The Virtues of Surah al'Fatiha
There are a number of ahaadeeth explaining to us
the great virtue of this chapter:
1. Muslim reports from Abu Hurayrah Radi Allah
Anhu who said that the Messenger of Allah Sallalahu Alayhi
Wasallam said, Allah, the Glorious and Exalted said, "I have
divided the prayer between Myself and my servant equally and My
servant shall be granted what he asked for." Therefore when
the servant says, 'all praises and thanks are due to Allah, the
Lord of the universe', Allah says, 'My servant has
praised Me.' When he says, 'the Most Beneficent,
the Most Merciful,' Allah says, 'My servant has
extolled Me.' When he says, 'Master of the Day of
Judgement,' Allah says, 'My servant has glorified
Me.' When he says, 'You Alone we worship and Your
aid Alone do we seek,' Allah says, 'this is
between Me and My servant and My servant shall have what he
requested.' When he says, 'guide us to the
Straight Path, the Path of those whom You have favoured, not of
those who have incurred [Your] wrath, neither of those who have
gone astray,' Allah says, 'this is for My servant
and My servant shall have what he asked for.' [SahihMuslim
[<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
/><st1:country-region><st1:place>Eng.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
Trans. 1/215 no. 775]]
2. At-Tirmidhee reports from Abu Hurayrah Radi
Allah Anhu who said that the Messenger of Allah Sallalahu
Alayhi Wasallam said,
[The chapter commencing with], "all praises and thanks are due
to Allah the Lord of the Universe" is the Mother of the Quran,
the Mother of the Book, the Seven Oft Repeated Verses and the
Great Quran. [i.e. Ummul Quran, Ummul Kitaab, Sab`ul Mathaanee
and al-Quranul Adheem. Reported by at-Tirmidhee [no. 3344] and
it is Sahih as stated by al-Albaanee in 'Sahih Sunan at-Tirmidhee'
[no. 2498].]
3. Ahmad reports from Abu Hurayrah Radi Allah
Anhu who said,
".The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alahi wa-sallam) asked,
"would you like me to teach you a Surah the likes of which is
not to be found in the Torah, Injeel, Zaboor or the [rest of
the] Quran?" He said, "yes O Messenger of Allah." The Prophet
Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam said, "I hope that I will not leave
this door until you know it."
Ubayy said, "then he took hold of my hand and talked to me
while I slowed down fearing that we may reach the door before
he finished talking. When we did reach it I asked him, 'what is
the Surah you promised me, O Messenger of Allah?' He said,
'what is the Surah you recite in prayer?' So I recited the
Mother of the Quran upon which he said, 'by the One in Whose
Hand is my soul, Allah has not revealed the likes of it in the
Torah, Injeel, Zaboor or the [rest of the] Quran. It is the
Seven Oft-Repeated verses.'" [Ahmad [5/114], ibn Khuzaymah
[1/252 no. 500] and others. Its isnaad was declared Sahihby
Mustafaa al-A`dhamee in his takhreej to ibn Khuzaymah]
4. Ahmad reports from Abu Sa`d ibn al-Mu`allaa
Radi Allah Anhu who said,
"...... He {(Prophet (sallallahu alahi wa-sallam)} then said,
"I will teach
a Surah which is the greatest Surah in the Quran before you
leave the Mosque." Then he grasped hold of my hand and when he
intended to leave [the Mosque], I asked him, "did you not say
that you would teach me a Surah which is the greatest Surah in
the Quran?" He replied, "yes. It is [the Surah commencing
with], 'All praise and thanks are due to Allah.' It is the
Seven Oft-Repeated verses and the Great Quran that has been
given to me." [Bukhari [Eng. Trans. 6/1 no.1], Ahmad [3/450]
and the wording is his]
5. Muslim reports from ibn Abbaas Radi Allah
Anhu who said,
While the Messenger of Allah Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam was
sitting with Jibreel he heard a creaking sound above him.
Jibreel looked up and said, "this is [the sound of] a gate
that has been opened in heaven today and has never been
previously opened." Then an Angel descended through it and came
to the Prophet Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam and said, "rejoice in
the good news of two lights that have been given to you such
as no prophet before you has been given. [They are] Surah al-Faatihah
and the concluding [two] verses of Surah al-Baqarah. You will
never recite a word from them without being given the blessings
they contain." [SahihMuslim [<st1:country-region><st1:place>Eng.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
Trans. 2/586 no. 1759]]
This hadeeth has led some scholars to suggest that Jibreel did
not convey the revelation of Surah al-Faatihah and the last
two verses of al-Baqarah, rather it was the Angel mentioned in
this hadeeth. However the correct opinion is that Jibreel did
indeed convey the revelation of these verses as he was
enjoined by Allah to convey the entire Quran to the Prophet
Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam.
The Angel that descended as mentioned in this hadeeth descended
only to convey the reward of these verses.
Reference:
Tafseer of Surah al-Fatihah, compiled by Abu Rumaysah,(This
commentary is a compilation gathered from a number of
commentaries written.) These being: Tafseer at-Tabaree
Tafseer al-Qurtubi [Jaami lil Ahkaam al-Quran]
Tafseer ibn Katheer
Tafseer ash-Shawkanee [Fath al-Qadeer]
Tafseer as-Sa`dee [Tayseer al-Kareem ar-Rahmaan]
Tafseer ash-Shanqeetee [Adwaa al-Bayaan fee Eedaah al-Quran bil
Quran].