Al-Fatiha: The Opening Chapter of the Quran

[Qur’an recitation in Arabic, 1:1: “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful”]

Al-Fatiha, Surah 1, the opening chapter of the Quran.

Over a billion Muslims are taught to recite this prayer at least 17 times a day.

But who is it really about?

Every day, in every unit of prayer, a Muslim asks God:

‘Guide us on the straight path,

not the path of those who earned Your anger, nor of those who went astray.’

Who are they?

Muhammad answers in a hadith in Tirmidhi:

‘Those who earned anger are the Jews, and those astray are the Christians.’

Al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir and nearly every classical commentator agree.

So 17 times a day, five prayers, every day of their lives,

Muslims ask God to keep them away from the path of Jews and Christians.

That’s over 6,000 times a year,

and more than 300,000 times over a lifetime.

Strangely, Ibn Mas’ud, a Companion Muhammad told people to learn the Quran from,

reportedly didn’t include Al-Fatiha in his written Quran at all.

Put it next to the Lord’s Prayer:

praise to God, His kingdom, lead us, deliver us.

Some scholars think it grew out of an older Christian prayer,

with the line about Jews and Christians added later.

Sources at thequran.com.