Unlocking Surah Al-Fatiha
by: Saif Omar
“We teach Arabic words that are practically useless for an average Muslim at the expense of words found in the Fatiha or commonly repeated parts of the Qur’an. ”
When my kids study Arabic, every book inevitably starts by teaching names of animals. There isn’t anything wrong with learning animal names, but how will learning the word for bear (دُبّ) in Arabic be helpful in practical life? Why teach words that are practically useless for an average Muslim at the expense of words more commonly repeated in the Qur’an?
At Fawakih, we’re trying to remedy this issue. Our philosophy is to maximize efficiency when learning. There’s an ocean of content out there and it must be organized and prioritized in order to be traversed. When it comes to the Quran, this requires us to allocate time and attention to learning content based on frequency. We often skip the rare exceptions and infrequently used words in order to place the emphasis on the rule, not the exceptions.
Muslims read the Fatiha 17 times a day. An individual who prayed all 5 prayers daily for 50 years would read it over a quarter of a million times in their life. This is incomparable to other chapters of the Quran, which, if one were to complete an entire reading every month, one would only read 600 times in 50 years.
“An average Muslim will read Surah Al-Fatiha over a quarter of a million times in their life, whereas less common parts of the Quran a mere few hundred times at most.”
I hope this article will help us focus on this Surah of unlimited treasures which I believe holds the key to the rest of the Quran. Even if we learn one new insight into the Fatiha, it could illuminate our understanding thousands of times over, making it an excellent investment.
THE KEYS
“Miftah (مِفْتَاحٌ) in Arabic means ‘key’.
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Growing up, I ignored Surah Al-Fatiha. It seemed commonplace and basic. In fact, much of the time, reciting it in prayer, I was thinking of what I’d read next. Not understanding the Fatiha is like sleeping outside in the cold rain when a beautiful home is right in front of you, but the key is lost.
The thing about keys is that they are crafted to fit a specific lock perfectly. The alternative is a messy and laborious process of knocking down the door, damaging the home you’re trying to enter. The process of accessing the Quran and unlocking its beauty is a peaceful and artful one; a spiritual process.
Here are some of the keys that the Fatiha provides. Learning them will transform how we engage the Surah and provide tools with which we can find similar patterns in every corner of the Quran. It’s taken me quite a bit of travel, more than a decade building an Arabic institute, and interacting with dozens of experts to uncover these.
My intent is to simplify this process for you in the hopes that you get a head start in your Quran exploration, enabling you to go further than I have been able!
اُدْخُلُوهَا بِسَلَامٍ آمِنِينَ
(15:46)
7 Keys to Unlocking Al-Fatiha:
1. Repetition
Anything mentioned in the Quran is a big deal. The Quran is succinct, yet covers so much ground. If a story or word is repeated, it must be for a profound reason.
The words Rahman and Raheem are repeated in the Fatiha soon after also being mentioned in Bismillah (which some consider the first ayah). Why is there this repetition? It becomes more enigmatic when we notice that the words Rahman and Raheem share the root R-H-M (ر -ح - م, which is related to mercy) totaling to this root being mentioned four times.
The difference between Rahman and Raheem is inadequately captured in translations, leaving the reader blurring the two concepts together.
Rahman (رَحْمَٰن) comes from a pattern of words like HUNGRY (جَوعَان), THIRSTY (عَطْشَان), ANGRY (غَضْبَان). Full of something. Thus, this type of rahma is indiscriminate, it covers all of creation, those who believe and those who do not. Like rain or sun, it falls or shines on all. It has been interpreted by ibn Abbas that Rahman is for Dunya (this temporal world) and Raheem is for Akhira (everlasting). This is indicated by the pattern that the root is on. The former alluding to being vast, but potentially timebound. Raheem, on the other hand, is a permanent adjective indicating an unchanging state, pointing towards a longer term rahma.
بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَؤُوفٌ رَّحِيْمٌ
(9:128)
Some describe the difference between sunlight and sun rays. Whereas sunlight is vast (for all creation), sun rays are discriminating (for the select).
Pay attention when you see repetition in the Quran, whether its an entire verse, word or in the repetition of a root!
2. Redundancy
Nothing is redundant in the Quran. Growing up, I would noticed that Surah Ash-Sharh (Surah 94) had verses that were repeated, but never knew why. The difference between verses 5 and 6 is just the opening ف that transitions the first ayah:
فَإِنَّ مَعَ ٱلْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا
إِنَّ مَعَ ٱلْعُسْرِ يُسْرًۭا
It may seem safe to assume that it’s simply a matter of emphasis, especially as translations often do not differentiate between the verses. However, when digging deeper, that is not quite the story.
The difficulty, ٱلْعُسْرِ, has an Alif and a Laam before it, making it definite. Whereas, the ease, يُسْرًا, does not, making it indefinite. Scholars interpret this to mean that for the same difficulty, one may have dual eases, perhaps one in this world and one in the life to come. Thus, the seeming redundancy of the second ayah brings a new meaning.
While writing this I realized that verses 3 and 5 of Surah Kafiroon (Surah 109) are also repeated! وَلَآ أَنتُمْ عَـٰبِدُونَ مَآ أَعْبُدُ Although I’ve known this in some recess of my mind, I’m now excited to dig into why that is the case next! Perhaps a follow up article will be needed :-)
3. Roots
Much of a tree’s strength and nourishment comes from deep roots lying underneath the surface. Likewise, digging into a word requires us to first find its root, from which additional meaning can be derived and connections made. These connections build bridges of meaning, showing the interconnectedness of seemingly different words. Like humans are connected by blood and genetics, words are connected by letters and roots.
The phrase ‘Keeping Family Ties” Silat-al-Rahim (صِلَةُ الرَّحِمِ) itself can shed light on these connections.
The word Silat (صِلَةٌ) is related to the word Salat (صَلَاةٌ). Anyone who has lived in the Arab world knows the word ‘ittisal’ (اِتِّصَالٌ) is for phone communication. When I was first taught this by my teacher, I was told that prayer is our ‘emergency phone line’ to God. It brought to mind large bulky radio phones on the front lines of war movies that call for air support from the trenches. Understanding the root of the word ‘prayer’ completely revolutionized the concept for me.
The word Rahim (الرَّحِم) means the womb. The concept literally means “Connections of the womb,” for that is the source of all family ties. The words Rahman and Raheem both share the same root as womb, thus making the idea of motherly love intimately intertwined with God’s compassion and care.
If you’ll allow your author some creative license, perhaps the Surah is calling upon us to form new connections. While we connect to the Rahman (الرَحْمَٰن) in prayer (صَلَاةٌ), we are also seeing the connection to our past. We see the connection between our physical beginning (our Mother’s womb) and the start of our relationship with the Quran (Surah Al-Fatiha).
“The word Adab (character) is the same word as Adab for Literature! This is no coincidence, for ultimately learning Arabic is learning Adab.”
4. Refinement
The word for character in Arabic - adab (أَدَبٌ) is the same as the word for literature. This is no coincidence, for ultimately learning Arabic is learning Adab. Refinement of character is often connected to refinement of language and the ability to use it effectively.
One can acquire many lessons in etiquette from paying attention to the language the Quran uses. The Quran teaches mankind how to address God. Many verses starting with ‘Say:” (قُلْ), an imperative that brings language to the fore. And in other places, the lessons are more hidden. My particular favorite is the Quran’s use of passive and active voice. Pay attention to how passive voice is used when addressing the destruction of prior communities. More examples of this can be found in a future article!
Dialogue between Quranic characters (both righteous and unrighteous) and God help us gain an understanding of the inner states of individuals through the selection of words used.
Iblys, for example, will often use the word “I”, indicating the arrogance of his state. In his rebellion against God’s command to bow to Adam he starts with the pronoun ana.
أَنَاْ خَيْرٌ مِّنْه
(7:12)
One could argue that this is coincidental. Yet, if we look at his final words after all is said and done on the Day of Judgement, he again uses ana, emphasizing his ego:
مَّآ أَنَا۠ بِمُصْرِخِكُمْ
(14:22)
It was common practice for scholars to speak about themselves in the third person, referring to themselves as “al-Faqir”, the impoverished one, or even use ‘we’ to avoid using ‘I’. To further emphasize this point, many Classical Arabic grammar books start teaching conjugations with the third person ‘he’ instead of the first person ‘I’, as a way of showing respect to the divine over the self.
Returning to the Fatiha, you’ll notice that not only is the pronoun “I” absent, but verbs are not conjugated for the first person. Instead, you’ll see “we worship,” “we seek help”, and “guide us” instead of a lot of “me, me, me”!
5. Word Order Impacts Meaning
Some native Arabic speakers or students of Modern Standard Arabic may not appreciate that even with some understanding of vocabulary, a word can differ drastically in the classical Quranic usage and application. Beyond this, many do not realize the importance of studying grammar in order to understand the Quran. One could understand all the vocabulary in an ayah and still miss key parts of the meaning because grammar and word order are a necessary part to deriving that meaning.
In the Fatiha, the ayah إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ translates as “Only you do we worship.”
You = كَ
We worship = نَعْبُدُ
So where does the “only” come from? Some think the إِيَّا means only. However, that is simply a placeholder upon which the كَ sits. “Only”, in Arabic, would be إِنَّمَا or فَقَط, but notice neither of these is found. Yet the meaning is there!
The normal way to say “We worship you”is نَعْبُدُكَ. Pulling the object “كَ” in front of the verb changes the meaning to: “You, alone, we worship,” but also adds the meaning ‘only’ due to the word order. The object being in front of the verb adds a restriction which creates exclusivity. One cannot now physically add a “و” to add partners in worship to God. Thus, the meaning ‘only’ is implied.
Often in the Quran the meaning is hidden not just in the words used, but the sentence structure itself. This is completely missed by one who has not studied Arabic grammar.
6. Changing of Audience
The Quranic text often makes this seemingly random grammatical shift, called in point of view or addressee for no apparent reason. Yet this random shift, when understood in context, can unlock the very essence of the meaning and beauty. This concept is called iltifat.
When I was studying Arabic in Egypt, in order to direct the taxi drivers, one would have to say “luf ala al-yameen” or “luf ala al-shimaal”- turn right or turn left. Later I realized that لَفّ was actually a rooted classical word from which the concept of iltifat (اِلْتِفَاتٌ) comes.
Returning back to the Fatiha, we see that the there is a point in the Surah that man enters the scene and a direct conversation takes place with man addressing God, using pronouns such as “you” (ك) and “we” (ن), whereas the first half of the Surah is a series of statements, without “I”, “you” and “we.” In fact, there are no verbs at all! One interpretation is that the (3rd person) praises that are made in the beginning of the Surah lead to man actually entering into the presence of the lord, thus allowing for a (2nd person) direct conversation.
7. Surah Connections
The night sky can seem like a random assortment of stars. However, for the one who is trained, it’s a symphony of predictable patterns, a map.
For the untrained eye, the Quran’s rhythm can seem random, jumping from topic to topic, not staying on theme. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only is there an internal cohesiveness that binds a surah together, but moreover the sequencing of the Surahs and the connection between them is in fact quite marvelous.
I never saw the connection between the surahs. It was almost as if the Bismillah wiped my mind and the new Surah started a completely different topic. However, once some of my teachers pointed out the connections, it’s been hard to unsee them! It’s quite fascinating to explore how the “end” of the Quran is actually connected to the “beginning.”
“The word Khatam (finishing) the Quran is connected to the word خَاتِمٌ, a ring. If we view the Quran as circular in this way, then perhaps the Fatiha would be the diamond that binds it together.”
