It is the opening of the Quran and our daily prayers are nullified without it. Fatihah teaches us how to praise our Lord.
نعبد الله كما يريد الرب, لا كما يريد العبد.
We worship Allaah how He wants to be worshiped, not how the slave wants to worship Him.
Entire da’wah is based upon calling people to the right path, and this Surah is a good starting point to do that. It covers the belief in Allah and some of His attributes, and talks about the Last Day and accountability.
When Allaah wants to bring our attention to something, He begins with it. Hence, the first revelation was إقرأ – Recite/Read, and Al-Fatiha was placed as the opening of both the Quran and our Salah. Notice how much attention we pay to this Surah in our Salah!
This Surah also tells us that guidance is to be sought from Allah alone. When you worship Allah without associating any partners with Him, He’ll make the path of mercy and guidance easy for you.
If you want to introduce the subject of Aqeedah (fundamental belief) to your children, start with this Surah and explain to them the main themes. It’s simple and easy to understand.
Surah Al-Fatiha has become like the air we breathe and the water that we drink; very much needed for our spiritual nourishment and yet rarely will you find anyone paying attention to the greatest of blessings that he has been given by his Lord.
Quran was not sent down as a storybook, it is a message directed at every human being. Best time to ponder over this message is the night time – قيام الليل – the Night Prayer.
#QuranGems: سورة الفاتحة
