‫بسم ال الرحمن الرحيم‬

BismAllah, Ar-Rāhman Ar-Rahīm

In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful

What is its Significance?

The first Ayah of every Chapter of the Holy Qur’ân is constituted of these five words.
Except for Surah-Tawbah or Chapter 9, it is the first Ayah in 113 out of 114 Chapters in
the Holy Qur’ân. Furthermore, in Chapter 27 it appears twice—once in the beginning
and once in the 30th verse. So altogether, BismAllah appears in the Holy Qur’ân 114
times.

The scholars agree that all of the revelations from Allah (SWT) to the mankind is
summarized in to Holy Qur’ân, and all of the Holy Qur’ân is summarized in to Surah
Fatiah/Chapter 1, and all of the Surah Fatiah is summarized in to BismAllah. In other
words, these five words boast all of the revelations ever sent down from Allah (SWT) to
the mankind. Such is its depth.

As far as linguistics is concerned, there are approximately 78,000 words in the Holy
Qur’ân, and 10 out of 25 words in Surah Fatiah are repeated 7500 times throughout the
Holy Qur’ân, or 9.6%, strikingly qualifying it as a summary of the Holy Qur’ân, even
according to linguistic principles.

Furthermore, altogether Surah Fatiah contains 25 words, and in BismAllah, out of 4

words 3 are from Surah Fatiah which means 75% of BismAllah is based on words from
Surah Fatiah magnificently making it summary of Surah Fatiah. Hence, intellectual
honesty demands fair analysis for us to fully understand BismAllah and implement it in
our daily lives.
To understand it I tried searching for answers to the following questions.

What does it mean?

Who is Allah (SWT) and Why In the name of Allah (SWT)?

Below are my findings, though please keep in mind that my knowledge is very limited
and I am not an expert on religion and/or on teachings of Islam, what I am is simply a
novice student trying to learn and understand better the religion which I believe in—The
religion of all creations, The religion of submission to the Will of the Divine.

Who is Allah (SWT) and Why In the name of Allah (SWT)?

The word/preposition Bā in Arabic is approximately translated in English as “In the”, and

when combined with the Arabic word “Ism/‫ ”اسم‬which means name, it becomes “Bism/
‫ ”بسم‬hence “In the name of”, though we must be aware of the fact that the sense of Bā’s
usage is much broader in Arabic than in English which is hard to map in to exact word in
the latter’s case due to “Lost in translation” phenomenon. Therefore an explanation of Bā
particle is required to fully understand the answer to the first question.

The words Bā in Arabic signifies —by, through, with the assistance of, with the blessings
of, or more accurately as ‘seek the assistance of’. This verse then becomes equivalent to
‘I seek the assistance of Allah (SWT) The Beneficent, The Merciful ’.

Furthermore this type of sentence in English is called Ellipses or a sentence in which a

portion of it has been left out purposefully, as we can see in this Ayah Allah (SWT) is
commanding us to say “I seek the assistance of Allah (SWT) The Beneficent, The
Merciful”, but in what matters or actions, has not been defined. Scholars agree that the
reason why Allah (SWT) has left out portion of this verse is so that we can apply it to any
matter/action, be it ablution, eating, drinking, studying, working etcetera.

Practically, any action we take from the time we wake up until we go to the bed we can
seek Allah (SWT)’s assistance. I just said, any action, really? Is it true? I will try to find
answer to this question as well throughout my study.

Who is Allah (SWT) and Why in the Name of Allah (SWT)?

Who am I? Who are you? Who can give [if he/she be just] better answer to this question,
than I and you ourselves? So to find out Who Allah (SWT) is, must not we raise this
question to Allah (SWT) Itself?

Allah (SWT) has answered this question everywhere in the Holy Qur’ân even in this very
Ayah we are studying. Tough just like you will not chatter out everything about yourself
in one go because doing so will make the listener lose most of the message; what you will
rather do is try to give the gist of who you are, when someone asks you this question and
then gradually try to establish to him your identity, your conduct and will try to prove it
through your actions.

But here we are not raising this question to a human and/or a common entity, here we are
raising this question about and to an Entity Who created, Who sustains, Who maintains
all other entities we know and we don’t know of, Who is the the Director of all affairs. So
He knows, and we can realize it as well that if He tells us all of His attributes
spontaneously then we will not be able to absorb all of them because of our limited
knowledge and limited capacity. Instead what Allah (SWT) does is that He gives us the
gist of Who He is by revealing to us only two of Its attributes in this verse.

Allah (SWT) tells us in this verse that He is Rāhman and Rahīm. Both of these words are
derived from the Arabic root word ‘rāhma’, which means unlimited tenderness, love and
affection required for the exercise of beneficence. Both of these words are nouns of
differing measures denoting the intensity of significance, where the former indicates the
greatest preponderance of Mercy and the latter being expressive of constant repetition
and manifestation of the attribute.

Allah (SWT) is Al- Rāhman in all ways and always. His Mercy is constantly being
experienced for granted, by every single creation/existence. Or in order words every
single creation, is a creation, is an existence, because of nothing else but Allah (SWT)’s
Mercy. This makes Allah (SWT)’s Mercy or Al- Rāhman attribute Unique because it
extends to all.

As the famous Persian poet Rūmi summed it up nicely

“There was nothing, neither our being, nor our claim to be; It was Thy Mercy, that
heard our unsaid”.

Right from the transmutation of nothing in to something, the beginning of time, the
beginning of space, the formation of fundamental forces of nature, the shattering of these
forces, the inflation of the universe, the expansion of time, and so on, aren’t they all acts
of pure Mercy?

Allowing all these phenomena do what they, by nature deemed to do, let alone the
question if/not they deserve this favour? Putting square pegs in square holes, isn’t it an
act of infinite Mercy?

The most ostensible proof of Allah (SWT)’s Mercy or manifestation of His attribute
Rāhman is that “we are”; we exist and we are being sustained every single second of our
lives despite the fact that we are not really needed by Allah (SWT) and we may not be
worthy of what we get in this life. The blessing of mind and senses, which are core of all
knowledge, with which we can speak our first word, taste our first bite, write books,
design airplanes, browse Internet, help others, realize the omnipresent signs of His
existence. Aren’t they all showing His acts of Mercy on us? Imagine, if we lose this act
of Allah (SWT)’s Mercy from upon us, even for a plank-second, what would happen? I
cannot even fathom the consequences or I think the answer to this question does not lay
in this Life, since by definition Allah (SWT)’s Mercy is on all creation without any
discrimination—positive/negative, time/space, matter/anti-matter, earth/heavens,
day/night, east/west, living/non-living, male/female, believer/non-believer,
oppressed/oppressor, rich/poor, white/black, teacher/student, superior/inferior, Jew
/Christian, Muslim/Non-Muslim. We can take all creations including living and non-
living, close and distant, known and unknown into equation and we still won’t find a
single entity on whom Allah (SWT)’s Mercy/ Rāhman is not extended equally or who is
not an example of Allah (SWT)’s Mercy.

The closest example of manifestation of Allah (SWT)’s Mercy is ‘Us’. Just compare what
we are worthy of and what Allah (SWT) has given to us out of his unlimited Mercy, How
our existence takes effect from the crudest element, and Allah brings it unto perfection
and forms us, sustains us, maintains us. We must realize that besides Allah (SWT)’s
Mercy on all creation, it is exclusively us The Humans who have been experiencing his
Mercy the most, because His all other creations are made solely for us—The Earth, The
Sun, The Atmosphere, The Moon, The Rain. All of these are not only fulfilling their
purpose of “submitting to Allah (SWT)”, experiencing Allah (SWT)’s Mercy but also
fulfilling their duty to Allah (SWT) which is serving us, the Mankind. Ask yourself, do
we really deserve all this? What had we accomplished in lieu of which Allah (SWT)
granted us Earth as our resting place, Sun which shine on us, Atmosphere which saves us
from its radiation, Moon which stabilizes our home[mother earth], Rain which brings
fruits for our sustenance and for the sustenance of other creatures who are also here for
our sustenance? What have we done which let Allah (SWT) give us seeing, hearing,
sight, touch, smell, taste ? And we savour their usage. Compare ourselves to animals,
they do have senses too, but they do not have language, vision and knowledge. Still they
are keeping their promise to Allah (SWT), which is serving Humans. And we Humans,
who have all five senses and mind and vision so we can seek, search, observe, process,
interpret, analyse, realize, evaluate, deduce, and accept all the signs we have of his Mercy
to us and to all other creations so that we can submit to his Will, alas we remain
heedless.

Except us, all other creations are in complete state of submission to Allah (SWT). We are
worse than animals then, aren’t’ we? And still, we are, what else will you call it other
than Unlimited act of Mercy on us? Such is the Mercy of our Allah (SWT), Ar-Rāhman.
Who else’s assistance will you seek in all your matters, be them trivial or significant,
other than that of Allah (SWT)?

The definition of Rāhman heightens my curiosity, and I must say to some extend my
confusion. Why? Because after understanding the definition of Rāhman I ask myself a
question then, when Allah (SWT)’s Mercy is and has been on everyone equally, ranging
from such creations as The Sun, The Moon, The Earth, Gravity, Lions, Snakes, Cats to
such people as Maximilien Robespierre, Pol Pot Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Mother
Treasea, Florence Nightingale and so on, then what advantage do one has over Hitler for
submitting willfully to Allah (SWT), when everyone among us is enjoying his Mercy
equally anyway? When Sun shines equally for believers and non-believers? When Earth
is an equal resting place for submitters and non-submitters? When the Rain brings forth
with it sustenance equally for righteous and the evil? When all other creation serves the
mankind equally?

The answer to this question I found in the word Rahīm. Ar- Rahīm is Allah (SWT)’s
Mercy, which according to a reference to El-Kashanee in William Lane’s Arabic English
Lexicon is defined as “rahma is of two kinds, namely gratuitous and obligatory, the
former is that pours fourth favours or benefits antecedently to works, and this is
rahma that embraces everything: The obligatory is that which is promised to the
pious” So this mean Rāhman is gratuitous Mercy, then what is Obligatory Mercy?

Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.S) is reported to have said “Al- Rāhman is the Beneficent
God Whose Love and Mercy is manifested in the creation of this World”, and “Al-
Rahīm is the Beneficent God Whose Love and Mercy is manifested in the state that
comes after”.

Also there is another saying of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.S) which says “Allah
(SWT) has divided Mercy into one hundred pieces and of those ninety nine pieces
He has kept with Himself[Obligatory] and only one piece did He (swt) send down to
this world[Gratuitous].”

So here in this universe we, humans are one of all His creations, the people enjoying His
gratuitous Mercy, then who are/will be those who will receive their rewards or Obligatory
Mercy in this World and in the Hereafter, which is based on 99 times more than what
creations have already seen or creations are seeing or creations will ever see? Who are
these pious or righteous believers? Again, should not we be asking this question to Who
has saved these rewards? Do I/We want to be one of those deserving these rewards?
Don’t I/We want to start every action of us seeking assistance of Who has been saving
these rewards, if we want to be deserving of those?

Wishing so, will be considered as one of our actions right, since ‘wish’ is a verb, an
action? So how else do we want to start our actions other than the way which He has
prescribed? Other than seeking assistance of Whose Pleasure we are seeking and Whose
list of the deserving ones of the obligatory Mercy we want to be in?

Such is the importance of BismAllah and such is the significance it must play in our daily
lives and actions. And BismAllah gives our Faith, an expression and a shape in our daily
lives, as we strengthen our Faith in seeking assistance of our Creator in every
matter/action we take.

All actions of ours which begin with seeking Allah (SWT)’s assistance renew our
allegiance to our relationship with Allah (SWT), which is defined in verse 4 of Surah
Fatiah. Furthermore, through, BismAllah Allah (SWT) gives an equal opportunity to all
mankind, of transmuting all of its profane worldly actions in to sacred act of worship, by
seeking Allah (SWT)’s assistance and His pleasure. Think about an action X, of a
believer and a disbeliever which may require almost the same time and energy to be
accomplished, yet the impacts are significantly different; the former one may effectively
turn his action X into an output Y and in to an act of worship, whereas the latter one
failed to turn his action in to an act which may lead to significant rewards in this worldly
state and the state which comes after. Despite the fact that both took the same time and
energy whose action proved significantly productive?

BismAllah is a paintbrush gifted to us from the Divine, which gives us the strength
to infuse Faith on the unique canvas every human has, called Life.

What actions? Is there a guideline for those? Shall we be praying, requesting Allah
(SWT) to provide us the guideline to take those actions in our daily lives and imbue every
fiber of our life with those actions, and imbue every action of our lives with that fiber—
fiber of Worship, Servitude and Submission?

This question leads us to the First Surah/Chapter, the first degree in eminence, the first
stepping stone of the structure, what we must be looking for in the first stepping stone of
the structure? The signs right, the verses, the Ayahs, which will help us to step up to that
degree of eminence set-forth in it.
 Al-Fatiah [The Opening]
Fatiah is derived from the Arabic root word Fataha, meaning to open, explain, grant,
disclose, Al Fatiah means The Opening.

Chapter 1 of the Holy Qur’ân named, Surah Fatiah meaning The Opening, consists of 7
Ayahs, which some scholars divide in to three portions for ease of understanding.

The first portion or first three Ayahs gives us the eminence of understanding Divine as
they speak of the attributes of The Divine.

The second portion or 4th Ayah gives us the eminence of understanding our relationship
with the Divine and our duty to the Divine.

The third portion or last three Ayahs [5th, 6th and 7th] gives us the eminence of bringing
out the innate desire in every human soul, of being guided in the right path without
stumbling and seeking Divine help [based on the relationship with it established in 4th
Ayah] in accomplishing this great endeavour.

Let’s start with the first portion and let’s try to study the first three Ayahs to attain the
eminence set forth by them.

Portion 1: Ayah: 1
“Praise belongs to Allah, The Lord of All the Worlds”

Words in this Ayah which we must understand:

1. ‫الحمد‬
2. ‫ل‬
َِ
3. ‫رب‬
4. ‫العلمين‬

1) Al-Hamd is derived from the Arabic root word Hamida meaning Praise, which
embodies not only the idea of thankfulness, but also has a reference to the
inherent qualities of the object of the Praise. Hamd is always true and is used only
for such acts which are volitional or acts done by will. It also implies admiration,
magnifying and honouring the object of the praise, and the humility and
submissiveness in the person who offers it. It also includes lauding one who has
done a favour of his own will and according to his own choice. It not only
signifies the true praise but also admiration. It differs from words such as
“Shukr”, “Madha”, and “Sana” in the sense that, latters’ applications are
restricted. Thus Hamd is much more comprehensive since it encompasses
 reference to intrinsic goodness of Allah (SWT) and extreme loveliness in the
person who offers it. The word Hamd is used here in Surah-Fatiah both in the
active and the passive sense, that is it is used both for the subject and the object,
and signifies that Allah (SWT) receives perfect Praise and also bestows it up on
us.

How Allah (SWT), bestows perfect praise and what are the intrinsic qualities for the
Praise? This question leads us in search of the meaning of the third and the fourth
word in this Ayah ‫رب‬, and ‫العلمين‬

2) Rabb is derived from the Arabic root word Rabba meaning someone was or
someone became lord, possessor, owner, or someone possessed, or owned it; had
possession of it, and command, or authority over something. And in like manner
he was or he became his Rabb, or Lord, or owner, he reared, fostered, brought up,
fed, nourished, his own, or another, taking good care, acting as guardian, the
bringing of a thing, to completion by state of degrees.

One example of it’s usage comes from a poet and one of Muhammad (SAWS)
companion named Hassan-Ibn-Sabit, whose one of the poems translates as “Than a
white, clear, pearl, of those, which the depth of the sea has brought to maturity”
meaning “a pearl which a shell has reared or brought to maturity in the bottom of
water”, The word used here for bringing to maturity of pearl is derivate of Rabba.

So, in a nutshell, Rabb is Who put an affair/a thing in a right or proper state gradually
nurturing, adjusting, arranging, ordering , establishing it firmly and even disposing or
will dispose it perfectly.

3) Al-alamin

Alamin is a derived from of the Arabic root word Alama, meaning to mark, sign,
distinguish, by means of which one knows a thing/things, a world/worlds, a
creation/creations. It is used in terms of signs because through these signs the Creator
is known to its creations. This word encompasses all categories of existence, both in
Physical and Spiritual sense. It also indicates that Alam, the world/creation is not
only that we know up to but there are numerous worlds/creations unknown to us, may
be discovered in the future, and whose Rabb is Allah (SWT).

The world Alamin signifies that all which is beside Allah (SWT), animate and
inanimate things, including heavenly bodies, the time, the space, the beyond, the
known to humans which was once unknown, the now unknown which could become
known to humans sometime, and what is now and will remain unknown to humans,
be it in the form of signs/Alama of Cosmology, Biology, Embryology, Botany,
Sociology, Languages, Myrmecology and we can take anything in the list, yet the
output of this equation will always be that these are the signs may be known to us
now, but which were unknown to previous generations, and what is still unknown to
us may be known to future generations. Though since time immemorial, till now, and
 in the future there will always be equal signs based on mankind’s interest and their
limited knowledge which will help them understand their Creator and Praise him for
the order which prevail in this infinitely complex yet perfect structure.

Portion 1: Ayah: 2
The Beneficent, The Merciful.

The search for our question, How Allah (SWT), bestows perfect praise and what are
intrinsic qualities for the Praise, brings us to the second Ayah or sign to the answer of our
question. Please view page 1 through page 6 to understand the meanings of these two
words.

Portion 1: Ayah: 3
Master of the Day of Requital.

Words in this ayah which we must understand

1) Mâlik
2) Yaum
3) Din

1) Mâlik is derived from the Arabic root word Malaka meaning, Owner of, Master of,
have control of, have power over. It does not mean king, as in Arabic there is fine
difference between the words Mâlik and Malik, the latter of which signifies king and the
former signifies Master.

Mâlik, when compared with Malik is more intensive in its meaning, thus a Master or
Lord is more than a king and could not be guilty of injustice if He forgives His servants,
because He is not a king but more properly a Master. He can forgive and show Mercy in
wherever and whatever manner he may like.

2) Yaum is derived from the Arabic root word Yauima which [According to, The Holy
Qur’ân Translation and Commentary by Maulana Muhammad Ali] is applied in the Holy
Qur’ân to any period of time from a moment to fifty-thousand-years and may therefore
indicate indefinitely small and indefinitely large space of time. Yaum simply indicates
time period whatever, however, small large, definite or indefinite it may be.

3) Din is derived from the root word Dâna, meaning both requital and religion/system.
He recompensed, obeyed. In describing Allah (SWT) as the Master of the day of requital,
the Holy Qur’ân lay stress on the one hand that Divine law of requital for our deeds is
working every moment, and makes man feel responsible for its actions, and on the other
hand gives him a hope through the quality of forgiveness in Divine nature which is not
rigid, but like dealing on the Master with its slave Who is essentially Merciful to Him.
Though we must understand as commented in “Maʽariful Qur’ân”, what is the
day/time/moment of requital? It is the time appointed by Allah(SWT) when we get
recompense for our deeds in this world, this Life to us is nothing but a unique open book
exam, unique in a sense that every human being on this planet earth gets unique settings
to live and grow in, mentally, physically as well as spiritually.

Though, one way or the other each one of us gets equal yet unique opportunities to bring
ourselves to the straight path, understand the purpose of our lives and fulfill that purpose,
which is equivalent of passing the unique exam, so the requital or the day of judgment is
the day when the results are announced, and what you get in the results is what you put in
the exam. The mere fact that man is healthy, wealthy, happy, prosperous can never be
the basis of the argument the he has passed the exam. Similarly, if a man a poor,
miserable, living in destitute, weak does not make him ludicrously unqualified, or inferior
than the others.

Continuing my reference to the “Maʽariful Qur’ân” commentary which says” it may

very well happen that one gets calamities, sufferings, rewards, joys and happiness in this
world for his needs; which may serve as intimations or warnings, but the full recompense
will be revealed on the day of Requital. It makes sense right? I remember during my
school days, when taking exams, I always noticed colleagues of mine and even myself
sometimes, getting warned and exhorted by the invigilators for bobbing our heads
desperately for cheating, when stuck, but all we received were warnings and of course the
full rewards/punishment were marmaladely-dropped on us on the day when results were
announced, yet it a way they were now dropped on us, since the beginning of our first
day in the classroom when knew that our rewards will be based on how much do we put.

In the Holy Qur’ân Allah (SWT) mentions of the warnings that man receives during his
exam of life in Surah-As-Sajadah, Chapter 32: verse 21

“And we shall surely let them taste a nearer punishment (in this world) before the
greater punishment (in the other world) so they may return (to the right path)”

This verse teaches us two lessons—fear and hope, telling us that one still has time [which
although may be running out] but one still can strive to lead his life on the straight path.
On the other hand it tells us that we must fear the day when the full recompense of our
deeds will be handed over to us.

As someone rightly said “A bird flies through balancing between two wings—The wing
of hope and The wing of fear.

For us to be successful in this world and Hereafter it is imperative that we maintain this
balance and not sway too much on either side, for too much hope will make us delusional
in this world and may subsequently lead us astray, whereas too much fear will impinge
upon our abilities to do good deeds as well.
Summary of the First Portion:

The understanding of the nine Arabic words above, give us the answer to our questions—
Why We Should Praise Allah (SWT) and what are the intrinsic qualities which shall
bring forth from us the exclusive Praise for Him? The answer lies in the meanings of the
words discussed above— Rabb-al-Alamin, Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim and Malik-Yaum-Din.
So once we understand the meaning of these words we can brew the summary of first
three Ayahs or first portion of Surah Fatiah as follows:

All Praise belongs to Allah (SWT), Rabb-al-Alamin —Lord Who brings all
creations/worlds/knowledge from their crudest state gradually unto perfection. Ar-
Rahman— Who bestows gratuitous Mercy on all creations, Ar-Rahim—and
promises obligatory Mercy to the pious ones. Mâlik-Yaum- Ih’din —Who is the
Mâlik /Master of the day of the Requital, and His Requital is working every
moment/every unit of time and it will come to its complete manifestation of the Day
of Judgment when we will receive full recompense of our deeds.
Portion 2: Ayah: 4
Thee do we serve and Thee do we
beseech for help.

Words in this ayah we must understand

1) َ‫ِاّياك‬
2) ‫نَْعُبُد‬
3) ‫َنسَْتِعْين‬

1) Iyyāka means “You only”

2) Na bdu is derived from the Arabic root word Abada which means, to serve,
worship, adore, venerate, obey, accept the impression of a thing, submit, devote.
The word Ibâdat is also a derivate of Abada. Ibâdat signifies Worship, Obedience
Piety, the understanding of Divine attributes and reflecting them on one’s own
person with complete and utmost humility and submissiveness to the Divine.

It is important to note here that the concept of Ibâdat in Islam or in the religion
of submission to the Will of Allah, is not in the mere declaration of Divine’s
Glory, is not in the declaration of our submissiveness by lips, and is not in the
performing of what is enjoined upon us as particle of Faith as well as particle of
manifestation of Faith in to our daily lives as rituals videlicet offering Salah and
Fasting.

• The pure concept of Ibâdat is the imbibing of Divine morals and receiving
their impress, and imbibing His ways and complete Obedience to Him.

Hence the word Na budu does not at all mean mere declaration and performance for
just pretentious display and as rituals. What it really means is that our relationship to
the Divine is complete obedience and submissiveness to Him through understanding
of His attributes and manifestation of them in to our personality, with the humility
and submission, spiritually leveled to the ground.

3) Nast-ain is derived from the Arabic root word Âna. It means seeking, imploring
begging or desiring help, assistance and aid. Hence Nast-ain means we implore
for help.
Summary of the Second Portion:

The first Portion of this Surah taught us the name and the attributes of Allah. That is He
is the Lord of all the creations, even ‘nothing’ itself was his creation, and then creations
from as minute as quanta, as diverse as humans, to as big as galaxies.

The second portion of this Surah is teaching us our Master  salves relationship with
Allah. All of the creations are slaves to their Creator/Master, and the only purpose of
their/slaves’ existence must be to serve their Master.

Their Master has revealed their unique purposes, so they know where they fit in this
complex Matrix. All perceivable creations other than mankind are serving their Master by
getting subjugated to the Mankind. And for the Mankind, out of his Mercy, the Master
has given it a Code so that they can serve Him following that Code, which is of course
The Holy Qur’ân. However, slaves, besides serving their Master, also escalate their
matters to Him when they need help during times of trial and they also praise their Master
in times of happiness and joy. Such should be our relationship to the Allah, and such is
our relationship with Allah, whether we pay heed or pay heed not.

“It is only You who we Serve, by imbibing Your attributes and their manifestation
in our daily lives, by our uttermost submission and humility only in front of You
and in front of no other than You, It is only You Who do we, and will we, beseech
for help during all times in our lives”
Portion 3: Ayah: 5
Guide us on the right Path.

I want to start the analysis of this Ayah with a question: So now through the Ayah 4th, the
slaves got a task assigned to them, a journey that will last throughout their lives. Also
slaves were explained the relationship they have with their Master.

Based on the task, based on the relationship, should not they be seeking, begging and
desiring for their Master’s assistance, aid, and help to accomplish the task, the task of
serving their Master? Of course they should. And this is what the third portion of this
Surah [Ayah 5-7] teaches us.

Words in this ayah we must understand.

1. ‫اهدنا‬
2. ‫صراط‬
3. ‫مستقيم‬

1. Ih’din is derived from the Arabic root word Hâda, meaning to guide, to show
with kindness, to lead to, and to assist/make one follow till one reaches the goal.
In this Ayah the significance of this word is that of a prayer, as we are praying to
our Master, for assisting, guiding, showing and leading, in what is described in
the next couple of words.

2. Sirât means a Path, which is even, paved, wide open and can be trodden without
difficulty. A way that is straight, so that all parts of it are in order, and well
adjusted in proportion of one another. According to the Dictionary of The Holy
Qur’ân by Abdul Mannan Omar Arabs did not regard a way as Sirât, until it
comprises of the following five prominent features:

a. Rectitude, meaning honest and correct moral behaviour

b. Leaving surely to the objective
c. Being the shortest
d. Being broad in width for travelers
e. To determine as the road to the goal, in the eyes of wayfarers

3. Mus’taqim is derived from the Arabic root word Qâma, which means to stand
firm, appearing in broad light [truth], being persevere. Mus’taqim means straight,
right, undeviating, and without any crookedness.
Portion 3: Ayah 6-7

The Path of those upon who thou hast bestowed favours,

Not those, upon whom wrath is brought down, nor those who go astray.

Words in these Ayahs we must understand.

1) Alladhīna means “Of those”

2) Anʿamta
3) Alayhim means “on them”
4) Ghayri means “not(of)”
5) Maghḍūbi
6) Walā means “nor/and not of” where waw means ‘And’ and lā means
‘not’.
7) Dālīn

1) Anʿamta is derived from Arabic the root word, Na’ama, meaning, enjoying the
comforts, delights and conveniences of life. Anʿamta means “Thou hast
bestowed thy blessings”

2) Maghḍūbi is derived from the Arabic root word, Ghadziba, meaning anger,
displeasure, and wrath. Hence Maghḍūbi means those who were object of the
displeasure of their Master.

3) Dālīn is derived from the root word, Dzalla, meaning to lose one’s way, go
astray, err, disappear, wander from, forget, waste, deviate, misled from the right
path, lurch, adjudge to be erring. Hence Dālīn means those who have gone astray.

Before we get in to the summary of this portion, an important question arises—who

are/were those people:

1. On Whom Allah (SWT) bestowed His blessings?

2. Who became object of Divine’s displeasure and wrath? Who went

wandering, wasting, deviating and lurching?
On Whom Allah (SWT) bestowed His blessings?

Maʽariful Qur’ân by Mufti Shafi Usmani gives answes to the very first question, from
a verse of The Holy Qur’ân itself in Chapter 4 verse 69.

Those whom Allah has blessed, namely, the prophets, the siddiqin, the shuhada and
the righteous [Chapter 4, v 69]

These are the four categories of people on whom, Allah (SWT) has bestowed His
blessings and, it must be the path of these people we follow, and we must take inspiration
from these people. Among these people prophets are the greatest, and among the
prophets, the teachings of Muhammad (SAWS) is summation all previous revelations.

Hence we must take Muhammad (SAWS) life, His Sunnah or actions as our first and the
most important source of inspiration. As The Holy Qur’ân itself tells us in Chapter 33
verse 21

Certainly, you have an excellent model in the Messenger of Allah (to follow)
[Chapter 33, v21]

The word Siddiqin is derived from the Arabic root word Sadaqa, meaning to be truthful,
sincere, establishing and confirming the truth of what others have said, verifying and
observing a promise. Siddiq means a person who is trustworthy, sincere and occupies a
position above all other believers. He is in a way possessor of the spiritual capacities of a
prophet and to be followed as an example of a person of prophetic knowledge.

The word Shuhadâ is derived from the Arabic root word Shahida, meaning bear witness,
and bear testimony to a fact. The word Shuhadâ means Witnesses as well as Martyrs.
Based of the two fold meanings of the word Shuhadâ, these are the people who bear
witness to the truth and stay put on it, and who even sacrifice their lives for the cause of
truth.

The righteous Salihin are the ones who are pious and can be our contemporaries.

Who became object of Divine’s displeasure and wrath? Who went wandering, wasting,
deviating and lurching?

Those who have incurred Allah’s wrath are people who in spite of well aware of the truth
of Divine revelation went against them repeatedly, just for mundane worldly gains; or
those who still go against the Divine revelations and Divine teachings because of petty
worldly gains right in front of our very own eyes, and it could be one of ourselves as
well. The Holy Qur’ân gives an example of those people/nation who were ready to
sacrifice their religion for worldly gains. Though I think it will be erroneous to think that
a person Muslim by name, and or by family cannot commit this hideous act.
In fact we see it happening around us all the time, in this very world, and certainly among
people who call themselves Muslims, be it Politics and or any facets of life people do put
their religion and the values their religion teaches them down in front of worldly gains.
So Jews can only be taken as an example of the People who history tells us did put
worldly gains on top of their religious and moral duties, ipso facto becoming object of
Allah (SWT) displeasure, but thinking that this corrupt behaviour cannot seep in the
personalities of people or nations who calls themselves Muslims will be delusional and
absurd deduction on the face of it.

As for those who went lurching, astray and deviating the limits set by Allah are those
who indulge in excess and exaggeration in religious matters. Again, I think it is only an
appropriate example at the time of the revelation of the Holy Qur’ân, that Christians were
at the pinnacle of deviations from the limits set by Allah, as they exaggerated the status
of Jesus Christ (A.S), though like the ones who became object of Allah’s displeasure, we
must not think that it could only be Christians who do this. In fact we see it happening
around us, even in the Muslim countries, among the Muslims, among our families,
among our friends and relatives that we exaggerate every second person’s status as the
one who can intercede with the Divine and we present them the humility and
submissiveness that they do not deserve.

We must protect ourselves from the abovementioned couple of corrupt behaviour.

The summary of this portion is as follows:

Guide us with your Kindness, to the right path, the path which is honest and
enriched with correct moral behaviour, the path which will surely lead us to our
objective of serving You our Master, the path which is being the shortest and
effective to achieve our objective, the path which is the broadest for its travelers and
the path which will appeal to its wayfarers. And, not the path of those people who
became, and who may become object of your displeasure. And nor of those who
swayed and sway from the straight path because of their excess indulgences and
exaggerations in religious intercessions.
Based on the summaries of the three portions of Surah Fatiah and its verses, which we
collected through analysis of important words in all of the seven ayahs of this Surah and
through comments from renowned scholars, we get the summary of the whole Chapter of
Surah Fatiah when we connect these portioned summaries together.

All Praise be to Allah (SWT), Rabb-al-Alamin —Lord Who brings all

creations/worlds/knowledge from their crudest state unto perfection.

Ar-Rahman— Who bestows gratuitous Mercy on all creations.

Ar-Raheem—Who promises obligatory Mercy to the pious ones.

Mâlik-Yaum- Ih’din—Who is the Master of the day of the Requital, and His
requital is working every moment/every unit of time and it will come to its complete
manifestation on the Day of Judgment when we will receive full recompense of our
deeds.

It is only You Who we Serve, by imbibing Your attributes and their manifestation in
our daily lives, by our utter submission and humility only in front of you and in
front of no other than you, It is only You Who we do, and Who we will, beseech for
help during all times in our lives.

Guide us with your Kindness, to the right path, the path which is honest and
enriched with correct moral behaviour, the path which will surely lead us to our
objective of serving You our Master, the path which is being the shortest and
effective to achieve our objective, the path which is the broadest for its travelers and
the path which will appeal to its wayfarers. And, not the path of those people who
became, and who may become object of your displeasure. And nor of those who
swayed and sway from the straight path because of their excess indulgences and
exaggerations in religious intercessions.
Abbreviations used in this document

SWT—stands for Subhanahu wa-ta'ala meaning Glorious and Exalted is He.

SAWS—stands for ṣall Allahu ʿalayhi wa sallam meaning May Allah Honour Him
and grant Him Peace.

AS— stands for Alayhis salaam meaning Peace be upon Him.

Note that all abbreviation require understanding of their root words as well, which I
do not know myself. May Allah (SWT) broaden our knowledge to understand their
meanings and significance as well (Ameen).

References

1) The Holy Quran with English Translation and Commentary by Maulana

Muhammad Ali.

2) Maʽariful Qur’ân by Maulana Mufti Muhammad Shafiʽ, translated by

Professor Muhammad Hasan Askari and Professor Mauhammad Shamin

3) Dictionary of The Holy Qur’ân by Abdul Mannan Omar

4) Arabic English Lexicon by Edward William Lane

5) Tafsir Ibn Kathir at www.tafsir.com and www.altafsir.com.

6) www.quran-tafsir.org

7) Google translate

8) www.arabic-keyboard.org.

9) www.arabicenglishdictionary.org.

10) http://dictionary.cambridge.org.

May Allah (SWT) forgives me if due to my limited knowledge I made any mistake in
my rendering and understanding of the Qur’ânic Ayahs above, and save me from
repeating these mistakes. Amen

Any feedback and/or comments, questions, criticism is more than welcome. I can be
reached at khan.jehanzeb@gmail.com.