam which should not be countenanced. A special box is made where it is kept; a salary is fixed for some one to guard and keep it, and for those who use it for dhikr. . . . A special Sheikh is appointed for it, with the title of Sheikh al-Subha. To them it was bid‘a, that is, an innovation without foundation in the old Islamic sunna

These innovations are quite modern. It is the duty of the Imam of the mosque to suppress such customs, as it is in his power to do so. The rosary was not generally adopted until after the third century of the Hegira. The Sebha“was common only among the inferior classes and had no place among the learned at that time. When a rosary was found in the possession of a certain pious saint, Abu-l-Qasim al-Junaid, who died in 297 of the Hegira, they attacked him for using it, although he belonged to the best society. ‘I cannot give up,’ said he, ‘a thing that serves to bring me nearer to God.’

This tradition furnishes us with rare facts, since it shows us on one hand, that in the social sphere the use of the sebha was common even among the higher classes. But like a great many things that were not tolerated at the beginning under religious forms, the rosary introduced itself from private religious life to the very heart of the mosques. A. J. Wensinck states that the rosary is mentioned as early as the year A . D . 800, and seems to agree with Goldziher that its use came from India to western Asia ; yet both of these Orientalists quote traditions mentioning the earlier use of small stones, date-kernels, etc., in counting the eulogies of the Moslem prayer-ritual.

The use of small stones in the litanies was, it seems, an original form of the sebha, very much like the later use of the rosary. It is said of Abu Huraira that he recited the tasbih in his house by the aid of small stones which he kept in a purse (yusabbih biha). “It must have been at some very remote period that the circlet of jewels was introduced as a means of promoting meditation and registering meritorious religious acts.”

Whether the use of the rosary in Islam was borrowed or arose spontaneously, there is no doubt that it soon took a strong hold on the common people, from Morocco to China. There are a number of traditions, rightly or wrongly attributed to Mohammed (sala Allah allayh wa salam) , regarding the blessing of “remembering God,” i.e. His names and attributes. A man said, “O Prophet of God, really the rules of Islam are many—tell me a thing by which I may lay hold of rewards.” The Prophet said, “Let your tongue be always moist in the remembrance of God.”

Another tradition reads: “Verily, there are ninety-nine names of God: whosoever counts them up shall enter into Paradise .” All these traditions are given in the standard collections in the section called Dhikr. This religious ceremony or act of devotion called dhikr (zikr) is practised by all the various religious orders or brotherhoods in Islam.

The dhikr is either recited aloud (jali) or with a low voice or mentally (khafi). The former is more common. The worshipper either recites the ninety-nine attributes of God or certain expressions from the Koran, such as: God is great, Praise be to God, Majesty belongs to God, etc. In every case the rosary is used to keep tally of the endless repetition. There are a number of devotional manuals, of a high spiritual order, that deal with this remembrancing of God’s names.

Al Ghazali entitled one of his best-known books Al-Maqsad-al-asma sharh asmaa Allah al husna, to explaine and understand God’s attributes and names.”

The threefold division of the rosary corresponds to the usual threefold division of the ninety-nine names, i.e. those referring to God’s power, His wisdom, and His mercy. In the development of the Sufi ritual among the various orders we soon find extremists. The ordinary rosary did not suffice for their multiplied ejaculations and prayers. So they invented a rosary of one thousand beads, called alf iya. This is widely used in Egypt and the Sudan.

According to the teaching of ‘Abd al-Q adir Al-J ilani, the founder of the Qadiri Order, some of the names of God have special colours. “There are mainly seven names of Allah which the Muslims pronounce when performing the Zikr,—

“1. La ill aha ill’ Allah. (There is no god but Allah.) Its light is blue, and it must be recited 100,000 times, and has its own peculiar prayer.

“2. Allah, called the Ism-IlJalala, or beauteous name. Its light is yellow; it must be recited 78,586 times, and has its peculiar prayer. He says that after reciting it that number of times, he himself saw its light.

“3. Hua. (The name He.) Its light is red, and its number 44,630, and it has its peculiar prayer.

“4. Al-Hayy. (Name of the Eternal.) Its light is white, and its number 20,092.

“5. ALWahid. (The one God.) Its light is green, and its number 93,420

“6. AL‘Az iz. (The dear or precious God.) Its light is black and its number 74,644.

“7. AlWadud. (The loving God.) It has no light, and its number is 30,202.

” 8 The totals of such repetitions (in this case 441,574, different ejaculations) surely require a rosary of a ten thousand beads to keep tally.

Edward Westermarck, in his book on Ritual and Belief in Morocco, tells of the baraka, holiness or blessed virtue, that resides in sacred places, trees, persons, garments and other objects, but especially in the rosary. Baraka is a quality that not only exists but can be transmitted by touch, rubbing, effusion, etc. It is induced in the person, place or object by some special devotion or prayer or miracle of grace, and then abides as a sign of God’s favor. Westermarck has filled three chapters with evidence of the wide prevalence of this idea of baraka, its manifold manifestations, and its extreme sensitiveness; i.e. it is easily lost by contact with the impure and the unholy.

Now it is self-evident, by the laws of baraka, that constant prayer brings baraka into the rosary of a devout Moslem.

The form and material of the rosary vary. The most common form is that having ninety-nine beads, separated into three divisions of thirty-three beads, each with a longer bead or pointer along with a number of counters, usually two, one for the hundreds and the other one for the thousand.

There is, however, another variety less commonly used with two hundred and one pellets or beads to correspond to the two hundred and one names given to Mohammed the Prophet. (sala Allah allayh wa salam) .

Then we have the shorter rosary of thirty-three beads, The two ends of the string, made of gold thread, cotton or silk, in nearly every case are passed through two small ornamental beads, and then through a fusiform tube of the same size and material as the rosary beads, terminating in a knot or tassel, black, red, or green in color. The material used consists of date-stones or other hard seeds, shells, jet, olive wood, Indian balsam, ivory, mother-of-pearl, horn, bone, agate, chalcedony, amber (very seldom metal) or precious stones.

The intrinsic value is not as important as the religious value; the latter depends rather on the place of origin or manufacture. Rosaries from Mecca , Medina , Kerbela , Najaf and other shrines are greatly prized. The same is true when the rosary has been used by a saint or weli.

The Sebhas are used by the Turks, Egyptians and Arabs . While not in use; they are carried in the pocket. “It contains only thirty-three beads. This does not mean that it is not a Moslem rosary, for you see many rosaries in the hands of Turkish Moslems containing only thirty-three beads. In order to complete the circuit of the ninety-nine names , they count it over three times.”

One of the rarest specimens in the Patton collection is an alfiyah from Constantinople. It is a Naqshabandi darvish sebha of very small beads of olive wood, nine hundred and ninety-nine in number, divided into nine sections of one hundred each, and one of ninety-nine, by means of elongated beads. There is the usual parent-bead (or minaret), to which is attached a counter string of ten beads. The unique features are this counter and the smallness of the beads. This rosary is so delicate that it can be slipped into a vest pocket, and by means of the counter-string the user can keep tally of ten thousand petitions.

Another specimen from Turkey has two small discs, setting off the first ten and the last ten beads, for the purpose of registering the completion of the rounds of the rosary, by the loose rings on the divisional beads and the terminal bead. The word sebha (the Arabic word used for rosary) in the Habit (Prophet's sayings) means 'voluntary prayer'.

According to Rifaat Abdel- Azim, general-director of the Islamic Art Museum "the beads of the rosary are shaped in a circle symbolizing the infinity of God. A minaret completes the circle of beads. Rosaries used to be made from perforated pebbles and date pits. Then materials became more diverse and the beads were made from burned clay, precious stones and metals." The word "rosary" is derived from the Latin rosarium which denotes a religious exercise in which prayers are recited and counted on a string of beads or a knotted cord. And while in our minds rosaries are perceived as a facet of the Muslim faith, the practice itself is widespread: Jews, Christians and Muslims all use rosaries, as do other members of other philosophies and faiths such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

The word sibha or masbaha in the Arabic language is derived from subhana allah (God be praised). According to DR. Ali Gom'a Mohamed, professor of fiqh (Jurisprudence in Islam) at Al-Azhar University, the number of beads in the Muslim rosary varies: there is a 33- bead rosary which requires three turns around the circle of beads. Each bead represents one of the names of God mentioned in the Qur'an, the total of which is 99. Another is divided into three parts, each made up of 33 beads which is used at the end of each of the five daily prayers.

A rosary is not only a religious object with a history but, it is, an ancient craft struggling to survive.