What is a Ramazan Ilahi and What Does it Mean? When are Ramazan Ilahis Read or Sung? Which Ilahis are Recited in Ramazan? A Vanishing Tradition: Ramazan Ilahis…
A Ramazan ilahi is a supplication recited communally with the congregation between every four rak’ahs of the Tarawih prayer in mosques and lodges (tekkes).
RAMAZAN ILAHIS
When beginning the Tarawih prayer, the following supplication is recited: “SubhanAllah wa al-Hamdu lillahi wa la ilaha illa Allahu wallahu Akbar; and la hawla wa la quwwata illa bi’llahi al-‘Aliyyi al-‘Azim.”
As the practice of performing Tarawih prayer with ilahis is fading, the collective salat-i ummiyya (Universal Prayer) is recited between rak’ahs and repeated three times after the last four rak’ahs.
The text of the salat-i ummiyya is as follows: “Allahumma salli ala sayyidina Muhammadin al-nabiyyi al-ummiyyi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim.”
Sometimes, instead of the salat-i ummiyya, a verse such as “Allahumma salli ale’l-Mustafa / Badiu’l-jamali wa bahri al-wifa” is recited.
There are also Arabic supplications (known as shughul) specifically arranged for Ramazan. An example of these is: “Assalamu aleika ya shahra al-lutfi wal-ihsan / Assalamu aleika ya shahra an-nuri wal-iman // Anta shahrun azimun unzila fihil-Qur’an / Anta dayfun karimun wu‘ida fihil-ghufran.”
The couplets of the ilahis recited during the first ten nights of Ramazan often begin with lines such as “Marhaba ya shahri ramazan / Hos geldiniz ya shahri magfiret ve’l-ghufran / Ya shahri nuzul-i sure” or similar couplets and distichs are repeated in the intervals between or at the ends of the verses. During the second ten nights, supplications for mercy and compassion from Allah are made in honor of this month, and during the last ten nights, lines such as “Alveda ya shahri ramazan / Alveda shahri saadet alveda” are included.
A small number of Turkish tasbihs (dhikr) also carry a Ramazan ilahi identity. The supplication “Hamd u minnettir sana ey halik-i musta’an / Murde dilleri ihyâ kıldı shahri ramazan” is recorded in collections as a tasbih.
The couplets of Ramazan ilahis are generally attributed to mystics (Sufis) such as Üftade, Aziz Mahmud Hüdâyî, Bursalı İsmâil Hakkı, and Erzurumlu İbrâhim Hakkı. The melodies were composed mostly by classical Turkish music composers who were members of lodges.