Verse Seven:

صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِمْ غَيرِ المَغضُوبِ عَلَيهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّينَ {الفاتحة/7}

“The way of those upon whom you have bestowed Your Grace and Favors, not of those who have incurred your wrath or those who have gone astray.”‌

The ones upon whom Allah has bestowed his favors according to the religion of Islam are the righteous and the truthful. They are interpreted by Abus-Soud as the prophets of past nations. (Vol. 1:1) According to Al- Baghawi, the blessed people are the Prophet Muhammad and his companions (Vol.l: 37). Ar-Razi explains: “those who have incurred Allah’s wrath are the disobedient and those who have gone astray are the nonbelievers” (Vol.l: 154, 210).

In Chapter Sixteen of the Qur’an, Allah refers to t those who have gone astray saying: “They will bear their own burdens in full on the Day of Resurrection, and also the burdens of those whom they misled. Evil indeed is that which they shall bear” (25). Those who have gone astray are those who knew truth and ignored it. Such people are mistaken in their judgments. They are blinded to the truth and they are lost in the darkness of their blindness. A Muslim prays that Allah will keep him committed to the way of islam, and away from that of the disbelievers and hypocrites. In the Qur’an, Allah mentions that He does not guide those who chose to be disbelievers (16: 107), disobedient (5: l08) and unjust (2:258).

Allah’s blessings and graces to Man are uncountable, but in this life they are either physical or nonphysical. The physical graces are like health. The non-physical blessings are like knowledge. According to Al-Kalbi, Allah will also exercise His blessings and graces on us on the Day of Judgment (Vol.l: 32). This positive concept of the Divine Being encourages individuals to get closer to Allah, their loving protector.

أمين

This word means ‘O God, respond positively to me and accept my prayers and supplications’. This concluding part is not part of the sura. However, Muslims are recommended to say ‘Amen’ after the supplication, which ends this short sura. The Prophet Muhammad was quoted as saying: “When you hear the last verse of the Fatiha, you should say ‘Amen’ for when the angels hear the verse, they say ‘Amen’ (Al-Bukhari Vol.6 Hadith No.2). The sura ends with supplication to Allah to guide all human beings to righteousness and truthfulness. lt is a short sura that sums up the whole Qur’an and deals with all the basics of the religion of Islam.