I haven’t blogged in a bit, so I missed out on wishing all my Muslim friends RAMADAN KAREEM!! This post is in honour of all my Muslim friends whose quiet dedication and kindness continue to inspire and challenge me to serve God diligently and love Jesus more. I pray, my friends, that your sacrifice of love will not be forgotten and that you find guidance and the understanding you need for its application.:) This post is especially dedicated to my friend Rasheedah a.k.a Arachnida, whose constant use of the phrase “Alhamdulilah!” made me curious enough to look it up. I’m glad I did because I got a schooling in Arabic from wikipedia (the fastest teacher. Lol), and the meaning reflects the centrality of our love for God in both the Christian and Muslim faiths.

Alhamdulillah is an Arabic phrase meaning “Praise to God”. It is commonly used by Arabic-speakers of all religions, including Christianity and Judaism, and frequently by Muslims due to the centrality of this specific phrase within the texts of the Qur’an and the words of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It is similar to the Hebrew word Hallelujah (‘God be praised’).

The phrase has three basic parts:
Al – The definite article, “the.”
Ḥamdu – Meaning the “feeling of gratitude”, as opposed to Shukr, “words of gratitude.”
Li-l-lāh – preposition + noun Allah. Li- is a preposition meaning “for,” “belonging to,” etc.

Note: (1) The word “Allah” is the fusion of the article al (the) and the word ilah (a god, deity). Very much like in English, “The” article is used here to single out the noun as being the only one of its kind, “The god” (the one and only) or “God” with a capital G (the concept of capital letters does not exist in Arabic). Therefore, “Allah” is the Arabic word for “God”. (2) “ilāh” is the Arabic cognate of the ancient Semitic name for God, El.

It also means that anything in existence to which is ascribed praise, thanks, glorification, or gratitude, is only able to achieve it due to God’s infinite mercy and grace.
Alhamdulillah: in theory, it is to be said with a profound sense of love, adoration, and awe of the power, glory, and mercy of God.

It not only praises God in general for the above-mentioned qualities, but also seeks to praise Him specifically for those attributes of God’s names in Islam, which God did not necessarily have as omnipotent (such as all-seeing, all-hearing), but rather chose to have out of His mercy (the Loving (Al-Wadud), the Beneficent (Ar-Rahman)) and showering Grace upon His servants.
Some of the 99 Names of God in Islam, referred to by this idea are:

Al-Wadud (the Loving)
Ar-Rahman (The Beneficent)
Ar-Raheem (The Merciful)
Al-Kareem (The Generous)
Al Ghafur (The Forgiving)
As-Salaam (The Peace)
Al-Mumīt (The Destroyer)

The English translation of the meaning of “Alhamdulillah” is: Muhammad Asad:

“All praise is due to God alone.”

(Wiki for the info)