Surah Al Fatiha
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,
The Beneficent, the Merciful.
Owner of the Day of Judgment,
Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.
Show us the straight path,
The path of those whom Thou hast favoured;
Not the (path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.
The Fatiha
·The Surahis divided into three parts:
oThe first part (3 verses) is in praise of Allah (SWT).
oThe last part (3 verses) is a request/prayer.
oThe middle verse includes both the above components comprising both praise and prayer.
Verse 1
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.
·The Surah starts with this verse which introduces the reader/reciter to Allah (SWT).
·The beginning part of the verse delineates all praises to Allah (SWT). He is the only one that is worthy of all worship.
·It teaches us to know and appreciate that anything that we see in creation that amazes us, it is Allah who has created it (or the creator of it, if it is a man made invention). Therefore we should realise that ultimate praise is for Allah (SWT) because He is the ultimate creator of everything that is created.
·This part of the verse also introduces the concept of lordship and the concept of Tawhid, by stating that it is only Allah that deserves to be praised.
·This concept of Tawhid is then further emphasised by stating that Allah is the Lord of the Worlds. ‘Worlds’ is in the plural and implies all of creation, the ones that we know and the ones that we do not know of, the seen and the unseen.
·This further confirms that to Allah (SWT) is due all praise because he is the creator of such a vast creation that is implied by the term ‘Worlds’.
Verse 2
·After introducing Himself, Allah then begins to describe some of His attributes. And the first ones that he chooses is that of Beneficence and Mercy. This would imply that Allah’s mercy is more overwhelming than His wrath.
·This description of Mercy gives the reader/reciter a warm welcome and gives that hope that as long as they adhere to what is in the book (Al-Qur’an) they will find Allah to be the most merciful of the merciful.
·This also builds the trust of the reader as they will find comfort in these verses and feel at ease with Allah (SWT).
Verse 3
Owner of the Day of Judgment.
·The attributes of mercy are followed by verses describing the power and authority of Allah as the Master and Owner of the Day of Judgement.
·This verse is balancing the concept of Hope with the concept of Fear because a true believer needs to have both in order to perform his duties to his Lord.
·This also shows that although men may have some level of authority, power, mastership in this world, the ultimate Master is Allah.
·The concept of Judgement and retribution is introduced so that the reader/reciter is made aware that there will be a reckoning and actions will be judged so you do not have a free reign in this world to do as you wish.
Verse 4
Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.
·The previous verses were a description of the Majesty of Allah (SWT). The tables are now turned and the following verses deal with the servant of Allah.
·The first thing that a servant must do is to worship Allah (SWT) and this is made clear in the first part of this verse.
·The second is that we must always rely on Allah (SWT) as all power belongs to Him and nothing is done without His Will.
·The first is in praise of Allah by making Him the object of our worship and the second part is a dua seeking his aid in order to be able to do this.
·This verse confirms our total dependence on Allah.
Verse 5
·This verse is the essence of the Surah.
·It continues the notion that we need Allah (SWT) for everything and the most important thing that we need Him for is our guidance so that we can have success in this world and the next.
·Guidance has many degrees and levels and no one can have perfection or mastery in it and this is why we must continue to ask Allah (SWT) for guidance in every prayer in order to be able to stay on the right path.
·As human beings we are in need of a constant reminder and therefore this is a constant reminder as to what we should be asking Allah for.
·This verse also confirms for us that it is only Allah that can guide or misguide, and this is not in our power.
·Logically it follows that after asking to be shown the straight path one would like to know what is this straight path? And the answer following in the proceeding verse.
Verse 6
·Who are they? They are defined in Surah Al-Nisa 4 Verse 69 as:
oThe Prophets (
oThe Saints/ (Siddiqun)
oThe Martyrs (Shuhada)
oThe Righteous (Salihin)
·Whoso obeyeth Allah and the messenger, they are with those unto whom Allah hath shown favour, of the prophets and the saints and the martyrs and the righteous. The best of company are they! [Qur’an 4:69]
Verse 7
Not the (path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.
·Then Allah concludes the Surah by telling us the paths that he does not want us to follow, and that is the path of those who earn Allah’s anger and those who go astray.
·Those who earn Allah anger are the Jews because they disobeyed the commands of Allah knowingly and did not follow the guidance of their Prophets.
·Those who went astray are the Christians because they took the message of ‘Isa (AS) to an extreme and made him into a god and changed the teaching of the Injil to suit their whims and desires.
In conclusion I would like to summarise the Fatiha with the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in which it reiterates the division of the Surah into three parts, namely praise, then praise and dua, and then finish with dua.
In a hadith related by Imam Muslim the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said:
“Allah has said, ‘The Salah (i.e. Surah Al-Fatiha) is equally divided between Me and My servant. And My servant shall be given what he prays for.‘ The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) continued:
‘When the servant says “Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds” Allah says: “My servant has paid his homage to Me.”
When he says: “The Beneficent, the Merciful.” Allah says: “My servant has praised Me.”
When the servant says: “Owner of the Day of Judgment” Allah says: “My servant has proclaimed My greatness.”
When the servant says: “Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help,” Allah says: “This verse is common to Me and My servant. He shall be given what he prayed for.”
