-
sura al-fatihah
-
(the opening)
-
no. 1 (7 verses)
in the name
of allah, the beneficent, the merciful
contents
of the sura
the holy phrase`in the name
of allah,the beneficent,the merciful'
/ bism-il-lah-ir-rahman-ir-rahim
/ is, in fact, mentioned both at the onset
of the qur'an and at the beginning
of every sura, except sura 9, (sura
taubah - repentance). and, since
the purpose of allah's word, i.e. the
whole qur'an, is to guide people;
as sura al-ma'idah, no. 5,
verses 15-16 say : "...indeed,
there has come to you a light and a clear
book from allah ", " with
it allah guideth him who follows his pleasure to
the ways of peace and safety
..."; therefore, this guidance, being a grant
and a fundamental principle,
begins with allah's holy name.
this sura, among all suras of
the qur'an, has an extraordinary
radiance which originates from
the following merits :
1. the tone of the sura :
this sura, the opening, in comparison
with other suras of the
qur'an regarding its tone and
melody, has a particular style which is
clearly different and extraordinary.
the other suras contain
instructions from allah, who
gives commands and admonishments to
his servants, but, in this sura,
his words are uttered on behalf of the
servants. in other words, in
this sura, allah has taught his servants
how to supplicate and speak
to him, simply and without a mediator.
2. al-fatihah, the basis
of the qur'an :
it is narrated that the holy
prophet (p.b.u.h.) has said : " by the
one, in whose hand is my
soul, allah has not sent down a similar sura to
this sura (al-fatihah), neither
in the turah, nor in the gospel, nor in
the psalms, nor even in the
qur'an, and it is umm-ul-kitab "; 1
which
means that it is the basis and
origin of all excellence.
in fact, besides referring to
the resurrection, this sura presents
facts concerning the unity of
the divine essence, unity of attributes,
unity of divine acts, and unity
of worship. it is the essence of the
whole meaning of the qur'an.
it is narrated from hadrat amir-ul-mu'mineen
ali (a.s.) that :
" all secrets of allah are
in divine books; and the contents of all those
divine books are comprised
in the qur'an;and what is found in the qur'an
is condensed in sura al-fatihah,
and what is in al-fatihah is gathered in
/bismillah /, and what is
in / bismillah / is concentrated in /b/, (the first
letter of ` bism-il-lah '
)..." 2
based on the entirety of great
commentators' statements, it is
understood that this tradition
indicates clearly the importance of both
the holy qur'an and /bismillah-ir-rahman-ir-rahim/
in which science and
knowledge, from the beginning
to the end, is comprised. the
interpreter and elucidator of
these sciences is the holy prophet
(p.b.u.h.), and after him there
are his true vicegerents including
amir-ul-mu'mineen ali (a.s.). 3
3. al-fatihah, magnificent
honour of the prophet (p.b.u.h.) :
sura al-fatihah, more so than
the other suras in the holy
qur'an, was revealed to the
holy prophet (p.b.u.h.) as a great bounty. it
stands on a par with the whole
qur'an. the seven verses in the sura
sum up the whole qur'an : "
and we have bestowed upon thee the seven
oft-repeated (verses) and
the grand qur'an ", ( sura al-hijr, no. 15,
verse 87 ). this meaning is
also referred to in a narration from
amir-ul-mu'mineen ali (a.s.)
quoting the prophet's (p.b.u.h.) tradition
who said :" verily, allah,
the exalted, has bestowed (his) favours on me
particularly for ` the opening
' (al-fatihah) and has positioned it on a par
with the whole grand qur'an,
and surely fatihat-ul-kitab (the opening of
the qur'an) is the dearest
(item) in the treasures of the `arsh, (throne of
heaven) ".
4
4. the importance of its
recitation :
the recitation of this sura,
because of its extreme importance, is
frequently emphasized in islamic
traditions and narrations.
as for its virtue, it is narrated
from the holy prophet(p.b.u.h.)
that: " the reward of any
muslim who recites the sura ` opening ', is like
that of a person who has
recited two thirds of the qur'an, and so much
reward would he receive as
if he has given every believing muslim, man or
woman, a free will offering
". 5
5. the titles of the sura :
there are ten titles given to
this sura, as taken from islamic
narrations and commentary books,
thus: fatihat-ul-kitab, umm-ul-kitab,
umm-ul-qur'an, sab`-ul-mathani, al-wafiyah, al-kafiyah, ash-shafiyah,
al-asas, as-salat, and al-hamd.6
* * * *
1 majm`-ul-bayan, vol.
1, p. 17
2 makhzan-ul-`irfan,
commentary, vol. 1, p. 28 & masabih-ul-anwar vol. 1,p.435
3
manhajus-sadiqin, vol. 1, p. 90
4
al-burhan fi tafsir-il-qur'an, vol. one,p. 21; & atyab-ul-bayan, vol.
1, p.83
5
majma`-ul-bayan, vol. one, p. 17 .
6
rauh-ul-janan, abul-futuh razi, commentary, vol. one, p. 16
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