Surah Al-Fatihah
الفاتحة
Read this surah in the Quran Reader- Revealed
- Makki
- Ayahs
- 7
- Juz
- 1
- Mushaf pages
- 1
- Words
- 29
- Order revealed
- 5th (according to Ibn Abbas)
- Year
- 1st - 3rd year of Prophethood
About Surah Al-Fatihah (001)
Although this is the first Surah of the Qur’an that appears in the Mushaf, this is not the first Surah to be revealed by order of revelation. It was…
Although this is the first Surah of the Qur’an that appears in the Mushaf, this is not the first Surah to be revealed by order of revelation. It was revealed to the Prophet ﷺin Makkah in the earliest period of his mission. The Surah has seven Ayaat and is both a Dua (prayer) and an introduction of the Qur’an. It teaches the basic principles of Islam. All praise and thanks are for Allah who is the Lord of all the worlds. Allah is most Merciful and most Compassionate. Allah is also the Master of the Day of Judgement. We should pray to Allah only and we should seek His help. We seek His guidance and help to walk on the straight path. This is the path of those who have received Allah’s favours, not the path of those who have incurred His anger or who have gone astray.
Surah al-Fatihah has a number of names
Fatihah tul-Kitab - ‘Opening of the Book’ Umm al-Kitab - ‘Mother of the Book’ Umm al-Qur’an - ‘Mother of the Qur’an’ Sab’a al-Mathani - ‘Seven oft-repeated Ayat’ Surah as-Salah - ‘Surah of Prayer’ Surah ar-Ruqyah - ‘Surah of Cure’
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The 7 ayahs of Surah Al-Fatihah
Click any ayah to open the text, word by word.
Themes of Surah Al-Fatihah (001)
It can be said that Surah al-Fatihah’s central theme is the clarification of the ‘way to worship Allah alone’ and ‘the Qur’an’ as a whole. The Makkan…
It can be said that Surah al-Fatihah’s central theme is the clarification of the ‘way to worship Allah alone’ and ‘the Qur’an’ as a whole. The Makkan and Madinan revelations revolve around this central theme. This prayer is for all those who want to study His message. It is placed at the very beginning to teach the reader that if they sincerely want to benefit from the Qur’an, they should offer this prayer to the Lord of the Universe. Al-Fatihah teaches that the best thing for a man is to pray for “guidance towards the right way” and to study the Qur’an with the mental attitude of a seeker of truth. They should, therefore, begin the study of the Qur’an with a prayer to Allah for guidance. It is important to know that the real relation between al-Fatihah and the Qur’an is not that of an introduction to a book but that of a prayer and its answer. Al-Fatihah is the prayer from the devotee and the rest of the Qur’an is the answer from Allah. The devotee prays to Allah to show the “right way” and Allah places the whole of the Qur’an before him in answer to his prayer, as if to say: “This is the guidance that you have asked for.” It can also be said that the Qur’an is the tafsir (explanation) of al-Fatihah, where ideas and themes are expounded upon and explained.
Key words of Surah Al-Fatihah
Arabic builds its words from a three-letter root; change the pattern around the root and the meaning changes with it. These are the roots this surah keeps returning to, and the words built on each — every word links to the ayah it sits in. More in the Grammar Guide.
| Root | Times | Words in this surah |
|---|---|---|
| رحم | 4 | |
| اله | 2 | |
| صرط | 2 | |
| سمو | 1 | |
| حمد | 1 | |
| ربب | 1 | |
| علم | 1 | |
| ملك | 1 | |
| يوم | 1 | |
| دين | 1 |
Introduction and themes from The Qur’an Companion (Qur’an Wiki), Institute of Qur’anic Studies, reproduced unchanged. Key roots are their selection; every word, meaning and count shown here is from ILMHUB’s own Quran database.
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