Tafsir AL FATIHA

TAFSEER
Surah Al-Fatihah

� It is one of the pillars of Salah.
� From the lessons in Seerah we learn that the As�haabis used Surah Fatihah as a Ruqyah to cure a person, e.g.: from scorpion bites.
� There is another Hadith, narrated by Abu Hurayrah (May Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said; �Allah the exalted said, �I have divided the prayer (Al-Fatihah) into two halves between Me and My servant. A half of it is for Me and a half for My servant, and My servant shall acquire what he asked for. If he says, �All praise and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of existence�, Allah says, �My servant has praised Me.� When the servant says, �The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.� Allah says, �My servant has glorified Me.� When he says, �Master of the Day of Judgment.� Allah says, �My servant has glorified Me.� When he says, �You (alone) we worship, and You (alone) we ask for help.� Allah says, �This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall acquire what he sought.� When he says, �Guide us to the straight path. The way of those on whom You have granted Your grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your anger, nor of those who went astray�, Allah says, �This is for My servant, and My servant shall acquire what he asked for.��


1. In the Name of All�h, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

It is called the Basmalah. All surahs begin with the Basmalah with the exception of Surah Bara�ah or Surah Tawbah. It is also a part of an ayah in Surah Naml. Saying the Basmalah perfects ones intention as is reflected in the meaning. It also trains a person that recitation is only for Allah (swt).

2. All the praises and thanks be to All�h, the Lord of the 'Alam�n (mankind, jinns and all that exists).

Alhamdulillah- �Praise be to Allah�.
Rabb - the meaning of the root word �Rabb� means to raise up/ to cultivate, to plan for that creation and to own that creation.
This ayah shows that we need to be thankful to Allah Azzawajal for having created, raised and cultivated us and also because he is the ultimate owner of all that exists but in reality, rarely is a person thankful to Allah (swt). Allah (swt) says in the Qur�an �..� we are a nation that focuses on �pain� and only make shukr to Allah swt when we realize the difficulties that we are in and when Allah gives you trials and pain. Till that point, we do not acknowledge his blessings and bounties.

When we acknowledge that Allah is the true Rabb,- Ultimate/ and absolute owner of us, this should instill in us a fear of him. This fear if genuine would make is do all the obligatory acts that have been made Fardh for us without laziness of procrastination. One of the main reasons for laziness/ ingratitude
is that we lack true fear of Allah (swt). What happens when a person usually has fear is that they either have a negative expectation or a positive expectation for the end. There are two types of expectations/ suspicions that a person may have

a) Husn Ad-Dhan � Good suspicions or a person/ making good excuses for a person and in the case of Allah (swt) having positive expectations�
b) Soo' Ad-Dhan - Thinking badly of a person and their intention and in this case having negative expectations from Allah (swt) and always assuming the worst to befall upon you. What this means is that the person on committing a sin would assume intense punishment with no hope for his forgiveness. TO THINK OF ALLAH (SWT) IN THIS WAY IS HARAM.
Fear should always be coupled with hope.But if there is too much hope a person may forever go on sinning with the expectation that Allah swt will forgive him without having true fear of Allah. On the other hand if there is too much fear the person will oppress his own soul and think there is no hope for him and he is doomed for the fire of hell. Maximum fear or maximum hope will never get you to Jannah; rather what a person has to do is to have the right amount of fear and the right amount of hope, so that if one errs he knows that he can repent and return to the right path.

3. The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Ar-Rahman: The Most Merciful [the owner of Mercy]
Ar-Raheem: The bestower of Mercy [the giver of Mercy]
The Hadith that illustrates the Mercy of Allah (swt):

`Umar ibn Al-Khattab said: Some captives were brought to the Messenger of Allah and there was a woman among them whose breasts were full of milk. Suddenly, this woman saw an infant in the midst of the captives. She took hold of it, brought it into her bosom, and started nursing it. The Prophet then told the Companions, "Do you think that this woman would throw her child in the fire?" We said, "No, By Allah she would not, if she is able not to." He then said, "Allah the Exalted is more merciful with His slave than this woman with her child." (Al-Bukhari)The Prophet said, "When Allah created the creatures, He wrote in the Book, which is with Him over His Throne: "Verily, My Mercy prevailed over My Wrath."
(Al-Bukhari)

In fact Allah (swt) is More Merciful to us than we are to our own selves. He is the most merciful and no one gives us mercy as He does.

4. The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection)
There are two different ways in which �Owner� is said in Arabic:-
Malik: Sovereign or ruler Maalik: Owner
In this ayah, it implies both.
Yaum Ad-Deen: Pay back day or day of accounting .
[Analogy is imagining your �pay-day� at work every month when your wages are accounted for depending on your hours worked].

5. You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).

In this ayah, Allah (swt) is showing us, HOW to worship Him.
Isti�aanah is when you seek the help of Allah.

6. Guide us to the Straight Way Hidaaya or guidance is an oft-repeated statement in the Qur�an. Guidance is of two types:
a) Irshaad: Showing the people the right way, this could be the Prophets, Da�ees, teachers, Arrows for direction, all this falls under Irshaad (how to get somewhere)
b) Tawfique: this is when Allah (swt) bestows you guidance to choose the right way and go on the right path when you have been shown how to get there (Irshaad). I.e. whether you choose to accept the guidance (Irshaad) and do the right thing. This is a gift from All�h (swt), that All�h gives a person the Tawfique to do the right thing.
** Often people make Du�aa to Allah (swt) asking for Tawfique without asking for the first one, please make it a point to ask for both as one does not come without the other 

7. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).

In this Ayah Allah swt mentions three types of people: -
a) The one who Allah bestowed His Grace � the one who sought knowledge
b) The one who earned Allah (swt) Anger � Maghdoob (like the Jews) this is because they had the knowledge, yet they did not practice it or accept it (when they did not accept the Messenger (saw), and rejected him)
c) The one who went astray - Dhaalleen (like the Christians): they chose to stay ignorant knowing that if they seek the truth, they will have to follow it up with actions and in doing so, and they also rejected the truth.

It is important to note that one needs to seek refuge in Allah (swt) from the latter two. The Dhaalleen is worse off than the one before. At the same time one should also remember that not ALL Christians or Jews of the past fell into these categories as there were the practicing ones as well. However it is evident that there are Muslims out there who also fall into the two categories:
a) They have the knowledge and do not practice it
b) They are afraid of seeking the knowledge as they fear that if they do so, they will have to practice it and in not practicing they will be punished. This will result in them being accountable on two sins which is not seeking knowledge and practicing what you learn of the religion. There is NO choice when it comes to the matter of Deen. If one says NO to every opportunity to seek the truth, then one has committed a grave sin.

source :TTI