Al-Fatiha
Al-Fātiḥah is the first chapter of the Quran. Its seven verses are a prayer for the guidance, lordship, and mercy of God. This chapter has an essential role in Islamic prayer. The primary literal meaning of the expression "al-Fātiḥah" is "The Opener," which could refer to this Surah being "the opener of the Book", to its being the first Surah recited in full in every prayer cycle, or to the manner in which it serves as an opening for many functions in everyday Islamic life. Some Muslims interpret it as a reference to an implied ability of the Surah to open a person to faith in God.
Transliteration
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Translation
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.Praise be to God, The Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds;
Most Gracious, Most Merciful;
Master of the Day of Judgment.
Thee do we worship, And Thine aid we seek.
Show us the straight way,
The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowedd Thy Grace, Those whose Is not wrath, And who go not astray
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being,
the All-merciful, the All-compassionate,
the Master of the Day of Doom.
Thee only we serve; to Thee alone we pray for succour.
Guide us in the straight path,
the path of those whom Thou hast blessed, not of those against whom Thou art wrathful, nor of those who are astray.
In the name of Allāh,'the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
praise is to Allāh, Lord of the worlds-
The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful,
Sovereign of the Day of Recompense
It is You we worship and You we ask for help.
Guide us to the straight path –
The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked anger or of those who are astray.
Names
The name al-Fātiḥah is due to the subject-matter of the surah. Fātiḥah is that which opens a subject or a book or any other thing. In other words, a sort of preface or essence of the whole book.The word الفاتحة came from the root word فتح which means to open, explain, disclose, keys of treasure etc. That means surah Al-Fatiha is the summary of the whole Quran. That is why it is generally recited with another Ayat or surah during prayers. That is, surah Al-Fatiha is paired with the rest of the whole Quran.
It is also called Umm Al-Kitab and Umm Al-Quran ; Sab'a al Mathani ; Al-Hamd, because a hadith narrates Muhammad as having said that God says: "The prayer is divided into two halves between Me and My servants. When the servant says, 'All praise is due to God', the Lord of existence, God says, 'My servant has praised Me'."; Al-Shifa', because a hadith narrates Muhammad as having said: "The Opening of the Book is a cure for every poison.";, Al-Ruqyah., and al-Asas, "The Foundation", referring to its serving as a foundation for the entire Quran
Background
According to Abdullah ibn Abbas and others, al-Fātiḥah is a Meccan sura; while according to others it is a Medinan sura. The former view is more widely accepted, although some believe that it was revealed in both Mekka and Medina. In the Quran, the first revelations to Muhammad were only the first few verses of Surahs Alaq, Muzzammil, Al-Muddathir, etc. Most narrators recorded that al-Fātiḥah was the first complete Surah revealed to Muhammad.Theme and subject matter
Al-Fātiḥah is often believed to be a synthesis of the Quran. It in itself is a prayer at the very beginning of the Quran, which acts as a preface of the Quran and implies that the book is for a person who is a seeker of truth—a reader who is asking a deity who is the only one worthy of all praise to guide him to a straight path. It can be said to "encapsulate all of the metaphysical and eschatological realities of which human beings must remain conscious."Interpretations
"Al ḥamdu lillāhi rabbi l-’ālamīn" All the praises and thanks are for Allah who is the Lord of the universe. "Hamd الْحَمْدُ" 'the prase' is also the root of the name of the prophet Muhammad مُحَمَّد which means who is praised."Ar raḥmāni r-raḥīm" الرحمن 'the Most Merciful' and الرحيم 'the Most Benevolent' all share the same root رحم which means 'the womb'. The womb is the place where nourishment and protection are provided for the fetus with abundance.
"Māliki yawmi d-dīn" مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ " The owner of the judgment day or dīn day. dīn الدِّينِ means religion and also carries a meaning of debt لدِّينِ. Allah is the only judge that judges the dues of the people.
Muslim commentators often believe past generations of Jews and Christians as an example of those evoking God's anger and those who went astray, respectively. Critics of Islam, such as Andrew Bostom, view this as an exclusive condemnation of all Jews and Christians from all times. However, most Islamic scholars have interpreted these verses as referring exclusively not to a specific group of people but instead interpret these in the more general sense as, "evil consequences which man brings upon himself by wilfully rejecting God's guidance and acting contrary to His injunctions."
Related hadith
One hadith narrates a story of a companion of Muhammad who recited al-Fātiḥah as a remedy for a tribal chief who was poisoned. According to the hadith, Muhammad later asked the companion, "How did you know that it is a Ruqqayah ?" Muhammad al-Bukhari recorded in his collection:Similar versions are found in: Al-Bukhari: 007.071.645—medicine; Al-Bukhari: 007.071.633—medicine; Al-Bukhari: 007.071.632—medicine
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj recorded that Abu Hurairah had told that Muhammad had said:
A similar story is found in Al-Bukhari: 001.012.723—characteristics of prayer.
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj recorded:
Benefits and virtues attributed to Sura Al-Fatiha
Some Suras are assigned special significance by adherents of Islam, because of their virtues and benefits described in the Hadiths. Acceptance of the different hadith stories varies between Sunni and Shia Muslims and there is a variety of terms to classify the different levels of confirmed authenticity of a hadith.Sunni benefits
One of the greatest Surahs
Ahmad ibn Hanbal recorded in his Musnad that Abu Sa`id bin Al-Mu`alla had said:"I was praying when the Prophet called me, so I did not answer him until I finished the prayer. I then went to him and he said, 'What prevented you from coming?' I said, 'O Messenger of God! I was praying.' He said, 'Didn't God say, "O you who believe! Answer God and Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life."?' He then said, 'I will teach you the greatest Surah in the Qur'an before you leave the Masjid.' He held my hand and when he was about to leave the Masjid, I said, 'O Messenger of God! You said: "I will teach you the greatest Surah in the Qur'an."' He said, 'Yes.' "Al-Hamdu lillahi Rabbil-`Alamin," It is the seven repeated and the Glorious Qur'an that I was given."
Al-fatiha used for cure
Al-Bukhari recorded in his collection:Abu Sa 'id Al-Khudri said: "While we were on one of our journeys, we dismounted at a place where a slave girl came and said, "The chief of this tribe has been stung by a scorpion and our men are not present; is there anybody among you who can treat him ?" Then one of our men went along with her though we did not think that he knew any such treatment. But he treated the chief by reciting something, and the sick man recovered whereupon he gave him thirty sheep and gave us milk to drink. When he returned, we asked our friend, "Did you know how to treat with the recitation of something?" He said, "No, but I treated him only with the recitation of the Mother of the Book." We said, "Do not say anything till we reach or ask the Prophet so when we reached Medina, we mentioned that to the Prophet. The Prophet said, "How did he come to know that it could be used for treatment? Distribute your reward and assign for me one share thereof as well."
Necessity in Salat
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj recorded that Abu Hurayrah had told that the Prophet had said:"Whoever performs any prayer in which he did not read Umm Al-Qur'an, then his prayer is incomplete."
1 of the 2 lights
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj recorded that Ibn ‘Abbas had said:“While Hadrat Jibril was sitting with the Holy Prophet, he heard a sound above him and raised his head. He said: ‘This is a door in the heaven which has been opened today and which has never been opened before today.’ An angel descended from it. And he said: ‘This is an angel who has descended to earth, who has never descended before today.’ He gave the greetings of peace and said: ‘Give the good news of two lights which you have been given; of which no Prophet before you was given: the Faatiha of the Book and the end of Surah al-Baqarah. You will not recite a letter of them without being given it.’”
“When you lie your side on your bed and you recite and Sura al-Ikhlas, then you have been secured from everything, except death… ”
“The Fatiha and the Ayaat ul Kursi: No slave will ever recite them in a house; except that no evil eye - from a Jinn or human – will ever affect them in that day… ”
“The Fatiha is equal to a third of the Qur’an… ”
Shia benefits
One of the companions of Muhammad narrates that he once recited this surah in the presence of Muhammad, who said, ‘By Him in whose hand is my soul, a similar revelation to this has not been included in the Taurat, Injeel, Zabur or even the Qur’an itself.’Muhammad once asked Jabir ibn Abdallah Ansari, “Should I teach you a surah that has no other comparison to it in the whole Qur’an?” Jabir replied, “Yes, and may my parents be ransom upon you O prophet of Allah.” So Muhammad taught him surah al-Fatihah. Then Muhammad asked, “Jabir, should I tell you something about this surah?” Jabir answered, “Yes, and may my parents be ransom upon you O prophet of Allah.” Muhammad said, “It is a cure for every ailment except death.”
Imam AbuAbdillah Ja’far as-Sadiq said that whoever cannot be cured by surah al-Fatihah, then there is no cure for that person. In the same narration it is written that if this surah is recited 70 times on any part of the body that is aching, the pain will surely go away. In fact, the power of this surah is so great that it is said that if one were to recite it 70 times over a dead body, you should not become surprised if that body starts moving. Surah al-Fatihah is a cure for physical and also spiritual ailments.