Al-Fatiha

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This article is about Sura al-fatiha. For other uses, see Al-Fatiha (disambiguation).

Al-Fatiha
الفاتحة

Al-Fatiha

Classification : Makki

Meaning of the name

The Opening

Other names

Umm al-Kitab
Umm al-Qur'an
The Key
Surah al-Hamd

Sura number

Time of revelation

Early years of Muhammad's prophethood

Statistics

Number of Rukus

Harf-e-Mukatta'at

Number of Ayats on particular subjects

Praise of Allah: 3
Relation between Creator and creatures: 1
Prayer of the humankind: 3

Number of Sijdahs

Sura Al-Fatiha (Arabic: 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.

1 Interpretation of the Meaning of Sura Al-Fatiha
2 Notes
3 Revelation
4 Alternate names
5 Statistics
6 Translations, interpretations and commentaries on Surah Al-Fatiha
7 External links

[edit] Interpretation of the Meaning of Sura Al-Fatiha

Muslims believe that the Qur'an is a revelation from Allah in the Arabic language. Translations into other languages are considered by many to be merely superficial "interpretations" of the meanings and not reliable versions of the Qur'an. Although some Qur'an alone and liberal Muslims use translations as part of their daily prayers, they are used mainly for personal spiritual use by non-Arabic speakers. A translation in English (with transliteration of the original Arabic) is as follows (1:1).

The Opening

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

Bismillāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm

1:2 All the Praises and thanks be to God, the Lord of the Universe.

Al ḥamdu lillāhi rabbi l-'ālamīn

1:3 The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Ar raḥmāni r-raḥīm

1:4 Master of the Day of Judgment.

Māliki yawmi d-dīn

1:5 You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help

Iyyāka na'budu wa iyyāka nasta'īn

1:6 Guide us to the straight way;

Ihdinā ṣ-ṣirāṭ al mustaqīm

1:7 The way of those whom you have blessed, not of those who have deserved anger, nor of those who stray.

Ṣirāṭ al-laḏīna an'amta 'alayhim ġayril maġḍūbi 'alayhim walāḍ ḍāllīn

When recitated during daily prayers, Sura Al-Fatiha is usually followed by the word Amin (Amen).

[edit] 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). 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, however this act is not recorded in the sunnah and is seen by many to be an innovation.

[edit] 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 Makkah or Madinah. According to Ibn Abbas and others, Sura Al-Fatiha is a Makkan surah; according to Abu Hurayrah and others, it is a Madinan surah. The former view is more widely accepted, although some believe that it was revealed in both Makkah and Madinah.

[edit] 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 15:87:

"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"

[edit] 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.

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