سورة : AlFatihah

Those who earned Allah’s U anger are those who go astray and take others astray with them. These are much worst then the obstinate who are satisfied with their obstinacy. This is because, for those who went astray, there might come to them the people of righteousness who will help guide them back to the straight path. We pray that Allah U save and protect us from being with those who go astray and lead others astray too. Instead, we pray that Allah U make us be amongst those upon whom He bestowed His grace and guidance towards the straight path, Ameen.

After the end of this chapter (al-Fatihah), we recite ‘Ameen’ (آمين), a word that does not originate from the Arabic Language nor is it Latin in origin. Rather, it is the language of the Angles that means: “Oh Allah, please accept our prayers.” The angles support and ratify the prayers of the children of Adam. It is explained in one of the prophetic traditions, that the Messenger r said:

((إِذَا قَالَ أَحَدُكُمْ آمِين، وَقَالَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ فِي السَّمَاءِ آمِين، فَوَافَقَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا الْأُخْرَى، غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ))

“If anyone of you says: ‘Ameen and the angles in Heaven say ‘Ameen’, and the one coincides with the other, his previous sins will be forgiven.”^[1]

The Holy Qur’an is a book of pure guidance, and by seeking guidance we hope to be guided upon the straight path. And the straight path is indeed the shortest path towards the main aim and the shortest path that will bring us to paradise and happiness in this world and the hereafter.

Had the Holy Qur’an been written by the Prophet r or any human, he would have begun with “to you we seek help” instead of mentioning ‘worship’ first because worship requires the seeking of help. But as these are the words of Allah U He presents the act of worship first before the seeking for help. This is so in order to teach us that it is important for a servant to first announce the reason for him seeking help from Allah U, and that is, his complete submission to Allah U. He will then be awarded Allah’s U help.

It is within the etiquettes and good manners that one should first declare his submission then the aid from Allah U will come to him. There are many examples that clarify this act. In the story of the Prophet Ayyub u, his conversation with Allah U was:

﴾أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ﴿

“He cried out to his Lord: Indeed ( an unbearable) ailment has touched me, and You are the most Merciful of the merciful” [Surah Al-Anbiya’: 83].

Allah U is the Master of the Day of Judgement, and the believe in the hereafter is one of the basis in ensuring a balanced life. Without this belief, man would live a life of chaos and like savages, the strong will consume the poor. Even with the belief in the hereafter there are still those who are stronger who step on the poor and the weak. The strong still controls the poor, and the monopolists consume all the goodness of life for themselves and act unjustly towards others and women are being forbidden of their rights to inheritance. If there were no day of judgment nor an Owner of that day in which people are judged for their works in life, evil would be unrestrained, injustice would spread and life will then be disastrous.

All praises be to Allah U for He U is the Master of the Day of Judgment. Allah U will bring us forth from death to stand in perfect judgment before Him. Injustice and false judgments may be rampant in this world and the oppressors and criminals may live a life of luxury at the expense of others. They do not believe that they are accountable before anyone. The believer, on the other hand, believes that Allah U is the Master of the Day of Judgment, the Most Gracious and Most Merciful. His infinite justice is absolute and perfect and never is Allah U an oppressor, nor does He ever wrong anyone.

In another narration, this verse is read as ﴾مَلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ﴿ Maliki Yaumid-din, without the alif (ألف).^[1] For the owner ﴾مَالِكِ﴿ owns something, while the King ﴿مَلِكِ﴾ owns both the owner and everything that he owns. For example, I own something and you own something too hence we are all owners.

As the Holy Qur’an is from Allah U, it is only natural that He is the sole Owner of the Day of Judgment, Allah U is the one who judges, and he is the King who owns every creation in this world. Both recitations are correct and agreed upon by many scholars as authentic. Some scholars in Sham (Syria) recite it as ﴾مَلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ﴿ “The King of the Day of Judgement”. It was told that a scholar in Sham (Syria) used to read “the King of the Day of Judgement”. One day he saw in his dream a man saying to him: “Why do you read the King of the Day of Judgement with one letter less. Didn’t you know that for every letter you read from the Book of Allah U you get ten rewards? and that the Prophet Muhammad r said,

((لَا أَقُولُ الم حَرْفٌ، وَلَكِن أَلِفٌ حَرْفٌ وَلَامٌ حَرْفٌ وَمِيمٌ حَرْفٌ))

“I do not say that Alif-Lam-Mim is one letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter.”^[2]

Hence, by reciting  ﴿مَالِكِ﴾you gain ten extra rewards.” The scholars then began reading ﴾مَلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ﴿.

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[1] This is the recitation of Imams Nafi’ ibn Abi Nu’aim, Abdullah Ibn Katheer, Abu ‘Amr al-Basri, Abdullah ibn ‘Amir Asy-Syami, Hamzah ibn Habib and Abu Ja’far. And the verse﴿ مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ ﴾  is recited with an alif (ألف)  by Imams ‘Asim ibn Abi an-Najud, Ali ibn Hamzah al-Kisaaii, Ya’qub al-Hadhrami, and Khalaf ibn Hisham.

[2] Sunan at-Tirmizi: Chapters on The Virtues of The Qur’an, Chapter: What is mentioned regarding the rewards of the one who recites a letter from the Qur’an, Hadith no. 2910.

Here, some will question the repetition of verses in the Holy Qur’an, as repetitions may give rise to doubts in its linguistic authenticity.

The answer lies in the deep-rooted meanings and the secrets that lie within the repetitions itself. And this is indeed among the miracles of the words of Allah U. An example of this is when Allah U mentions:

﴾قُلْ سِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ ﴿

“Say to them: Travel throughout the earth” [Surah Al-An’aam: 11].

This verse was sent down to the illuminated heart of the Prophet Muhammad r. During the time it was revealed, when the Prophet read it to the people, they had no difficulty in understanding it due to their proficiency in the Arabic language. Nonetheless, the human mind still has its own limitations, while the Holy Qur’an is the limitless words of Allah U. It is a part of His Attributes. Due to this reason, al-Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbal disagrees with the notion that the Holy Qur’an is a creation of Allah U as it is an Attribute of Allah U And indeed, he is right in saying so.

This verse is called the Basmalah, the first verse in the opening chapter (Al-Fatihah) and is a part of it. It is also written before each chapter of the Holy Qur’an though not considered as a part of these chapters.

Ar-Rahmah(الرّحمة)  is Mercy, derived from Ar-Rahm (الرّحم) which literally means the womb. While Ar-Rahman (الرّحمن), the Most Gracious has a more intense meaning than the word Ar-Rahim (الرّحيم) the Most Merciful. His name Ar-Rahman (الرّحمن), the Most Gracious suggests that His mercy encompasses both towards the believer and non-believer, for this world and also the hereafter. This attribute of Allah U is exclusive to Him and none other. When used as an adjective to describe a human, we do not say ‘so and so is Rahman, rather, we describe them as the servant of Ar-Rahman (Abdur-Rahman). The word Ar-Rahim (الرّحيم) on the other hand, can be an adjective used for the believers as Allah U describes His Messenger r in the Holy Qur’an as:

﴾لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ﴿

“Truly, (O believers), a Messenger has come to you from among yourselves. It grieves him that you should suffer (in this life or in the life to come.) Ardently anxious is he over you and towards the believers he is most kindness and merciful.”. [Surah At-Tawbah: 128].