Surah
Al-Fatiha
(OPENING CHAPTER)
Surah #1 Consisting of 7 Ayahs
Listen to Surah Al-Fatiha
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِِ
In Allah's Name, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
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Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, |
الْحَمْدُ للّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ |
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the Gracious, the Merciful;
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الرَّحْمـنِ الرَّحِيمِ |
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Master of the Day of Judgment |
مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
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Verily, You do we worship, and Your help do we seek.
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إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
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Guide us along the straight path,
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اهدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِيمَ
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the path of those upon whom You have bestowed Your grace, |
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِمْ
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with whom You are not angry, nor who go astray.
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غَيرِ
المَغضُوبِ عَلَيهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّينَ |
Before we want to read any part of the Holy Quran, and
often before we do anything, we say this verse. All Surahs of the Holy Quran
start with the above verse except one, and that is Surah Taubah. When we say
it, it will mean that we recognize and keep remembering our Lord, the Creator,
the Almighty. Whenever we begin something, we start by saying:
IN ALLAH'S NAME, MOST GRACIOUS, MOST MERCIFUL.
Before eating we must say it too. It means we begin by
recognizing the name of Allah and depending on His help.
Upon saying,
In Allah's name, Most Gracious, Most Merciful,
we remind ourselves that Allah is always merciful, that His mercy is truly
vast, not only towards us but towards everything. When we say it, we also
remind ourselves that Allah (God) is compassionate. This means that Allah
Almighty is very loving and forgiving towards His creation. We constantly
need Allah's mercy and compassion. We need His help and His everlasting care
all the time.
الْحَمْدُ
للّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds,
To Allah, our Lord, is all the
praise, and we thank Him from the bottom of our hearts. We thank Allah
because He has given us so much. We thank Him because He is so merciful and
compassionate. We thank Him and praise Him because He created us.
But as we thank Him, we also remember that Allah (God) is
the Lord. He is the Lord of not only the earth, but also of the whole
universe. He is the Lord of everything, known and unknown. He is the Creator
of all, and He is the True One that we ought to praise, thank, and above all,
worship.
الرَّحْمـنِ
الرَّحِيمِ
the Gracious, the Merciful;
Allah Almighty wants us to keep in mind that He is the
Merciful and the Compassionate. We are forever erring in our ways. We are
constantly in need of Allah's guidance and the knowledge He imparts to us.
We are sustained by His Mercy for our wrongdoings whether we have done them
knowingly or in ignorance. It is Allah's Mercy and His Grace that sustain us
and provide us with everything we need.
This part of the Surah tells us how much we need Allah's
mercy and compassion, His forgiveness and understanding.
After this, Allah wants us to remember that He is:
مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
Master of the Day of Judgment.
Allah Almighty is the Master of everything. He is Master
of the Day of Judgment, the Day when everything will be recreated——all dead
people, creatures, and angels. They will be created all over again on that
great Day to come before Allah Almighty and to have their deeds weighed.
Everyone will be judged on this Day by Allah Himself for
what he has done on earth when still alive. We will be judged justly and
fairly, and we will be rewarded Heavens if we followed Allah's religion and
were good Muslims. Otherwise, Allah's wrath will follow.
إِيَّاكَ
نَعْبُدُ وإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
Verily, You do we worship and Your help do we seek.
Allah Almighty wants us to worship Him, Himself and
nothing else because He is the Creator, the Master, and the true Lord.
It is Allah and nothing else that we worship and pray to
because it is Allah who created us, Allah who provides us with our needs, and
it is to Allah we shall return. It is also Allah Almighty whose help we ask
all the time. Allah's help is just as important as His mercy and
compassion. Without Allah's help we will not be alive, we will perish.
Whatever we do, we must remember to ask Allah's help,
guidance, and protection. We need Allah's help every moment of our lives, and
so does everything in the universe.
اهدِنَا
الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِيمَ
Guide us along the straight path,
We ask Allah's help in guiding us. Allah has provided us
a Way (Path) to follow. He has made this path clear and sharp. We ask Him
humbly to guide us along this straight path. This is the true path, the path
of the true religion, the Religion of Islam.
The path of Islam is the direct guidance from Allah
(swt). It is His Directives that Allah (swt) wants us to follow. It is the
best way to please Almighty Allah; it is the way of Islam.
We pray to Allah (God) to help us
and guide us to follow Islam through the teachings of the Holy Quran and
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِمْ
the path of those upon whom You have bestowed Your grace,
The path Almighty Allah wants us to follow is the path the
believers follow. The believers appreciate the Directives of Allah and follow
them. The path is Islam, the True Guidance of Allah. When you follow this
direct path to Allah, Allah will bestow His endless Grace and Bounty. Your
life in this world will be fulfilled and your life in the next world will
eternally be in Heaven.
غَيرِ
المَغضُوبِ عَلَيهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّينَ
with whom You are not angry, nor who go astray.
If you do not follow this straight path, you will incur
the terrible wrath of Allah. You will face Allah's displeasure in this world
and be faced with the terrifying experience of Hell in the next. Or—you will
be completely lost—with no meaning or purpose in life. We try, therefore to
do what pleases the Almighty and to avoid what displeases Him.
We pray to Allah to help us latch onto this straight
path. We ask Him to help us learn the religion of Islam and to do what Islam
tells us. This way we will please Allah and this way we will find the path.
If we don't do that, then we will have joined the people
with whom Allah has become displeased. They are the people who don't follow
the true teachings or Guidance of Allah. They are people who have gone
astray, who have lost their good direction. They are the people who have
displeased Allah, and they will lose on this earth while they are alive, but
their loss in the Hereafter is much, much greater.
THROUGH SURAH AL-FATIHA ALLAH WANTS US TO REMEMBER:
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to be grateful to Him and Praise Him because He does so much for us,
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that He is the Lord of the universe,
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that He is Merciful, and Compassionate,
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that He is the only Lord and Master of the Day of Judgment,
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that we worship Him only and nothing else,
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that we constantly need His help,
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that we humbly ask Him to guide us along the straight path, and
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that this path is the path of people with whom Allah is pleased, and not of those who have displeased Him and therefore have gone astray.
QUESTIONS
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What is the meaning of: الْحَمْدُ
للّهِ?
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Who Who is: رَبِّ
الْعَالَمِينَ?
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What is the meaning of:
الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِيمَ?
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What is meant by:
الرَّحْمـنِ الرَّحِيمِ?
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What is meant by:
مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
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Who are: الضَّالِّينَ?
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Whose help do we need all the time?
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What is the straight path?
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Why do you think Surah Al-Fatiha is so important?
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When should you usually say Surah Al-Fatiha?
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What should you say when you want to start anything?
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Why is Allah the Lord of all creation?
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Why do we have to worship Allah?
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Which Surah should be said when a meeting is started?
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Which way do people displease Allah?
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Who are the people who have gone astray?
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What has Allah shown us as direction towards His Bounty?
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How many Ayahs does Surah Al-Fatiha consist of?
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What is the second Ayah of Surah Al-Fatiha?
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What is the fourth Ayah of Surah Al-Fatiha?
MEANING OF WORDS