سورة الفاتحة

Al-Fatiha means "The Opening". It is the first surah of the Qur'an. It has 7 verses. You recite it in every rak'a of your prayer!

The Arabic text, the reading and the meaning:

1. بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ Bismi llaahi r-raḥmaani r-raḥiim In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

2. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ Al-ḥamdu lillaahi rabbi l-'aalamiin Thanks and praise to Allah, the Lord of everything that exists.

3. الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ Ar-raḥmaani r-raḥiim The Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

4. مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ Maaliki yawmi d-diin The Master of the Day of Judgement.

5. إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ Iyyaaka na'budu wa iyyaaka nasta'iin You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.

6. اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ Ihdinaa ṣ-ṣiraaṭa l-mustaqiim Guide us on the straight path.

7. صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ Ṣiraaṭa lladhiina an'amta 'alayhim, ghayri l-maghḍuubi 'alayhim wa la ḍ-ḍaalliin The path of those You have blessed, not of those who earned Your anger, nor of those who went astray.

The little lesson: in Al-Fatiha we thank Allah, we tell Him that we love and worship Him, and we ask Him to show us the right path. It is like a conversation with Allah. Allah answers every verse you recite! (Muslim 395)

Memorisation tip: learn one verse a day for 7 days. In the evening, recite to your parent all the verses you have learned since the start. After "wa la ḍ-ḍaalliin", we say "aamiin" ("please answer us").

Understanding Surah Al-Fatiha

1. Explanation It is also called "Umm al-Kitaab", the Mother of the Book, because it sums up the great ideas of the Qur'an. • Verse 1: we begin in the name of Allah, asking for His help and His blessing. Ar-Raḥmaan: His mercy is immense and reaches every creature. Ar-Raḥiim: His mercy never stops, and He gives it especially to the believers. • Verses 2 to 4: we praise Allah. He is the Lord of the worlds: He created everything that exists (people, animals, stars…) and He takes care of it. He is full of mercy. And He is the Master of the Day of Judgement: on that day, everything will depend on Him alone. • Verse 5: this is the heart of the surah. We promise to worship only Allah, and to ask only Him for help, in all our affairs. • Verses 6 and 7: we make the most important request of all: to be guided on the straight path, which is Islam, and to stay on it. It is the path of the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs and the righteous (meaning of verse 4:69). We ask Allah to keep us away from two wrong paths: that of people who knew the truth but did not follow it, and that of people who got lost because they did not look for it.

2. Lessons to learn • Begin what I do with "bismi llaah": eating, studying, leaving the house. • Think of Allah's blessings and thank Him often: "al-ḥamdu lillaah". • Before something difficult (a test, an argument to sort out), first ask for Allah's help. • Remembering the Day of Judgement helps me behave well, even when no one can see me. • Choose good friends, who help me stay on the right path.

3. To remember • Al-Fatiha: we praise Allah (verses 1 to 4), we promise to worship only Him (verse 5), then we ask Him for the straight path (verses 6 and 7). • The straight path is Islam: the path of the prophets and the righteous. • I ask for this guidance several times a day, in every rak'a.

4. The message of the surah Al-Fatiha teaches us to praise Allah, to worship Him alone, to rely on Him alone, and to ask Him every day to guide us on the straight path.

Source: Al-Mukhtasar fi tafsir al-Qur'an (English translation), with well-known points from the tafsirs of Ibn Kathir and As-Sa'di.