Tafsir Surah Fatiha

By Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal 

All praise is due to Allah, lord of the worlds.  We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and the bad consequences of our actions. I testify to the fact that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah. And I also testify to the fact that Muhammad (saw) is His last Prophet and Messenger. 

Brothers and sisters in Islam Allah has blessed us to witness another day of Jumua.  This day is the eid of the week. It is the day Adam was placed in the garden, it is the day he was thrown out from the garden. It is the day Allah shall command His angel Israfeel to blow in the trumpet, hence Judgment Day shall take place on a Friday. 

Today we shall be doing the tafseer of the greatest Surah of the Holy Qur’an i.e. surah Fatiha.  This surah is called; sab’a mathani, the 7 often repeated verses. It is called al umm, the mother of the book, because it is the most important surah in the Holy Qur’an. It is also called ash shifaa, the cure because it cures people of their ailments when it is recited over them.  A sahaba recited surah Fatiha over the leader of an Arab tribe who was bitten by a dangerous scorpion and he was about to die. But he was cured by the recitation of surah Fatiha over him.

It is haram to pray salah behind a person who cannot recite surah Fatiha with the correct pronunciation.  It is haram to recite surah Fatiha in a language other than Arabic during salah. It is haram to leave off surah fatiha in a rakah when performing salah.

A’oothu Billahi Minash shaitaan nir Rajeem 

Before explaining surah Fatiha we will first explain the statement “A’oothu billahi minash shaitan nir rajeem,  I seek refuge in Allah from the Satan the outcast.  This sentence is to be recited on the following 7 occasions.

1. Before reciting the Holy Qur’an because forgetfulness is from the Shaitaan.
2. Whenever we see a black dog, because the black dog is the Shaitaan.
3. Whenever we hear the donkey brays because the donkey sees a shaitaan.  However when the rooster crows we should say Allahumma innee as’aluka min fadlika, because the rooster sees an angel.
4. Whenever we become angry because anger is from the shaitaan.
5. Whenever we have evil thoughts, because evil thoughts are from the whispers of the shaitaan.
6. Whenever someone makes an indecent proposal to us, because the shaitaan is using this person to corrupt us.
7. Lastly whenever we have a bad dream because the bad dream is from the Shaitaan.

Bismillah Hir Rahman Nir Raheem 

This verse is the 1^st ayah of surah Fatiha.  Therefore surah Fatiha begins with the recitation of Bismillah Hir Rahman Nir Raheem. I am aware that some scholars follow a Hadith that says it’s not an ayah of surah Fatiha, however the more accurate opinion is that it is the 1^st ayah of surah Fatiha.  A Muslim is suppose to recite Bismillah on the following 5 occasions:

1. Before eating
2. Before drinking if not the shaitan will partake in his eating & drinking.
3. Before going to bed with his wife, hence he should say: Bismillah, allahumma janibnaa ash shaitaan wa jannib ash shaitaan maa razaqtanaa. i.e. in the name of Allah.  O Allah protect us and what u are about to bestow on us from the shaitaan.
4. Before performing wudu. I am aware that the Hanbali school of thought makes it fard to say bismillah before wudu.  However bismillah is sunnah mu’akkada so if a person didn’t say bismillah his wudu is still valid but lacking in barakah.
5. Before every halal and noble act. If we cannot say bismillah before doing a deed then we should leave it off.  For example a person cannot say bismillah before drinking khamr (intoxicant) but he can say bismillah before drinking water or orange juice.

The sahabas said:  we didn’t know when a surah ends and starts till Allah reveal Bismillahir rahman nir raheem.  Surah Tawba is the surah of Jihad hence Allah didn’t reveal Bismillahir rahman nir raheem at the beginning of this surah. 

Alhamdu lillahi Rabbil aalameen 

All praise is due to Allah lord of the worlds. In this ayah we declare that all praise is for Allah, hence we do not do good deeds to show off.  Three men will be brought on Judgment Day who did good to show off, thus they will be dragged on their faces and dumped into the Hell-fire (a) the Aalim, scholar (b) the spender and the (c) Mujaahid. 
The worlds Allah is referring to in the above-mentioned ayah are 5 worlds. (1) the angels (2) the Jinn (3)  humankind (4) plants and (5) animals 
All these worlds worship Allah. Only man and jinn worship false deities hence only man and jinn will go to the Hell-fire on Judgment Day from these 5 worlds.  If a Muslim goes to Hell he will come out with the intercession of Muhammad (saw).  If a kafir, hypocrite, apostate or heretic goes to Hell he/she will abide therein forever because there is no shafaa’a, intercession for these people 

Ar Rahman Nir Raheem 

The Beneficient the Merciful.  Allah repeats these 2 names & attributes in the above-mentioned ayah because no one can go to Paradise except by the Divine Mercy of Allah. We sin by night & by day so only by Allah’s mercy we can go to Paradise.  The Holy Prophet said:  “ Show mercy to those who are on earth and He who is in Heaven will show mercy to you. 
Allah said in a Hadith Qudsi: “Verily My Mercy prevails over My wrath.” 

Maaliki Youmid Deen 

Master of the Day of Judgment.  This ayah means on Judgment Day Allah sends to Paradise who He wants. And sends to the Hell-fire who He wants and no one can veto His decisions.  It also means no one can intercede on behalf of another without Allah’s permission.  Allah calls Judgment Day Youmid Deen because on that day all the religions will be there. The Arabic word Deen means religion.  The only religion acceptable to Allah is Islam, hence anyone who follows a religion other than Islam it will not be accepted from him/her and this person shall be in the Hell-fire forever. 
The excuse of ignorance cannot be used by a pagan as a defense when he stands before Allah on Judgment Day as there is no excuse for worshipping false deities. 

Iyyaaka Na’budu wa iyyaaka nasta’een 

You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help. In this ayah we declare that we worship Allah alone and we are not mushrikeen, pagans.  The Berailwis, grave-worshippers recite iyyaaka na’budu wa iyyaaka nasta’een; but they don’t believe in it because they worship the graves beside Allah.  Allah calls the Berailwis liars and kafirs in surah Zumar 39:3. 
They were called liars and kafirs by Allah because they recite the ayah iyyaaka na’budu wa iyyaaka nasta’een yet they worship the graves instead of Allah so their recitation of the ayah was a big lie. They don’t’ mean what they are reciting. 

Ihdinas siraatal Mustaqeem 

Show us the straight path. A person is rightly guided if his aqeeda (creed) fiqh and manhaj is correct.  Manhaj means the methodology of establishing sharia. Democracy is not the manhaj because it is the religion of iblis.  Any Muslim who believes in Democracy has become a heretic and an apostate. 
The siraatal mustaqeem is: The Holy Qur’an & Sunnah.  Hence a person should take his deen only from Qur’an & sunnah.  We were also told by the Holy Prophet to take our Deen from the 4 rightly guided caliphs.  So when Umar made taraaweh salah 20 rakah it becomes sunnah because Umar is one of the 4 rightly guided caliphs.  A Muslim has a choice to do 8 or 20 rakah and no one is allowed to criticize him/her. 

Siraatal ladheena an’amta alayhim 

The path of those who you have blessed. Those who are blessed are the companions of Nuh who were saved with him in the ark.  The companions of Abraham who shun idolatry and embraced Tawheed.  The companions of Musa, Jesus and Muhammad. 

Ghairil Maghdoobi alayhim wa lad dhaaaleeen 

Not the path of those who gain Your anger, nor those who have gone astray.  Ibn Kathir said those who gain Allah’s Wrath are the Jews because they change the book, killed the Prophets and reject Muhammad.  Those who are astray are the Christians because everything which is haram they make it halal.  The Christians are astray because in the year 325 CE in Turkey, they met at a council called the council of nicea and introduced paganism into Christianity, i.e. the Trinity. Hence Christians worship 3 gods and this makes them pagans.  They abandon the Tawheed Jesus taught them and adopted paganism instead. This was to make Christianity attractive to the Romans who were themselves pagans.  It’s for this reason Christianity has become paganism, and it is for this reason Islam is the only salvation for mankind.