| 001. Chapter The Opening / Surah al- Fatiha[1] |
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم{1}
- In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Most Beneficent…[2]
الْحَمْدُ للّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ {2}
2. The perfection of all things[3] is uniquely for God, the Lord (Master)[4] of all beings.
الرَّحْمـنِ الرَّحِيمِ {3}
- He is The Most Gracious, The Most Beneficent,[5]
مَـلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ {4}
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ{5}
اهدِنَــــا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِيمَ {6}
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِمْ. غَيرِ المَغضُوبِ عَلَيهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّينَ {7}
- the path of those upon whom you have bestowed favor[12], the path of those who have not incurred Your wrath[13] and not gone astray[14]. (Amen)
[1] Fatiha means ‘opener,’ ‘opening,’ or ‘beginning,’ referring to its position as the opening Surah of the Quran. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: ‘It is ‘Alhamdu lillahi Rabbil ‘Alamin (i.e., Surat Al-Fatihah) which is the seven Mathani and the Great Qur’an given to me.’ (Bukhari, Tafsir, 1; Nasai, Iftitah, 26.) This aligns with the Quranic verse: ‘We have given you seven of the mathani, the magnificent set of verses.’ (Al-Hijr 15:87). The term ‘mathani‘ signifies paired verses. The Quran consists of muhkamat, verses with clear rulings, and mutashabihat, verses that are similar to the muhkamat and elaborate on them (Al-Imran 3:7). Each pair of similar verses forms a mathani. The Quran itself is considered a mathani (Az-Zumar 39:23). The seven-verse Fatiha, positioned at the beginning of the Quran, forms a mathani, indicating a thematic connection between its verses and all other verses in the Quran. This interconnectedness makes the Fatiha a concise summary of the Quran’s message. The seven-verse structure of the Fatiha necessitates the inclusion of the Basmala as its first verse. Otherwise, the Basmala in Surah An-Naml 27:30 would lack a pair, disrupting the mathani pattern. Even if the Basmalas at the beginning of Suras are considered separate verses, the mathani relationship remains intact; as Surah At-Tawbah omits the Basmala, and there’s an additional Basmala within Surah An-Naml, resulting in a total of 114 Basmalas, which is still a multiple of two.
[2] The words “ar-Rahmaan (الرحمن)” and “ar-Raheem (الرحيم)” in the expression “Bismi Allahi alrrahmani alrraheemi” are both derived from the root word rahmat (رَحْمَة). “Rahmat” signifies “grace that bestows beneficence and boons”. When used as an attribute of God, the term refers only to “beneficence and boons” (Mufradat, art. رحم). We have translated “rahmat” as “grace” considering the following meanings of the word grace: “goodwill or favor, or an expression of favor, esp. by a superior” (wordreference.com). “Ar-Rahman” is “the One Whose grace embraces everything”. Because this attribute belongs exclusively to God, the word “ar-Rahman” has been translated as “The Most Gracious”. The word “raheem (رحيم)” means “somebody who has abundant grace (rahmat)”. It is a derivative of the word “rahm (رحم)” which means “mother’s womb” in Arabic. A mother’s womb is the nurturing place which provides for the embryo’s every need. God confers countless benefits on humans, just as a mother’s womb does on an embryo. Other people, besides God, may also be beneficent, as in at-Tawbah 9:128 referring to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and in al-Fath 48:29 referring to believers. “Beneficent” means “one who confers benefits” (dictionary.com). Therefore, the word “ar-Raheem” has been translated as “The Most Beneficent”.
[3] ‘Hamd’ refers to praising someone for a specific quality or deed. Saying ‘she is a good friend’, or ‘she is a talented cook’ are expressions of hamd. Whereas, ‘shukr’ means to praise a benefactor or to reciprocate a received favour with a good deed in return (Lisan al-‘Arab). It is God alone who renders everything He does inherently and perfectly good. To articulate the fundamental distinction between divine and human action, we employ the term ‘perfection’—rather than ‘doing good.’
[4] The word ‘rabb (رَبّ)’ literally means ‘owner’. A homeowner is called ‘rabb ad-daar’ (Mufradat), whereas an owner of capital is called ‘rabb al-maal’. In the following verse, the word rabb is used both for the king who owns the slave messenger and for God. Joseph had said to the messenger sent by the king: “Return to your master (rabb) and ask him what is the case of the women who cut their hands. Indeed, my Master (Rabb) is knowing of their plan.” (Joseph 12:50) This proves that the direct translation of ‘rabb’ is ‘master’. However, the term ‘master’ can carry negative connotations in English, such as domination or oppression. Therefore, the word ‘Lord’ is used to translate ‘Rabb’ when referring to God in this translation.
[5] See the footnote of al-Fatiha 1:1.
[6] God is the sole master of the Day of Judgment; all authority belongs to Him. On that Day, no one will have the power to intercede on another’s behalf (Hajj 22:56, Al-Furqan 25:26, Az-Zumar 39:43-44, Ghafir 40:16, Al-Jathiyah 45:27, Al-Infitar 82:17-19).
[7] The phrase translated as “the Day on which every deed is recompensed” is “yawm al-dīn (يَوْمِ الدِّينِ),” which means “the Day of Recompense.” The word dīn carries the meanings of “custom, state, to recompense an action, the recompense given, and obedience/submission” (Al-Sihah). In the Quran, dīn also refers to the system a person accepts and pledges to live by (Quran 3:19, 109:6). In the dīn of God, the only one to whom submission is due is God alone. “The Day of Recompense” is the day when the consequences of what was done in the world will be received in the hereafter (Quran 24:25, 37:19-20, 38:78, 51:6, 51:12-13, 56:56, 70:26, 74:46, 82:9, 82:15-19).
[8] The word we translate as ‘to render servitude’ is ‘ibadah (عبادة).’ In Arabic, ibadah means to submit in obedience, viewing oneself as inferior (Mufradat). It is commonly translated into English as ‘worship’. However, ‘worship’ often evokes, first and foremost, specific ceremonial acts such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. To better capture the fundamental sense of total submission and servitude, we have chosen to translate it as ‘to render servitude.’ Many verses declare that people render servitude to the persons or beings they place between themselves and God. But God the Almighty does not accept such servitude (Tawbah 9:31, Yunus 10:18, Az-Zumar 39:3).
[9] To ask help from God alone means not to place any intermediary between oneself and Him when asking for something (al-Jinn 72:20). Some people, however, regard God as inaccessible and therefore place between themselves and Him a being whom they consider close to God (az-Zumar 39:3). They then seek help through that being, and by doing so, elevate it to the level of divinity. Yet God is nearer to a person than his own nerve endings (Qaf 50:16). In fact, they themselves sense this; for when they find themselves in distress, they forget their intermediaries and turn directly to God, asking help from Him. But once their distress is gone, they return to those intermediaries (al-An‘am 6:63–64; al-Isra 17:67; al-‘Ankabut 29:65–66). People may, of course, ask one another for help, because God has commanded cooperation in goodness and in mindfulness [of Him], and avoidance of cooperation in sin and enmity (al-Ma’idah 5:2). He has also forbidden showing indifference to one who asks for something (ad-Duha 93:10). However, people must bear in mind that it is always God who sends the help, even when they help one another.
[10] The literal equivalent of the phrase translated as “guide us to the straight path” is “grant us hidayah towards Sirat al-Mustaqim.” Hidayah (guidance) means to show the way with gentleness and care (Mufradat). God’s guidance is of four kinds: The first is His demonstrating His existence, oneness, and closeness through every means. For this reason, God warns those who go astray in various ways (Ash-Shams 91:8-10, Al-An’am 6:125). He considers the act of perceiving God as unattainable and placing intermediaries to reach Him as an act of associating partners with God (shirk). He never forgives this behaviour (An-Nisa 4:48, 115-117). The second is His guiding the human being—whom He has endowed with the faculty to distinguish good from evil—in finding the truth (Al-Anfal 8:29). The third is His showing the way through the Books He has revealed. This is why each of those Books is a huda—a guide (Al-Baqarah 2:2, 38). The fourth is His accepting onto His path everyone who makes the right choice, and His confirmation that they are upon the right path (Ibrahim 14:4).
[11] As-sirat al-mustaqim means “the straight path.” Being upon this path is achieved exclusively by rendering servitude to God alone (Al-e Imran 3:51, Ya-Sin 36:60-61). And servitude to God alone is only possible by holding fast to His Book (Al-An’am 6:151-153, Az-Zukhruf 43:43).
[12] Those upon whom God has bestowed happiness are the prophets (the nabi), those who never deviated from the truth, those who bear witness to the truth, and the righteous (An-Nisa 4:69).
[13] Those who have incurred God’s wrath are the following: a faction of the Jews (Al-Baqarah 2:61, 90; Al-e Imran 3:112; Al-Ma’idah 5:60; Al-A’raf 7:152); those who kill a believer intentionally (An-Nisa 4:93); those who stubbornly resist the truth (Al-A’raf 7:71); those who flee the battlefield (Al-Anfal 8:16); those who renounce their faith (An-Nahl 16:106); transgressors (Ta-Ha 20:81); those who engage in contentious dispute about God (Ash-Shura 42:16); women who, being unchaste themselves, slander their husbands to clear themselves (An-Nur 24:9); and the hypocrite men and hypocrite women, and the men and women who associate partners with God (Al-Fath 48:6).
[14] Those who have gone astray are as follows: Those who deny the signs of God (Al-Mu’minun 23:105-106), who disbelieve after having believed (Al-Ma’idah 5:12), who bar others from the path of God (An-Nisa 4:167), who transgress the bounds in matters of religion (Al-Ma’idah 5:77), who follow mere conjecture (Al-An’am 6:116), who prefer the life of this world over the Hereafter (Ibrahim 14:3), who associate partners with God (An-Nisa 4:116), the defiantly disobedient (al-fasiqun) (Al-Ma’idah 5:108; Al-An’am 6:77), who invoke besides God others who can neither harm nor benefit them (Al-Ahqaf 46:5; Al-Hajj 22:12), who take the devils as allies instead of God (Al-A’raf 7:30), the wrongdoers (al-zalimun) (Maryam 19:38), who disobey God and His Messenger (Al-Ahzab 33:36), whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of God / His Book (Az-Zumar 39:22), who do not accept the call of God’s messengers (Al-Ahqaf 46:32), who deny the Hour of Resurrection (Ash-Shura 42:18), the hypocrites (al-munafiqun) (Al-Baqarah 2:8-16), who conceal what God has revealed of the Scripture (Al-Baqarah 2:174-175), the disbelievers (al-kafirun) (An-Nisa 4:136), the polytheists (al-mushrikun) (An-Nisa 4:116; Ibrahim 14:30), who are beguiled by worldly wealth and adornment, and are thus diverted from the truth (Yunus 10:88), who follow their own base desires (Yusuf 12:30), who turn away from the Book of God (Ta-Ha 20:52; Luqman 31:6), who follow, who argue about God without any evidence (Al-Hajj 22:8-9), who take the wicked as allies (Al-Furqan 25:28-29), who deny the truth (Al-Qalam 68:7-8).
[15] ‘Amin’ is an expression meaning “O God, accept!” uttered after a supplication (Lisanu’l-Arab). The word does not appear in the Qur’an. It is reported that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), upon finishing the recitation of Al-Fatiha in prayer, would say “Amin,” and he instructed the congregation to say it as well (Al-Bukhari, “Tafsir,” 2; Muslim, “Salat,” 62, 87).
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