Surah Fatiha- Ayah no. 1-7 i.e. 1:1-7

Surah no. 1- Surah AL-Fatiha- All Ayahs

A-  TRANSLATION

 

 ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ

[Quran 1:01] The Hamd (اَلۡحَمۡدُ ) is for Allah who is Rabb (رَبِّ) of the worlds;

 

 ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

[Quran 1:02] The Rahman (الرَّحۡمٰنِ ) the Raheem (الرَّحِيۡمِ);

 

 مَٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ

[Quran 1:03] The Malik (مَٰلِكِ) of the Youm (يَوْمِ) day of Deen (دِّيۡنِ);

 

 إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ

[Quran 1:04] We do Abd (عۡبُدُ) only for you and we seek help only from you;

 

 ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ

[Quran 1:05] Ahdena (ٱهْدِنَا) us to the S’iraate’ (ٱلصِّرَٰطَ) Mustaqueem (ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ);

 

 صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ

[Quran 1:06] Those on whom Na’mat (اَنۡعَمۡتَ) have been bestowed, Ghair (غَيْرِ) those who have been Maghdube (ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ), or those who are Z’waliyeen (ٱلضَّآلِّينَ).

 

B.  THE CONCEPT:

These are opening verses of Quran اَلۡحَمۡدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَۙ When we say the phrase “The Hamd is for Allah ( اَلۡحَمۡدُلِلّٰهِ )” we must understand that Allah knows what is in our heart and mind. The hollow words of praise are worth nothing to Allah and Allah does not need our Hamd for Allah but to make us, as human beings, more humble and grateful. We must have complete conviction in our heart and mind that is derived out of full knowledge and realization for this Rabobiat of our Rabb- i.e. all the bounties we have in our lives from Allah, the beauty Allah has created all around us and for us, the nourishments and stability Allah has provided to us throughout our lives, the RIZQ we get every day, our flawless body and mind to enjoy our lives and complete our tasks. When we realize with deep acknowledgement all these blessings and ask ourselves a question, “what if we lose any of these blessings all of a sudden- for instance as simple as an air to breathe, or sunshine, or loss of a limb or eyesight, how our lives would be? then a true HAMD of Allah would come out of our heart & mind.

 

In the next phrase الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِيۡمِۙ “The Rahman the Raheem”, Allah wants us to acknowledge two huge and important favors of Allah to us as human beings. Allah Being RAHMAN to all the creation irrespective of what they are, what they are meant for, and what they are doing and Allah being RAHEEM to us as a privilege to allow us to stay on the righteous path and to continue enjoying the Allah’s favors as peace, contentment, tranquility and prosperity in our lives.

 

When we think about the next phrase مٰلِكِ يَوۡمِ الدِّيۡنِؕ “Maalil Youm the Deen’, we need to keep the meanings of the word DEEN in mind- The basic idea is for us to realize that each and every day that we spend as per Deen, the Maalik of that day is Allah. The phrase here is the day of Deen not the Day of Akhira- It’s not just the day of judgment and accountability that this phrase is normally interpreted as. It is each and every day of our life, that we live in accordance with Deen; because for that day, the Malik, the being who is all powerful, the Master, will be Allah.

 

With the next phrase اِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ “We do Abd only of you” we need to keep in mind the meaning of the word Abd. The purpose of our existence is stated in Quran is to do Abd- generally translated as “to worship Allah or to glorify Allah ” which does not justify the meaning of abd. Simply uttering few words from our mouth or performing a certain act of ritual, without any striving, or struggle or efforts does not constitute the meanings of the word abd. To do Abd for Allah is much more than that. When we say we do Abd only for Allah, it means to sacrifice our time, energy, money and go out of our comfort zone, to obey commandments of Allah as per Quran, with submission by our whole being, striving for and making efforts towards implementing these rules of Deen, by utilizing all our faculties, resources, senses, intellect & reasoning, to explore the Ayaat of Allah, to get the knowledge and Allah’s bounties and to use these to benefit others, the humanity & Allah’s Creations.

 

When we say اِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِيۡنُؕ “We seek Help only from you” it means we must know by heart, whatever help we are getting in our life, e.g. from our parents, teachers, employers, government, friends and family or from any unknown person; behind all these sources, it is Allah who chose them, made them able and provided them with resources to help us. It means to realize and keep in mind at all times that each and every help that we get in our life comes from Allah- this help could be through some other source but Allah chooses that source to help us, therefore whenever we get help from any source by heart we say that phrase اِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِيۡنُؕ , and we remain humble and utterly grateful.

 

The last ayahs of this opening chapter of Quran basically comprise of a wish, a duaa, a desire to be amongst those who are given the Na’mat. Meaning of the word Na’mat is not as per our birthright for example we are born as Muslims- is not a Na’mat. However, the Deen-e-Islam that is reflected in our conducts and behaviors is a Na’mat. If we say “I am a Muslim”, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that if we can clearly see Na’mat in ALL its meanings in our lives. We need to critically view ourselves and ask ourselves, does the Na’mat, in all its meanings i.e., Success & Prosperity in all walks of life; Peace & Contentment, Law & order; Benchmark, Height, Role-model; Unity being United Ummah, apparent and reflective in us being Muslims? All these meanings of Na’mat identify the phrase صِرَاطَ الَّذِيۡنَ اَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ “Those upon whom you have blessed with Na’imat”. The fact that this phrase comes soon after the phrase اِهۡدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الۡمُسۡتَقِيۡمَۙ‏ “those who have been guided to the right path” which translates into “give us Hidayat for the Righteous path” means that the righteous path is the path of those who have been given Na’mat. The concept of Na’mat and Ghadab has to be viewed as opposite to each other. In a nutshell if we do Abd i.e. utilize all our faculties, abilities, thinking and resources for the benefit of others and Allah’s creations, if we follow the Deen- the commandments of Allah, the Deen-e-fitrat, if we do Abd ONLY for ALLAH and if you rely on Allah to seek help from ONLY Allah, the result is Na’mat in ALL its meanings. Otherwise, it’s the path of those who are Maghdoob/ deprived of Na’mat and who are on the wrong path.

C.  IMPLEMENTATION IN TODAY’S LIFE

With all the above in-depth knowledge of the words HAMD – اَلۡحَمۡدُ – Allah as RABB (رَبِّ) , REHMAN الرحمن and RAHEEM الرحيم , when we realize and have firm conviction of Allah’s favors, privileges, Ahsan and bounties in our lives, this realization will make us humble, truthful, down to earth, helpful to others, helpful to other life forms on earth.  In the same way when we know Allah is the Malik – the master of every single day of our life, we will spend every day in accordance with Deen. When we say we do Abd only for Allah and we seek help only from Allah by heart, not just uttering some words from our mouth, but with firm believe, conviction and Emaan this conviction would reflect in our behaviours and our conducts as a true Aabid- a true follower of Deen-e-Islam- this would develop a desire in us to help others being blessed by Allah, to help just for the sake of Allah, with no worldly benefits.

 

This opening chapter of Quran so beautifully gives us a complete criteria & guidance that at each point of our life, we can know exactly what is our bench mark as a true believer. Through this opening chapter of Quran, we have a definite criterion to judge ourselves and identify if we really are on the righteous path or not. Are we really blessed with Na’mat in ALL its meanings? Are we the amongst the righteous nation as defined by Allah as a nation which is successful and prosperous in ALL walks of life, filled with peace and contentment, with law & order and saved from sufferings, death, destructions, lawlessness? Are we the nation which is at the height of the world, which is a benchmark, a role model for the rest of the people/nations, which inspire others to be like them? and most importantly, are we a nation, which is united with same common purpose & same set of values and beliefs. If we can clearly see these signs in our nation and within us, then and only then we are amongst the nation which is on the path of righteousness, otherwise we are on the wrong path i.e. those who have been deprived.

 

Foot Notes:

B- VOCABULARY:

For the updated Keyword Vocabulary, kindly visit our website at the link https://quranthinkers.com/keyword-vocabulary-by-wqt/