Surat Al Fatihah

Surat Al Fatihah

{ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ } [الفاتحة:1]

1- I begin with the name of Allah, Who is the god of all humankind and Who is characterized by Permanent Mercy. When someone begins with Basmalah "Saying: Bism Allah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim", he seeks Allah's Help and Success to complete what a person has started and to make his recitation acceptable by Allah.

{ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ } [الفاتحة: 2]

2- Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all creation. He has all gratitude for the favors and blessings He bestowed upon His Creation whether in terms of their religion or of their worldly affairs. Thus, He showed them the truth and guided them to follow it. He provided them with sustenance and guided them to seek it.

{ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ } [الفاتحة: 3]

3- Who is characterized by mercy, the Bestower of goodness and blessings. He shows mercy to all His Creation and shows compassion and mercy to Muslims in particular.

{ مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ } [الفاتحة: 4]

4- Who has the sole sovereignty on the Day of Recompense. So, there is no dominance for anyone on that Day but to Him.

{ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ } [الفاتحة: 5]

5- We worship You alone, O Lord. We divorce ourselves of polytheism, seek Your Help in all our affairs, rely on You, renounce having any might or strength, and turn our faces to You in repentance. You have all obedience, O our Lord.

{ اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ } [الفاتحة: 6]

6- O our Lord, we ask You to guide us continuously to the straight path by following Your Religion, so make us firm on the Straight Path.

{ صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّينَ } [الفاتحة: 7]

7- The path of those upon whom You have treated well and guided to obey and worship You. Those obedient ones such as your angels, Prophets and upon whomever You are pleased with of Your Servants, the people of guidance, integrity, obedience and compliance. We seek refuge in You against the path of those who deserve Your Anger among those people who knew the truth but did not follow it such as the Jews. Make us also avoid the path of those who went astray, did not know the truth and kept wandering in their aberration, and finally did not follow Your Prophet such as the Christians. It was reported in "Sahih Al Bukhari" and "Sahih Muslim" that the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "When the Imam says: "Ghayr Al Maghduby `layhim Wala Al Dallin", say: Amen, for the one whose utterance comes in conformity with the saying of angels, his past sins shall be forgiven."

Surat Al Fatihah is a great Surah because it is the Mother of the Book and the Seven Oft-Repeated Ayahs in Salah. It contains fine secrets, therefore a Muslim must recite it in his Salah otherwise Salah shall not be valid. It has so many virtues such as the Prophet's saying: "By Him in Whose Hand my life is, nothing was revealed in the Torah, Injeel (bible), the psalms or in the Qur'an of the like." [Reported by Ahmad with an authentic chain of narration]. The Surah includes: Praising Allah, guiding the creation to His Oneness, invoking Allah alone, directing the acts of worship to Allah alone and seeking His Guidance to be on the right track; which is Islam that leads to good end on the Day of Recompense. The Surah also contains warning against the paths of falsehood such as the paths of those who know the truth but refuse to follow it or those who have gone astray.