Tafseer of Sooraatul Faatihah by Shaykh 'Abdurrahmaan as-Sa'dee

[عبد الله بن مسلم]

{ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ }

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

All the praises and thanks be to Allâh, the Lord of the 'Alamîn (mankind, jinns and all that exists).

الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense

إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ

You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).

اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ

Guide us to the Straight Way

صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ

The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace

غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلا الضَّالِّينَ

not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger , nor of those who went astray.”





The Tafseer

The Basmalaa :

{ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ }

In the Name of Allâh

Meaning : I begin by every name of Allaah The Exalted .

This is because the expression

{ اسم }

Name

Is singular and in the ‘ possessed by ‘ conjugation : so it encompasses all the [beautiful] names.

{ اللَّهِ }

Allaah

He is The Diety , The One who is worshipped.

The One who solely deserves to be truthfully worshipped , from what He is described with ; from His Godly attributes ; and they are all attributes of perfection.



{ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ }

The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

Two great names which signify that , He The Exalted , is the possessor of great and vast mercy : which encompasses every single thing , and it generalizes every living being.

And , it (this Mercy) has been decreed ; unlimited - for the God fearing ones , and those who follow the Messengers and the Prophets.

And it is limited for those who have animosity against these pious people.

And know that they are principles – which are agreed upon by the Salaf of this muslim nation , and the Imaams - regarding the Names and attributes of Allaah .

[ an example of these principles ] So one believes that , He is The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

Therefore He is The possessor of Mercy , and [this mercy is the source ] of all the things that necessitate mercy in regards to the creation.

So all the bounties and favours , are as a result of His Mercy.

Likewise in all the other attributes.

It is said in His being ; Al-‘Aleem (The All- Knower) : that He is The All-Knowing and the possessor of knowledge. [thus] He knows everything.

Al- Qadeer ( The Most Powerful ) : He is The possessor of power , and He overpowers everything.

End of tafseer of the basmalaa.





{ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ }

All the praises and thanks be to Allâh,

This is praising Allaah by His Perfect attributes , and His actions which constitute favours and justice.

So , to Him belongs the Perfect Praise . From all aspects and angles.



{ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ }

…the Lord of the 'Alamîn

Ar-Rabb is The Lord of everything else – other than Him - and this is by : His creating them , and by supplying them with numerous bounties and provisions , and By His favouring them by granting them great favours ; of which if they were to cease ; then they (the creation) would not be able to exist.

So every favour and bounty : is from Him , The Exalted.

And His nurturing and sustaining of His creation , is of two types : The general and the specific.

1. The general : then it is His creating the Creation , and sustaining and providing them , and also guiding them to that which is of benefit to them : in their stay in this world.

2. The specific : then it is His sustaining His friends (the obedient slaves) : so He nutures them by adorning them with ‘eeman (faith) , and making them conform to it, and perfecting it for them.

While guarding them from all that would remove them from this , and (guarding them from ) any things which may come in between them and Him.

And its reality is : That He grants them ease to all that which is good , and That He safe-guards them from all evil.

And it is possible that this [meaning] is the secret as to why most of the supplications made by the Prophets start with the word “Ar-Rabb [The Lord]’’ .

For indeed all of the things they supplicated for : fell under His Specific Lordship.

So His statement “…the Lord of the 'Alamîn ’’ signifies and is proof for His Oneness in creation and controlling the affairs , and granting of favours , and His Perfect Richness ( He is far from any needs) , and also the complete neediness of everything else towards Him ; in every aspect and point.

{ مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ }

The Only Owner of the Day of Recompense

المالك

Al-Maalik is The One who is describe by the attributes of Sovereignty and Eternal Ownership .

And from among this is That He is The One who commands and forbids , and He rewards and punishes , He is the total King in all the matters of His kingdom , and the ownership and control of The Day of Recompense is His , and this is The Day of Judgement , the Day in which the people are recompensed for their actions ; the good and the bad .

This is because in that Day ; The Completeness and Perfection of His Kingship , His Justice , and His Wisdom : will become perfectly and clearly evident to the creation .

And [also in that Day] the kingship of the creation [ which was in this life ] will cease . To the extent that on that Day ; the kings (the rulers) will become equal to the citizen, and the slaves.

All of them compliant to His Greatness , and submissive to His Mightiness , waiting for His recompense , hoping for His bountiful reward , fearing His torment .

And thus because of all this : His Owner ship of this Day has been specified in mentioning . But also ; He is the Owner of all other Days.



{ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ }

You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help

Meaning : we single you out alone in worship and seeking of assistance . This is because starting by mentioning the action [in a statement] signifies restriction .

And it is testification of the ruling of the one mentioned ; and negating any other person other than him .

So it is like saying : We worship You ; and we don’t worship anything else . And we seek help from You ; and we don’t seek help from anyone else.

And (Ibaada) worship has been mentioned before (isti’ana) seeking help : and this is from the modes of mentioning the general first and then the specific.

And also it signifies preceeding His right , before the right of His creation.

Ibaada : is the plural word for all the actions which are loved and pleasing to Allaah - they can be statements or actions – done openly or secretly.

Isti’ana : is depending on Allaah The Exalted , in bringing of benefits , and in defending (removing) of harms : while having certainty that He is The One Capable in this .

And being steadfast in worshipping Allaah and seeking help from Him ; is the means of achieving happiness for the slaves. And success from all evils.

Therefore there is no way to success ; except by observing and being steadfast in them [worshipping Allaah and seeking help from Him].

[It is also important to mention that] the Ibaada (acts of worship) , will only be considered as an Ibaada , if:

- it is only done to seek the Face of Allaah.

- it is taken and is in conformity with the actions of the Prophet sallahAllaahu alayhi wasallam.

So with these two conditions , the act of worship is really considered as an act of worship.

And the Isti’ana (seeking help) is mentioned after the Ibaada (acts of worship) : even though it is included in it. i.e. even though Isti’ana (seeking help) is a part of Ibaada (acts of worship).

It is has been mentioned specifically , so as that the people must have Isti’ana in every single act of worship they do.

This is because if he/she does not have this Isti’ana (dependence and seeking help from Allaah) : then they will never reach what they want – not in doing the obligatory actions nor staying away from the prohibitions. [he/she will never accomplish these except by Isti’ana]

ثم قال تعالى : { اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ }

Then Allaah The Exalted said : Guide us to the Straight Way

Meaning : show us , lead us and guide us accordingly to the straight path. And it is the clear path which leads to Allaah and His paradise .

And it (in definition) is : knowledge of the truth and acting upon it.

So this verse means ; guide us To it , and guide us ON it .

- Guidance to the path : being in the religion of Islaam , and leaving off all other religions.

- Guidance on the path : this encompasses the guidance to all the details of the religion - in statements and actions.

Therefore this supplication is from the most general supplications , and from the most beneficial to the slave.

And because of this it is a must on the person to supplicate Allaah with it (recite it) : in every rakaa’ of every prayer.

Because of every persons dire need and necessity for this du’aa.

And this straight path is :

{ صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ }

The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace

From those included are the Prophets , the truthful ones , the martyrs , and the righteous people.

{ غَيْرِ }

Not

The path

{ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ }

of those who earned Your Anger



Those who knew the truth , and they abandoned it. Like the jews and others like them.

And not the path of

{ الضَّالِّينَ }

of those who went astray

Those who left the truth ; because of their ignorance and misguidance . Like the christians and others like them.


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