Generally speaking, four types of people have been mentioned that have drawn the special favor of Allah (SWT). These people got their favor through various aspects – some of them achieved it through the aspect of prophethood. Allah (SWT) granted them direct revelation, which guided them and put them in a position to guide others. These are the highest-ranking slaves of Allah (SWT), and no one can achieve their status by their own knowledge or their own acts. These are the elite slaves of Allah (SWT). Though a person cannot be in their position, they can be emulated and held up as the best examples. Then there are the true followers of the prophets (AS). The literal meaning of the word, “sidq,” is for something to be very strong and tough. It is that spear that cannot be bent and the metal that cannot be dented. Sidq is the reflection of the strength of character which manifests itself in speech and all the actions of a person. Then, you have those people who Allah (SWT) gave tawfiq to make immense sacrifices. Their sacrifices were based upon what was needed at the time. The Qur’an, in surah Ya’seen, gives the example of Habib Al-Najjar, who came to the aid of those people that were sent by Isa (AS) to invite a certain group of people. At that time, when these messengers were having the most difficulty, this person came to their assistance, and in the process, his own people killed him. Those people who are ready to make the sacrifice at the right time – this is the outstanding characteristic of believers. Then, there are those who never compromise the command of Allah (SWT). They never cross the line from halal into haram and they are always observant in their level of piety.
From one perspective, the Qur’an is simply a description of these kinds of people. If we were to look at the Qur’an and study it, it would tell us about all these types of people. Towards the end of Al-Fatiha, we are asking Allah (SWT), after asking to be guided to the straight path, for the ability to never walk off the straight path or lose the path. “غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ” symbolises this. “Al maghdhoob” or “ghadhab” is the anger of Allah (SWT) – those who drew the displeasure of Allah (SWT). They did this by deliberately breaking the commands of Allah (SWT) after knowing and receiving the objective. They let another tendency overwhelm them. Perhaps it was the tendency to be arrogant or stubborn or the tendency to look down on a prophet or his lineage or his people. After knowing the truth and deliberately rejecting it – this is something that draws the wrath of Allah (SWT). Then, there is another group of people in the world who do not intend to go astray and are well-meaning, but either because of lack of knowledge or their inability to follow the knowledge or because of their misinterpretation, they tend to go astray, like someone who has a map but is looking at it upside-down or someone who is not looking at the map carefully enough, so they lose their way and get lost. “الضَّالِّينَ” is the people who got lost. You do not always mean to get lost; in fact, most of the time you get lost because you are looking for the right path but end up taking the wrong one.
There are two paths of deviance and going astray, and there are two things that can deter us from the straight path: one is, after knowledge and understanding, some other tendency overwhelms us and stops us from an act or commandment of Allah (SWT) or compels us to break a command of Allah (SWT), and the other is lack of knowledge or understanding or misinterpreting it according to our own desires, and then we go astray. Hidayah, what hidayah means, the landmarks that will lead us there and what two things to look out for and what saves us from going astray and saves us from not fulfilling our purpose in life – in this manner, surah Al-Fatiha has encapsulated the whole picture of the path that you and I have to walk on. May Allah (AWJ) enable us to reflect on this surah and use it as a guide for our guidance and the guidance of others and may Allah (SWT) open the doors of understanding the Qur’an through the barakah of this surah and implementing it and may Allah (SWT) give us tawfiq to understand its message. Surah Al-Fatiha is a very powerful surah that encapsulates all the knowledge and wisdom that was given to the prophets (AS) and we recite it every day in every rakah. May Allah (SWT) make this more meaningful for us.
