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Request: Sura 1 Aya 0 to 0

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 1:0]

Revealed both at Makka and Madina

There are 7 verses in this surah including

bismillahir rahmanir rahim.

GENERAL REMARKS

This surah contains the quintessence of the Quran, therefore, it is also called Ummul Quran-the mother (or the essence) of the Quran.

As no prayer can be completed without reciting this surah, it is called the 'Lord's Prayer' of the Muslims.

Every verse of this surah is comprehensively meaningful, therefore, it is said that the essence of the Quran, as a whole, has been synthesised in its seven verses. To deal with this surah is to deal with the whole of the Quran, for that which has been stated at length in the book has been summarised in a nutshell in this chapter.

This chapter is known, besides al Fatihah, as fatihatul kitab, the inaugurator of the book. It is also called saba-minal-mathani, the seven oft-repeated verses, because this surah is recited in every prayer.

Al Fatihah, the essence of the Quran, in its meaning integrates all the fundamentals of the religious knowledge mankind must learn and put in practice. The importance of this surah is quite evident from its being repeatedly revealed, once at Makka and again at Madina, and its compulsory recital in every prayer.

On account of the excellence of the artistic arrangement of the verses in the highest literary style, by using not only the sound of the words but also investing in them the glory of inimitable beauty and all-encompassing meaningfulness, this surah is admired and exalted even by the opponents of Islam.

The spirit, as well as the purpose, of Islam is to awaken the conscience of man with the correct belief and faith in the one and only true creator Lord of the universe, and make him condition his life on earth according to the divine will, and thus enable him to rise from his earthly abode to the glorious heights of heavenly bliss. Any intelligent reader of al Fatihah can easily conceive the wonderful effect it creates on the mind of the reciter who repeats it several times in each of the daily prayers, if it is sincerely rendered with thoughtful close attention. The essential knowledge of the fundamentals, which must regulate man's life in this world and earn blessings in the hereafter, is being steadily grasped. He gradually becomes godly in his day-to-day life; and duly integrated with the divine attributes, reflects divinity in his conduct and character.

Through this surah man becomes aware of the following:

  1. Allah, the creator and the Lord-nourisher of the universe, is one. There is none equal to Him.

  2. The principal attributes of Allah are beneficence and mercy.

  3. The merciful is necessarily the almighty master of His own independent will. He is, truly, the will-supreme.

  4. He, who is merciful to one and all, can never be unjust. He is, truly, the force of absolute justice .

  5. He, who is merciful to every living being, is essentially the everliving creator of life. He is the life-real.

  6. He, who creates life, can never do it without knowledge. He is the all-knowing.

  7. He, who is beneficent and merciful, in effect, loves one and all.

  8. The love of "one and all", as a rule, will reciprocally turn back to Him who loves one and all, and to no one else.

  9. The beneficent and merciful, who loves all, gives answer to prayer; and prayer, if it is to be heard and answered, should be directed to Him (alone), and to no one else, because supplication made to any one, other than He, would go waste, bringing no results.

  10. The mercy of the beneficent and merciful envelops every thing in the universe, therefore, He, and no one else, is bountiful. His bounties are universal and inexhaustible.

  11. The beneficent and the merciful is also the Lord of the universe, therefore, all praise, all thanks and gratitude be to Him, exclusively, and to none else.

  12. Man is assured that Allah is the Lord-nourisher, cherisher, sustainer, and protector of the worlds, the whole universe, and not of any particular tribe, community, or nation.

  13. When there is only one Lord of the universe, and none else besides Him, man, with his faith in the one true Allah, is, once for all, liberated from the subjugation to the host of imaginary gods (men, ideas, creeds and institutions) introduced by man to enslave man. In other words, man is set free not only from the curse of polytheism along with its meaningless and wasteful practices but also from the unjust exploitation (social, economic and political) perpetrated with the help of polytheistic theories and its evil consequences.

  14. Allah, the Lord of mercy and the Lord-supreme of the universe, naturally does not like, allow or tolerate injustice, done by any one of His creation to oppress the other created beings. With this conviction man inculcates the feeling of fellowship and brotherhood with the other creatures, and, in this manner becomes kind, merciful and charitable to his fellow beings, to earn the favour of Allah, by imbibing His divine attributes.

  15. The disciplined mind, then, generates righteousness; and, ever mindful, never stimulates actions that may invoke the displeasure of the beneficent, merciful and just Lord-master. The eventual goodness earns ample rewards for him as due compensation.

  16. Man does not have to, and should not, bow before, nor ask favours from, any one else; nor should he, any longer, fear anything, except the displeasure of Allah, after having paid sincere allegiance to the Lord-nourisher, cherisher, sustainer and the protector of the worlds, and particularly after having invoked His beneficence and mercy. Thus man, with his faith and conviction in the help and protection of Allah, becomes free from turning to others.

  17. The day of reckoning is certain. Justice will be done. Every iota of good shall be rewarded. Every iota of evil shall be punished. No one shall be held responsible for the sins committed by others. Every individual shall carry his own burden. Every one is assured of the return of the good and the evil he has done in this world. This inevitable requital makes every human being work hard to get a favourable recompense from the just Lord of the day of judgement. The merciful Lord has kept open the door of pardon for the unwary sinners, so that, instead of drowning themselves in dejection, in fear of divine justice, they should turn repentant unto the merciful Lord, hopeful of obtaining His pardon, and amend their conduct thereafter.

  18. True guidance can be had only from Allah. Therefore, man must always pray to Allah to be rightly guided, and to be kept steadfast on the right path, never to be beguiled and tempted by the forces of evil, which are ever-active in this world.

  19. With the knowledge of the effective nature of environment and personal attachment, man, while praying for guidance from the Lord, should also express his love for virtue and the virtuous. This is known as the doctrine of tawalla, a compulsory article of the "rules of conduct" prescribed by Islam.

  20. While praying to the Lord to keep away evil from him, man has to make known his dislike of evil and the evildoers. This is known as the doctrine of tabarra, a compulsory article of the "rules of conduct" prescribed by Islam.

The unique characteristic of this prayer is the infinite grace with which it is enriched, which entitles the prayer, not only to seek the particular kind of bounty or favour asked for, but everything the merciful Lord of the worlds, the owner of all bounties and infinite grace, can bestow upon His praying devotee.

Unlike the prayer taught by the Christian Church, the prayer taught by the Quran does not address God as (mere) father, who cannot, by nature, have any motherly love for his children. Addressing and calling God as father gives the idea that creation is His off-spring, whereas the Islamic conception of God makes it clear that nothing can be taken away from His being, nor anything can be added to Him (He begets not, nor was begotten.).

A study of the wording, used in their Lord's prayer by the Christians, helps us to assess the composite nature and the comparative merit of the wording of the prayer that the Quran has given to the Muslims:

THE BIBLICAL 'LORD'S PRAYER' OF THE CHRISTIANS:

Our Father in heaven,

thy name be hallowed;

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us the wrong we have done, as we have forgiven those who have wronged us.

And do not bring us to the test, but save us from the evil one.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen.

(MATTHEW 6: 9 to 13)

CRITIQUE

If God is the father, then He is devoid of the motherly love.

Is God only in heaven, and not on earth? Is any "space" in the universe empty of His presence?

Is the earth out of God's hold? If it is not God's authority that prevails on the earth, then who is its administrator?

If it is not God's will that operates the earth and the whole universe, how is the entire cosmic system controlled?

Man's needs are many to sustain his life on the earth, therefore, he must pray for all His bounties and favours, not for the daily bread only, for today, for tomorrow, till he is living in this world. In the beginning, the prayer says: "Thy kingdom come", and, in the end, it declares: "Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever". Is it not a contradicting statement?

Any prayer, composed by man for his use, is bound to be imperfect and defective. It would have all the limitations human knowledge is encumbered with to accurately conceive the transcendental divine attributes.

The wording and the concept of the above prayer, composed by man, prior to the availability of the true knowledge about his own self and the supreme-being, about the vanity of this earthly life and the reality of the hereafter, could never be expected to be perfect. With the advent of Muhammad, the last messenger of Allah, the final warner, reformer and bearer of glad tidings, man became aware of the everlasting blissful life and the infinite mercy of the merciful Lord, through the proper method and words he should use to invoke the divine mercy and ask for the real things he needs for his life here and hereafter.

Earlier, there were all types of gods, created by man relying upon the fears and ignorance of the people in relation to natural phenomena and human relationship. In the manifestations of the sun, moon, winds, mountains, land, rivers, plants, father, mother, son, daughter, animals, seasons and (even) diseases, gods, good as well as wicked, were created to overawe the ignorant people. The troublesome and wicked gods were always in conflict with each other. The terrible among them demanded human blood to satisfy their hunger or to appease their fury. A host of wasteful sacrifices and meaningless rituals were imposed to keep the mass of people in enslavement.

Islam introduced mankind to the one true, supreme, and absolute being, who is merciful, kind, eternal, knowing, wise, independent and almighty, the master of His ever-fulfilling will. Islam educates man with the fact that all goodness has been put together in the essence of the one true God, the creator of the universe, the nourisher, cherisher, sustainer and protector of all that has been created by Him. The kingdom of the heavens and the earth is exclusively Allah's, and of none else. Only the will of Allah is operative in the heavens and the earth, and everywhere in between them.

Man, with his conviction in the above divine attributes of the Lord, and with the full consciousness of the bounties and the favours he enjoys, should always acknowledge his obligation, and be grateful to Him.

For everything right and good, which man needs for his life here and hereafter, he must invoke the merciful Allah to keep him on the right path.

The concluding words of this surah teaches man to do good, and love and cherish the virtuous; and to avoid evil and dislike the evildoers, so that he may attain success in both the worlds.

 


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