This was the view of Abdullah ibn al-. Mubarak and one of the views of Imam al-Shafi’i. 3) It’s an ayah of Surah Fatihah but not of the other Surahs. Therefore it
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Tafsir Surah al-Fatihah – Different Names for Surah al-Fatihah Some of the different names for Surah al-Fatihah ar e as follows: 1. al-Salaah (The Connection) 2. al-Hamd (The Praise) 3. Faatihatul Kitaab (The Opening of the Book) 4. Ummul Kitaab (The Mother of the Book) 5. Ummul Qur’an (The Mother of the Qur™an) 6. al-Mathaanee (The Oft-Repeated) 7. al-Qur’anul ‘Azeem (The Great Qur™an) 8. al-Shifaa’ (The Healing) 9. al-Ruqyah (The Cure) 10. al-Asaas (The Foundation) 11. al-Waafiyah (The Complete) 12. al-Kaafiyah (The Sufficient) The Ta™awwudh The ta™awwudh refers to the phrase: fiI seek protection in Allah from Shaytan the reject ed one.fl The ‚ulama are agreed that it is not part of the Qu r™an. But Allah (swt) has commanded us to recite it before reciting the Qur™an. He (swt) s ays: ˘ˇˆ ˘˘˙˘˙˘˘˝˙˛˘˚˘˜ !ˆ “#$ Whenever you recite the Qur™an, seek refuge in Alla h from the accursed Shaytan. (al-Nahl: 98)
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In the Name of Allah– The first ayah of the Fatihah is: ˘˘%˙˘&%˙˘˝˙˛˘’˘ In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Most Merc iful. (al-Fatihah: 1) This phrase is known as the basmalah . It is good to recite it before doing any action. The Basmalah in the Qur™an The ‘ulama differ as to how many times the basmalah appears in the Qur’an. They are all agreed that it appears in Surah Naml (ayah 30), but beyond that they differ. The following are the different views: 1) It’s not an ayah of the Fatihah, nor of the othe r Surahs. Therefore it only appears once in Surah Naml. This was the view of Imam Malik. 2) It’s an ayah of all the Surahs. Therefore it app ears 114 times: once in each Surah except for Surah Tawbah but twice in Surah Naml. Th is was the view of Abdullah ibn al- Mubarak and one of the views of Imam al-Shafi™i. 3) It’s an ayah of Surah Fatihah but not of the oth er Surahs. Therefore it appears twice: in Surah Fatihah and in Surah Naml. This was one of th e views of Imam al-Shafi’i. And all the views have their evidences. The Meaning of the letter Baa The Baa in the Arabic language can have three diffe rent meanings: 1) With – With / In the name of Allah 2) Seeking help – Seeking help of the name of Allah 3) Seeking blessing – Seeking blessing with the nam e of Allah
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The Meaning of Allah The following are some of the different opinions of the ‚ulama concerning the meaning and derivation of fiAllahfl: 1) There is no meaning, just a Proper Name. 2) From aliha meaning to astonish and amazes, so Allah is the On e who Astonishes the creation by His attributes, His creation, His P lanning and His Rulings. 3) Allah is from alaha , so Allah is Ma™looh , One who is Worshipped. 4) Fourth opinion is from wilaah , so Allah means the One whom everyone turns to for help. Link The Meaning of al-Rahman and al-Raheem Both of these names are derived from the same root letters: raa , haa , meem ; which means to have mercy. They are thus similar in meaning and both are connected to Allah™s (swt) Mercy. The fact that Allah (swt) mentions two of Hi s Names which have to do with Mercy, rather than Might and Power or so on, shows just how important this Attribute is. The difference between al-Rahman and al-Raheem is t hat al-Rahman refers to Allah™s (swt) Mercy to all of creation. It is His Mercy whi ch is extended to both believers and disbelievers; animals, and everything that exists. He says in the Qur™an: ()*+˙,#-.˜˘!/*˘ &%0/ My Mercy encompasses all things. (al-A™raf: 156) al-Rahman follows the form of fa™laan . It therefore indicates the extreme vastness of Allah™s (swt) Mercy. It is mentioned in a hadith th at Allah (swt) divided Mercy into 100 parts and sent down only one part to this dunya. It is from this one part of His Mercy that animals show mercy to their offspring (Sahih Muslim ). al-Raheem refers to Allah™s (swt) Mercy which is sp ecific for the believers. He says in the Qur™an: -/ 1&˘%0˘2˘3#&˘ And He is Full of Mercy to the Believers. (al-Ahzab: 43) al-Raheem follows the form of fa™eel . It therefore indicates the doing of an action.
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All Praise is due to Allah– The second ayah is: ˘&˜˙˘40˘˝˙˛˘#5&6 All praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. (al-Fatihah: 2) The Meaning of Hamd and the Difference between Hamd and Shukr Hamd means praise and also thankfulness. The ‚ulama differed as to the relation between the words hamd and shukr . Some said that they both have the same meaning. S o the meaning of hamd , in their view, is the same as shukr (thankfulness, gratitude). Others said that shukr is is more general than hamd . In that shukr is done with the tongue, the limbs and the heart; whereas hamd is done with the tongue only. It is also said that hamd is more general than shukr . In that it contains the meaning of shukr (thankfulness) as well as madh (praise). Therefore it is more general because hamd takes the place of shukr but shukr doesn™t take the place of hamd . Hamd is something which must be done with love and reve rence, but shukr does not need this. Shukr is done in response to a favour which is done to a person but hamd is done simply because the one being praised and thanked is worthy of that. The Virtue of Alhamdulillah The Prophet said, fiThere is no favour [ ni’mah ] which Allah bestows upon a slave who then says ‘ Alhamdulillah ‘, except that what he gives is better than what he receivesfl [i.e. his praising is Allah is better than the favo ur Allah gave him] (Sunan ibn Majah). He also said that one person praised Allah (swt) by s aying, fi Yaa rabbi lakal hamdu kamaa yambaghee li jalaali wajhika wa ‚azeemi sulta anik Œ O my Lord, to You is praise befitting the Glory of Your Countenance and the Gre atness of Your Dominion.fl This praise was so great that the angels did not know ho w to record it. They thus referred it to Allah (swt) who told them to write it as he had sai d it, and that He (swt) would (personally) reward that person when he would meet Allah (swt) (Sunan ibn Majah).
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The Meaning of Rabb Rabb is usually translated as Lord but it is much m ore encompassing than that. It also includes the meaning of Nurturer, Sustainer, Cheris her and so on. The Rabb is the creator, king, master and the one who controls ever ything. It comes from the root letters raa, baa, baa : which means to have mastery and control over some thing. Some ‚ulama said that this is the Greatest Name of Allah [ Ism Allah al-A’zam ], because of its abundant usage by those who make dua. The Meaning of ‚Aalameen Some of the differing views about it are that it re fers to: · everything which exists other than Allah ta’aalaa · mankind and the jinn · those things which have an intellect, and they are four: mankind, jinn, angels, and devils [ shayateen ]ure about the translation of this one.) · those things which have souls The best view is the first one, the dalil being ayah 23 of Surah Shu’ara. The Beneficent, The Most Merciful– The third ayah is: ˘˘%˙˘&%˙ The Beneficent, The Most Merciful. (al-Fatihah: 3) The explanation of these two names has already been given. Why then is it repeated? This is to once again emphasise the importance of t he quality of mercy. Also, when something is repeated in the Qur™an, then you shoul d look at the ayat before it and after it, to see how they are related. In this case, the previous ayah mentioned that Allah (swt) is the Rabb of all the worlds. So His repeating the words, al-Rahman al-Raheem after that, shows to us that His being the Rabb – His tak ing of and sustaining and providing for us – is all part of His Mercy towards us.
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Master of the Day of Reward– The fourth ayah is: ˘7˙˘5˘87˘9˘ Master of the Day of Reward. (al-Fatihah: 3) The Meaning of Maalik The first word of this ayah can be recited in two w ays: either as fiMaalikfl (with a madd after the meem) or as fiMalikfl (without the madd ). Maalik means master, and it refers to fimilk fl – the ownership of something. Malik means king, a nd it refers to fi mulk fl – the dominion of a person. The Meaning of Yawm al-Deen Yawm al-Deen is the day of reward and of recompense . It is the day when every person will be paid back for what he did in this world, an d his deeds will be reckoned. Those who believed and did good will be rewarded with Jan nah and those who disbelieved and did evil will be punished in Jahannam. Allah (swt) explains and says: ˙:6##;27˘<#˝˙˛#˘;˙˘ˆ#7(˚˘=7 On that Day Allah will pay them in full what is due to them. (al-Nur: 25) And also: #˛&˜># 2#-/?@#>8 Today you will be repaid for what you did. (al-Jathiyah: 28)
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Guide us on the Straight Path– The sixth ayah is: ˘$ ‘#&E˙˘FA˘5G Guide us on the Straight Path. (al-Fatihah: 5) This ayah is a dua which we make to Allah (swt). We ask Him to show us the Straight Path and to guide us on it, so that we will get His Guidance which draws us closer and nearer to Him. It could also mean that we ask Him t o guide us to do all the Sunnah acts when doing our Fard duties. And another possible meaning of it is, fiMa ke our hearts lean towards the truth.fl What is a path? It is a road, it’s something which is traveled on, to take you from one point to another. So it’s not enough just to be on the path and then be stationary, we need to travel this path. We need to travel to Allah (swt) by doin g those good deeds which will draw us closer to Him, and by staying away from all evil deeds which will distance us from Him. The Meaning of Sirat Sirat is a road or a path. But there are certain conditi ons which it has to fulfil in order to be a sirat otherwise it would called something else such as tareeq or sabeel which also mean a road. The conditions are that it must be str aight. It must reach the goal and it must be the shortest route to get there. It must also be wide and spacious enough for everyone who wants to travel it. The Meaning of Mustaqeem Mustaqeem is derived from istaqaama , which means to be straight, upright, correct. We already said that for a road to be a sirat it must be straight, so this adjective of mustaqeem again emphasis the straightness of this Path. Anoth er meaning of mustaqeem is to remain firm or to stand firm without tilting. For example, a tree that is firmly grounded when the wind blows it is not affected by it. So the Straigh t Path is a path on which people are firmly grounded.
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The Path of Those– The seventh and final ayah is: ˙˘˙HI/˘;˛˘4#HJ&˘K˘ ;˛.&˜A7˘˚˙E˘L The path of those you have blessed, not of those wi th anger on them, nor of those who are astray. (al-Fatihah: 7) Who are the people who have been blessed by Allah ( swt) and whose Path we ask to guided to? This is explained by Allah (swt) in anot her ayah where He says: ˙˘˘D˙2˘˘;˛#˝˙˛˜A7 ˘˚˙M9˘=/#NˆO#!˙/˝˙˛˘M˘#7 / ˘˙F/˘)5;˙#/˘$7˙˘5˙˘F/ 1$˘ˆ09˘=/##’%/˘6 Whosoever obeys Allah, and the Messenger, they are with those whom Allah has favored, the Prophets, the sincere, the martyrs and the righteous, and these are the best company. (al-Nisa’: 69) So the favoured and blessed people are the Prophets , the sincere, the martyrs and the pious. And who are the people with anger on them and those who are astray? This is explained by the Prophet . ‚Adi ibn Hatim (ra) asked him about those with an ger on them and he replied that it refers to the Jews. He then asked h im about those who are astray and he replied that it refers to the Christians. This is r eported by al-Tirmidhi and is authentic. 5&6>
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