The Holy Quran

The Holy Quran is divided into 30 parts, each one is called “Seepara”. It has 114 sections or chapters which are called “Surahs”. Each Chapter of unequal length, consists of individual “Ayat” or verses. These verses are not decided by human beings, but dictated by God. There are in total 6,666 verses in the Holy Quran. Surah al Baqarah (Ch.2 ) is the longest Chapter comprising 287 verses while Surah al Kauthar( Ch. 108) is the shortest with only four verses including the tasmia. Out of the 114 Surahs, 85 Surahs were revealed in Mecca while 29 Surahs were revealed in Madinah.?

Introduction of Surah Al Fatiha:

Surah al-Fatiha is the first chapter of the Quran. The word “Fatiha” comes from the verb “Fataha” which means “to open”. “Al” is a defined article and Fatiha means the opening Surah.It consists of 7 verses, 29 words and 139 letters. It belongs to Juz? 1.There are various names of Surah Al Fatiha such as Umm al-Qur’an, the Mother of the Qur’an, and Umm al-Kitab, the Mother of the Book because the meaning of the entire Qur’an is summarised therein.

It is also named Sab’ulMathani, (the Seven Often Repeated Verses), Al-Hamd, (the Praise), Al-Shifa (The Cure) and ArRuqya, the Spiritual Cure. Its recitation is a condition for the effectiveness of the prayer.It is mecci surah and It was initially the 5th chapter to be disclosed but after Furqan e Hameed was assembled together, it was put at the beginning. Al-Fatiha itself means “The Opening” as this chapter comes right at the start of the Holy Book and serves as a Gateway to read Quran Majeed further.

Theme of Surah:

The Surah is prayer to Almighty Allah for guidance from bad deeds and to guide us to the straight path, the path of authentic and true muslims which only Allah can grant us. Allah is the most magnificent and bountiful He alone should be asked for help and He has bestowed countless favours on His creation. He is supreme justice and everybody will have to answer Him of their every good or bad deed on the Day of Judgment. Supplication is the core to worship and The Holy Quran encourages the believers for petitioning.

“And your Lord said, Invoke me, I will respond to your supplications. Allah always protect His creation from going on the path of evils.?

Virtues of Surah Al Fatiha:

• It is a Pillar of Salah;This Surah is very important because without its recitation of prayers become invalid.

• The greatness of this Surah is described in the following Hadith;”Do you want me to teach you a Surah the like of which has not been revealed in the Torah, the Injeel, the Zabur, nor the Quran?”, and also asked what He recited in His prayers. He replied Umm-ul-Quran (Surah Fatiha) the Prophet (PBUH) proclaimed, ‘By Him in Whose dominion my soul is, nothing like it has been revealed in the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, or the Quran and it is seven of the oft-repeated verses in the Mighty Quran which I have been given.” (Tirmidhi)

• It is Cure of diseases and cure for Heart;”You (Oh Allah) we worship and from you do we seek help”. (Ibn Qayim).

• Hazrat Abu Saeed al-Khudri narrates;”While on a journey we halted at a place.

A girl came to us and said: “The chief of this tribe has been stung by a scorpion and our men are not present, is there anybody amongst you who can recite something upon him to treat him?” Then, one of our men went along with her although we did not think that he knew any such treatment. However, our friend went to the chief and recited something upon him and the chief was cured. Thereupon, the chief gave him thirty sheep and gave us all milk to drink.

When he returned, we asked our friend: “Did you know anything to recite upon him to cure him?” He said: “No, I only recited Umm al-Kitab (i.e. Surah al-Fatiha) upon him.” We said that do not do anything until we reach Madinah and ask the Prophet regarding this (practice and rewardwhether the sheep were lawful or not for us).

Upon reaching Madinah, we narrated this to the Prophet (PBUH), whereupon he remarked: “How did he come to know that Al-Fatiha can be used as a cure? (PBUH) Distribute your reward amongst yourselves and a lot a share for me as well”.” (Sahih Bukhari).• Light sent from heaven;An Angel addressed the Prophet (SAW) saying,”Rejoice in two lights brought to you which have not been brought to any prophet before you, Al-Fatiha and the last verses of Al- Baqarah”.

Ibn ‘Abbas narrated:”While Jibril was with the Messenger of Allah, he heard a noise from above. Jibril lifted his sight to the sky and said: “This is a door in the Heavens being opened, and it has never been opened before now.” An Angel descended from that door and came to the Prophet and said: “Receive the glad tidings of two lights that you have been given, which no other Prophet before you was given: the Opening of the Book (Al Fatiha) and the last verses of ‘al-Baqarah.

‘ You will not read a letter of them except that you will gain its benefit.” (Sahih Muslim).B. Tafseer of Surah Al Fatiha The Verses of the Surah are

1. “In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.”
2. “(All) praise is (only) Allah’s, the Lord of the Worlds.”
3. “The Beneficent, The Merciful.”
4. “Master of the Day of Judgement.”
5. “Thee (alone) do we worship and of Thee (only) do we seek help.”
6. “Guide us (O’ Lord) on the Straight Path.”
7. “The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy bounties, not (the path) of those inflicted with Thy wrath, nor (of those) gone astray.

“In The Name Of ALLAH:The first ayah of Surah Fatiha is: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Most Merciful. (Al-Fatiha: 1) This phrase is known as the bismillah. It is good to recite it before doing any action. The meaning of letter Baa:The Baa in the Arabic language can have three different meanings:

1. With – With / In the name of Allah
2. Seeking help – Seeking help of the name of Allah
3. Seeking blessing – Seeking blessing with the name of AllahThe meaning of Al Rehman and Al Raheem:Both these names are derived from the same root letters: raa, haa, meem; which means to have mercy. They are thus similar in meaning and both are connected to Allah’s (SWT) Mercy.

The fact that Allah (SWT) mentions two of His Names which have to do with Mercy, rather than Might and Power or so on, shows just how important this Attribute is. The difference between al-Rahman and al-Raheem is that al-Rahman refers to Allah’s (SWT) Mercy to all of creation. It is His Mercy which is extended to both believers and disbelievers; animals, and everything that exists.

He says in the Qur’an: My Mercy encompasses all things. (Al-A’raf: 156) Al-Rahman therefore indicates the extreme vastness of Allah’s (SWT) Mercy. It is mentioned in a hadith that Allah (SWT) divided Mercy into 100 parts and sent down only one part to this dunya. It is from this one part of His Mercy that animals show mercy to their offspring (Sahih Muslim).Al-Raheem refers to Allah’s (SWT) Mercy which is specific for the believers.

He says in the Qur’an: And He is Full of Mercy to the Believers. (al-Ahzab: 43) al-Raheem therefore indicates the doing of an action.All praise is due to ALLAH:The second ayah is: All praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. (Al-Fatiha: 2) The Meaning of Hamd and the Difference between Hamd and Shukr Hamd means praise and also thankfulness. The scholars differed as to the relation between the words hamd and shukr. Some said that they both have the same meaning.

So, the meaning of hamd, in their view, is the same as shukr (thankfulness, gratitude). Hamd is something which must be done with love and reverence, but shukr does not need this. Shukr is done in response to a favour which is done to a person but hamd is done simply because the one being praised and thanked is worthy of that.The meaning of Rabb:Rabb is usually translated as Lord but it is much more encompassing than that. It also includes the meaning of Nurturer, Sustainer, Cherisher and so on.

The Rabb is the creator, king, master and the one who controls everything. It comes from the root letters raa, baa, baa: which means to have mastery and control over something.The Beneficent and Most Merciful:The explanation of these two names has already been given.

Why then is it repeated?

This is to once again emphasis the importance of the quality of mercy. Also, when something is repeated in the Qur’an, then you should look at the ayah before it and after it, to see how they are related. In this case, the previous ayah mentioned that Allah (SWT) is the Rabb of all the worlds. So, His repeating the words, al-Rahman al-Raheem after that, shows us that His being the Rabb – His taking of and sustaining and providing for us – is all part of His Mercy towards us.

Master of Day of Judgement:God is the Lord of the Day when all generations of mankind gather together on order to render an account of their conduct, and when each person will be finally rewarded or punished for his deeds. The description of God as Lord of the Day of Judgement following the mention of his benevolence and compassion indicates that we ought to remember another aspect of God as well-namely, that He will judge us all, that He is so absolutely powerful, that on the Day of Judgement no one will have the power either to resist the enforcement of punishments that He decrees or to prevent anyone from receiving the rewards that He decides to confer.

Hence, we ought not only to love Him for nourishing and sustaining us and for His compassion and mercy towards us, but should also hold Him in awe because of His justice, and should not forget that our ultimate happiness or misery rests completely with Him.Guides us on the Straight path:This ayah is a dua which we make to Allah (SWT).

We ask Him to show us the Straight Path and to guide us on it, so that we will get His Guidance which draws us closer and nearer to Him. We need to struggle towards Allah (SWT) by doing good deeds and by staying away from all bad deeds which will distance us from Him.The meaning of Siraat and mustaqeem:Siraat is a road or path.

The conditions are that it must be straight. It must reach the goal and it must be the shortest route to get there. It must also be wide and spacious enough for everyone who wants to travel it.Mustaqeem is derived from istaqaama, which means to be straight, upright, correct. We already said that for a road to be a sirat it must be straight, so this adjective of mustaqeem again emphasis the straightness of this Path.

Another meaning of mustaqeem is to remain firm or to stand firm without tilting. For example, a tree that is firmly grounded when the wind blows it is not affected by it. So, the Straight Path is a path on which people are firmly grounded.The Path of Those:The path of those you have blessed, not of those with anger on them, nor of those who are astray. (Al-Fatiha: 7) Who are the people who have been blessed by Allah (SWT) and whose Path we ask to guide to?

This is explained by Allah (SWT) in another ayah where He says: Whosoever obeys Allah, and the Messenger, they are with those whom Allah has favored, the Prophets, the sincere, the martyrs and the righteous, and these are the best company. (Al-Nisa’: 69) So, the favored and blessed people are the Prophets, the righteous, the martyrs and the pious.

And who are the people with anger on them and those who are astray?

This is explained by the Prophet. ‘Adi ibn Hatim (RA) asked him about those with anger on them and he replied that it refers to the Jews. He then asked him about those who are astray and he replied that it refers to the Christians. This is reported by al-Tirmidhi and is authentic.C. Impact of Surah Al-Fatiha on the life of a Muslim as servant of Allah.

1. We start all our deeds with the name of Allah Almighty. Since he is the most merciful and beneficent.
2. We should ask Allah Almighty for his mercy and benefits.So a believer becomes solely dependent of Allah Almighty and does not seek help or refuge from anybody else.
3. We should praise Allah Almighty for he is our creator and of the universe. So a believer praises Allah Almighty since he is the creator of everything.
4. Since Allah Almighty is the master of the Day of Judgment so a believer asks Allah Almighty for forgiveness.
5. A Believer asks Allah Almighty to put him on the path of pious people and help be among the ones who were rewarded and not the ones who went astray.