"However, Praise Be to God:" Contentedness, Submission, and Care in Hardship

This paper thinks through some of my preliminary observations in a new project on elderly care among Muslims in Beirut. It examines the work that the expression "bass, al-hamdulillah" (however, praise be to God) does in the lives of elders when uttered after a narration of hardship, and not, for example, as an automatic answer to "how are you?" —that is, when God is an intentional (super)addressee. Al-hamdulillah instills God-awareness, developing contentedness in the midst of suffering. With its focus on the here and now, rather than the future or the afterlife, it directs focus to God's gentle care in hardship. It also indexes the way certain hardships, like the economic collapse in Lebanon since 2019, have come to be perceived and lived.