Indexed OCR Text

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Surah Al-Fatihah
Hanifah and certain other Imams prefer it to be done in a low voice.
There is a consensus on the point that 'Bismillah' should be recited at
the beginning of all the succeeding raka'ahs too. This is unanimously
considered to be a Sunnah; however, in some narrations, the reciting of
'Bismillah' at the beginning of every raka'ah has been identified as
wajib or necessary.
(2) In the course of salah, whether one is reciting the Holy Qur'an
loudly or silently, one should not recite 'Bismillah' before beginning a
Surah just after the Surah 'Fatihah'. Such a practice has not been
reported either from the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم or from any of the
first four Khulafa'. According to Sharh al-munyah, this is the view of
Imam Abu Hanifah and of Imam Abu Yusuf, and Shrah al-munyah,
al-Durr al-Mukhtar, al-Burhan etc. prefer it to other views. But Imam
Muhammad considers it to be preferable that one should recite
'Bismillah' if one is reciting the Holy Qur'an in a salah offered silently.
Certain reports attribute this view even to Imam Abu Hanifah, and
al-Shami has quoted some Muslim jurists in support of this view --
which has been adopted even in 'Bahishti Zewar' of Maulana Thanavi.
Anyhow, there is a complete agreement among the scholars that it is
not makruh or reprehensible for some one to recite 'Bismillah' in this
situation.

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Surah Al-Fatihah 1 .1 - 7
SURAH AL - FATIHAH
(The Opening)
MAKKAN
VERSES: 7
بِسْمِ اللّهِالَّحْمِ الَِّي٥ِْ
اَلْحُدُ لِلْهِرَتِّ الْعَلَّمِيْنَ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْمِ ) مُلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّيْنِ )
إِيَّاكَ نَعُبُدُ وَ إِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِيْنُ ، إِهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيْمَ )
صِرَاطَ الَّذِيْنَ اَنْعَمُتَ عَلَيْهِمْ لَيْرِ الْمَغُضُوُبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا
الضَّالِّيْنَ 0
With the name of Allah,
the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful.
Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, the
All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful, the Master of the Day
of Judgment. You alone we worship, and from You
alone we seek help. Guide us in the straight path -- the
path of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace,
not of those who have incurred Your wrath, nor of
those who have gone astray.
This Surah comprises seven verses. Of these, the first three are in
praise of Allah, while the last three contain a request or a prayer on
the part of man, which Allah himself has, in His infinite mercy, taught
him. The verse in between the two sets has both the features -- there is
an aspect of praise, and another of prayer.
The Sahih of Muslim reports from the blessed Companion Abu
: صلى الله عليه وسلم Hurayrah a hadith (Tradition) of the Holy Prophet
"Allah has said, "The salah (i.e., the Surah Al-Fatihah) is equally

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Surah Al-Fatihah 1 :1 - 7
divided between Me and My servant. And My servant shall be given
what he prays for." The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم continued: "When
the servant says:
الْحَمْدُ لِلّهِرَبِّ الْعَلَمِيْنَ
Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds,
Allah says: "My servant has paid his homage to Me." When he
says:
اُلَّحْمِنِ الَّحِم
The All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful,
Allah says: "My servant has praised Me." When the servant says:
مُلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّيْنِ
The Master of the Day of Judgment,
Allah says, "My servant has proclaimed my greatness." When the
servant says:
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
You alone we worship, and to You alone we pray for help,
Allah says, "This verse is common to Me and My servant. He shall
be given what he has prayed for." When the servant says:
إِهُدْنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
Guide us in the straight path ... ,
Allah says: "All this is there for My servant. He shall be given
what he prays for." (Mazhari)
The Surah begins with the words Al-hamdulillah, signifying that
all praise essentially belongs to Allah. Whosoever praises anything
anywhere in the world is ultimately praising Allah. The sensible world
contains millions of things which compel man's attention and
admiration for their beauty and usefulness, but if one tries to look
behind the veil of appearances, one would find in each and every thing
the manifestation of the same creative power. Admiring anything that
exists in the created world is no more than showing one's admiration

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Surah Al-Fatihah 1 :1 - 7
for a work of art or craft, which in fact is a praise of the artist or the
craftsman. This small statement of the Holy Qur'an opens a new
perspective for man lost in the labyrinth of multiplicity, and shows
him how the many are knit together in the same unity, and how all
praise in reality belongs to One whose power is absolute, and that it is
only in our ignorance or indifference that we regard this praise to be
due to anyone else.
If there is only one Being in the whole universe who inherently
deserves all praise, it necessarily follows from it that this Being alone
should be worthy of adoration and worship. Thus we can see that
although the phrase, Al-hamdulillah, has been used to signify praise,
yet, by implication, it cuts the very root of polytheism or the worship of
created beings, and at the same time brings out in a self-evident
manner the first and the basic principle of the Islamic creed --
Oneness of God.
The next phrase to follow in the Surah speaks of an attribute of
Allah -- Lord of the Worlds. Lexically, the word, Rabb signifies 'one
who nurtures'. And 'nurture' implies developing a thing by gradual
stages in a manner which is conducive to its own good till it attains
perfection. The word, Rabb is exclusive to the sacred Being of Allah,
and cannot be employed in the case of any created being without
adding some qualification, for a created being is itself in need of
nurture', and cannot nurture anyone else.
Al-'alamin is the plural of 'alam (world, universe, kingdom). "The
worlds" include all possible forms of -- existence: the sky, the earth,
the sun, the moon, stars, wind and rain, the angels, the jinns, animals,
plants, minerals, and, of course, men. So, 'the Lord of all the worlds"
means that Allah alone gives nurture to all the forms of existents that
are to be found in this universe, or in the millions of universes that
may lie beyond our own universe in the outer space. Imam Razi, the
great commentator of the Holy Qur'an, says that the existence of an
indefinite space beyond our universe can be proved on the basis of
rational argument, and it is also certain that Allah is All-Powerful, so
it should not be at all difficult for Him to have created millions of other
universes in this endless space. It has been reported from the
Companion Abu Sa'id al-Khudri de Alg», that there are forty thousand

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worlds; our world, stretching from the East to the West, is only one of
them, there being many more besides it. According to the well-known
commentator Muqatil, the number of worlds is eighty thousand. (See
Qurtubi)
As for the objection that no man or animal can live in the outer
space owing to the lack of the kind of air which should be compatible
with the physical make-up of man, Imam Razi replies that the
inhabitants of the worlds in the outer space need not necessarily have
the same physical make-up as that of the inhabitants of our world
which should make existence in space impossible for them, and
suggests that their organic composition and the requirements for its
nourishment and sustenance might just be totally different.
Imam Razi postulated these possibilities some eight hundred years
ago without the help of the modern facilities for observation and
exploration, yet the speculations of the scientists in the age of space
travel endorse his view.
Seen in the light of this short phrase, 'Lord of the worlds', the
universe reveals itself to be an incredibly complex, yet perfectly
integrated order. From the heavens to the earth, from the planets and
the stars to the particles of dust, everything is bound in a chain of
being, and is performing the function assigned to it by Divine Wisdom.
Man cannot obtain a little morsel of food unless a thousand forces of
the sky and the earth work together to produce it. The universal order
is there for man to contemplate, and to realize that, if Allah has put
millions of His creatures in the service of man, man in his turn cannot
be worthless or purposeless or meaningless.2 The Holy Qur'an is
indeed very explicit and very insistent in reminding us that the
universe is not absurd:
وَمَا خَلَقْنَ السَّمَآءِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا بَإِلًا ذَلِكَ ظَنُّ ◌َلَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا فَوَيِّلٌ"
لِلَّذِّيْنَ كَفَرُوْا مِنَ النَّارِ
We have not created in vain the heavens and the earth and
what lies between them. That is the fancy of the disbelievers.
But woe to the disbelievers in the fire of Hell. (38:27)
2. As do proclaim the current Western philosophies of the Absurd and of
Unreason.

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If the universe is not in vain or absurd, man too, whose purposes
the universe has been made to serve, cannot be purposeless and
meaningless. The Holy Qur'an defines the Divine purpose in creating
man and the goal of his existence in these words.
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ إِنَّ وَإِنْسَ إِلاَّلِبَعْبُدُوْنِ
I have not created the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. (51:56)
It may be said that the phrase 'the Lord of all the worlds' is in a
way the proof of the claim made in the earlier phrase J&J : (all praise
belongs to Allah). When Allah alone is the ultimate cause for the
nurture of the whole universe, He alone can, in reality, be worthy of
praise. Thus, the first verse of the Surah, as we said before, combines
in itself the praise of Allah and a subtle indication of the first and
basic principle of the Islamic creed -- the oneness of God.
The second verse speaks of the Divine quality of mercy, employing
two adjectives Rahman and Rahim, both of which are hyperbolic terms
in Arabic, and respectively connote the superabundance and perfection
of Divine mercy. The reference to this particular attribute in this
situation is perhaps intended to be a reminder of the fact that it is not
through any external compulsion or inner need or any kind of
necessity whatsoever that Allah has assumed the responsibility of
nurturing the whole of His creation, but in response to the demand of
His own quality of mercy. If this whole universe did not exist, He
would suffer no loss; if it does exist, it is no burden to Him.
The third verse pays homage to Allah as 'the Master of the Day of
Judgment or Requital': 201 Hall. The word Malik has been derived
from the root, 'milk' (a.) which signifies possessing a thing in such a
manner that one has the right and power to dispose of it as one likes
(See Qamus). The word Din signifies 'Requital'. So, the phrase 'Master of
the Day of Requital' implies total mastery on the Day of Requital. But
there is no mention of the thing or things to which this mastery or
possession would apply. According to the commentary, 'al-Kashshaf,
the phrase makes a general reference to cover everything. That is to
say, on the Day of Requital the mastery over everything that exists
will belong to Allah alone.

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The Day of Requital is real and rational:
Before we proceed, let us consider two important questions: Firstly,
what is this Day of Requital? Secondly, Allah being the Master, of
everything even today as much as on the Day of Requital, why does
this verse specifically mention the Day of Requital? The Day of
Requital or the Day of Judgment is the Day appointed by Allah to
recompense good or evil deeds.3 The world is only the field of action,
the place where one is required to perform one's duty, and not the
place for receiving one's reward. The mere fact that man happens to be
healthy and wealthy or powerful does not necessarily argue that he
has won the pleasure and favour of Allah. Similarly, the mere fact that
a man happens to be ill or poor or weak or miserable does not by itself
indicates that he is the object of Allah's wrath. Even in the case of
worldly life, would it not be a platitude to remark that a man sweating
in a factory or an office does not consider it a misfortune? In fact, try to
deprive him of this opportunity to sweat, and you would have earned
his deepest displeasure; for beyond all this toil he can glimpse the
reward he is going to get after thirty days in the shape of his wages.
It proceeds from this principle that the greatest sufferings in this
world are the lot of the Prophets >JI + and, after them, of the men
of Allah, and yet we see them quite content and even happy. In short,
physical well-being or worldly glory or luxury is no sure indication of
one's virtue and truthfulness, nor is sorrow and suffering that of one's
misdeeds and falsity. It may, however, happen that a man receives
some punishment or reward for his deeds in this world. This never is
the full recompense, but only a faint model which has been manifested
to serve as an intimation or warning. The Holy Qur'an has spoken
very clearly on this point:
وَلَنُذِيْقَنَّهُمْ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ الْأَدْنَى دُوُنَ الْعَذَابِ اْلَأَكْبَرِ لَعَلَّهُمُ يَرْجِعُونَ
And We shall surely let them taste a nearer punishment (in
3. The verse qualifies Allah specifically as 'Master of the Day of Requital', and thus
emphasizes a principle which is in itself of the highest import, and is particularly
relevant to certain tendencies in the modern habits of thought. Contrary to the
modern conviction which one finds reflected even in the so called "new
interpretations" of Islam, individual or collective well being is not the be-all and
end-all of human existence, nor is the physical world the place where good or evil
deeds are recompensed -- Translator

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this world) before the greater punishment (in the other
world), so that they may return (to the right path). (32:21)
كَذَالِكَ الْعَذَابُ وَ لَعَذَابُ الْأَخِرَةُ أَكْبُرُ لَوْكَانُوا يَعْلَمْوُنَ
Such is the punishment; and the punishment of the other
world is certainly greater, only if they knew. (68 : 33)
The sufferings of this world, as even its joys, are sometimes a trial,
and sometimes a punishment, but never a full recompense, for the
world is itself transitory. What really counts is the joy or suffering
that will endure for ever, and which one will come to know in the other
world beyond this world. Given the fact that good or evil deeds are not
fully recompensed in this world, and the rational and just principle
that good and evil not being equal in value, every deed should be
rewarded or punished according to its nature, it readily follows that
beyond this world there should be another world where every deed, big
or small, good or evil, is to be judged, and then justly rewarded or pun-
ished. This the Holy Qur'an calls Al-Akhirah: > (The world-to-come),
or Al-Qiyamah: um (Doomsday or the Day of Judgment), or 'Yawm al-
din, (Day of Requital). The whole idea has been explained by the Holy
Qur'an itself:
مَا يَسْتَوِى الْأَعْمَى وَالْبَصِيْرُ وَالذِيْنَ أمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّلِحْتِ وَلَا الْمُسِيِّْ قَلِيْلاً
◌َمَّا تَتَذَّكَّرُوُنَ ا إِنَّ السَّاعَةَ لَأَتِيَةٌ لََّرَيْبَ فِيُهَا، وَلْكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ 0
The blind are not equal with the seeing, nor the wrong-doers
with those who believe and do good deeds. Yet you seldom re-
flect. The hour of retribution is sure to come, no doubt about
it, yet most people do not believe. (40 : 58-59)
Who is the Master ?
Now, we come to the second question. It should be obvious, on a
little reflection, to everyone that the real master of every particle of
dust in the universe can only be He who has created and nurtured it,
Whose mastery over everything is complete, having neither a
beginning nor an end, covering the living and the dead, the apparent
and the hidden, the seen and the unseen. On the contrary, the mastery
of man is delimited by a beginning and an end; it has a 'before' when it
did not exist, and an 'after' when it will exist no more. Man's mastery
and control extends to the living, not to the dead, to the seen, not to

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the unseen, to the external aspect of things, not to the internal. All
this would show to those who can see that the real Master of the whole
universe, not only on the Day of Requital but even in this world, is no
other than Allah. Then why should this verse specify the Day of
Requital ?
The verses of the Surah al-Mu'min / Ghafir (Chapter 40) serve as a
commentary on the phrase under discussion, and provide a clear
account of the Day of Requital. The real and complete mastery over
everything, no doubt, belongs to Allah alone even in this world. Yet
Allah Himself, in His beneficence and wisdom, has granted a kind of
imperfect, temporary and apparent mastery to man as well; and the
Shari'ah, in laying down laws for worldly affairs, has given due
consideration to man's limited right to ownership. But today, in
possessing lands or money or power, which has been given to him by
way of trial, man has always been prone to get drunk with pride and
vanity.4 The phrase 'Master of the Day of Judgment' is a warning to
man reeling in his forgetfulness and self-conceit, and an intimation
that all his possessions, all his relationships with things and men are
only short-lived, and that there shall come a Day when masters will no
more be masters and slaves no more slaves, when no one will own
anything even in appearance, and the ownership and mastery,
apparent as well as real, of the whole universe will be seen to belong to
none but Allah, the Exalted. The Holy Qur'an says:
يَوْمَ هُمْ بَارِزُوْنَ لَا يَخْفِى عَلَى اللَّهِ مِنْهُمْ شَبْيٌّ لِنَّ المُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ لِلَّهِ الْوَاحِدِ
اُلْقَهَّارِهِاَلْيَوْمَ تُّجُزَى كُلِّ نَفْسِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ لَظُلُمَّ الْيَوَّمَ إِنَّ اللّهَ سَرِيْعُ الْحِسَابِه
The day they will present themselves (before Allah), and noth-
ing of theirs will remain hidden from Allah (even apparently).
'Whose is the kingdom today?' Of Allah alone, the One, the
Mighty. Today everyone will be recompensed for what he has
done. Today no one will be wronged. Allah's reckoning is sure-
ly swift. (40:17)
The fourth verse & sous 23Je : 'You alone we worship, and
from You alone we seek help' has a double aspect, one of praise and
4. Specially the modern man living in the so-called 'humanistic civilization' when the
sole drive and motivating force is the complacent belief in man's mastery.

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another of prayer. A man's life is subject to three states of time -- past,
present and future.
The first two verses of the Surah, unai (All Praise belongs to Allah)
and idati (the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful), remind man that, as
far as his past and present are concerned, he owes everything to Allah
alone, for it is Allah who created him out of nothing, endowed him with
the best form in the universe, and with reason and intuition, and
continues to sustain and nurture him in the present. The third verse:
25 HdL' (Master of the Day of Judgment) tells him that in the future
too he will have to depend on Allah alone, for on the Day of Requital
one cannot possibly have a helper other than Allah. The three verses
having made it clear that man is totally and absolutely dependent on
Allah in all the three states of his life, it logically and naturally leads to
the conclusion that Allah alone is worthy of being worshipped, for in
Arabic the word 'ibadah (worship) connotes showing the utmost
humility and submissiveness out of an intense respect and love for
someone, and such an attitude of willing self-abasement cannot justly
be adopted towards anyone except Allah. So, the phrase: 2225) (You
alone we worship) expresses this very natural and logical conclusion.
And once it has been understood that there is only one Being who can
satisfy all our needs, it is equally natural and logical to turn for help in
everything to Him alone. Hence the phrase 3225 JG) (to You alone we
pray for help). Beside these two aspects, the fourth verse has another
dimension as well. It teaches man not to worship anyone except Allah,
not to consider anyone else as being really capable of satisfying his
needs, and not to beg anyone else to satisfy these needs. It does not,
however, go against this principle if, in praying to Allah, one mentions
the name of a prophet or a man of Allah by way of a medium (wasilah)
for drawing the mercy of Allah upon oneself.
It may also be noticed that the phrase:22sasJe) (to You alone we
pray for help) does not mention the purpose for which help is being
sought. According to most of the commentators, it generalizes the idea
of the request to cover everything from acts of worship to all possible
worldly or other-worldly concerns.
Then, acts of worship ('Ibadah) are not limited merely to prescribed
prayers or fasting. Imam al-Ghazzali in his book 'Arba'in' has enumer-
ated ten forms which worship can take :-

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Surah Al-Fatihah 1:1 - 7
1. Prayers.
2. Prescribed Alms-giving.
3. Fasting.
4. Hajj or pilgrimage to Makkah.
5. Reciting the Holy Qur'an.
6. Remembrance of Allah in all possible situations.
7. Earning one's livelihood in accordance with the regulations of
the Shari'ah.
8. Fulfilling one's obligations towards one's companions and
neighbours.
9. Persuading people to act righteously and dissuading them from
what is reprehensible and forbidden.
10. To follow the Sunnah, or the practice of the Holy Prophet & .
Therefore, not associating anyone with Allah in worship means
that one should not love or fear or depend on anyone else as one loves
or fears or depends on Allah, nor should one repose one's hope in
anyone else, nor should one consider obedience or submission or
service to another as obligatory as the worship of Allah, nor make a
votive offering or consecrate or dedicate anything to anyone or take a
vow in the name of anyone similar to the way one does these things in
the case of Allah, nor should one show complete self-abasement and
total humility before anyone as one is required to do before Allah, nor
should one engage in the particular God-oriented acts of worship for
anyone other than Allah, acts which symbolize the farthest limits of
self-abasement, such as, ruku' and sajdah (the bowing and prostrating
in salah).
The Prayer for Guidance
The last three verses of the Surah consist of a prayer on the part of
man. In other words, Allah Himself, in His great mercy, has taught
man what to pray for:
◌ِهُدِنَا الصِّرَاطِ الْمُسْتَقِيُمَ ا صِرَاطَ الَّذِيْنَ آَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ لُ غَيْرِ الْمَغُضُبِ
عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَ الضَّالِيْنَ 0
Guide us in the straight path, the path of those on whom You
have bestowed Your grace, not of those who have incurred
Your wrath, nor of those who have gone astray.
--

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The Implications of Guidance
A problem of highest significance arises here. The teaching with
regard to the prayer for being guided in the straight path is addressed
equally to all men or all Muslims and to saints and prophets who have
already received guidance and are even a source of guidance for other
men. Why should these repeatedly pray for something they already
possess? The answer to this question depends on knowing all that is
implied by guidance. The answer would, at the same time, remove all
difficulties and confusions which arise in the minds of those who, not
being familiar with the true signification of guidance, begin to suspect
that certain verses of the Holy Qur'an were contradicting certain
others.
The Meaning of Hidayah or Guidance
The best explanation of the word, Hidayah (guidance) has been
offered by Imam Raghib al-Isfahani in his Mufradat al-Qur'an, which
can be summed up thus: Hidayah signifies leading someone towards
his destination, gently and kindly; while guidance, in the real sense,
issues forth from Allah alone, and it has several degrees.
The First Degree of Guidance
The first degree of guidance is general, and covers everything that
exists in the universe -- minerals, plants, animals etc. It would
surprise many to hear of guidance in relation to minerals. But the
Holy Qur'an makes it quite clear that all forms of existents in the
universe, and every particle of dust possesses life, sensitivity, and
even consciousness and understanding in its own degree and according
to its own sphere of existence. Some of these existents possess more of
this essence than others, and some less. Hence, those who have very
little of it are considered to be inanimate and devoid of consciousness.
The Shari'ah too has recognized this difference, and such creatures
have not been made to bear the obligation of observing the injunctions
of Allah. The creatures which show obvious signs of life but not those
of consiousness and reason are considered to be living, but not
rational; whereas, creatures showing the signs of consciousness and
reason, along with those of life, are called rational beings. Because of
these differences in the degrees of consciousness, men and jinn alone,
of all the existents in the universe, have been made subservient to the

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injunctions of the Shari'ah and accountable for their actions, for they
alone have the necessary consciousness and understanding. But, it
does not mean that other creatures or existents are totally devoid of
life or sensitivity, or of consciousness and understanding. The Holy
Qur'an is very explicit on this point:
وَإِنْ مِنُ شَبِئٍ إِلَّ يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِه وَلْكِنْ لَا تَفْقَهُوُنَ تَسْبِيُحُهُمُ
Nothing exists that does not celebrate His praise, but you do
not understand their (mode of) praising. (17:44)
أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهُ يُسَبِّحُ لَهْ مَنْ فِى السَّمُوْتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالَّطَّيْرُ طِقَّتٍ كُلٌ قَدْ عَلِمَ
صَلَاتَهُ وَتَسْبِيُحَهُ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيُمَّ بِمَا يَفْعَلُونَ )
Have you not seen that everything in the heavens and the
earth proclaims Allah's purity, and the birds too that spread
their wings? Each of them knows its prayer and its (mode of)
praising. And Allah is aware of what they do. (24:41)
Evidently, one cannot extol and praise Allah without knowing
Allah. It is equally evident that knowing Allah is the highest form of
knowledge possible, and such a knowledge cannot be gained unless one
possesses consciousness and understanding. These verses, therefore,
show that everything that exists in the universe possesses life,
sensitivity, understanding and consciousness, though it may not
always be apparent to the ordinary observer -- a truth which has been
endorsed by all the great religions, by certain ancient philosophers,
and lately even by experimental science.
This, then, is the first degree of guidance which is common to
minerals, plants, animals, men, jinns and all the forms of creation.
The Holy Qur'an speaks of this primary and general guidance in these
words:
قَالَ زُّنَ اَلَّذِى أَعْطَى كُلَّ شَيْئٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ ◌َدْى
He gave to everything its distinctive form, and then guided it. (20:50)
Or, as we find in another Surah:
سَّحِ اسْمَ رَبْكَ الْأَعْلِى ) الَّذِيُ خَلَقَ فَسَوْى ) وَالَّذِيُ قَدَّرَ فَهَدَى )
Celebrate the name of your Lord, the Most High, Who has

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Surah Al-Fatihah 1 :1 - 7
created all things, well proportioned them, and Who has de-
termined and guided them. (87:1-2)
That is to say, Allah has given every creature a particular nature
and function, and guided it in a way which should correspond to its
station in the scheme of things. Thanks to this general guidance,
everything in the universe is performing its allotted function with
such marvellous efficiency. For example, it is the ears that hear a
sound and not the eyes or the nose. Similarly, the nose smells but
cannot see; the eyes see but cannot smell. In short:
إِنْ كُلُّ مَنْ فِى السّمَوْتِ وَالْأَرْضِلَّأْتِى الرَّحْمِنِ عَبْدًا 0
There is nothing in the heavens and the earth but comes to
the All-Merciful as a servant. (19:93)
The Second Degree of Guidance
Unlike the first, the second degree of guidance is not general but
particular. It is limited to those creatures which are considered to be
rational, that is, men and jinns. This kind of guidance comes to every
man through prophets and revealed books. Some accept this guidance,
and become believers (Muslims): some reject it and become disbelievers
(Kafirs).
The Third Degree of guidance
The third degree of guidance is still more particular, being special
to true believers (Mu'minin) and the God-fearing (Muttaqin). Like the
first degree, the third kind of guidance too descends directly to the
individual from Allah, and it is called, Tawfiq. That is to say, Allah's
grace provides a man with internal and external means and
circumstances which should make it easy, and even pleasant for him
to accept and act upon the guidance of the Holy Qur'an, and difficult to
ignore or oppose it. The scope of the third degree of guidance is
limitless, and its levels indefinite.5 Here is the sphere in which man,
not only can, but is required to make a progress in the veritable sense
of the term. The agency of this progress is the performance of virtuous
5. Contrary to all the modern fictions about man's Evolution or Perfectibility or
Progress which may pass for sound philosophy or science.

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Surah Al-Fatihah 1 : 1 - 7
deeds6. All increase in virtuous deeds brings with it an increase in
divine guidance. The Holy Qur'an itself gives us the promise of such
increase:
وَالَّذِيْنَ اهْتَدَوْا زَادَهُمْ هُدَّى
As for those who follow the straight path, Allah will increase
their guidance. (47:17)
وَمَنْ تُ مِنٌِّاللهِ يَهْدِ قَلْبَةُ
And whoever believes in Allah, He guides his heart. (64:11)
الَّذِيْنَ جَاهَدُوْا فِيْنَا لَنَهُدِ بَنَّهُمُ سُلَنَا
Those who strive for (literally, 'in') Us, We will surely guide
them in Our paths. (29:69)
It is in this field of progress that we see even the greatest prophets
and men of Allah striving, and it is an increase in divine guidance and
help that they keep seeking to their last breath.
A Cumulative view of guidance
Keeping in mind the three distinct degrees of guidance, one can
easily see that guidance is a thing which everyone does possess in
some way, and yet no one, not even the greatest, can do without
wishing to attain more of its advanced and higher stages. Hence, of all
the prayers man can address to Allah, the most important is the
prayer for guidance, which has been taught to us in the very first
Surah of the Holy Qur'an; and this prayer is as necessary for the
greatest of prophets and men of Allah as for an ordinary Muslim. That
is why the Surah Al-Fath (Victory), in enumerating the material and
spiritual benefits of the conquest of Makkah in the last days of the
Holy Prophet صلى اللّه عليه وسلم ,also says :وَيَهْدِيَكُمْ صِرَاطًا مُسْتَقِيبًا (and to guide you
on the straight path) (48:20). When these verses were revealed, the
Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had already received guidance and was a
source of guidance for others. The good tidings of receiving guidance
can, in this situation, have only one meaning that he attained some
very high station of guidance at the time.
Guidance: Some notes of caution
In concluding this discussion about the different implications of
6. As defined, it goes without saying, by the Shari'ah and not by individual or
collective fancy, or by custom and habits, or by the fads or fashions of the day.

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'guidance' (Hidayah), we repeat points that would help the reader of
the Holy Qur'an avoid certain confusions and errors:
1. The Holy Qur'an sometimes speaks of divine guidance as being
general and common to believers and non-believers, in fact to all
creatures, and sometimes makes it out to be particular and special to
the God-fearing. So, the unwary may be led to sense a contradiction
here. But once it is understood that one degree of guidance is common
to all, whereas another degree is limited to particular cases, the doubt
and confusion readily resolves itself.
2. On the one hand, the Holy Qur'an reminds us again and again
that Allah does not grant guidance to the unjust and the unrighteous;
on the other hand, it repeatedly declares that Allah guides all. The
misunderstanding which may arise here is also dispelled by a
knowledge of the degrees of guidance. Now we can easily see that the
general guidance is given to all without any distinction, but the third
and very special degree of guidance is not granted to the unjust and
the unrighteous.
3. The first and the third degrees of guidance pertain to a direct act
of divine grace, and no prophet can have anything to do with it, for the
function of the prophets is related only to the second degree.
Whenever the Holy Qur'an speaks of Prophets JI +Le as guides, it
is always referring to this second degree, and to it alone. On the other
hand, when the Holy Qur'an, addressing the noble Prophet g , says:
13 a (You cannot guide whom you please) (28:56), it is the
third degree of guidance which is intended, that is to say, it is neither
the function of a prophet nor is it in his power to provide tawfiq to any-
one, in other words, to make it easy for anyone to accept guidance. 7
7. Translator's Note: In this context one should not overlook the popularity enjoyed
in the West, since the rise of Protestantism, by the notion of a personal relationship
with God on the part of the individual. This notion has in its turn produced a
diffused yet very effective conviction that ethics can be made independent of
religion, that the external or legislative aspect of religion is of no account, that
prescribed rites are irrelevant to the so-called 'religious experience', and more
monstrously still, that doctrines can be dispensed with altogether -- all of which
betrays a total incomprehension of what constitutes a religion. The tendency has, in
fact, begun to infect some of the modernist interpreters of Islam in one way or
another, all of whom claim to be fulfilling the 'needs of the present age'. Attempts
have been made even to exploit this notion for ulterior motives.
Continued

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Surah Al-Fatihah 1 :1 - 7
To sum up, the Qur'anic prayer 2 1000 (guide us in the
straight path) is most comprehensive, and certainly, one of the most
important prayers taught to man. No member of the human family
can claim not to need it. No success, no prosperity in this or in the
other world can really come without being on the straight path.
Particularly so, for man lost in the anxieties of mortal life, the prayer
for the straight path is an elixir, though people do not realize it.
Which 'path' is 'straight'?
Now, to come to the meaning of the 'straight path', it is the path
which has no turns and twists. The term signifies the particular way
of Faith which equally avoids the two extremes of excess and deficien-
cy. One who follows the straight path would, in matters of doctrine
and practice both, neither go beyond the limits nor fall short of them.
The last two verses of the Surah Al-Fatihah define and identify
that 'straight path', something man has been prompted to pray for im-
mediately earlier. The verse says : ◌ْصِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمُتَ عَلَيهِم (The path of those
on whom You have bestowed Your grace). As to who these people are,
another verse of the Holy Qur'an gives us details in the following
words:
الَّذِيْنَ اَنْعَمَ اللّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنَ التَّبِّنَ وَالصِّدِّيُقِيْنَ وَالْتُّهَدَآءِ وَالصُّلِيْنَ
Those whom Allah has blessed, namely, the prophets, the Sid-
diqin, the Shuhada', and the righteous. (4:69)
Continued
In persuading the Muslim countries to look upon themselves as
'the eastern-most part of the West', the London ECONOMIST argues that Islam
'also implies a one-to-one relationship between the believer and the God he believes
in, a direct contact without intermediary and in this relationship, in which a single
God speaks directly to the core of a single man, is the basis of individualism. The
Protestant ethic is grounded on precisely the same concept.' (May 17-23, 1975, page.
82 of the Special Survey).
In the light of the discussion regarding the three degrees of guidance, it should
not be difficult to see that the direct contact with God without intermediary pertains
only to the first and third degrees, and not the second degree where the mediation of
the prophets is indispensable. To attain the third degree may be necessary for
· making a spiritual progress, but Islam, or for that matter any authentic religion, is
born out of the second degree of guidance. One cannot, indeed, enjoy the benefits of
the third degree without having accepted the guidance of the second degree -- or, to
use the Islamic terminology, without following the Shari'ah.

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Surah Al-Fatihah 1 : 1 - 7
These are the four categories of those who find favour with Allah.
Among them all, the prophets are the greatest. The Siddiqin (the
constantly true) are those who acquire spiritual perfection, and thus --
attain the highest rank among the followers of a prophet. In common
parlance, they are called Men of Allah, or saints.8 The Shuhada'
(martyrs) are those who sacrifice even their lives for the sake of their
faith (or, who bear witness to the truth, as the word admits of both
meanings). The righteous (the Salihin) are those who follow the
Shari'ah completely, not only in the matter of obligations (Wajibat) but
also with regard to commendable (mustahabb) actions. In everyday
language they are called the pious or the virtuous or the good.
This verse, then, determines the straight path in a positive
manner, identifying it with the path followed by men of these four
categories. The next verse, by a process of elimination, does the same
in a negative manner by saying:
غَيْرِ الْمُغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّأَلِيْنَ 0
Not of those who have incurred Your wrath, nor of those who
have gone astray.
Those who have incurred Allah's wrath are the people, who inspite
of being quite familiar with the commandments of Allah wilfully go
against them out of a calculated perversity or in the service of their
desires, or, in other words, who are deficient in obeying divine
injunctions. This, for example, was the general condition of the Jews
who were ready to sacrifice their religion for the sake of a petty
worldly gain, and used to insult and sometimes even to kill their
prophets.
As for Qui (those who go astray), they are the people who, out of
ignorance or lack of thought, go beyond the limits appointed by Allah,
and indulge in excess and exaggeration in religious matters. This, for
example, has generally been the error of the Christians who exceeded
the limits in their reverence for a prophet and turned him into a god.
On the one hand, there is the rebelliousness of the Jews who not only
refused to listen to the prophets of Allah but went on to kill them; on
the other hand, there is the excessive zeal of the Christians who
deified a prophet.
8. If taken in an untainted religious sense, and certainly not if taken in one of the
many modern vulgarized usages of the term where, for instance, you see the halo of
spiritual glory over the head of a spy!

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Surah Al-Fatihah 1 :1 - 7
Thus, the essential meaning of the verse is that, in praying for the
straight path, we do not ask for the path of those who are the slaves of
their desires, perverse in thought and action, and deficient in
performing their religious obligations, nor the path of those who are
ignorant or unmindful or misled, and indulge in excess and
exaggeration in religious matters, but wish for a path between these
two extremes, which inclines neither towards excess nor towards
deficiency, and which is as free of the promptings of desires as of
doubts and confusions and of erroneous beliefs.
In short, the prayer for the straight path is the essence of the
Surah Al-Fatihah. Since knowing and following the straight path is
the real knowledge and the real achievement in this mortal world, a
mistake in picking it up right takes peoples and nations to ruins;
otherwise, there are even non-Muslims who claim to be seeking God
and undertake stupendous labours to attain this end. The Holy Qur'an
has, therefore, defined the straight path so explicitly from a positive as
well as eliminative point of view.
The Key to the Straight Path
But, before we proceed, there is another problem to be considered,
the answer to which would open the door to a new and more
comprehensive understanding. It would seem that in order to define
the straight path it should have been sufficient to call it 'the path of
the Prophet"صلى الله عليه وسلم or 'the path of the Qur'an', which should also
have been more succinct and more explicit, for the whole of the Holy
Qur'an is really an explanation of the straight path, and the teachings
of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ,an elaboration. But, setting aside
the succinct and explicit form of expression, the Holy Qur'an has taken
up two verses of this short Surah for defining and delimiting the
straight path positively and negatively, and has thus indicated that if
one wishes to follow the straight path, one should seek such and such
men 'those on whom Allah has bestowed His grace ... ', and adopt their
way. Here, the Holy Qur'an does not ask us to follow the 'path of the
Qur'an', for a book alone is not sufficient for the grooming of man;
nor does it ask us to follow 'the path of the prophet', for the Holy
Prophet was not to be in this world for ever, and no other prophet
was to come after him. So, in enumerating those whose teaching and
example can help us attain the straight path, the Holy Qur'an has,
besides the prophets صلى الله عليه وسلم , included those too, who will always
be found living amongst us till the last day of the world -- namely, the

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Surah Al-Fatihah 1 :1 -7
Siddiqin, the Shuhada', and the righteous.
For the purpose of indicating the manner in which one can find the
straight path, the Holy Qur'an has thus referred not to a book but to
certain men. According to a hadith, when the Holy Prophet g in-
formed his Companions that, like earlier communities, his 'Ummah'
too would be divided into seventy or seventy-two sects, and that only
one among them would be on the right path, they wanted to know as
to which group it would be. The answer he gave also leads on to cer-
tain men of Allah, for he said: ◌ٌمَا أَنَا عَلَيْهِ وَاصْحَابى (That which follows my
way and the way of my Companions). All this comes to mean that
written books or oral traditions alone cannot teach, train and disci-
pline man; for this, one has to be with knowing men, and learning
from them. In yet other words, the real teacher and groomer of man
has to be another man; a book cannot take that place all by itself. How
curtly this was pointed out by Akbar, the famous Urdu poet-
humourist, who said:
کورس تو لفظ پی سکھاتے ہیں
آدمى، آدمى بنات بيـ
which, in English, comes close to saying: "Courses teach words. But,
men train men." This truth holds good even for spheres of everyday
life.
No one has ever become a doctor, or an engineer, or even a cook or
a tailor merely by reading a book. Similarly, studying the Holy Qur'an
and the Hadith on one's own cannot by itself be sufficient for the
moral-spiritual education and training of a man; such a study must be
carried on under the guidance of a specialist or a genuine scholar
before it can be useful. It is common observation that,9 many people
today, though otherwise educated, cherish the erroneous notion that
one can acquire a masterly knowledge of the Holy Qur'an and Hadith
merely by reading a translation or at best a commentary.10 But the
error of such an enterprise is self-evident. Had a book in itself been
sufficient for the guidance of men, there was no need for the prophets
to be sent. But, Allah in sending us His Book, has also sent His
Prophet to serve as a teacher and guide. In defining the straight path
9. Under the influence of the West, particularly that of Protestantism.
10. The illusion has been encouraged by the modernistic or pseudo-
modernistic interpretations of Islam.