The Cure An Explanation of the Opening Chapter Soorah al Faatihah By Sheikh Muhammad ibn Saalih Al-‘Uthaimeen

• Soorah al-Faatihah (the Opening Chapter) was named as such due to the order of the chapters and because it was the first complete chapter to have been revealed.

• The scholars have said that this Soorah (chapter) consists of the general meaning of the Qur’an regarding: Tawheed (worshipping Allaah alone), rulings and regulations, recompense, showing the different paths the children of Adam take etc. This is why it is called the ‘Mother of the Qur’an’ (Umm al-Qur’an). The foundation of anything is called ‘Its mother’. It is also called, ‘The seven oft-repeated Verses’ (As-Sab’al Mathaanee).

• This Soorah has characteristics that distinguish it from others. From those characteristics is that it is a pillar of the prayer, which, in turn, is the greatest pillar in Islam after the testification of faith. There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the opening chapter of the Qur’an. It is also a ‘Ruqya’ (incantation – used as a cure when read over someone). When read over the sick they are cured by the permission of Allaah because the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said to the one who read it over a person who had been bitten by a scorpion and was cured, “How did you come to know that it is a ‘Ruqya’ (incantation)?"

• Some people today have invented innovations regarding this Soorah such that they end their supplications with it and begin their sermons with it. They also read it at special occasions and this is wrong. For example, you will find that when he supplicates, he says to those around him ‘Al-Faatihah’, meaning read Al-Faatihah. Some people use it for their (special) occasions and this is also wrong. The reason being, is that aspects of worship are built upon limiting oneself to the text (of this legislation) and upon following (the Messengersallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam).