Surah Al-Fatiha – Yousef Bin Noah Ahmad

Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", is the first surah of the Quran: the Mushaf begins with it. A Meccan surah of seven verses, it is fifth in the traditional order of revelation. Recited in every unit (rak'a) of the prayer, it is the most frequently recited passage of the Quran, and the Prophet ﷺ called it the greatest surah of the Quran (al-Bukhari 4474).

It is called "the Opening" because it opens the Book and the recitation of every prayer. The Prophet also named it Umm al-Quran, "the Mother of the Quran", and "the seven oft-repeated verses and the Great Quran" (al-Bukhari 4704), echoing 15:87 in Al-Hijr. Most scholars hold it to be Meccan; a minority view, attributed to Mujahid, makes it Medinan.

Its seven verses sum up the message of the Quran: praise of God, Lord of the worlds, the Most Merciful (1:2–3); His sovereignty over the Day of Judgment (1:4); the pledge "You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help" (1:5); and the plea for guidance to the straight path (1:6–7). In the Kufan count, followed with the Hafs reading, the Basmala is its first verse; the Medinan count, used with Warsh, leaves it out. In verse 4, Hafs reads Māliki ("Master"), Warsh Maliki ("King").

Virtues

• "There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book" (al-Bukhari 756, Muslim 394).
• In a hadith qudsi, God divides the prayer between Himself and His servant and answers each of its verses (Muslim 395).
• With the closing verses of Al-Baqara, it is one of two lights given to no prophet before (Muslim 806).
• Companions used it as a healing recitation (ruqya), with the Prophet's approval (al-Bukhari 2276).