SURAT AL FATIHA Surat al Fatiha is the first Chapter of the Holy Quran and it means the opening. This could be because it is the opening Chapter of the Holy Quran. It could also mean that which opens a subject or a book or any other thing. That’s why it is a key to open your heart to Allah, to show the great love you have for Him. This sura is so important and great that one has to start with surat al fatiha when he begins his prayer. When you read Surat al Fatiha, it is like you have read two thirds of the Quran and you will get many rewards from it. This is sura is also known by many titles but two famous names are Surat al Hamd (the praised chapter) and Umm ul Kitab. (The mother of the Quran) Surat al Fatiha begins with Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim Which means (I start) in the name of Allah, The Most Caring towards everything and the Kindest towards the believers. The word Rahman means Allah is the Most Caring towards everyone. Rahman comes from the word Rahm رحم. One of the meanings of Rahm is when a woman is pregnant, her stomach is called Rahm. It’s called Rahm because the baby is taken care of from the mother. It gets food, it gets warmth, the mother protects it from any harm. But the baby still doesn’t know the mother yet and doesn’t have any love or care for the mother yet. But the mother loves her baby so much and takes care of it no matter what. Allah is al Rahman, he takes even more care of you even if you don’t love Him back or know Him, He still takes care of you. Whether you are a Muslim or not, or a good person or not, an animal or not, whatever it is, Allah still takes care of everything and provides all of them things such as air to breath, water and food and all other things one may need in life. The word Rahim also comes from the word Rahm but it is a special kind of care and kindness to believers only. Everything we do should begin with the name of Allah. Every action we want to do, we should start with Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim and every action then will be blessed The next verse says Al Hamdu lillahi rabbil ‘aalameen Which means All praise and thanks belongs (only) to Allah, The Lord of the universe. Shouldn’t we thank Allah and praise Him? He controls, guides and nurtures the whole universe. That’s what the word Rabb means, Allah guides and nurturers whatever is in the universe. He makes sure all the stars, the moon, the Sun and all the planets and everything else all work together without having any problem. The next verse says Al Rahmanir Rahim The Most Caring towards everything and the Kindest towards the believers. Allah mentions al Rahman and al Rahim again here, because they are two very important names of Allah. This is also teaching us a lesson that we should also try and be very caring and kind to all humans, animals and even the environment as well. The next verse says Maliki yawmid deen Which means , the (only real) Owner and Master of everything on the Day of Judgement. The Day of Judgement is a day where all humans will be gathered together in front of Allah and all our actions and beliefs will be judged, some of us will be rewarded and sent to heaven and some of us will be punished and sent to hell. The next verse says Iyyaka na’budu wa iyyaka nast’een ((Oh Allah!)) You (alone) we worship and You (alone) we ask for help Now we are talking to Allah directly and telling Him we want to worship Him and we need His help in life. Notice here it says “we worship” and “we ask for help”. We must work together with the community and help each other. We should encourage each other to pray together instead of praying by yourself. The next verse says Ihdinas siraatal mustaqeem Which means (Oh Allah) Guide us to the right path Imagine your parents were driving a car and got lost and didn’t know where they were going. They would at least get some help for guidance. We are asking Allah to Guide us on the right path. What is this right path? Is it some road we haven’t heard of? The next verse explains Siraatal lathina an’amta alayhim The path of those You have blessed ….. Who has Allah blessed? These are the ones Allah has blessed in truth, knowledge, good actions. They are the Prophets of Allah, the Ahlul Bayt and the righteous servants. The verse continues saying Ghayril maghdubi a’layhim And not the path of those who You are angry with Wa lad daalleen and not of those who have left the right path. So from the start of the Sura, we begin with Allah’s name, and we are saying that Allah is the Most Caring and the Kindest and loving, He is the Owner and Master and All praise is for Him. And because of all this we want to worship You and only You; iyyaka nabudu. And we need Your help “wa iyyaka nast’een” to guide us together on the right path, the path of the prophets, ahlul bayt and the righteous, not the path of those that made You angry or left the right path.