Surah
Fatiha is the first chapter of the holy book of Quran. In this writing the
gradual understanding of a common man in his own self and the outer world has
been discussed. The revelation of the 7 verses in the heart makes him a true
believer
Surah
Fatiha is the first chapter of the holy book Al-Quran. Literally it means ‘the
opening’. It is because it opens the door of The Quran, the most pious divine
guidance. Most of the people of the world consider the holy book of Quran as
the religious book of Muslims. But who read it from their heart with most
possible realization, become bound to say it a book for the mankind. If one
person takes the Quran in pure hand, heart and head and goes through the book
in most comprehensive way, the person experiences a new joyful journey. Surah
Fatiha is the inception of that very journey.
Starting of the Journey
Let’s think
about a person who have opened all the doors of his mind.He is free from all
the concepts of different religion, sects, casts, ideologies, dogmas etc. He
also liberates his mind not to differentiate people on the basis of knowledge,
skill and belief. Now he takes a glance on his outside. What does he see? He
observes the beautiful nature, suitable environment and perfect interaction
among all the components of nature. It is just a process of feeling and
realizing. A man with normal common sense can’t deny creatorless creation. He
can’t deny a superconscious mind behind the perfect running of these
interactions. When he studies any discipline of any science, it becomes clearer
to him. All types of microenvironment, macro environment and ecosystems bear
the witness of a perfect control. When that open minded person experience these
facts the concept of a Creator behind the creation incepts in his mind. Now
after creating his immeasurable universe has the Creator left it to go in
uncontrolled way? No,
a careful observation again breaks this hypothesis. Rather it establishes the
fact of careful and mindful running of the universe by the same who has created
it. So there is someone who is the Lord of all the worlds. Some of these worlds
has been identified by human beings an rest are not. This is just the first
stage of realization which creates a sense of gratitude in the man towards the
Lord. Now this gratitude comes out from his mouth in the form of praise. Then e
utters, “Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds”. In Arabic Alhumdulillahe rabbul
alameen. Allah is an Arabic word which from two words ‘Al’ and
‘Ilah’; ‘Al’ means ‘the’ (article)
and ‘Ilah’ means ‘worshipful’. But
worshipful is not complete expression of the word ‘Ilah’. Rather it means a) The One to be loved most, b) The One to
be trusted most, c) The One to be demanded and requested most. So this the
declaration of all praises with the gratitude after realization. This is the
first verse of Surah Fatiha, the first chapter of Al-Qur'an.
The
realization of this verse breaks some concepts prevailed in our surroundings-
- In our studenthood we are taught that religion comes out of fear. According to the historians, when man felt himself distressed in front of the natural calamities, he conceptualized the gods and associated rituals. But this understanding of the first verse of the first chapter of the holy Qur'an tells us that religion is derived from the realization of the existing truth.
- Some people say that we did not know and understand the invisible God and so we worshiped the idols. The knowledge of invisible God did not enter in our understanding. Now can it be justified? If the proof of invisible one God did not reach to you then what is the proof of your idols? Did their ideas incepted in your mind after realization?
- The realization also breaks the concept of attributeless (Nirguna) God. If He is without and attribute the what is your logic in the creation and running of the universe?
- Some people of some religion and doctrine( Hinduism, ancient tribal religions) tell that the creator and cherisher are different. Then how can this interaction be coordinated so intellectually.
Realizing of the Beneficent, the Merciful
After the
first step of realization of the Lord’s existence, the man now more carefully
looks around himself. He observes-
- Everything is sufficient in this world as per the requirement of the human and other beings.
- The bounties are not only sufficient but also more than enough. As, it would be enough for human being to survive in this world, if they would be provided only one type of food and all sorts of livelihood. Likewise we can find the varieties in all necessary items, beauty and matters of enjoyment.
This verse again proves that the concept of fear is not the first and only concept to realize God. Instead, man with an open heart, first observes the Beneficent and Merciful attribute of the Lord.
Owner of the Day of Judgment
Now
the person observes that the universe has been created and smoothly run by
Allah. But there are two types of people-one shows gratitude and another does
not. The second group of people not only deny to praise the Lord but they also
cross the natural boundaries by hurting other people or disturbing the
environment. Now there arises a question- Will the two groups of people should
posses a same result? Another important is that there are communities and
individuals in the society. Now an individual does a good deed, but his
community crosses the natural law and the entire community is destroyed in a
bad manner. History brings the evidence. On the other hand some people do bad
deed bad deed but most of the people in the community continue to commit good deed.
Therefore the entire community enjoys the benefit throughout longer period.
Again a question raises here- Will the small number of population in the two
types of community is truly justified with their deeds?
These
vital questions get answered in one’s own heart. Whe something good happens the
heart feels satisfied: When something bad occurs the internal peace of heart
gets disturbed. Naturally the pure heart of that person states that good should have good result that is reward
and evil deed should have bad result that is punishment. This proves that there
should be a day when the all deeds will be justified equally. The great cherisher and the sustainer will be the one
to decide who have done the right and who have done wrong with His creation.
But
man iks always a hopeful being. He believes that the good will have its reward
but the Creator may mercy the wrong doer if the convict apologizes and the Lord
wills. He will mercy the one hHe will wish. He is the owner of the judgment,
not merely a judge. This understanding also breakes the concept of different
births in Hinduism.
Thee alone we worship, Thee alone we ask for help
Now having
realized the former concepts, the man now start to think what is the duty of
him. As his heart is full of gratitude, he promptly bow before Allah, the
Khaliq(Creator), the Malik(Owner). Worship is the best way to show gratitude.
He finds out the only Allah should be worshipped as He is the most High- the
Creator, Sustainer, and the judge of the worlds. An intellectual mind never
denies the concept that only the most
High, the Supreme powerful should be shown most and all respect. So the man now
utters, “Thee alone we worship”; In Arabic ‘Yaaka na abudu’*. The entire
creation worships. Now after commitment to worship Allah, the man finds that he
is not perfect in knowledge. By his own effort a man alone can not realize the
thuth of the world and don all the necessary functions. Man even need help for
worshipping as well as for dwelling in the world without causing any sort of
disturbance of imbalance. So he finds that he need help. Now, he has found the
most Gracious Allah as supreme powerful, he simply ask for help to Allah. Thus the grateful creation utter ‘Wa iyaka nastayeen’. So it is the
fourth verse of the first chapter of Holy Quran.
Generally
man commits mistake due to mainly two reasons- arrogance and jealousy. So when
a man takes himself in a position to worship and to beg, his arrogance and
jealousy get eradicated, all the power
belongs to Allah, whom He wishes, he provides.
This verse
opens a new window of realization. It shows us that ‘ration’ and ‘revelation’
both is necessary. Wisdom + divine guidance is the perfect strategy to go for
the goal, the higher realization of the Supreme Being.
* ‘iyyaaka na'abudu’: In this sentence there is a special thing in grammatical aspect. In Arabic normally the subject + verb rule is used. So normally it would be used ‘na- abudu- Yaaka’ But verb has been used first only to put emphasis on the Highness of the Lord. Another interesting thing is the use of first person plural number. ‘We’ has been used here This implies that all the believers in the entire creaton worship the Lord after realization.
A straight path
After
praising his only Lord and bowing before Him, the realized man has now asked
for help.As he is not a perfect person and has seen a lot of misguided people
suffering from misery, he now prays for a straight path. Th path is not like a
set of religious rituals. It should be the guided way of life – a cpmplete code
for living. It is because the realization of the creator and commitment for
worship are not enough to show the inner gratitude fully. When he has got the
provision of living such a beautiful life, he has to worship Allah throughout
the whole life- in every moment, through every deed. However the desired path
can not be shown by just sending a book of guidance; from which the people
would read and lead life accordingly. Rather
it would be most comprehensive when someone would guide mankind by
walking in the way by thedivine guidance from Allah. Moreover the someone should be among mankind who will know the
real condition of mankind better and will give solutions to the problems arose
with the help of Allah. Thus man asks for established path- the straight path.
So he utters Ihudinas swira-tal
mustakeem. Straight path is is one of the basic need besides food, cloth,
and shelter. Because after meeting the three needs some desire remains unmet.
The man
uses the pronoun form of first person to denote the pray of all believers.
Perfect math may not be of two or more types. So, all the people should follow
the only path - the straight path.
Thus this
verse establishes the fact that there is a need of a path which already exists.
Mustakeem means a path which is already established.
Another two
conclusions can be drawn here-
- The concept of prophethood is established here. When there should be path- there should be someone who would walk like a simple common man. Without any doubt, this is the primary attribute of a prophet. Besides, it breaks the concept of incarnation(Avatar) mostly prevalent in Hinduism.
- As the path is already therein, therefore earlier people also went in that. They were none but the prophets and their followers, who guided the single straight path. So, the path of straightness is not new. It has been from the earlier times. This is described in Quran as ‘Islam’. As this is an Arabic word, its meaning may be different in other languages. Actually Islam signifies the concept of unity of religion. It testifies the incidents of previous prophets and messengers(Peace Be Upon Them). They all were right but their teachings were not there in the present form. They have preached mankind in onehood of God.
The path of the favoured ones
Now the man tries to define
and explain his requirements- broadly the requirements of mankind. Th straight
path is defined thus- ‘the path of those whom thou hast favoured’. In the
present state of realization, gradually it has been clear to the person’s mind
that people are not enough to find the right path and walk therein. It is Allah
who is the real Guide. So the clearest concept is the path of favoured people
of Allah; nor the path selected by the people themselves. This is again to
glorify Allah, who is the decision maker of whom to guide and how to guide. So
the man utters Swira tallazeena an-amta
alaihim (صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِمْ). This denotes the path of the prophets, their companions, the
martyrs and the pious people. If someone searches them, they can be found
evertwhere. Because later in Quran, Allah has stated that He had sent
messengers in every nation and every sect. So there were good people and we
have to go in their path. Not the path of gainer of Lord’s anger and the path of going astray
This is clearer definition of
the straight path. Looking around the environment, man sees that there are a
lot of misguided and undisciplined people. They can be broadly categorized in
three types-
- One class who earned Lord’s anger due to direct disobedience. They knowingly denied the truth. They have been refered as Magzubi.
- One class who have polluted the Deen, the guided lifestyle provided by the Lord. They added new things and sorted out the different practices of praying the Almighty.
- Those who have not seen the right path or failed to understand.
Some more things about Surah Fatiha
- It has 27 words and 107 letters.
- It sketches a relationship between faith and actio
- Thankfulness is the master key of guidance.
- The guidance to form character is the solution to all problems.
- It states the collection of Wisdom + divine guidance or Ration + Revelation.
Some other names of the Surah fatiha
Ummul Quran
(Mother of the Quran), Ummul Kitab
Al- Kans
(The Treasure)
Surah Kafiya
(Sufficient)
Surah
Shafiya (Treatment)
Sab- e-
Masani (7 repeating verses)
Noor
(Light)
Surah
Alhamd (The Praise)
Surah Dua,
Munajaat (Prayer)
Quran-e-Azeem
(Greater Quran)For more reading
http://www.tafheem.net/tafheem.htmlhttp://www.englishtafsir.com/Quran/1/index.html
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