Surat Al-Fâtiha

Introduction

Surat Al-Fâtiha consists of 07 verses, 25 words and123 letters.

I. Its names[1]

- Al-Fâtiha (the Opening).

-Es-Sabû- al-Mathâni (the Seven Oft Repeated).

- Umul-Kitab (the Mother of the Book).

- Al-Hamd (Praise).

- As-Salat (the Prayer).

- Al-Wâqia (the Protector).

- Al-Wâfia (Copious).

- Al-Kâfia (the Sufficient).

- Ash-Shâfia (the Health giving).

II. Its merit

The prophet -may peace be upon him- said to Abi Said Bnu Al-Muâla: «I will teach you a Surat (chapter) which is the greatest Surat in the Qur’ân. It is the one that starts with "All praise to be to Allah". It is the seven oft repeated verses that have been revealed to me». [Reported by Al-Boukhari]

Imam Muslim reported in his “Sahih” (The True) from Abi Hourayra that the prophet -may peace be upon him- said : « Allah the Almighty said : "I have divided the prayer between Myself and My servants into two portions, one portion is Mine, the other is My servant’s and my servant shall be granted what he asked for. Therefore, when he says "All praise to be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds", Allah says: "My servant praised Me". When he says: "the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful", Allah says: "My servant has extolled Me". When he says: "the Master of the Day of Judgment", Allah says: "My servant glorified Me". When he says: "You alone do we worship and You alone do we ask for help", Allah says: "This is between Me and My servant and for My servant what he requested". When he says: "Guide us to the straight way, the way of those on whom you bestowed your grace not the way of those who earned your wrath or of those who went astray", Allah says: "This is to My servant, and My servant shall have what he asked for" ». [Reported by Muslim]

III. Its stance

Al-Fâtiha is a surat that is recited in each prostration of prayer; it is obligatory for a correct prayer. The prophet -may peace be upon him- said: «No prayer is accepted from the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book: Al-Fâtiha». [Reported by the Group from Ubada Bnu Es-Samit]

IV. Its exegesis

I seek Allah’s protection against accursed Satan. It means I seek Allah’s refuge from Satan’s craftiness and whispers. The one who seeks Allah’s protection would get it; this is why it is recommended to start with it when reciting the Noble Qur’ân.

The Almighty Allah said: «And when you recite the Qur’ân, seek Allah’s refuge from accursed Satan». [An-Nahl, 98]

1. بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ.

1. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The Muslim Ulemas agreed on the fact that this citation is a part of the following verse: «It is from Solomon and it is "in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful "». [An-Naml, 30] But they disagreed on its position in the other Surats of the Qur’ân. Some said that each Surat includes this verse; others claim that it is the first verse of Surat Al-Fâtiha.

2. الْحَمْدُ للّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

2. All praise to be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

«Praise to be to Allah». It means to commend and thank Allah for His innumerable graces. In this context, the prophet -may peace be upon him- said: «There is no god but Allah" is the best remembrance of Allah, and "Praise be to Allah" is the best invocation». [Reported by En-Nassâ'i, Ibnu Madja and Et-Termithi]

Allah said: «… But Allah will reward the grateful». [Al-Imran, 144], however, not all people do thank Allah but a few of them. He also said: «But few of My servants are grateful». [Sabâ', 13]

Indeed, praise is the saying of the people of paradise. The Almighty Allah said: «All praise to be to Allah who has been true in His promise to us…». [Az-Zumar, 74]

«The Lord of the Worlds»: this verse emphasizes the lordship of Allah over all creatures: Human beings, Jinn, Angels, Animals...

3. الرَّحْمـنِ الرَّحِيمِ.

3.The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

This verse is superlative in form as to affirm the constancy of these two qualities (grace and mercy) in Allah.

«The Most Gracious». It implies that Allah’s vast mercy comprehends all His servants: the believers and the disbelievers, the obedient and the disobedient.

«The Most Merciful»: It signifies Allah’s mercy that includes only the believers[2]. The Almighty Allah said: «… And He is all Merciful to the believers». [Al-Ahzâb, 43]

4.مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

4. The Master of the Day of Judgment.

It means that Allah has total freedom of action, and He is the Only and the Absolute Sovereign in the Day of Judgment.

5. إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ.

5. You alone do we worship and You alone do we ask for help. This verse emphasizes the fact that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah, and there is no one from whom we seek help except from Allah.

In this verse, Allah precedes worship over seeking for help for the following reasons:

1- To give priority to the aims over the means. The Almighty Allah said: «And I have created Jinn and mankind except that they worship Me». [Ath-Thâriat, 56]. So, the aim (of man's creation) is worshipping Allah and the means of that is the seeking for Allah’ support.

2- The need for help to worship Allah, because no one is able to worship Allah without being helped by Him. In this context, the prophet -may peace be upon him- said: «By Allah, I certainly love you Muaâd, so do not forget to say at the end of each prayer: O my Lord, I implore your help to utter you name, to praise you and to better worship you». [Reported by Abu Dawûd and En-Nassâ'i]

3- To affirm that worshipping Allah is done only by the sincere believers whereas imploring Him for help is asked by every one.

4- To show praise to Allah and to be well disciplined towards Him.

5- To affirm that the only one who deserves to be worshipped is Allah, and worship is the top of humbleness and submission to Allah, and to ascertain that we implore no one’s help but Allah’s; He is the Ever Powerful, the All-Mighty and the All-Knowing. Thus, we rely on no one but on Allah, because the one who relies on his mind deviate, and the one who relies on his knowledge stumble, the one who depends on his wealth, it would be lessened and the one who trust people would be bored with them. But, the one who depends and relies on Allah would neither deviate and stumble nor be bored and lessened.

6. اهدِنَــــا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِيمَ.

6. Guide us to the straight way.

It is an invocation to Allah to guide us towards His righteous way. In this context, Allah the Almighty said: «Indeed, this is My way, therefore follow it and do not follow diverse (other) paths, lest they lead you away from His path». [Al-Anâm, 153]

Guidance is of two kinds: that of showing and directing to the righteous way and it extends to all the creatures; and that of help and success (granted by Allah) which is specific to the believers. Indeed,  the second kind is the one meant in this verse.

7. صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِمْ غَيرِ المَغضُوبِ عَلَيهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّينَ.

7. The way of those on whom you have bestowed your grace, not the way of those who earn your wrath or of those who went astray.

They are the prophets, the Siddiqûn (i.e. the followers of the prophet who were the first to believe in Him), the martyrs (those who died in the cause of Allah) and the righteous. The Almighty Allah mentioned them in another verse, He said: «Those who obey Allah and the Messenger (Muhammad), then they are in the company of those on whom Allah bestowed His grace, of the prophets, the Siddiqûn, the martyrs and the righteous. And how excellent these companions are! ». [An-Nissâ', 69]

The Jews are those who earned Allah’s wrath, because they knew the truth but they disbelieved and denied it. And the Christians are those who went astray because they worshiped Allah but not in the way He ordered.[3]

After reciting Al-Fâtiha, one must say “Amen”.

Amen is not a verse in Al-Fâtiha (it is an unanimous opinion). It is uttered only to ask for Allah’s answer to our invocations. The prophet -may peace be upon him- said: «When the Imam says: "Not the way of those who earn Your wrath, or of those who went astray", say Amen, for if one’s utterance of "Amen" coincides with that of the angels, all his past sins will be forgiven». [Reported by Al-Boukhari]