Some of my notes from our first Ladies Tafsir group:

Surah Al-Fatihah

- AKA: The Mother(or Essence) of the Quran/The Mother(Essence) of the Book

- means the Opening, or the way out (victory)
- when the Prophet sws received al-Fatihah, the sky opened up with a bright light and angels
together carried down all 7 verses to reveal to him
- It was the first surah to be revealed in its entirety
- Read by us 17x a day
- A prayer is not complete without reciting al-Fatihah in each rakah
- the surah is recited before nikahs (to open hearts), before exams (to open minds), at
graves/funerals, etc
- summarizes the Quran
- Contains: principles of worship, legislature, Day of Judgement, faith in Attributes/Names,
acknowledgment that previous communities received prophets, prayer.
- We start the Quran with saying the Ta’a’uz, (aoozobillahi-mina-shaitan-ir’rajeem). We say this
in present tense. In every good deed that humans try to do, shaitan will interfere in it. By saying
this ta’a’uz, we are seeking Allah’s protection.
- Ar’rajma=stoning/cursed. Shaitan is cursed because of his pride/arrogance, and also
connected to the Hajj ritual of rajam, where we throw stones at shaitan.
- Bismillah hir rahman ir rahim. In the Name of Allah, we begin, with hope.
- Alhumdhulillahi... Allah is teaching us how to praise Him. When we read Al-Fatihah we should
pause slightly after each ayah. This is proper in order to have the conversation with Allah. He
responds to each believer saying every one of the ayahs. The responses are from a hadith
reported in Sahih Muslim. After Alhumdhulillahi raab’il ‘ala’meen (All praise belongs to Allah,
Lord of all the worlds), He responds “My servant has praised Me”
- Ar-Rehman ar-Rahim (The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful), response: My servant has
exalted Me. Rehman refers to the mercy generally speaking, universally. Rehman occurs 57x in
Quran. Rahim refers to the mercy specifically to the individual. Rahim occurs 114x in Quran.
The word Raham, from the same root, means womb. So our mother’s womb is a mercy. Never
cut your relationship with your mother or parents because that is like cutting yourself off from
Allah’s Mercy.
- Maliki yawm id’deen (Master of the Day of Judgement), response: My servant has glorified
Me/My servant has submitted to My Power. We say ‘la hawla wa la quwata illa billa hil aliyul
azeem’, Allah has all the power to help/give us everything/anything
- On the Day of Judgement, the angel Israfeel will blow the horn, and everything living will die,
including the angels. Then the Angel of Death will also taste death. Allah swt will be the owner
of the Kingdom on that Day. He alone will cause everything to be resurrected.
- Up until this part the surah, is praising Allah, the second part is us making dua or asking of
Him. Also now the tense changes. We start in the beginning of the surah praising Allah like we
are a stranger in 3rd person tense, then the next part we address Allah swt directly, in 2nd
person tense.
- Eyaa ka nabudoo wa eyaa ka naas ta’een (You alone do we worship and You alone do we ask
for help), response: This is between Me and My servant, and he/she shall have what he/she
asked for. Asking for help after the supplication. Asking for help also acknowledges our humility,
and that He has power over all things.
- Ih deenus siratal mustaqeem. Siratal ladeena anaam ta’laihim. Ghayril maghdoobay alayhim.
Walad dhaaa’leen. (Guide us to the Straight Path, the Path of those whom You have favored,
not of those of whom is Your Anger, nor of those whom are astray), response: This is for my
servant, and my servant shall have what he/she has asked for. Sirat means straight or
righteous path in life, and also refers to the the bridge in the Hearafter. Maghdoob = angry. Allah
is angry with the previous nations that made idols to worship after receiving the message.
Daleen= astray. Refers to the people of the Book that went astray by corrupting the message by
attributing partners.
- Sila=relation
- Salah=prayer=relation with Allah
- We pause between each ayah to have this conversation/relation with Allah.
- After we die, the angels will ask us the questions: Who is your Lord? What do you say of
Muhammad (sws)? What is your Book? The mumin’s heart will respond correctly, and then will
say, I must make my salah... which answers the next question. What of your salah?
- Muslims read Al-Fatihah 17 times daily at least. In it we acknowledge that Allah is the Master
of the Day of Judgement. We already have a relationship with Allah, that has been established
and reinforced through all our prayers. There will be no need to worry or stress on that Day,
since we will know the Judge, and He will know us.
We also noted that even though surah Al’Alaq was the first the be revealed, and certain surah
were revealed very slowly over many years, with other surah revealed in between. The order of
the Quran that we have in our mushafs, is the way it was commanded to be. There are miracles
even in this order and numbering. For example, chapter 16 is surah an-Nahl (The Bee).
Recently scientists have discovered that the bees have only 16 pairs of chromosomes.
SubhanAllah! There are many other miracles like this throughout the Quran.