Al-Fatiha

Sura Al-Fatiha (الفاتحة), "The Opening," is the first chapter of the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an. Its seven verses are a prayer for God's guidance and stress the lordship and mercy of God. This chapter has a special role in traditional daily prayers, being recited at the start of each unit of prayer, or rak'ah. __TOC__

Arabic

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
مَـٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَ ٰط ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ
صِرَ ٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ ٱلضَّاۤلِّينَ

Interpretation of the Meanings of Sura al-Fatiha

Muslims believe that the Qur'an is a revelation from God, revealed in the Arabic language. Translations into any other languages are considered to be merely superficial "interpretations" of the meanings and not bona fide reliable versions of the Qur'an. They are used mainly for personal/spiritual use by non-Arabic speakers. A translation of this sort in English (with transliteration of the original Arabic) is as follows ().

The Opening

1:1 In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful:

Bismillāhir rahmānir rahīm

1:2 Praise be to God, the Lord of the Universe.

Al hamdu lillāhi rabbil 'ālamīn

1:3 The Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful.

Ar rahmānir rahīm

1:4 Master of the Day of Judgment.

Māliki yawmid dīn

1:5 You alone we worship. You alone we ask for help.

Iyyāka na'budu wa iyyāka nasta'īn

1:6 Guide us on the right path;

Ihdinās sirātal mustaqīm

1:7 the path of those whom You have blessed, not of those who have deserved wrath, nor of the strayers.

Sirātal ladhīna an'amta 'alayhim ghayril maghdūbi 'alayhim walād dāālīn

When recitated during daily prayers, Sura Al-Fatiha is traditionally followed by the word ameen.

Notes

The first verse, transliterated as "bismillāhir rahmānir rahīm", may be familiar to non-Arabic speakers and non-Muslims because of its ubiquity in Arabic and Muslim societies. This is especially true for the fragment "bismillah," literally, "in the name of God," which appears, for example, in Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. This verse appears at the start of every sura in the Qur'an (except for surah at-Tawbah), but is not usually counted as a numbered verse as is the case in Al-Fatiha. The verse is said before reciting a sura or part of a sura during daily prayer, and also before public proclamations and indeed before many personal and everyday activities in many Arabic and Muslim societies as a way to invoke God's blessing and proclaim one's motives before an undertaking.

The two words "ar rahmān" and "ar rahīm" are often translated in English as "the benificent" and "the merciful" or "the generous" and "the merciful." They are often also translated as superlatives, for example, "the most generous" and "the most merciful." Grammatically the two words "rahmaan" and "raheem" are different linguistic forms of the triconsonantal root R-H-M, connoting "mercy." (For more information, see the section on root forms in Semitic languages.) The form "rahmaan" denotes amount or extent, i.e. "most merciful," while "raheem" denotes time permanence, i.e. "ever merciful."

The reading of the first word of the fourth verse, translated as "master/king" above, has been the subject of debate. The two main readings, or qira'at, of the Qur'an, Warsh and Hafs, differ on whether it should be "maliki" with a short "a," which means "king" (Warsh, from Nafi'; Ibn Kathir; Ibn Amir; Abu 'Amr; Hamza), or "māliki" with a long "a," which means "master" or "owner" (Hafs, from Asim, and al-Kisa'i). Both "maliki" and "māliki" derive from the same triconsonantal root in Arabic, M-L-K. Both readings are considered valid by many practitioners, since both can be seen as describing God.

In some Muslim societies, Al-Fatiha is traditionally read together by a couple to seal their engagement.

Revelation

Islamic scholarly tradition is concerned, amongst other things, with when and where verses and chapters of the Qur'an were revealed to Muhammad - for example, whether a verse was revealed while the prophet was in Mecca or Medina. According to Ibn Abbas and others, Al-Fatiha is Meccan; according to Abu Hurairah and others, it is a Madinan sura. The former view is more widely accepted. Some say it was the first complete surah to be revealed^*, coming after the revelation of the beginnings of the suras Iqra and al-Muddaththir.

Alternate names

This surah is described in various Hadith as "the mother of the Book" (Umm al-Kitab) and "the mother of the Qur'an" (Umm al-Qur'an), and said to be the seven verses alluded to in Al-Hijr :

"We have given thee seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the great Qur'an."

It is also sometimes known in English as the Exordium, and may even be nicknamed "The Lord's Prayer of the Muslims"

Statistics

This sura contains 7 verses, 29 words and 139 letters (or 25 and 120, not counting the first verse), although Ibn Kathir says "The scholars say that Al-Fatiha consists of 25 words, and that it contains 113 letters." It falls in the first hizb, and hence the first juz', which are sections of the Qur'an.

External links

Sura | Salat