Surat Al-Fatiha ("The Opening" or "The Exordium") is the opening chapter of the Qur'an; it consists of a short 7-verse prayer which Muslims repeat at the beginning of every rak'ah of salat. It reads as follows:

1. In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
2. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,
3. the Beneficent, the Merciful,
4. Master of the Day of Judgement.
5. Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.
6. Show us the straight path,
7. the path of those whom Thou hast favoured; not the (path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray. (Pickthall translation).

It is traditionally followed by Amin.

History and Readings

According to Ibn Abbas and others, this is a Makkan surah; according to Abu Hurairah and others, it is a Madinan surah. The former view is more widely accepted. Some say it was the first complete surah to be revealed[1] (http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/maududi/mau1.html#S1), coming after the revelation of the beginnings of surat Iqra and of surat al_Muddaththir.

The two main qira'at (readings) of the Qur'an, Warsh and Hafs, differ on the precise vocalization of the first word of ayah 4 (ملك mlk), making it either maliki "king" (Warsh, from Nafi', and Ibn Kathir, Ibn Amir, Abu 'Amr, and Hamza) or maaliki "owner, master" (Hafs, from Asim, and al-Kisa'i). Both are considered valid in Islam, since either title is seen as equally applicable to Allah.

The initial basmala ("In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful") is counted as a verse of this surah, although in other suras at whose beginning it occurs it is not counted by some.

Alternate names

This surah is described in various Hadith as "the mother of the Book" (Umm al-Kitab) and "the mother of the Qur'an" (Umm al-Qur'an), and said to be the seven verses alluded to in Al-Hijr (15:)87:

"We have given thee seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the great Qur'an."

Statistics

This sura contains 7 verses, 29 words and 139 letters (or 25 and 120, minus the basmala), although Ibn Kathir says "The scholars say that Al-Fatihah consists of twenty-five words, and that it contains one hundred and thirteen letters." It falls in the first hizb, and hence the first juz'. It is the first sura of the Qur'an.

al-Fatihah in Islamic culture

Surat Al-Fatihah is traditionally read together by a future bride and groom to seal their engagement.

Original Arabic text

Links

• Ibn Kathir (http://www.ibnkathir.com/001.htm)
• Mawdudi (http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/maududi/mau1.html#S1)
• A Raleigh khutba (http://www.islam1.org/khutub/Al_Fatiha.htm)