Lesson Two
The interpretation of Fortress -The Opening
(Part One)
Fortress[1] of the Opening (Al-Fatiha Surah )
1. "In the Name of God, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful.
2. All praise is to God, the Provider of worlds.
3. The All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful.
4. The Only Possessor of Judgment Day.
5. It is You we worship, and It is You we ask for help.
6. Guide us to the straight path:
7. The path of those whom You have blessed not of those who have incurred Your Wrath, nor of those who have gone astray."
The Prophet (cpth) says in the noble Hadith: "No communication with God (that is, no prayer) is performed by those who do not read the Opening Fortress of the holy Book ‘Al-Fatiha’." [ Narrated by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, and Ahmad in his Musnad.]
Another Hadith states: "Whoever performs a prayer without reciting the Opening Fortress of the Book: indeed their prayer is imperfect! Imperfect! Imperfect!"[2]
Verse no. 1
1."In the Name of God, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful,"
After saying "I proudly seek refuge in God from the cursed Satan," you can say "In the Name of God, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful."
What is the meaning of "In the Name of God" ?
What is the meaning of "the All-Compassionate" ?
What is the meaning of "the All-Merciful" ?
To explain the meaning of "In the Name of God" we will give an example. When a judge pronounces a judgement, he says: "in the name of the law" ; that is ―I am the judge, revealing the punishment which the law has decided." Also, when a president says: "I speak in the name of the people" , he means "I reveal what they ask me to reveal and declare what they wish for."
Accordingly, our saying "In the Name of God" means ‘I recite only the Words of Al’lah to myself and to all others, revealing God’s Command and delivering the words of the Obeyed One.’
What, however, are the Attributes of this ‘Obeyed One’? He is "the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful."
This "Compassionate" quality encompasses every being, and its good spreads over every single being throughout all of creation.
"The All-Compassionate" is the One Who obliges all of creation with the cure; that is, the spiritual cure.
The Almighty Al’lah treats the ailing, the poor, the anxious and the grieving in accordance with His Name, ‘Compassionate’. Therefore sickness, poverty, anxiety, and grief, and even affliction and torment are all part of Al’lah’s Compassion for humankind. Through them spiritual redemption and the gradual advance from one state to another can be achieved.
For the most part, affliction creates the drive and strength of will that result in a return to God’s Advice, and the motive that draws the wayward spirit back to Al’lah.
Once it has returned, a spirit is cured by being close to God, and there it becomes cleansed of the dirt it has gathered.
In general, when hardships descend upon someone who deserves them, they are in truth a kind of goodness and compassion from Al’lah, and always bring hidden benefits for the afflicted.
Through the Name ‘the All-Compassionate’, sickness becomes the health of those who were sick, poverty becomes wealth, failure success, and difficulty ease. Through the Name ‘the Compassionate’, all creation evolves in experiencing Godly Favour, time after time. Through the Name ‘the All-Compassionate’, you –humanity– have come out of nonbeing into being. Because of this Name you live, and through it you will also be raised to life after death.
Through the Name ‘the All-Compassionate’, the believer ascends gradually in Godly Knowledge from a particular rank of perfection to a higher one, day by day. Through the Name ‘the All-Compassionate’, people’s torment in the Fire will increase until its severity makes them forget the pain of their spiritual diseases. These diseases arise because of their submission to the selfish whims of this worldly life and their breaches of the Commands of the Provider of worlds. They will therefore be immersed in the burning agony of Hellfire, where they will wish to forget the dreadful torment of their spirits and the horrible destruction of their disease.
Through the Name ‘the All-Compassionate’, the Almighty will reveal Himself to the believers in Paradise, so that they may ascend through the different degrees of divine proximity, climb the ladder of perfection from one level to the next, and so on. The goodness contained in this Name never stops; nor does the All-Compassionates Good will end.
Thus, the All-Compassionate is the One Who manifests Himself to His followers (Ibad) [3]with compassion, and this is not restricted to obedient believers. His Compassion spreads over every person according to their moral state in this life and in the hereafter.
That is why the believers are in Paradise, enjoying what their Provider has prepared for them: the eternal bliss which is in congruence with their healthy spirits. Meanwhile, the unbelievers are treated by the fires of Hell, suffering from constant burning agony, which is an appropriate outcome of the moral diseases they carried during their lives. That is one of the ways in which Al’lah is Merciful. He (glory to Him) shows compassion towards His creation because He Himself is Merciful.[4]
"The All-Merciful" is the One Who manifests Himself to His obedient followers in grace and welfare. This Name, however, is limited to the believing obedient follower. They live good lives in this world, enjoying the Favour of their Merciful Provider, as well as enjoying the eternal bliss He has prepared for them in Paradise.
Verse no. 2
2. "All praise is to God, the Provider of worlds."
To understand this noble verse, we will explain it word by word, in order to grasp its full meaning.
We say that the word "praise" expresses an appreciation for the benefactor generated in the spirit, and the feelings of gratitude towards the giver which arise therein.
The gratitude which we feel towards the one who has brought goodness to us is a kind of praise. When we feel gratitude for or acceptance of God’s Role in our lives, the appreciation which we show to the one who has granted us grace, from whom favour has come, is also a kind of praise.
As we can see, praise is a spiritual state. It arises in the spirit towards the benefactor and giver when we see his favour and his charity.
However, nothing can be praised unless it includes every kind of goodness in all its different aspects, is free of defects, and lacks nothing.
Similarly, a person cannot be praised unless their benevolence is all-inclusive and their favour prevalent. That is some of what we understand the word ‘praise’ to mean.
So, who is the one who should be praised?
Who is the one who deserves to be praised, such that everybody or even every being and every spirit should praise him for each deed or action?
The Envoy (cpth) tells us on behalf of Al’lah that praise should be only to God. Therefore the Almighty says: "to God" that is, ‘to the Obeyed’.
As previously mentioned in the phrase "I proudly seek refuge in God from the cursed Satan," ‘the Obeyed’ is the One Who forced existence to submit to His Will.
He alone steers the course of the whole of creation, and He alone is the Director of its affairs, guiding them for their own benefit according to His Will.
What we mean when we say "All praise is to God…" is that anything which God brings to His obedient followers is full of goodness and charity, and any action performed by Him, the Almighty, for His creation is loaded with Godly Favour and Kindness. This is not limited to humanity; this Favour and Kindness spread over each of His creatures. God is praised for every event occurring in this universe.
Thus if the veil was removed, all creatures, without exception, would praise God Almighty for what had been brought to them. The sick would praise God for the diseases with which He had inflicted them.
So it is for the troubled and the aggrieved; if the veil was removed, they would praise God for the trouble and the grief with which He had afflicted them. The criminal, as he is being driven to the Fire, will praise God for the pain and the torture he is about to experience. Praise, then, is due to God in all cases, in this life and in the hereafter.
This means that everything which God decrees for His obedient followers is nothing but goodness and mercy, and all that He treats them with is absolute grace and beneficence.
If you achieve a connection with God, you will have a detailed awareness of this, and will believe wholeheartedly that all praise should be to God. Thus, "All praise is to God," means ‘to the Obeyed’. He, the Almighty, is obeyed because He is the Provider of worlds.
"The Provider of worlds" : ‘The Provider’ means ‘the Sustainer’ who provides an entity with existence, growth, power and life.
"The Provider" means the One Who holds the secret of continuous sustenance, whose nourishment does not cease for an instant - or even less than an instant - in His creation.
The word "worlds" is the plural of ‘world’. The stars in the sky, beasts, birds, fish in the seas, bees, germs, humankind, jinn, blood cells, and everything else: each one is a world in itself.
Plants also contain many worlds, and each world contains worlds, and so on...
The Almighty God provides all these worlds moment by moment and day by day. He is (glory to Him) the Provider of all the worlds. Praise is to God, the Obeyed, as He is the Sustainer and the Director. Everything praises Him because He moves everything in a way that is suitable for it and that entails good for it.
Why does Al’lah treat everything in His creation with kindness and bring them nothing but that which contains good?
The Envoy (cpth) demonstrates that Al’lah treats His creation so because He is the All- Compassionate, the All-Merciful. For this reason, the Almighty says: "The All- Compassionate, the All-Merciful."