بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ

The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.

Sirata allatheena an’amta alayhim ghayri almaghdoobi alayhim wala addalleen

In the final ayah of the surah, Allah lays out who we should be aspiring to be like and the path of those which we need to avoid.

We previously asked Allah to guide us to his straight path and now we mention those whom we want to be with: those that have already reached the end of His path – the companions of the prophet (ﷺ) and those who have passed away as noble Muslims.

Notice the word “an’amta” is in the past tense meaning those Allah had bestowed favour upon. The word is derived from “lo’ooma” which essentially means softness. We as humans see the path of Allah as difficult but what Allah is telling is here is that if His favour comes, the path will be made soft and easy.

Another point to mention here is that the ayah says that Allah is the one who has showered the favour upon His people, thus to remind us that even the most noble of people in the past were still only guided because of Allah’s mercy towards them.

Think of the poople who are alive today as the students and those who have passed away as the graduates. We as the students must learn from those who have completed the course of Islam. All the stories in the Qur’an about the good people Allah has guided. All the prophets and the companions mentioned in the hadiths. These are who we should be looking to follow. Allah has essentially showed us their portfolios and all we have to do is copy.

The paths we should avoid are mentioned as the path of those who have earned Allah’s anger and those who are astray. What’s interesting is that in the Arabic phrasing there is no mention of “Allah’s anger”. “Al maghdoob alayhim” basically translates to “those who are receiving anger” meaning that the anger is coming from more than one source – from Allah, from the angels, from the believers, from the disbelievers on the day of judgement etc.

Those who are “astray” is better translated as those who are “lost”. Allah uses the word “dalleen” which is a noun; in Arabic grammar, a noun is usually permanent while a verb is usually temporary. Thus what Allah is telling us here is that the lost ones will always be around, we will always have to look out for them.

So what separates the two?

Think of it this way: if you had 2 sons or daughters and you gave instructions to one of them that they are both not allowed to eat any sweets (candy) while you are out. You come back and you find them both eating, who will you be more angry at? The one you instructed directly of course. Those who are receiving anger are those who know what the right path is and still disobey, while those who are lost simply do not know any better.

However, is ignorance a justifiable plea of innocence? Let’s say someone was caught speeding and got pulled over. Would it be justified to simply let the speeder off simply because they claim they didn’t know? The ignorant one must study, ask, dig, search for answers. We are all born with the fitrah: a pre-disposition to yearn for the path of Allah thus being ignorant simply cannot be an excuse to be astray.

The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Those who have earned the anger are the Jews and those who are led astray are the Christians.” [Tirmidhi]

The example of the Jews is linked to those who have earned anger since they were given direct knowledge and they simply abandoned their beliefs. While the example of the Christians is used to portray those who are lost since they lost the true knowledge and thus were lead astray.

Interestingly though, this ayah is made as a general statement, meaning this can apply to any of us. The Jews and Christians were given as an example for us to avoid following their actions that are explained by Allah in the Qur’an. Therefore, it does not give anyone the right to look down upon other religions. At the end of the day someone who claims to be Muslim by name can very well be of those who have earned anger.

May Allah guide us all, Muslims and non-Muslims, to His straight path.

Allah knows best.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ

Guide us to the straight path

Ihdina assirata almustaqeem

After making the statement that we seek help from the creator when we make our own efforts, Allah lines up another ayah which essentially summarises what we need help in: guidance. He is telling us here that in order to take care of everything else in life we must seek His guidance.

We look around the world and our idea of a better life is always some sort of wealth or materialistic success. If we compare someone living in a mansion compared to another that is homeless, immediately our assumption is that the guy in the mansion is the obvious winner.

Look at Islamic history, take the time of Musa for example – he was under the ruling of the Pharoah and after an incident that took place in the village Musa had to run away with no possessions whatsoever, while the Pharoah was living large in his palace. Yet if we understood the value of Islam we would know that Musa was always better off because he had guidance and the Pharoah did not.

It’s easy for us to talk about prophets who had a very clear belief in this notion but for us to think this way is very difficult. To see a beautiful villa or a really nice car or whatever it may be and truly remind ourselves that it is not real success is the challenge that we face every day.

We need to programme ourselves to remember that the ultimate success is with Allah – His guidance that will lead to eternal bliss. The fact is always the same in this world – whatever we see around us will end, whatever materialistic gain it may be it has an ending and that ending can be tomorrow, and even through it all it is still nothing compared to what Allah has prepared in the afterlife.

There’s an interesting point to mention with the grammar here – the ayah says “guide us” when Allah could have said “guide me“. Why is this?

The message being sent across here is that we as Muslims have to be together, there has to be a community – an individual being alone simply does not work in this life.

So where are we asking Allah to guide us? “Assirata almustaqeem” is commonly translated as the “straight path” yet it goes a little deeper than that. “Asirat” is derived from the word “surat” which is a long straight sword and linguistically it means a path to which there is no alternative route. Interestingly this word does not have a plural in the Arabic language to emphasise its singularity, the absolute one path.

Another point to make here is that guidance is not the same as knowledge. Guidance is a constant request that we must all seek every single day of our lives. One may have a lot of knowledge but lack in guidance.

There are many university lecturers or very knowledgeable people who have extensive understanding about the deen and teach it to others yet they themselves are non-Muslims. Another example are those who have a deep understanding about the Qur’an, Sunnah, islamic rulings, they can know all the references and theories, yet their behaviour completely contradicts their knowledge.

Guidance does not increase with knowledge, it increases with sincerely asking Allah for it. We live in a culture where knowledge is glorified and guidance is secondary. No doubt that knowledge is important, but guidance, transforming oneself for the better, begging Allah for His counsel, these should be the priority.

“Almustaqeem” comes from “istiqama” which is to stand straight. So together the phrase essentially means “the straight upwards path”. Let’s paint the picture: it is a straight path that goes up, as one climbs one moves away from the earth and gravity will be against that person pulling them down.

Now think of Allah path as a straight upwards ladder, the higher we climb the further away from the dunya we get and our temptations will be trying to pull us down. Also, the higher we are the more dangerous the fall is; for example if there was someone who was high up with Allah’s guidance then goes astray, the fall will be more devastating that those who are lower and this is the humbling notion of this ayah.

We strive and struggle to stay on Allah’s path but we should never tell ourselves that we have done enough or that we are fully guided or that temptations can never get to us. The only time gravity stops working on us is when we leave the dunya and it’s same with temptations, until then we must humble ourselves. No amount of worship or dua or knowledge can get rid of the desires and temptations of this world – all they can do is help us control them.

Allah knows best.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ

It is You we worship and You we ask for help.

Iyyaka na’budu wa-iyyaka nasta’een

Before getting to this ayah Allah gave us an introduction to Himself, each of which is individually enough to make us submit to Him. The first trait was the fact He deserves praise and thanks and His position as our master – if those weren’t enough then comes a’rahman and a’raheem – if that wasn’t enough He puts us in our place by reminding us of the day of judgement in which we will all stand.

After these reasons, we are more than ready to submit thus the introduction to the next ayah “it is you we worship”. What’s interesting here is that Allah did not say “you will worship me” which implies compulsion. Instead He puts those words in first person as in: this is what you should be saying: “iyyaka na’budu” which briefly translates to “it is only and entirely to you that we give ourselves into slavery and worship”.

The first 3 ayahs are talking about Allah, yet in this ayah we are talking to Allah and not about Him which is as a result of His trait as a master that listens to the slave. It is a very powerful notion and is mentioned in Al-Fatiha as a scope to the rest of the Qur’an for us to always keep in mind that He is always paying attention to each and every one us.

“Iyyaka na’budu” is a declaration of slavery to Allah. It is a statement telling Allah that we give up our independence and it is the only time we are truly free in this dunya.

Think about it this way: every single person in the world is enslaved to something whether they know it or not. Either they’re enslaved to their body or temptation or desires or peer pressure or culture or money or whatever it may be – we are all shackled one way or another.

Now when we enslave ourselves to the creator none of these things will keep us chained. You don’t have to look a certain way for society to accept you; you don’t have act a certain way or pretend to fit in because the one that you need to impress is Allah – it’s a form of independence from the shackles of the world.

Allah specifically uses the word “abada” here derived from the word “ibada” which does not merely mean worship but also enslavement. This is because it can be the case that a Muslim carries out worship but does not have the attitude of a slave.

What exactly is the definition of a slave? Essentially it comes down to: someone who carries out the instructions of their master and does not do what they want unless the master allows for it.

The main connection between master and slave is guidance and there cannot be guidance without instructions, thus the second half of the ayah “iyyaka nasta’een”. “Nasta’een” derived from “isti’ana” is the kind of help we ask for when we are struggling and to struggle with something means that we are already trying to fulfil it. Doing nothing and asking for help with something simply does not fit into this category.

This is essentially telling Allah that we are already struggling with something but we simply cannot do it ourselves, thus we need His help. It also tells us that if we’re not making any effort then we have no right to ask Allah for assistance. An example could be the person that wishes to stay away from zina yet they’re not fulfilling their daily prayers. How do we hope for Allah’s help when we are not trying?

“Isti’ana” is a formula for life. Throughout the Qur’an we read stories about previous nations and prophets and the main theme is these stories is that struggle is first then Allah’s help comes after. Musa suffers against the Pharoah then Allah gives Him victory over the whole nation; the wife of Pharoah struggles through being the spouse of a monster and then she’s guaranteed jannah; Yusuf is caged in prison then Allah gives Him leadership; Maryam suffers as a single mother alone in the desert then she’s given rest through the prophet Isa and an honourable status with Allah, and many more.

One thing we must be weary about is that we recite this ayah throughout the day in front of Allah. If we tell Allah that we submit to Him and that we are in need of help because we are already trying, yet we are constantly sinning and not struggling to get better at all then we are not just lying to ourselves.

Allah knows best.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Surat Al Fatihah is the greatest surah  in the Qur’an (as mentioned by the prophet (ﷺ); one which we recite many times throughout the day in salah yet many of us barely understand what we are saying in these ayahs. Let us explore the only surah which Allah commented on in the Qur’an:

“And We have certainly given you, [O Muhammad], seven of the highly praised [verses] and the great Qur’an.”

[15:87]

The Fatiha works as the lens of the Qur’an – meaning we look at the rest of Allah’s word through the Fatihah; it pairs with all surahs.

Firstly, we know from the hadith Qudsi that Surah Al Fatiha begins with “alhamdulillahi rebi al ‘alameen” and not with “bismillahi al rahmani al raheem”. The prophet (ﷺ) said: 

“Allah Almighty said: I have divided prayer between myself and my servant into two halves, and my servant shall have what he has asked for.

When the servant says ‘all praise is due to Allah the Lord of the worlds,’ Allah says: My servant has praised me.

When he says ‘the Gracious, the Merciful,’ Allah says: My servant has exalted me.

When he says ‘the Master of the Day of Judgment,’ Allah says: My servant has glorified me and my servant has submitted to me.

When he says ‘you alone we worship, you alone we ask for help,’ Allah says: This is between me and my servant, and my servant will have what he has asked for.

When he says ‘guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom you have favoured, not those who went astray,’ Allah says: This is for my servant, and my servant will have what he has asked for.”

From this scholars can derive that the surah begins from that Ayah.

---

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ 

Praise and thanks belongs to Allah

Alhamdu lillahi rabbi al ‘alameen

Many translations mention only “praise” belongs to Allah yet this is a mistake seeing as the Arabic word for praise is “madh” (مدح). Allah here uses “hamd” (حمد) specifically to combine both praise and thanks which is “shukr” in Arabic (شكر).

He could have easily used both words in Arabic saying “al madhu wa al shukru lillahi” (الحمد و الشكر لله). However, Allah chose the combined word (alhamd) which means both – this is because in Arabic when two things are separated with “and” (و) it also separates the meaning.

Allah wanted us to be thankful and to praise him at the same time as they are not one and the same.

Moving to “rabbi al’alameen”, Allah here is announcing himself as the owner of the worlds. After introducing His name to us, Allah chooses one of His many attributes to associate with His name “Allah” and that is “Rab”. The attribute rab is broken down into many different attributes:

• Malik: the owner.
• Murabi: one who ensures the growth; someone who takes care of something so that it can grow.
• Mun’im: the one who is giving something gifts/blessings.
• Al Kayim: the one who makes sure His creation stays together and does not fall apart.
• A’sayid: the one who has full authority.

To sum this up Allah is the owner thus making us His property. He takes care of us as we grow; gives us gifts such as sight and hearing; makes sure we stay together – imagine if Allah were to stop taking care of our hearts that are beating in our chests even for a second we will be dead; and He has full authority to do whatever he pleases with us. This is “Rab” and it is the relationship that Allah chose to associate Himself with us first before any other.

---

الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful,

Arrahmani arraheem

These two words may seem to mean the same thing but they both have different contexts. They both translate to ” merciful”, however the first word “A’rahman” is in the context of the present time. Allah is presenting His mercy upon mankind in the dunya. “A’rahman” is a name He associated Himself with not a description; which means that His mercy is unparalleled – we as humans cannot ever understand the extent of this.

“A’raheem” was broken down by scholars as meaning: merciful in the hereafter. This is to show Allah’s mercy throughout our entire lives here in this world and in the next.

---

However, the next ayah in this surah reminds us of our place with Allah:

مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّين

Sovereign of the Day of Recompense.

Maliki yawmi addeen

After mentioning Allah’s mercy, He reminds us that the day of judgement is coming and that He is the master of that day. This ayah is for the people who try to take advantage of Allah’s love and mercy.

These people will sin without thinking about it, telling themselves and others “but Allah’s the most merciful, he will forgive me”. This ayah puts us all in check – Allah’s love maybe upon us but so is His justice. He is the owner of that day and none other than Him will have any control.

There’s a perfect balance here between Allah’s mercy and justice; on one hand He is the entirely merciful and on the other He is the ultimate judge on the day of recompense.

---

These first 3 ayat are a complete introduction to Allah – everything we need to know about Him. When someone asks who our God is in Islam, these 3 ayat are enough to cover everything about Allah.

1. First thing He tells humanity is that He deserves praise and thanks.
2. Second thing is that He is our master.
3. Third thing He mentions is that He is not like any other master – He has extreme love and mercy for His slaves.
4. The last thing is that He will deal justly with those who take advantage.

In the next part we will cover the second half of the surah insha’Allah. Let us try remember the meanings of these ayahs during salah.

Allah knows best.

Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Then is one to whom the evil of his deed has been made attractive so he considers it good [like one rightly guided]? For indeed, Allah sends astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. So do not let yourself perish over them in regret. Indeed, Allah is Knowing of what they do.”

[35:8]

Allah describes in this ayah a mindset which has sadly taken over most of society these days. Acts of evil are made to seem like some sort of progress in making humanity better, moving our minds out of “close-minded religious thought”.

Let’s take women as an example. We have groups working towards banning the hijab in the West – women’s right to “not be ashamed of their bodies” and “oppression”. In their mind they’re working towards women’s liberation or rights yet when women are used as pieces of flesh in the advertising industry and media nobody says anything.

These causes are given attractive titles to make them more appealing. If we look back at recent history in the Vietnam war there were protests in the US against pictures of women and children suffering and villages being destroyed because in that time the media in Vietnam was transparent.

Now a similar tragedy is occuring in many countries around the world yet what we hear is “freedom of Afghanistan” and “freedom of Iraq”; soldiers “protecting their country”.

The same could be said for the Muslim world going to war against eachother and naming it “jihad for Allah”. This is in its own way a method of beautifying a horrible act and in turn beautifying it to the Muslim society.

This also applies on an individual scale – we see shamelessness being beautified everywhere even in schools and colleges. The people who back away from shameless acts such as zina and alcohol/drugs are treated as inferior to those who engage in them.

Then Allah reminds us that He sends astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. This is why we see good people who see right through the nonsense being portrayed by the World and hold their desires back through the most tempting situations because at the end of the day Allah will guide those with pure hearts even if everyone turns against our Deen.

He then adds some advice to all of us – to not let it overwhelm us. “Tathhab nafsuk ‘alayhim hasarat” means that we shouldn’t let the grief over what’s happening in the world take over us to the point where that’s all life becomes – just venting over the tragedies and fitna around the world, all that is being talked about is how bad everything is.

The Deen is not against protests or speaking out or whatever it may be, but if these acts are not followed up by a concrete path of action then there’s a problem.

Indeed Allah is fully aware of what the wrongdoers. Everything is being written, every small act is recorded and will be dealt with true justice by Allah Himself. We as Muslims must guard ourselves from haram acts however appealing they may seem. If we let ourselves go down that rabbit whole of fitna it will be very difficult to crawl back out.

May Allah make us of those who beautify His Deen.

Allah knows best.