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1.THE OPENING
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
1. Praise is due only for Allah { 1 }, the Fosterer { 2 } of
the worlds { 3 },
2. the Beneficent, the Merciful,
3. the Master of the day of judgment.
4. You alone do we serve { 4 } and (from) You alone do we
seek help.
5. Guide us to the straight path,
6. the path of those, on whom You have bestowed favours,
7. not (the path of those), upon whom is Your anger, nor
of those who are astray. ( R 1 )
Our Prophet (PBH), through the very first
revelation of the Quran, was ordered:
Recite in the name of your Fosterer Ch. 96
Vs. 1 and the name of his and our Fosterer is
Allah (SWT), as is evident from the very first
verse of the first chapter of the Quran:, Praise
is due only for Allah (SWT), the Fosterer of the
worlds.(1:1)
In view of this order of Allah (SWT), we should
recite/read before starting the recitation or reading
of the Holy Quran which is a part of the Quran,
occurring at the beginning of 113 out of 114 chapterof the Quran
and also as part of verse No. 30 of
chapter 27 of the Quran. Through verse No. 98 of
chapter 16, Allah Taala further orders: So when
you recite/read the Quran, seek the protection of
Allah from the accursed devil.
This means that we are required to pray;meaning: I seekthe
protection of Allah from the accursed devil,
even before reciting or reading:
Summarized Commentary
Chapter 1
(Revealed at Makkah)
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Vs No: 1 This verse is not only a logicalstatement of fact but
also an order Praise beonly for Allah because He alone fosters
theworlds. To praise someone we should know hiswork. In the verse
under discussion, the workof Allah is fostering His creation
i.e.maintaining and managing it. Therefore to praiseHim we should
not only have knowledge of Hiscreation but also the knowledge of
how Hemaintains and manages it, i.e. the laws governingthe
existence of the universe. The more we havethis knowledge, the more
we would be in aposition to praise Him appropriately. In view
ofthis and many other verses of the Quran invitingus to reflect on
His creation, acquiringknowledge of different components of
theuniverse and the laws governing their
existence and functioning, becomes incumbenton us. This shows
the importance of educationin Islam and indicates that we should
acquireeducation not only for earning our livelihoodbut also to
understand the Quran so that wecould implement it in our lives and
enjoy thebenefits here as well as in the hereafter.
Vs No: 2 It is apparent from this verse that whilefostering the
universe, most of the time, Heexhibits two of His Attributes of
being theBeneficent and the Merciful.
Vs No: 3 But at the same time He warns thatwhile He is
Protectively Forgiving and Merciful,
He is also severe in requiting evil. Ch. 5. Vs. 98.
These Attributes of His are not only exhibited
here but will also be exhibited in the life after
death, He being the Master of the day of
judgement. On this day we will be called by Him
to give an account of all our beliefs and actions.
Those who were obedient to Him will be sent to
paradise and the sinners will be sent to hell. Our
reward or punishment will be based on our record
of deeds which may be our memory. This ishinted through
Vs.nos.13 and 14 of Ch. 17.
And We have made every mans fate (or action)
to cling to his neck and We will bring out for
him on the day of resurrection, a book (or a
record) which he will find wide open. (It will be
said to him), Read your book (or record), this
day your own self is sufficient against you as
one who takes account.
Can we stop our intentions, thoughts, plans, deeds
whether good or bad, even our dreams from being
recorded on our memory? We can most of the
time recollect events from our memory which
appears to be a sort of a permanent record of our
life. Items recorded on floppies, cassettes etc. can
be viewed on screens even years after their
having been recorded. On the day of judgement,
our memory too could possibly be displayed on
some screen exhibiting all the details of our lives,private and
public, Allah is All Powerful to do
this and if He does this we would be utterly
helpless to deny our own memory. So should we
not be careful of our own memory and obey
all the orders of Allah (SWT) and His
messenger (PBH) and avoid all sins?
Vs. No: 4 Abd means a slave, therefore ourrelationship with
Allah is that of slaves with their
master but with the difference that we are to obey
all His orders willingly and we are not to begoverned by any
unpleasant feeling of
compulsion as indicated in the following verses
of the Quran.
..and whoever does good willingly, then
Allah is certainly One Who acknowledges, the
Knower Ch. 2 Vs. 158. There is no
compulsion in religion. Ch.2 Vs. 256.
The slave who willingly serves his master seeks
only his help, we too as slaves of Allah (SWT)should seek only
His help, because in fact, noother person can help us or anyone
else.
Say: Do you serve besides Allah (SWT)
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something which has no power, to harm or benefit
you, while Allah (SWT) is Hearing, Knowing?
Ch.5. Vs 76.
Seeking help from others, amounts to shrik i.e.
polytheism (Ch.36 Vs.7475) about which it isclearly laid down in
the Quran.
Allah certainly does not forgive associating
of partners with Him and He protectively
forgives (any sin) other than that, to whom He
wills; and one who associates partners with
Allah (SWT) has indeed erred, going far
astray Ch. 4 Vs. 116.
The terms Nabudu and Nastaiin indicate Aorist
tense i.e. both present and future. When we recitethis verse we
are not only mentioning our
present state but also making a commitment
that in future too we will serve (worship)
only Him and seek only His help because He is
our only Fosterer, our Benefactor, One Who is
Merciful to us and Who is our Master. If the
waw, connecting Nabudu and Nastaiin is taken
as explanatory then seeking Allahs help will also
be regarded as serving or worshipping Allah:
Vs.No: 5 - 6: The most important help that weare to seek is
guidance to the straight path leading
to paradise, the path which was followed by those
on whom Allah (SWT) bestowed His favours.
Vs.No.7: We also have to seek His help for
saving us from following the path of those who
earn His anger and those who go astray from the
straight path leading to paradise i.e. the path ofhell. Here too
if waw connecting Magzubi andAzzaaliin is taken as explanatory then
those whoearn Allahs (SWT) anger are those who are
astray from the right path.
Summary
This Sura appears to be an abstract or summaryof the rest of the
Quran, probably in this sense it
is stated:
And We have given you seven of the
frequently repeated (verses or subjects of
chapter No.1) and the great Quran ch.15 vs.87.
Vs.No.1 to 3 appear to summarise the details
given in the rest of the Quran about Allah (SWT),
His Attributes, His creation and the day of
judgement,
Vs.No 4. appears to be the title of the details
given regarding serving Allah (SWT) i.e.
obeying all His orders and the manner in which
His help is to be sought. Finally
Vs.Nos.5 to 7 appear to be an abstract of the
histories of messengers of Allah (SWT) sent to
various human communities and information of
the result of their messages, that those whom
Allah (SWT) favoured followed His message and
those who rejected the message earned His angerand went far
astray from the straight path leading
to paradise. This indicates that the Quran
summarily contains the following topics.
1. Allah and His Attributes
2. His creation (the universe)
3. Legislation for human conduct.4. Histories of messengers of
Allah (SWT) andthe communities to whom they were sent and5. Details
of the day of judgment, paradise andhell. Recitation of this Sura
in every Salat is
essential.
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