As-salaam wa-alaikum, brothers and sisters.
Summary
Today is the last day of our 365 day journey and we will finish the Qur’an at the beginning with Surah 1, Al-Fatiha or The Opening. It is theorized that this was the first complete Surah revealed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). It is meant to instruct the reader that if he/she wants to sincerely benefit from the Qur’an, they should offer this prayer to God. Tafseer for this Surah further expounds on this Surah’s significance.
We will start year 6 on June 26th. The reason to continue the podcast is because we’re not meant to read the Qur’an just once and put it down. It is a life-long journey so we will continue to release an episode each day so that they are delivered fresh to your podcast apps. I will try to explore different pieces of tafseer from time to time but by and large, I invite you to consider the Qur’an anew in this fifth year.
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Verses
Bis-millahi ar-rahman, ar-raheem.
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.[1]
Praise by to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds;[2]
Most Gracious, Most Merciful;[3]
Master of the Day of Judgment.[4].
Thee do we worship and Thine aid we seek.[5]
Show us the straight way,[6]
The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace; those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.[7]
Ameen.
Tafseer
On the significance of this Surah:
This preface is meant to create a strong desire in the heart of the reader to seek guidance from the Lord of the Universe, Who alone can grant it. Thus Al-Fatiha indirectly teaches that the best thing for a person is to pray for guidance to the straight path, to study the Qur’an with the mental attitude of a seeker- after-truth and to recognize the fact that the Lord of the Universe is the source of all knowledge. He should, therefore, begin the study of the Qur’an with a prayer to him for guidance.
From this theme, it becomes clear that the real relation between Al-Fatiha and the Qur’an is not that of an introduction to a book but that of a prayer and its answer. Al-Fatiha is the prayer from the servant and the Qur’an is the answer from the Master to his prayer. The servant prays to Allah to show him guidance and the Master places the whole of the Qur’an before him in answer to his prayer, as if to say, “This is the Guidance you begged from Me.”
This concludes today’s episode of the 17 Verses Podcast. I hope that this selection has helped increase your understanding of the holy Qur’an just a little bit.
Thank you and be well.