By the grace of Allah, today 22nd
August 2014, I have thought about explaining a bit again on this very important
chapter – the Surah Al-Fatiha. I know
that there is no end to the commentary of this Surah. Centuries after centuries after my advent, there shall come
many more divinely-sent reformers (Mujaddid),
caliphs of Allah (Khalifatullah) and
other Men of God who shall keep on explaining on this chapter, Surah, which is the Surah
Al-Fatiha.
The word “Fatiha” comes from the verb “Fataha”,
which means in this context “to open”. “Al”
is a defined article and Fatiha (feminine
here because it refers to the word Surah
which is feminine in Arabic) means the opening Surah, which starts the Quran because it is that Surah which comes first in the Quran,
that is, when you open the Quran, it is that very important key which is
required to open the Quran. It is also important as a key to open your heart to
your Creator, to show the great extent of love which you have for Him and which
enables you to recognise your Lord (Allah) as the Master of the Day of
Judgement. And it is Him whom we worship and to Him alone we beseech
forgiveness… In addition it is with the Surah
Al-Fatiha itself that we are able to open our Salat/Namaz (prayer). It is the first Surah that we recite in the Salat.
Fatiha does not mean to raise both hands – We know that our other
Muslim brothers raise their hands, and they say “Fateha!” There is nothing to laugh about. We don’t have to mock
them. Perhaps upon raising your hands in prayers and saying “Fateha”, this can mean making the
people understand to start their supplications (duah) to Allah with the Surah
Al-Fatiha; for this is the key! One’s duah
begins with the Surah Al-Fatiha. But
very often, there are people who do not understand this. Each person has a way
of expressing themselves, and even in expressing oneself, there are meanings
behind it which are deep. We often hear our other Muslim brothers – not the
Ahmadi Muslims – say “Fateha” upon
raising their hands (to start a supplication to Allah). There are some people
who joke about this. They say that they say/read “Fateha” to earn money.
Putting aside the jokes, but once “Fateha” has been said, this enables
each person, each believer present to know that their supplications (to Allah)
should begin with the Surah
Al-Fatiha. As for us (Ahmadi Muslims), we say: “Duahs!” There may be many people who do not know that when saying “Duahs!” they must start first with
recitation of the Surah Al-Fatiha,
and not other wordings such as: “Assalamoualaikum!”
Therefore, when asking the believer to raise his hands for prayer, upon raising
his hands, he needs to recite the Surah
Al-Fatiha. – Fatiha like I said does
not mean to raise both hands; although it is recommended to raise hands to
request duahs (queries) to Allah and
to recite the Surah Al-Fatiha.
The Surah Al-Fatiha has several other names such as: The Mother of the Quran. Do you know
what a Mother is? It is through a mother that a generation, a family is born.
She can have many children, beginning with the elder. After the eldest
children, there is the second child and the counting goes on for as many
children that she has. Moreover, upon begetting a child or children, that
mother regroups them, just like the similitude which Allah has given us in the
example of the hen mother. Despite being drenched or in any kind of weather –
rainy, sunny, night – but she would protect her chicks under her wings. A mother
protects therefore her children; whatever (positive or negative) way or
condition these children are or find themselves in. Despite all this, she will
protect them. Similarly, the Surah
Al-Fatiha is the Mother of the Quran and that is a very important matter.
And
after the Surah Al-Fatiha, there is
the Surah Al-Baqara (The Cow). A cow
gives what? Milk! What does a mother give to her child upon giving birth to
him? She gives him milk, her milk to drink! – Breastfeeding, mother’s milk is
so important for each newborn, for his development and milk in cartons, sold
everywhere, can never equal mother’s milk in value and nutritional content. Moreover,
mother’s milk is free – there is no money to be spent. Likewise, the Surah Al-Fatiha is Mother of the Quran,
and after it (in the next chapter), there is milk. After the Surah Al-Fatiha, there is “The Cow”
which gives milk. And we know that milk cures many illnesses also. And verily,
the Surah Al-Fatiha is also called The Cure, as well as The Praise, One which Suffices, The Root of the
Quran and many other names.
There is healing in this Surah. Once, some companions of the
Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) were travelling. They came to a place and asked
hospitality to its inhabitants, but the latter refused to accept them. So they
went elsewhere. But it happened that the chief of the people fell ill. They
tried everything they knew, everything they could to try to cure him, but in
vain. Finally they resorted to the Muslims to treat/cure their leader.
They came and one of them recited
the Surah Al-Fatiha on the patient
and he was cured by the will of Allah. The people offered a sheep (or more) as
gift to the Muslims. They accepted the gift but before eating it, they thought
it was better for them to ask the Prophet (pbuh) if it was permissible for them
to consume it. The Prophet (pbuh) replied in the affirmative and added that
they could even give him a piece (of the mutton). The Prophet (pbuh) naturally
did not need a piece of mutton but he wanted to show that this gift was lawful
and that it was permissible to eat the meat. (Bukhari, Muslim & Abu Dawud)
The Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh)
said in an authentic hadith that the meaning of Surah Al-Fatiha is the Mother of Quran. It consists of seven oft-repeated
verses (recited in Salat in each Rakah) and it is the Heart of the
glorious Quran. (Ahmad)
Sayyidina Ubadah
ibn As-Samit reported
that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “There is
no Salat for someone who does not recite Surah Al-Fatiha, the opening chapter
of the Quran.” (Bukhari, Muslim)
This is what I have been saying
(since a long time). I have witnessed it before and now I don’t know if this
practice still exists in the Jamaat Ahmadiyya, that when someone has come late
for Namaz in congregation, and
reached the Ruku (bowing) posture or
when the Imam is upright and reading “Sami ‘Allah Hu
Liman Hamida”
(Allah hears the one who praises Him), and therefore missed the Surah Al-Fatiha, he thinks that Rakah is counted (whereas it is not so),
despite the fact that he missed the Surah
Al-Fatiha. For e.g. if the Imam was performing a 4-Rakaat prayer, and that
person has reached in prayer in the first Rakah,
missing the Surah Al-Fatiha and when
the Imam has already reached the Ruku
posture or the upright posture after Ruku,
and afterwards when the Imam ends his prayer, then that person follows the Imam
till the end and considers his prayer complete when it is not so. That is to
say, among the 4 Rakaat, he obtained only 3 Rakaat wherein he read the Surah Al-Fatiha and he missed a fourth
one – the Surah Al-Fatiha of the
first Rakah.
Upon analysing this
Hadith deeply, what is being explained is that if a Rakah is devoid of the Surah
Al-Fatiha, therefore there is no Salat/Namaz.
That is, his Namaz is not counted,
incomplete. Therefore, if you have missed the Surah Al-Fatiha, and the Imam reached the Ruku, therefore you must replace the missed Rakah in Namaz, and
complete the Namaz. This is because the Surah
Al-Fatiha is important, indeed very important.
*** *** ***
To be noted – the
other explanations of the Khalifatullah on the subject:
(1) If the person succeeded in reaching Salat in time when
the Imam has not yet reach the Ruku position, and he succeeded in reading
quickly his Surah Al-Fatiha while the Imam is reading another verse of the
Quran after the Surah Al-Fatiha, therefore the worshipper’s (Mussalli) Rakah in
Namaz and Namaz is complete.
(2) When the Imam is reading the Surah Al-Fatiha aloud, all
worshippers (Mussalli) behind should recite the Surah Al-Fatiha in a very low
voice or in their hearts, and when the Imam has completed the recitation of the
Surah Al-Fatiha and is reading another Surah/Verses of the Quran (aloud),
therefore the worshippers should remain quiet and listen to the recitation.
*** *** ***
The meaning of Surah Al-Fatiha:
“Al-Hamdu” means: Praise. Praise is greater
than thanks. Saying thanks to Allah is good but “Praise be to Allah” is better.
“Lillaahi” means: To Allah. To Allah only, because
Allah is the Creator of everything.
“Rabbil” means: Lord (of). The Lord who
creates, Who gives life, Who feeds, Who gives death, Who gives life after
death, Who judges His creatures and who rewards or punishment.
“Aalameen” means the worlds. “Al-Aalameen” is derived from the word “Al-Alamoune” which is the plural of the
word Al-Alam which means “the worlds”.
So “Al-Aalameen” means the worlds and
“Rabbil-Aalamine” means Lord of the worlds; the
worlds of humans, the angels, and the jinn. And (also) the animal, vegetable,
and mineral worlds. Allah is the Lord of all creation, in any place and any
time. All creation has no lord other than Allah. He is the Lord of the living
and the dead. He has power over all things.
“Ar-Rahman-Ir-Rahim” means: The Most Gracious, The Most
Merciful. Almighty Allah is forgiving and merciful. But we must also remember
that Allah is also keen to take accounts and is severe in inflicting punishment.
The Prophet (pbuh) in an authentic Hadith,
said: “If a believer knew what kinds of
punishments Allah has, he would not have had any hope of entering paradise. And
conversely if a believer knew how vast the mercy of Allah is, he would never
lose hope to receive Allah's forgiveness.” (Muslim)
“Malik” means: Master.
“Yawmid-Deen” means the Day of Judgement. Allah
is the Master of the Day of Judgement. He forgives whom He wills. He rewards
whom He wills and punishes whom He wills. His rank is higher than that of a
judge; He can forgive a sinner, but however the condition only applies if the
sinner did not commit Shirk (i.e. did
not associate false gods with Allah in worship, did not worshiped anything/anybody
else but Allah).
The Day of Judgement is the day
when we will have to appear before God to answer for everything we have done on
earth.
“Iyaakanabudu Wa Iyyaka Nasta’ine” means: You (Allah) alone we
worship and from You (Allah) alone we ask for help. Allah, in His infinite
wisdom has sent many prophets throughout the ages. There are some with whom He sent
books such as: Prophet Ibrahim - Abraham (as) who came with the Suhuf, Prophet Dawud - David (as) who
received the Psalms, Prophet Musa - Moses (as) who received the Torah. Much
later, prophet Isa - Jesus son of Mary (as) came with the Injeel, and finally Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who received the Quran.
(When the Khalifatullah (atba) reached on the
subject of Jesus (as), he drew attention to one more argument against the
physical descent of the original Jesus whom the Christians and Muslims are
still waiting. Jesus (as) came with the Gospels, but supposed that he is to
come back again, what book shall he preach to the people? The Gospels or the
Quran? Shall he teach a book he did not receive or teach the Book which he
received from God Almighty? ... To be noted:
In the past, in his other dawa sessions, the Khalifatullah (atba) also referred
to the fact that if the other Muslims persist in saying that in the Quran it
has been mentioned that he has ascended physically to the heavens, but then if
he were to come down again, what shall he do? Erase the words of “has gone up/
been raised” to introduce “has come down”?)
The common message of all prophets
is contained in the Divine Books. The messages of all Divine Books are
contained in the Quran. Message from Quran is contained in Surah Al-Baqara. The message of Surah
Al-Baqara is contained in Surah
Al-Fatiha. And the message of Al-Fatiha is contained in the verse “Iyaakanabudu Wa Iyyaka Nasta’ine.” This verse
contains the essence of the unity of Allah. Allah is unique in His names and
attributes. He is unique as Lord and He is unique in His divinity. There is no
god but Allah.
The fact that someone has faith in
the oneness of Allah, in His names and attributes is not enough to make him a
Muslim. The fact that he also believes in the oneness of Allah, in His Lordship
is still not enough to make him a Muslim. He must imperatively have faith in
the oneness of Allah as God (that Allah is the only one who deserves our
worship).
It is essential to depend only on
Allah as it is essential to always address our requests and prayers to Allah
directly as the seal of the prophets of Allah, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) has
always done.
There are many people who believe
that Allah is One Lord, but they ascribe partners to Allah and, therefore,
worship other than Allah. Therefore, they disqualify themselves as Muslims and
fall into the category of those who commit Shirk
(polytheism) because they worship others than Allah; and Shirk results in hell if the person who is guilty of it does not
repent, does not beg and does not get forgiveness from Allah.
Insha-Allah, due to lack of time I will continue this subject in my
sermon next Friday. May Allah preserve us from Shirk and carve us all into sincere Muslims throughout our life,
with His worship as our sole aim, and that we fulfil our duty to invite the
world to Islam, and the sublime benefits of the Quran and of the Surah Al-Fatiha. Ameen.
-Extracts from the Friday Sermon of August 22, 2014 delivered by the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim (atba) of Mauritius.