In South Asian and Middle Eastern tradition, people often ask: "Mera sitara kya hai?" The usual answer comes not from a birth date but from ilm-ul-adad — the science of letter-numbers — using your name and your mother's name.
👉 Want the answer straight away? Use our free Find Your Islamic Star calculator.
Step 1: Know the abjad values
Each Arabic letter has a traditional number, called its abjad value:
- 1–9: ا 1 · ب 2 · ج 3 · د 4 · ہ 5 · و 6 · ز 7 · ح 8 · ط 9
- 10–90: ی 10 · ک 20 · ل 30 · م 40 · ن 50 · س 60 · ع 70 · ف 80 · ص 90
- 100–1000: ق 100 · ر 200 · ش 300 · ت 400 · ث 500 · خ 600 · ذ 700 · ض 800 · ظ 900 · غ 1000
Urdu letters take the value of the Arabic letter they come from: پ = ب (2), چ = ج (3), ٹ = ت (400), ڈ = د (4), ڑ = ر (200), ژ = ز (7), گ = ک (20), ے = ی (10).
Step 2: Add up your name and your mother's name
Example: name محمد علی, mother's name فاطمہ.
- محمد = م 40 + ح 8 + م 40 + د 4 = 92
- علی = ع 70 + ل 30 + ی 10 = 110
- فاطمہ = ف 80 + ا 1 + ط 9 + م 40 + ہ 5 = 135
- Total = 92 + 110 + 135 = 337
Step 3: Divide by 12 and take the remainder
337 ÷ 12 = 28, remainder 1. (If the remainder is 0, count it as 12.)
Step 4: Match the remainder to the burj
- 1 — Hamal (حمل, Aries) · Fire
- 2 — Saur (ثور, Taurus) · Earth
- 3 — Jauza (جوزا, Gemini) · Air
- 4 — Sartan (سرطان, Cancer) · Water
- 5 — Asad (اسد, Leo) · Fire
- 6 — Sunbula (سنبلہ, Virgo) · Earth
- 7 — Mizan (میزان, Libra) · Air
- 8 — Aqrab (عقرب, Scorpio) · Water
- 9 — Qaus (قوس, Sagittarius) · Fire
- 10 — Jadi (جدی, Capricorn) · Earth
- 11 — Dalw (دلو, Aquarius) · Air
- 12 or 0 — Hoot (حوت, Pisces) · Water
So in our example, the star is Hamal (Aries), a fire sign.
Why the mother's name?
The tradition uses the mother's name because a person's mother is always certain, and because people are called by their mothers' names in many traditional practices. That is why a personalized taweez request usually asks for it.
Small differences between traditions
Practitioners differ on a few details — for example whether آ counts as 1 or 2, and how to count ھ and ء. That is why two calculators may sometimes give different results. Our calculator counts آ as 1 and ھ as 5.
Ilm-ul-adad is a traditional, cultural practice. Your burj does not decide your fate — only Allah knows the unseen. Use it as a traditional reference, and rely on Allah and on dua.
