Cermin Kehidupan Ilmu

The first Surah begins with the title “The Opener”. At the start of the Quran we are presented with the idea of Action. Anyone saying the Shahadah entering into Islam, other than believing in the heart, has attached himself to "Action" in the form of acts of worship and doing good deeds while refraining from bad deeds.

Before you decide to take a step further in this journey, the first thing you must do is to open your heart and let go of any ill feelings such as prejudice, bias, arrogance against this book (The Quran). The most important criteria in a person before he decides to “open” the Qur’an is sincerity in his heart. The main reason for reading the Qur’an is to seek Guidance from the Creator. If a person reads the Qur’an with some corrupt intention, he may get what he is seeking as his heart is already corrupt to begin with. Guidance is revealed only for the sincere heart. Some sincerely search for any fault of the Quran and they end up with the Shahadah.

A summary of the Quran

This Surah is the core introduction to Islam, the “Deen” (Way of life) compressed into one Surah. It is placed right at the beginning of the Qur’an so that a person reading will get an idea of this religion. It acts as an introduction to the Book of Allah. Later Surahs will provide all the details. The tafseer or explanation of each ayah in this Surah will be very long since it is covering all the core aspects of the message in the Quran. If a person understands this Surah comprehensively, he will live his life as a good Muslim.

The Concept of this Surah

This Surah talks about the definition of God, our relationship to Him and the 3 categories of people in this world.

(1) The begining few ayaat are of “Knowledge” about God. The definition of what a “God” is. People are largely confused of what a God should be. Hence Allah introduces Himself.

(2) The middle ayah is about the Slave's reaction to that knowledge.

(3) The last part is about the 3 different behaviors of people. The slave is to make a choice.

The Status of this Surah

The likes of Surah Al-Fatihah was never given to any other Prophet except the Prophet s.a.w. This indicates the high status of this Surah.

[Sunan an-Nasa'i 912]
Narrated that Ibn Abbas said: "When Jibril was with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), he heard a sound from above like a door opening. Jibril, peace be upon him, looked up toward the sky and said: 'This is a gate in Heaven that has been opened, but it was never opened before." He said: "An Angel came down from it and came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: 'Receive the glad tidings of two lights that have been given to you and were never given to any prophet before you: The Opening of the Book (Al-Fatihah) and the last verses of Surat Al-Baqarah. You will never recite a single letter of them but you will be granted it.'"

Al-Fatihah is the greatest most important Surah in the Quran.

[Riyad as-Salihin 1009]
Abu Sa‘īd Rāfi’ ibn al-Mu‘alla (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "Shall I teach you the greatest Sūrah in the Qur’an before you leave the mosque?" Then he took me by the hand, and when we were about to leave, I said: "O Messenger of Allah, you said: 'I shall teach you the greatest Sūrah in the Qur’an.'" He said: "It is 'Alhamdulillāh Rabb al-‘Ālāmīn' (i.e. Sūrah al-Fātihah). It is the seven oft-repeated verses and the Glorious Qur’an which was given to me."

Several names for Surah Al-Fatihah

There were many names given to this Surah such as in this Hadith:

[Sahih al-Bukhari 4704] Narrated by Abu Hurayrah:
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ (ﷺ) أُمُّ الْقُرْآنِ هِيَ السَّبْعُ الْمَثَانِي وَالْقُرْآنُ الْعَظِيمُ
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Mother (Umm) of the Qur'an is the seven oft-repeated verses (Al-Mathani) and is the Great Qur'an.

We will only list 5 of the popular ones:

1.) Al-Fatihah = "The Opener" as mentioned by the Prophet s.a.w:

[Sahih al-Bukhari 756]: From Ubadah bin al-Somit RA, the Prophet PBUH said:
لاَ صَلاَةَ لِمَنْ لَمْ يَقْرَأْ بِفَاتِحَةِ الكِتَابِ
"Whoever does not recite Fatihatil-Kitab (the opener of the book) in his prayer, his prayer is invalid."

Even though this was not the very first Surah that was revealed to the Prophet s.a.w but it was placed at the very beginning of the Qur’an. It is an opener or gateway into the rest of the Quran. It is also a gateway out of your problems.
It is from the same root letters with "Fath" فتح = Victory. You achieved Victory when you have gotten out of your problems. Every problems that you managed to solve is a victory in life. Life is about solving problems in order to survive. You are "stuck" in life and this Surah offers a way out. It is a victory of your struggle.

2.) Ummul-Quran & Ummul-Kitab

> "The Mother of Al-Quran" as mentioned by the Prophet s.a.w.

[Sahih Muslim 395a] Abu Huraira reported:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said:

مَنْ صَلَّى صَلاَةً لَمْ يَقْرَأْ فِيهَا بِأُمِّ الْقُرْآنِ فَهْىَ خِدَاجٌ [ثَلاَثًا] غَيْرُ تَمَامٍ

If anyone observes Salah in which he does not recite Umm al-Qur'an (the Mother of the Quran), It is deficient [he said this three times] and not complete.

> "The Mother of the book" as mentioned by the Prophet s.a.w.

[Sunan Ibn Majah 840] ‘Aishah said:
“I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘Every Salah in which the Ummul-Kitab (the Mother of the Book) is not recited is deficient.’”

The word "Umm", originally doesn't mean "Mother".
"Umm" means the source where things originate from. All other Surahs act as commentary of this Surah as the source and originator.
It is placed at the beginning of the Quran which gives "birth" and followed up by all other Surahs.

It contains the core essentials of concept and purpose of the whole Qur’an:
- Understanding Tawheed & Allah's perfection
- "Rabb" the Master
- Relationship with the Master, worship and seeking help of the Master
- Self internal knowledge and the external action of submitting to Allah
- Love, Fear and Hope towards our Creator and Master
- Knowing the Categories of Mankind and which one we must align ourselves with.

3.) Sab'ah Al-Mathani = The 7 repeated ayaat.

[Surah Al-Hijr. 15:87]

وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَـٰكَ سَبْعًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْمَثَانِى وَٱلْقُرْءَانَ ٱلْعَظِيمَ

“And We have bestowed upon you the Seven Oft-repeated and the Grand Qur’an”.

The Believers were given Surah Al-Fatihah and along with it the Grand Quran. It shows the status of this Surah as if there are two separate entities where firstly there is Surah Al-Fatihah and secondly other Surahs are tagged to these 7 ayaat. These seven ayaat sum up the whole Qur’an.

"Seven Oft-repeated" (Al Mathani) meaning = These ayaat are followed up one after another, frequently repeated by every Muslims, non stop everywhere & anytime in the world every day, year after year. No Muslim can be called a Muslim if he/she does not memorized and recite this Surah.

In a given 24 hour time on earth, the Muslims are reciting Surah Al-Fatihah when they are doing:
- the Fardh Prayers, the Sunnah Nawafil Prayers: Sunnah Muakkadah (Rawatib), Tahajjud, Witir, Dhuha, Tahiyyatul-Masjid, etc.
- teaching and learning the recitation,
- doing Ruqyah,
- the morning and evening Zikr, etc.

Everyday, summing up millions of times this Surah is being recited by the 2 Billion Muslims around the globe. In a year, several Trillions times it is recited. Since the time of the Prophet s.a.w, it has been recited non stop until our present day. No other phrase or mantra from any other religion will come close to the amount of people and the number of times these 7 ayaat are repeated.

4.) As-Solah = "The Prayer"
As mentioned above that no Solah is valid without the Al-Fatihah

Muslims all over the world recite this Surah at least 17 times a day in their daily Solah.
Refer to Fiqh matters regarding reciting Al-Fatihah in Solah.

[In the same Hadith] Allah calls this Surah as "As-Solah":

قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى قَسَمْتُ الصَّلاَةَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ عَبْدِي نِصْفَيْنِ

Allah the Exalted had said: I have divided the "Solah" into two halves between Me and My servant

5.) As-Syifa’ / Ar-Ruqyah = The cure, the Remedy

-> A cure for physical sickness. Spitting on the affected area after reciting Al-Fatihah.

[Sahih al-Bukhari 5736] Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri:
Some of the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) came across a tribe amongst the tribes of the Arabs, and that tribe did not entertain them. While they were in that state, the chief of that tribe was bitten by a snake (or stung by a scorpion). They said, (to the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) ), "Have you got any medicine with you or anybody who can treat with Ruqya?" The Prophet's companions said, "You refuse to entertain us, so we will not treat (your chief) unless you pay us for it." So they agreed to pay them a flock of sheep. One of them (the Prophet's companions) started reciting Surat-al-Fatiha and gathering his saliva and spitting it (at the snake-bite). The patient got cured and his people presented the sheep to them, but they said, "We will not take it unless we ask the Prophet (whether it is lawful)." When they asked him, he smiled and said, "How do you know that Surat-al-Fatiha is a Ruqya? Take it (flock of sheep) and assign a share for me."

-> A cure for physical or spiritual sickness by blowing on water after reciting Quran:

Many early and contemporary scholars are of the view that it is permissible to recite the Quran on water and then blow on it, after which the person will drink. These scholars such as ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Al Qayyim, Shaikh Ibn Baaz, Ibn Uthaymeen said that it is permissible to perform Ruqyah in this way.

Names of Surah in the Quran

Not all Suras were named by the Prophet s.a.w. The rest were named by his companions after his passing.

For detailed discussion of what is a Surah, refer here.

When was this Surah revealed?

The main opinion: Surah Al-Fatihah was revealed in Makkah after Surah Al-Muddathir.

In timeline chronological order, these Surahs were revealed before Surah Al-Fatihah :
(1) Surah Al-'Alaq - only the first 5 ayaat were revealed.
(2) Surah Al-Qalam - only the first several ayaat were revealed.
(3) Surah Al-Muzammil - only the first several ayaat were revealed.
(4) Surah Al-Muddathir - only the first several ayaat were revealed.
(5) Surah Al-Fatihah (the whole Surah) - All 7 Ayaat of Al-Fatihah was revealed at one go.

The Surah's before Al-Fatihah were revealed in piecemeal (as mentioned above). The rest of the ayaat in those Surahs were revealed in some other time.

A lesser opinion said that some ayaat of the Al-Fatihah were revealed in Makkah and some were revealed in Madinah. However this is not practical since the Prophet s.a.w did his Solah in Makkah even before the incident of "Israk and Mikraj" and Solah is invalid without the Fatihah.

The goal of learning the Tafsir of Surah Al-Fatihah

After you have gone through each ayah of this beautiful Surah and the knowledge sticks with you, then each time when you are performing Solah, you will get a sense of awe and satisfaction by getting a more meaningful Solah session with understanding.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse