Al-Fatiḥa (Arabic:ٱلۡفَاتِحَةِ,romanized: al-Fātiḥa,lit. 'the Opening') is the first chapter (sura) of theQuran. It consists of seven verses (ayat) which consist of aprayer for guidance and mercy.[1]
Al-Fatiḥa is recited in Muslim obligatory and voluntaryprayers, known asṣalah. The primary literal meaning of the expression "Al-Fatiḥa" is "The Opener/The Key".
The most commonly accepted view about the origins of thesurah is the view ofIbn Abbas, among others, that Al-Fatiha is aMeccansurah, although some believe that it is either aMedinan surah or was revealed in bothMecca andMedina.[2] Most narrators recorded that al-Fātiḥah was the first complete Surah revealed toMuhammad.[3]
The name Al-Fatiha ("the Opener") could refer to thesurah being the first in theMus'hafs, the first to be recited in eachrakat ofsalah, or to the manner of its usage in many Islamic traditions as an opening prayer. The word itself comes from therootf-t-ḥ (ف ت ح), which means "to open, explain, disclose, conquer", etc.[3][4] Al-Fatiha is also known by several other names, such as Al-Hamd (The Praise), As-Salah (The Prayer), Umm al-Kitab (Mother of the Book), Umm al-Quran (Mother of the Quran),[5][1] Sab'a min al-Mathani (Seven Repeated Ones, from Quran15:87),[6] and Ash-Shifa' (The Cure).[7][8]
Surah Al-Fatiha is narrated in the Hadith to have been divided into two halves betweenGod and his servant (the person reciting), the first three verses being God's half and last three being the servant's.[9] There is disagreement as to whether theBismillah is the first verse of thesurah, or even a verse in the first place.[10]
The chapter begins by praising God with the phrase and stating that it is God who is the lord of the worlds (verse 1/2),[11] that he is the most gracious and most merciful (verse 2/3),[12] and that he is and will be the true owner of everything and everyone on theDay of Judgement (verse 3/4).[13]
"If you tried to count Allah's blessings, you would never be able to number them. Indeed, humankind is truly unfair, ˹totally˺ ungrateful" (Quran14:34).
The final three verses, which comprise the servant's half, begin with the servant stating that they worship and seek only God's help (verse 4/5), asking him to guide them to theSirat al-Mustaqim (the Straight Path) of those who God has been bountiful to, and not of those who have earned his anger (verses 5-6/6-7).[14]
[ṣirāṭa-llaḏīna anʿamta ʿalayhim ghayri-l-maḡḍūbi ʿalayhim wa-la-ḍ-ḍāllīn(a)] 7 the Path of those Thou hast blessed—not those thou art displeased with, or those who are astray.
Muslims attribute special significance to somesurahs for their virtues and benefits (فضائل,faḍā’il) described in thehadith. Acceptance of the different hadith varies between Sunni and Shia Muslims, and there is a variety of terms to classify the different levels of confirmed authenticity of a hadith. However, both Sunnis and Shia believe Al-Fatiha to be one of the greatestsurahs in the Quran, and a cure for several diseases and poisons, both spiritual and mental.[8]
According to the Prophet:
While I was with Jibreel, I suddenly heard a noise from above. Jibreel 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 and said, 'Receive the good news of two lights that have been given to you, which no prophet before you was given: the Opening of the Book (Al-Fatiha) and thethe last verses of Al-Baqarah. You will never recite a word from them except that you will be given (reward).'
^abcMaududi, Sayyid Abul Ala.Tafhim Al Quran.Archived from the original on 2013-07-28. Retrieved2013-06-17.
^Joseph E. B. Lumbard "Commentary on Sūrat al-Fātiḥah",The Study of the Quran. ed. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Caner Dagli, Maria Dakake, Joseph Lumbard, Muhammad Rustom (San Francisco: Harper One, 2015), p. 3.
^Joseph E. B. Lumbard, "Introduction to Sūrat al-Fātiḥah",The Study Quran. ed. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Caner Dagli, Maria Dakake, Joseph Lumbard, Muhammad Rustom (San Francisco: Harper One, 2015), p. 3.
^abMubarakpuri, Safiur Rahman (2000).Tafsir Ibn Kathir (10 Volumes; Abridged). Darussalam. pp. 7–8.ISBN9781591440208.
^Ibn al-Hajjaj, Abul Hussain Muslim (2007).Sahih Muslim - 7 Volumes. Vol. 1. Darussalam. pp. 501–503.ISBN978-9960991900.
^Mubarakpuri, Safiur Rahman (2000).Tafsir Ibn Kathir (10 Volumes; Abridged). Darussalam. p. 25.ISBN9781591440208.[The scholars] disagree over whether [Bismillah] is a separate Ayah before every Surah, or if it is an Ayah, or a part of an Ayah, included in every Surah where the Bismillah appears in its beginning. [...] The opinion that Bismillah is an Ayah of every Surah, except [At-Tawbah], was attributed to (the Companions) Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn 'Umar, Ibn Az-Zubayr, Abu Hurayrah and 'Ali. This opinion was also attributed to the Tabi'in 'Ata', Tawus, Sa'id bin Jubayr, Makhul and Az-Zuhri. This is also the view of 'Abdullah bin Al-Mubarak, Ash-Shaf i'i, Ahmad bin Hanbal, (in one report from him) Ishaq bin Rahwayh, and Abu 'Ubayd Al-Qasim bin Salam. On the other hand, Malik, Abu Hanifah and their followers said that Bismillah is not an Ayah in Al-Fatihah or any other Surah. Dawud said that it is a separate Ayah in the beginning of every Surah, not part of the Surah itself, and this opinion was also attributed to Ahmad bin Hanbal.
^Mubarakpuri, Safiur Rahman (2000).Tafsir Ibn Kathir (10 Volumes; Abridged). Darussalam. pp. 33–37.ISBN9781591440208.
^Mubarakpuri, Safiur Rahman (2000).Tafsir Ibn Kathir (10 Volumes; Abridged). Darussalam. pp. 30–33, 37.ISBN9781591440208.
^Mubarakpuri, Safiur Rahman (2000).Tafsir Ibn Kathir (10 Volumes; Abridged). Darussalam. pp. 39–42.ISBN9781591440208.
^Mubarakpuri, Safiur Rahman (2000).Tafsir Ibn Kathir (10 Volumes; Abridged). Darussalam. pp. 42–55.ISBN9781591440208.
^Asad, Muhammad.The Message of the Quran, Commentary on Surah Fatiha(PDF). pp. 23–24.Archived(PDF) from the original on 2019-11-26. Retrieved2019-12-13.According to almost all the commentators, God's "condemnation" (ghadab, lit., "wrath") is synonymous with the evil consequences which man brings upon himself by wilfully rejecting God's guidance and acting contrary to His injunctions. ... As regards the two categories of people following a wrong course, some of the greatest Islamic thinkers (e.g. Al-Ghazali or, in recent times, Muhammad 'Abduh) held the view that the people described as having incurred "God's condemnation" - that is, having deprived themselves of His grace - are those who have become fully cognizant of God's message and, having understood it, have rejected it; while by "those who go astray" are meant people whom the truth has either not reached at all, or to whom it has come in so garbled and corrupted a form as to make it difficult for them to recognize it as the truth (see 'Abduh in Manar I, 68 ff.).
^Ali, Abdullah Yusuf (2006).The Meaning of The Noble Qur'an, Commentary on al-Fatiha(PDF). p. 7. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2017-03-12....those who are in the darkness of Wrath and those who stray? The first are those who deliberately break God's law; the second those who stray out of carelessness or negligence. Both are responsible for their own acts or omissions. In opposition to both are the people who are in the light of God's Grace: for His Grace not only protects them from active wrong ... but also from straying into paths of temptation or carelessness. The negative gair should be construed as applying not to the way, but as describing men protected from two dangers by God's Grace.
^Ayoub, Mahmoud M. (January 1984).The Qur'an and Its Interpreters: v.1: Vol 1. State University of New York Press. p. 49.ISBN978-0873957274.Archived from the original on 2021-03-28. Retrieved2020-11-05.Most commentators have included the Jews among those who have "incurred" divine wrath and the Christians among those who have "gone astray".(Tabari, I, pp. 185-195; Zamakhshari, I, p. 71)
^Al Kindari, Fahad (6 June 2007).The greatest recitation of Surat al-Fatiha. SwedenDawah Media Production (on behalf of High Quality & I-Media); LatinAutor - Warner Chappell.Archived from the original on 2021-11-17. Retrieved20 December 2019.The saying of the Exalted, 'not the Path of those who have earned Your Anger, nor of those that went astray': the majority of the scholars of tafseer said that 'those who have earned Your Anger' are the Jews, and 'those that went astray' are the Christians, and there is the hadeeth of the Messenger of God (SAW) reported from Adee bin Haatim (RA) concerning this. And the Jews and the Christians even though both of them are misguided and both of them have God's Anger on them - the Anger is specified to the Jews, even though the Christians share this with them because the Jews knew the truth and rejected it and deliberately came with falsehood, so the Anger (of God being upon them) was the description most befitting them. And the Christians were ignorant, not knowing the truth, so misguidance was the description most befitting them. So with this the saying of God,they have drawn on themselves anger upon anger' (2:90) clarifies that the Jews are those that 'have earned your Anger'. And likewise His sayings, 'Say: shall I inform you of something worse than that, regarding the recompense from God: those (Jews) who incurred the Curse of God and His Anger' (5:60)
^"Surah Al-Fatihah, Chapter 1".al-islam.org. 23 January 2014.Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved11 December 2019.Some of the commentators believe that / dallin / 'those gone astray' refers to the misguided of the Christians; and / maqdubi 'alayhim / 'those inflicted with His Wrath' refers to the misguided of the Jews.
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