In this section I would like to cover some of the verses of the Quran. The most significant verses of prayer in the Quran are in the opening chapter, al-Fatiha; hence, it is mandatory to recite these verses in every rakah of salat. The Rasul of Allah (saw) says: “Salat cannot be salat without the Fatiha!”^[1]

In another hadith he says, “Shall I tell you which chapter in the Quran is the greatest in terms of benefit? It is the chapter that begins with ‘Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen…’”^[2] Another hadith says, “The chapter al-Fatiha is the key to the Quran.”^[3] There are many more hadith denoting the importance of the chapter al-Fatiha.

One who recites it 41 times every day will definitely see its benefits in time.

Some of the disciples have narrated reciting this chapter when afflicted with an illness or pain and many have been reported to have tried and confirmed this.

It has also been claimed by many saints that reciting the Fatiha forty thousand times at least once in a lifetime brings much benefit in the afterlife.

Additionally, there are many hadith that mention the importance of saying ‘Amen’ at the end of reciting each Fatiha.

 

1. AL-FATIHA

 

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ {1

أَلْحَمْدُ لِلهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ {2} أَلرَّحْمٰـنِ الرَّحِيمِ {3

مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ {4} إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ {5

إِهْدِنَــــا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِيمَ {6

صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ المَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ

 وَلَا الضَّٓالِّينَ {7

 

A`oodhu biLlaahi minal-shayṭaanil-rajeem

1. Bismi Llaahi l-raḥmaani l-raḥeem

2. Al-ḥamduliLlaahi rabbil-`aalameen

3. Al-raḥmaanil-raḥeem

4. Maalikiyawmil-deen

5. Iyyaakana`budu wa-iyyaakanasta`een

6. Ihdinaal-ṣiraaṭal-mustaqeem

7. Ṣiraaṭ alladheena-an`amta-`alayhim-ghayril-maghḍoobi`alayhim wa lal-ḍaalleen

 

I seek refuge in the protective forces of the Names of Allah comprising my Essence from impulses generated by the accursed and rejected (rajim) Satan, which, as a result of preconditioning, causes our sense of illusion to perceive the existent as non-existent and the non-existent as existent, thereby making man believe he is an independent being and body outside the Names of Allah, directing man to the idea of an external deity-God in the heavens.

 

1. By the one who is denoted by the name Allah (who created my being with His Names in accord with the meaning of the letter ‘B’), the Rahman, the Rahim.

2. Hamd (the evaluation of the corporeal worlds created with His Names, as He wills) belongs to Allah, the Rabb (the absolute source of the infinite meanings of the Names) of the worlds (the universe created within the brain of every individual)

3. The Rahman (the quality with which He forms the dimension of Names; the Quantum Potential), the Rahim (the quality with which He continually creates the engendered existence with the meanings of the Names)

4. The Maleek (the Sovereign One, who manifests His Names as he wishes and governs them in the world of acts as He pleases. The One who has providence over all things) or the Maalik (the Absolute Owner) of the eternal period governed by the decrees of religion (sunnatullah).

5. You alone we serve, and from You alone we seek the continual manifestation of your Names (By manifesting the meanings of Your Beautiful Names we, as the whole of creation, are in a state of natural servitude to You, and we seek guidance to attain and maintain this awareness at all times)

6. Enable the realization that leads to our innermost essential reality (sirat al-mustaqeem)

7. The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor (those who believe in the Names of Allah as comprising their essential self and experience the awareness of their force) not of those who have evoked Your wrath (who have failed to the see the reality of their selves and the corporeal worlds and who have become conditioned with their ego-identities) nor of those who are astray (from the reality and the understanding of the One denoted by the name Allah, the al-Wahid-ul Ahad-as-Samad, and who thus associate partners with Allah [shirq; duality]).