1 Prepared by: Raghdaa Abdelhady
1.The Quran starts with Al Fatihah 2.Salah also starts with Al Fatihah and is invalid without it as is mentioned in a narration: Whoever does not recite Surah Al-Fatiha in his Salat, his Salat is invalid. 3.Surah Fatihah was the first to be revealed in full even though not the very first verses as those in other surahs were revealed before it, such as Al Mozzamil, Al Moddathir, Al A alaq 4.The name Fatihat ul Ketab means the Opening of the Book. This refers to it being the first complete surah in the Quran and thus the opening for what is still to come in surahs and verses 2
1. The request made in Surah Fatihah is guide us to the straight path and the answer to this request is the entire Quran 2. How does the Qur an answer this request? It tells us how to fix our life and work towards our akherah (hereafter) which is an answer to the request 3
1. The likes of this surah are like none mentioned in previous Scriptures 4
1. Surah Fatihah: the most superior surah in the Quran 2 All verses/surahs/letters of the Quran are all equal in greatness, however, the difference between them is in the reward one gets from reading specific surahs/verses 3. Surah Fatihah is unmatched in terms of reward 5
Further names: (1) Al Salat (2) Fatihat Al Ketab (3) Om Al Ketab (4) Om Al Quran (5) Sorat AL Hamd (6) Al Sab Al Mathany (7) Al Ruqyah (the cure) (8) Al Asas (9) The Perfect (10) Al Kafeyyah/Al Wafeyyah (the sufficient) (11) Al Shifaa (the healer) (12) Al Quran Al azeem (the greatest Quran) 6
1. All scholars agree Surah Fatihah is Makki 2. Some Sahabah said it could be Madani 3. Some mufassirin said it was both i.e. it was revealed first in Makkah to be used in prayer and then later revealed again in Madinah as a surah/verse could be revealed in both periods 7
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1. Surah Al Naml contains Bismillah as an ayah 2. Surah Al Tawba doesn t start with Bismillah 3. Is every bismillah before each surah a part of the Quran? No, it is an independent ayah to differentiate and distinguish between the surahs, according to Imam Abu Hanifah 4. Besides reciting the Quran, beginning any activity with bismillah blesses it since the mention of Allah s name blesses what it is recited upon 5. These specific words (of the bismillah) are unique to this ummah only. The Prophet PBUH used to recite other words, but once revealed, he used to always recite bismillah before any action 9
1. Must be recited along with isti azah before starting reading Quran 2. What about when it comes to Surah Al Tawbah which doesn t start with bismillah?! If continuing from Al Anfal, do not recite bismillah! If starting recitation at Al Tawbah, recite bismillah (because even though it is not mentioned at the beginning of the surah, since one is just starting to recite the Quran, bismillah must be recited 10
1. To be a complete sentence a verb is needed and this is the hidden (I begin) 2. The word Allah is the al esm al a zam (the greatest and most comprehensive name for Allah SWT) 11
1. Only in bismillah, the ب (baa) becomes part of the name, and ا (alif) is dropped 2. We see other examples in the Quran where ا (alif) is not dropped 12
1. Al Rahman : (a) Rahman al Dunya, (b) used only for Allah SWT, cannot use to describe humans; no one can have rahma/mercy in the universal and absolute sense, (c) He is Merciful in worldly matters, (d) His mercy encompasses everything in this dunya which includes both the obedient and disobedient ones, (e) All the mercy and compassion we see amongst creation is just 1/100 of Allah s mercy 2. Al Raheem : (a) Raheem al Akherah: Very-Merciful of the Hereafter, (b) His mercy in akherah will be reserved for those who believed in Him, accepted His guidance and acted upon it 3. Allah SWT s mentioning of His attributes of mercy is a message for us to be merciful amongst each other to attain His mercy and approval 4. Hadith: Abdullah ibn Amr (ra) reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One in the heavens will have mercy upon you. (Tirmidhi) 5. Allah SWT only mentions these attributes of mercy with His name to show that creating this whole universe is out of his mercy; in the name of Allah SWT who created us out of mercy, He doesn t need us, rather, we are in need of Him and His mercy 13