Tafseer Soorah al-Faatihah
Creator: `Allaamah Muhammad al-Ameen ash-Shanqeetee
Date: 2006-05-07
Format: text
Identifier: http://www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=21
Language: en
Source: `Adwaa al-Bayan
Subject: quran
Title: Tafseer Soorah al-Faatihah
Created on: Sun May 07 20:11:53 -0400 2006
Updated on: Mon Sep 25 13:29:30 -0400 2006
Version: 3
Abstract: ... ing, ‘And what will make you comprehend what the Day of Deen is? Again what will make you comprehend what the Day of Deen is? It is the Day when no person shall have power (to do) anything for another.’ (83:17-19). And the meaning of Deen in the verse is recompense, as can be seen in His saying, ‘on that Day Allaah will pay them their deen in truth’ (24:25) meaning: the recompense of their actions with complete justice. The saying of the Exalted, ‘You Alone we worship’: Indicating in this noble verse to the realisation of the meaning of Laa ilaaha illaa Allaah (there is none worthy of worship except for Allaah) for it’s meaning is comprised of two matters: negation and affirmation. So the negation aspect means to remove every single object of worship apart from Allaah in all the actions of worship, and the affirmation aspect means to single out the Lord of the heavens and the earth Alone for all matters of worship in the way that has been legislated by the Sharee’ah. This negation in the laa ilaaha illaa Allaah was indicated by placing the object of worship first in the verse hence, ‘You Alone’, and it is established in ‘al-Usul’ under the discussion on ‘Daleel al-Khitaab Alladhee huwa Mafhum al-Mukhaalafa’, and in ‘al-Ma’aanee’ under the discussion of ‘al-Qasr’: that placing the object first (in a sentence) is one if the ways of confining (the meaning of the verb to the object alone).And the affirmation part of the kalima was indicated in His saying, ‘we worship’. And He, the Exalted, explained this meaning which is indicated here in detail elsewhere. For example His saying, ‘O Mankind! Worship your Lord who created you’ (2:21) Clarifying the affirmation aspect with his words, ‘worship your Lord’ and the negation aspect at the end of this noble verse with His words, ‘so do not set up rivals with Allaah while you know’ (2:22). And for example His saying, ‘We have indeed sent a Messenger to every people saying: worship Allaah and leave all that is worshipped besides Allaah’ (16:36) Clarifying the affirmation with His words, ‘worship Allaah’ and the negation with His words, ‘and leave all that is worshipped besides Allaah’. And for example His saying, ‘And whosoever rejects all that is worshipped besides Allaah and believes in Allaah has held onto the most trustworthy handhold’ (2:256) Clarifying the negation with his words, ‘whosoever rejects all that is worshipped besides Allaah’ and the affirmation with His words, ‘and believes in Allaah’. And for example His sayings, ‘And when Abraham said to his father and his people: Indeed I am free of what you worship except He who created me’ (43:26-27 ‘And We did not send a Messenger before you except that We revealed to him: that there is none worthy of worship but Me, so worship Me’ (21:25) ‘Ask those of Our Messengers whom We sent before you: Did We ever appoint gods to be worshipped besides Allaah’ (43:45) And other verses. The saying of the Exalted, ‘You Alone we ask for help’: meaning that we do not seek aid from anyone but You because the command/affair in it’s totality is under Your control Alone, no one else has even an atoms weight of control over it. And in this statement’s following His saying, ‘You Alone we worship’ lies an indication that it is not permissible to put our trust in anyone except the One that deserves worship because no one else has control over the command/affair. This meaning which is indicated here is clearly explained in other verses, like His sayings, ‘So worship Him and put your trust in Him’ (12:123 ‘But if they turn away, say: Allaah is sufficient for me, none has the right to be worshipped but Him, in Him I put my trust’ (9:129 ‘The Lord of the East and the West, none deserves to be worshipped but Him, so take Him as the Disposer of your affairs’ (73:9 ‘Say: He is the Most Beneficent, we have believed in Him and put our trust in Him’ (67:29) The saying of the Exalted, ‘the path of those whom You have favoured’: there is no explanation here as to who are the ones that have been favoured, but this is explained in another place with His saying, ‘And whosoever obeys Allaah and the Messenger then they will be in the company of those that Allaah has favoured: of the Prophets, the Truthful Ones (Siddeeq), the Martyrs and the Righteous - what an excellent company!’ (4:69). Addendum 1: the correctness of the khaleefate of Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq (RA) can be derived from this noble verse because he is included amongst those that Allaah has commanded us, in the Great Qur’aan and the Seven Oft-Repeated Verses - I mean al-Faatihah, to ask Him that He guide us to their path thus indicating that their path is the Straight Path. This lies in His saying, ‘guide us to the Straight Path, the Path of those whom You have favoured’ and He explained who these favoured people were and included amongst them the Siddeeqeen. And he (SAW) explained that Abu Bakr (RA) was from amongst the Siddeeqeen, so it becomes clear that he is included amongst those that Allaah has favoured - those that Allaah has commanded us to ask Him to guide us to their path. So there remains no doubt that Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq was upon the Straight Path and that his khilaafate was correct. Addendum 2: you have come to know that the Siddeeqeen are from those that Allaah has favoured. And Allaah has made clear that Maryam the daughter of Imraan was a Siddeeqa in His saying, ‘and His mother was a Siddeeqa’ (5:75). So is Maryam included in His saying, ‘those whom you have favoured’ or not? The answer: whether or not she is included amongst them is dependent upon a foundational principle which has a well known dispute over it. This is - does the sound masculine plural and it’s likes which occurs in the Qur’aan and the Sunnah include the feminine gender in all cases or only in those cases for which there is a specific evidence? A group of scholars took to the opinion that it does - so according to them Maryam is included in the above verse. And these scholars depended upon two proofs: The consensus of the people of the Arabic Language that the masculine gender takes prevalence over the feminine.{4} There a number of verses which prove that the females are included in the sou... [Full Article...]
