A reflection on Surah Fatiha

A reflection on Surah Fatiha reveals the purpose of Quran in the most beautiful manner:

1. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim:

In the name of Allah (who is Rahman & Rahim).

The quran begins with 'Bismillahirrahmanirrahim'. Allah's attribute of Rahman is mentioned before Rahim. Considering that the quran is a divinely intelligent book, the word placement could also carry significance. The words Rahman & Rahim are derived from the root word rahm. Rahm essentially means ‘to nurture/ nourish’, as in the nourishment of a child in the mother’s womb. To nurture or nourish anything is a noble action, which is without any selfish interest or without expectation of anything in return. It is an act of giving everything that is needed without being asked for it (something we attribute to love, affection & mercy). It is the act of benefiting someone from giving out of what you have, to the best of your ability. Just as the mother’s womb is the place of origin of a child, everything is originated by Allah. Using the example of the womb, we understand that the child receives utmost protection & nourishment without even being aware of it. This protection & nourishment helps the feotus evolve in stages and become capable of entering a new domain called the world.

The word ‘Rahman’, when studied in its usage in the Quran, invariably denotes the complete authority and might of Allah. It conveys His omnipotence, omniscience, power and denotes the idea of fullness & extensiveness. Hence, we understand that as Ar-Rahman, Allah is the source of everything that exists. He has originated everything and constantly nourishes his creation. The magnitude of this attribute is huge when we realize how powerless we are in front of Ar-Rahman. As Ar-Rahman, he is the constant provider of all our needs, has arranged for the right conditions for our lives even before we were born and ceaselessly provides without our supplication, irrespective of our actions or beliefs. For example, he powers the entire universe to act according to His laws. Thus, the sun and the stars constantly produce light and heat. We all derive the benefit of sunlight irrespective or our beliefs or actions. It is only on due reflection that this authority provokes the feelings of awe and insignificance in us and we want to be among those who are recipients of His mercy, kindness & guidance, recipients of everything that is required. 

As Rahim, He is the merciful provider & dispenser of grace as a result of our deeds & efforts. Hence, the attribute of Rahim is conditional to our capacity to receive His mercy (by means of our own actions & efforts)

It can be understood from these meanings that Allah wishes to nurture/ nourish us to make us more capable than our present state. From a mere drop, He shaped us and nourished us so that we became a living body capable of entering this world. In this world, He wishes to nurture/ nourish us and make us capable of going to a higher level of being in the hereafter (akhirah). He provides his mercy by certain means (zaria). The mother’s womb was a zaria to get nourishment. In this world, the zaria is the provision of intellect, body, wealth & time appointed for us. He has blessed us with guidance in the form of Quran. Using these, we need to rise to a level where we become the zaria for development of ourselves & others. We are born to implement His decree in this world (51:56). Our success in understanding & implementing this decree will be a measure success in the akhirah.
 

 

2. Al hamdulillahi rabbil aalamin.

All praise is for Allah (the rabb of ‘aalamin’- everything that exists, duniya & akhirah)

As humans, our outlook is very limited. Most of us indulge in the day to day worries & petty affairs. If we reflect on the words ‘rabbil aalamin’, we gain a huge understanding. The earth, our abode in this world, is a very minute part of a very big system which we call the universe. The human knowledge is still trying to study the events in the universe. Everything, starting from the atom to the entire universe, and whatever that is still unknown to us, is created by Allah. He is the Rabb (Lord) of everything that exists. Everything is subjected to His laws. Everything follows these laws without fail. For example, the earth revolves & rotates around the sun, the moon rotates around the earth, the sun and all other celestial objects are ‘swimming in their orbits’ (36:40, 81:16), plants propagate by pollination, everything stays in its place because of the gravity of the earth, etc. etc. These laws are inviolable and they are constant. They are established and will not change till the day of judgement. Out of these innumerable laws, whatever human intellect could discover, we have named our understanding as “science”. Hence, when Newton discovered the law of gravity, he actually discovered one law of Allah. Based on this discovery, we are able to calculate momentum, energy usage during physical movement, how to overcome gravity & fly aeroplanes and send rockets/ space shuttles/ satallites in space, etc. All the physical laws of nature discovered by man (laws of thermodynamics, archimedes principle, heisenberg’s principle, kirchoff’s law, theory of relativity, the mathamatical constant ‘pi’,etc.) are in fact the rules of nature established by God. Allah has revealed in the Quran that everything in the world has been made to be subservient to man. It means that mankind has the potential to harness nature. It can only be done by observing natural phenomena, reflect on the findings and derive means/ methods of harnessing the limitless benefits of natural forces. Allah is the originator and controller of everything that exists. Man does not have the capacity to originate anything. He can only understand what is already in existence and by using his intelligence, he can gain control within the limits set by Allah. Allah tells mankind to understand His creation (by understanding the laws of nature) and make it subservient so that all humans can benefit from it. Consider Surah Jathiya, ayah 13: “ And He has made subservient to you, from Himself, all that is in the heavens and the earth. Therein are signs for people who reflect.”

The word Rabb not just means, master/ owner/ lord. Rabb also encompasses the act of ‘bringing a thing to a state of completion, by degrees’. Thus we can infer that Allah is subjecting His creation to ‘Rabubiyat’ – nurturing unto perfection. Everything that is created is being developed by degrees towards the final destination of being perfect.

 

3. Ar rahman ir rahim.

The extensive explanation of these words is given earlier. The position of this ayah (verse) after the second ayah is worth reflecting. When man understands the permanent natural laws of Allah, this understanding enables him to use the knowledge for the benefit of mankind. Since he is the subject of Rabubiyat, he is being developed by degrees until he reaches the state of perfection. This will help in the nurture/ nourishment of everyone. Hence, being the zaria of nourishment, he will be doing his duty assigned to him by Allah.

4. Maliki yawm id deen.

The Absolute Owner of the Day of Just Recompense

In Surah Infitar, ayah 19, Allah us given us the understanding of the term ‘yawm id deen’ as “A Day when no soul shall have the power to do anything for another soul. And the command that day is with Allah”

It means a day/ period when no person will be under the control of another person. All control and obedience will be only to Allah. He is the owner of yawm-id-deen. It must be understood that the purpose of deen-e-Islam is to establish justice, peace & equality. For this purpose, we need to understand the concept of ‘tawheed’. Tawheed means oneness/ unity. Normally, this is understood as Oneness of God. That is, He alone is worthy of service and He alone should be worshipped. Tawheed not only means Oneness of God, it also means unity of mankind. If a person truly believes in One God, his service will be only for Allah and nobody else. He would be the follower of only Allah’s command and of none other. There would be only one set of laws for everyone. Obedience would be only for Allah. No person, be it a king or a president, a maulvi or a peer, elder in the society or anyone else, has the right to obeisance. The purpose of deen-e-Islam is to establish a social order in which everyone works to fulfill the commands of Allah and is constantly engaged in nourishing/ developing himself and the society. The day/ period in which such a society is established, nobody will feel the need to control anyone else (it must be noted that to obey laws/ rules alein to the Quran is a form of shirk). It will be a system of perfect balance where Allah’s complete rule will be established. Hence no person will be in control of another person. All control & obedience will be only to Allah.

Our endeavour is to establish/ practice such an order of life. In the world as we know it now, the socio-economic systems being followed are skewed towards benefiting a few powerful elites at the cost of the remainder of mankind. The natural resources and provisions for mankind are being usurped and monopolized so that the majority of mankind could be made subservient to this small group of greedy & powerful elites.This has resulted into innumerable miseries and agonies for millions of people all over the world. Our efforts need to be directed towards abolishing these inequities and freeing everyone from the shackles of mental & physical, direct & indirect subservience to oppressive systems. The more we understand how the current systems work and the more we understand the quran, the stark gap between ‘what is’ and ‘what should be’ becomes clear. This is the area on which we are exhorted to put our efforts. The perfect system will be established by Allah Himself on the Day of Judgement. The people who strive to establish the deen (divine system), using the means provided by Allah, will inherit this perfectly balanced system on the day of judgement. People who do not use themselves & their wealth as a means (zaria) for mutual development, in fact, reject the divine call to establish a just and peaceful society. These people will find no place in the perfect society of the hereafter (akhirah) and will be in a permanent state of remorse and isolation, from which they will never come out.

 

5. Iyya kana’abudu wa iyya kana’asta ’in.

You alone we obey you alone we ask for help.

As we learn from the earler ayah, since Allah is the Originator of everything, all obeisance is only for Him. No entity other than Allah has power on anything. Allah, being the sole source of guidance, wisdom, mercy and nourishment, we seek only Allah’s help.

6. Ih din as sirat al mustaqim.

Guide us to the right path.

To become successful and live the perfectly balanced way of life, only Allah can show us the path. In Surah Al Asra, ayah 36, Allah tells us not to follow blindly on information of which we have no knowledge. It must be verified using our sense of hearing, sight & thinking.

7. Sirat al lazina an’amta alaihim gairil magdubi alaihim walad ’dwalleen.

The path of those upon whom you have bestowed blessings. Not of those who earned your wrath, nor of those who lost their direction.

The Quran, being the complete and perfect source of guidance, gives ample examples of people who earned the blessings/ favour from Allah because of their good deeds and efforts to establish deen. There are also examples who people who gave a lie to divine decree or who adopted paths different from Allah’s path and consequently they earned the wrath of Allah & were destroyed.

Consider Surah Hud, ayah 56 : “I have put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is not a creature in the Universe beyond His firm Control. Indeed, my Lord is on the straight path.”

From this ayah, it is clear that ‘sirat-e-mustaqim’(the straight path) is essentially Allah’s path. Can any other path be better than Allah’s path? Again here, the concept of ‘rabubiyat’ needs to be recalled. Following Allah in his qualities & commands ensures that we are on ‘the straight path’.

Finally, this requires sincere reflections: 

In Surah Muzammil, ayah 19, Allah reveals: “This Quran is a reminder, a giver of eminence. So, whoever wills, let him set out on his way to his Lord.”

As God Wills

In the Quran, the term ‘manyyasha’ which is generally interpreted as ‘as He Wills’ is an indicative term. The following thought needs reflection: When Allah created the universe in six periods (stages), He established laws for all things, starting from the atom (or anything smaller) to the celstial bodies. Everything follows this set of rules which are constant. The rules/laws never change. In a way, this is a great gift to mankind. Once we understand these laws, we can use this understanding for our benefit. We have understood and are taking advantage of such rules everyday without even realising it. For example, a farmer understands that there is a sowing season during which he has to sow the seeds to get ample/ optimum yield. This is also a rule/ law of Allah. If he sows at the wrong time, he will not get the result and his efforts will go waste. Hence, when Allah says that He does not wish hardship for us (2:185, 20:2, 22:78), we need to understand he has kept ease for everything. We need to discover that. The process of discovery leads us to the the path of progress1. This imbibes in us the quest to discover more laws of Allah and use them to our benefit.

Very often, a devout person finds that he keeps on supplicating for something, waiting that Allah will answer and he will be miraculously given whatever he asked for. But he does not get it. While another person who may be an atheist achieves the same objective. The question arises in the devout mind is why belief is not yielding results. However, in this situation, another rule is discovered. Belief or unbelief has no direct connection with results2. A person whether devout or not, on discovering the law of Allah, ACTS to create the circumstances necessary to derive the result. This may be understood by another example. A child is conceived only when the male sperms are able to seed a female ovum. There are certain days during the ovulation cycle when fertilization cannot happen. This is the rule set by Allah discovered and proven through medical research and now well known to people. Allah’s Will is to make this happen in a given set of circumstances. Thus, it can be understood that ‘sha’a’ or ‘will’ of Allah is actually the law of Allah. In 41:9-12, Allah describes the creation of heavens and the earth. He is the ‘sustainer’ of the heavens & earth which are made obedient to Him (subjected to His Laws) and the celestial bodies described as ‘lamps made secure’ (they do not clash in their orbits, as they are subject to pre-ordained paths and speed). ALLAH’S WILL ACTUALLY MANIFESTS ITSELF IN HIS UNCHANGING LAWS. The universe is in complete harmony because at every moment, Allah’s Laws are being abided.

Through this ‘sha’a’ of Allah, the message to us is absolutely clear that harmony and perfection can be achieved only by following the laws of Allah. Unlike everything else in the universe, man has been been given the free will. The moon has no option other than rotating & revolving around the earth. However, man has all the options he wants with the freedom to do anything he wants. Yet, there is Allah’s law which gurantees him results, whether good or bad, depending on the action. Since the celestial bodies or minute atoms or birds or animals do not have free will, they do not need any set of guidelines. Man needs guidelines to understand his role in the universe and the impact of his actions. Through the example of the harmonious universe, the understanding has been conveyed to man that following Allah’s laws is the only way to accomplish the purpose of his existence and ensure the peace & harmony that needs to be established using his free will. The guidance is in the Holy Quran, through which the above described insights are derived. Thus, we understand that according to the ‘sha’a/will/law’ of Allah, our success lies in understanding & implementing the Quran. The question is, are we (except a fractional minority) truly doing it?

20:2 We have not bestowed upon you this Qur’an to cause you any hardship.

22:78 Strive hard in God’s cause, with all the striving that is due to Him. It is He Who has elected you to carry the message and has placed no hardship in religion, the Creed of your father Abraham. It is He Who has named you “Submitters” in the bygone days and now in this revelation - That the messenger may be a witness for you and you be witnesses for all mankind! (You shall be the watchers over people that no community oppresses the other.) So, establish the Divine System and set up the Just Economic Order, and hold fast unto God. He is your Lord Supreme, and how excellent is this Giver of support!

1 Attribute of Rahim: “Rahim” refers to the Provider for those who strive and struggle for this providence of nourishment, protection and development.
Arabic-English Lexicon by Edward William Lane, based on Taj-Ul-Roos, 2003 2nd reprint. It gives the explanation of Imam Thalabee on Rahim:“It is God's desire to do good to the deserving thereof;”

2 Action which is supported by strong belief yields better results than action without belief. The operative word is action. This is another law of Allah which becomes becomes evident by reflecting on 8:65-66