Before we start talking about the meanings of Al-Fatihah, something that ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya has mentioned in his books is that Allah (SWT) has revealed one hundred scriptures and four major books. The knowledge that was given to the prophets (SAW) in those scriptures is condensed into those four books. The Qur’an talks about the suhuf given to Ibrahim (AS) and Musa (AS). These were one hundred, you can say, scriptures. The knowledge of all one hundred is summarized in the four books – the Tawrah, Injil, Zabur and Qur’an. Similarly, the knowledge that Allah (SWT) has revealed in the books has been encapsulated in the book that is the Qur’an. The knowledge of the Qur’an is also partly encapsulated in the Mufassalat, and according to some scholars, the Mufassalat are the surahs beginning from Al-Hujarat to the end. The Mufassalat, according to that narration, would be the summary of the whole Qur’an, which is a summary of all three previous major books which are a summary of all the scriptures given to the prophets. Then, he goes one step further. He says that the knowledge of these surahs is summarized in one surah – this surah is surah Al-Fatiha. Al-Fatiha, he says, is the summary of all the knowledge that was given to all the prophets collectively. Then, he takes it one step further and says that all that was revealed to the prophets including the suhuf and all that is mentioned in the Qur’an can be encapsulated into one verse – this verse is “إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ” This one verse is a summary of everything that has been revealed, and once you start opening up this verse, you will find it to be exactly like that. It covers all the things related to belief and Iman and the opposite. It also has the methodology of how we will worship Allah (SWT). Not only is it Allah (SWT) that we are worshipping alone, but how we worship is also included in this. Al-Fatiha is a very powerful surah, and when we recite it, we should have the feeling and awareness of the grandeur of this surah.
Allah (SWT) has commanded us to recite this in every rakat in salah. This itself is a powerful message. Allah (AWJ) would not make us do this just for the sake of fulfilling some formality. It is the most powerful surah and encapsulates everything. Allah (SWT) wants us to repeat this message, and like the hadith says, Allah (AWJ) refers to this surah as salah. This is why, in the hadith of Al-Qudsi, it does not say, “I have distributed surah Fatiha before me and my slaves.” Instead, it says, “I have divided the salah between me and my slave.” When we say the first verse, Allah (SWT) says, “My slave has praised me.” When we recite the second verse, Allah (SWT) responds, saying, “My slave is glorifying me.” When we recite the third verse, Allah (SWT) says, “My slave is talking about my greatness.” Then, when we say the fourth verse, Allah (SWT) says, “This is half and half – if he does that, I am ready to give him.” Then, when we recite to the end, Allah (SWT) says, “This is all for him. He needs guidance and needs to be on the right path.” This is what is meant by dividing the salah between Allah (SWT) and us, even though it only means surah Al-Fatiha. In one hadith, the prophet (SAW) mentions, “No surah like this has been revealed in any previous book.” This surah has many names, but there is one name that is used by some people that is incorrect; they say, “Umm al-Kitab.” Sahabi did not like this name for surah Al-Fatiha because it refers to specific verses and not al-Fatiha. Aside from this, there are many names, and the famous hadith of Abu Dawud and others was that a group of sahaba were out, and on this journey, they ran out of food and supplies and were staying near a locality. The people of this locality did not give them any attention or hospitality. While they were there, the chief of that tribe was bitten by a snake, and they said, “Is there anyone who can read something that will make his pain go away?” They saw the group of sahaba and said, “Is there someone with you who knows how to make du’a?” One of them came forth and said, “Yes, but I will charge a fee for it.” They asked, “What fee is this?” He said, “I want a whole herd of sheep.” They said, “This is no problem. We will do anything to treat our chief.” Even the non-Muslim Arabs believed in this ruqiah. The sahaba went and recited this ruqiah and the chief was cured. People were very happy, and they gave him the payment of the sheep. The sahaba then started a discussion amongst themselves; “Is this halal for us or not? How could you take compensation for doing ruqiah?” Some sahaba said yes, while others said no. They agreed to resolve the issue by taking all the sheep back to the prophet (SAW) and asking him. When they went back, they narrated the story to the prophet (SAW), and in one narration, the prophet (SAW) asked the sahabi, “What did you read to the man that cured him?” He replied, “Surah Al-Fatiha.” The prophet (SAW) smiled and said, “How did you know that this surah was such a powerful ruqiah? No, go ahead and eat, and keep a share for me as well.”
Surah Al-Fatiha is a very powerful surah. In fact, ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya states that, during his stay in Makkah, which was quite prolonged, he was very sick and was inflicted with a sickness for a long period of his stay. He said that he used nothing to treat himself except for the water of Zamzam and surah al-Fatihah. Through this, Allah (SWT) cured all his sicknesses. It is also a matter of how we are reciting surah al-Fatihah, and whenever we recite this surah, we should never recite it in a state of negligence. Something so powerful all the wahi of Allah (SWT) – how could we read it negligently? Sometimes, when a human being says something out of habit, it flows off his tongue and is not able to capture what he is saying. Sometimes, when we recite surah Al-Fatiha, it flows off the tongue, but the pause and reflection is not there. This is something that we have to bring into ourselves if we want to access the power of surah Al-Fatiha – every time we recite it, we must realize that we are not reciting something ordinary and we must focus and pay attention to it. May Allah (AWJ) give us tawfiq to understand and give us the barakah that he has put in these verses.
