Summary of the Tafseer of Surah Al-Fatiha: Surah Al-Fatiha revolves around a dua for guidance and can be divided into two parts. The first half of the Surah describes Allah and our relationship to Him, and the second half of the Surah is the actual dua whose wordings contain clues to what is the correct path to follow. The Surah begins with Alhamdulillah (All praise is for Allah), a beautiful statement of gratitude to remind us that Allah is the One who blessed us with all the good things we have in our lives. This is followed by five important descriptions of our Creator, He is Allah (The Only God), Rabb Al-Aalameen (Controller of the Universe), Ar-Rahman (Merciful to All creation), Ar-Raheem (Especially Merciful to the believers) and Maalik Yawm Ad-Deen (Master/King of the Last Day). These five names summarize who Allah is to us. He is our Creator, Sustainer, Provider, sole object of worship, and The One we will have to answer to on the Last Day. This understanding of who Allah is creates a balanced approach between hope in His Mercy and accountability for our deeds and choices, and helps us understand why we should worship Allah alone. The fourth verse lays down our relationship with Allah i.e. You Alone we worship, and You Alone we ask for help. This means that all forms of worship in our lives are done only to and for Allah, and we do not pray to anybody except Allah, or seek divine assistance from anyone or anything besides Him. After affirming our belief in and worship of Allah, we then make dua for Guidance to the straight path, which Allah describes as the path of those whom He has favored. In another verse, Allah describes those whom He has favored as “The prophets, the truthful, the martyrs and the righteous” so in this we have a clue of where to seek the straight path. By studying the lives and beliefs of the prophets and righteous predecessors we learn the correct understanding of Islam. The Surah closes off with two signs of the wrong paths, those whom have earned Allah’s anger and those who have gone astray. The first group are described as people who know the truth yet consciously reject it, due to arrogance, blind following or some other reason, while the second group are those who blindly follow a wrong path without thinking for themselves, so they remain convinced that they are on the straight path. In this we have an important lesson, blind following and arrogance are obstacles on the path towards the truth. If we wish to find the truth, we need to abandon blindly following our forefathers and let go of our own egos, and ask Allah to show us the straight path. In summary, if you are confused about any issue of faith, there is no dua more powerful to make in such situations than Surah Al-Fatiha. Learn it and recite it with all our heart in every Rakah of Salah.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 08:03:33 +0000
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