The Glorious Fatihah
By: A. Mohamed
The research below is two-fold. The first section sheds light on the reason why the Fatihah, the first Sura of the Holy Quran, is recited during the daily Salat. The second section presents the intricate mathematical design placed by God Almighty in the Fatihah.
FIRST Why the Fatihah is recited during the Salat?
Since there is no direct instruction in the Quran to recite the Fatihah during the Salat, it is often asked as to why do we always recite this Sura during our Salat. The reasons for doing so are numerous.
1- In Sura, 7 we read about God's Beautiful Names, accompanied by an instruction to call Him by His Names:
To God belong the Beautiful Names, so call Him by them. 7:180
When we recite the Fatihah, we celebrate two of God's Glorious Names; "Al-Rahman" and "Al-Raheem". These names are recited in verses 1 and 3 of the Fatihah.
2- In Sura 45, we have an instruction to praise God, the Lord of the worlds:
So praise be to God, the Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earth; Lord of the worlds. 45:36
In verse 2 of the Fatihah, we comply with this instruction by reciting the words "Praise be to God", and the words "Lord of the worlds".
3- The utterance of the words "Lord of the worlds" acknowledges our acceptance of God's absolute authority over all matters. In Sura 82, we are reminded that no one on Judgment Day possesses the power to help anyone else and that it is God in whose hands belong all matters:
And how would you know what the Day of the Religion is? Then, how would you know what the Day of the Religion is? It is the Day when no self possesses any power to help any other self, and all matters on that Day will be decided by God alone. 82:17-19
We note that in Sura 82, God used the words "Day of the Religion" and not the customary "Day of Resurrection". We also read that no one "possesses" any power to benefit any other on that Day.
When we recite verse 4 of the Fatihah, we fulfil the exact words in Sura 82. This is by proclaiming that God is the "Possessorof the Day of the Religion".
4- Perhaps, the most important command in all of the Quran is that of worshipping God alone:
Do not worship except God. 11:2
We fulfill this great command when we recite the words: "You alone we worship" (verse 5), provided of course that we utter these words sincerely and that we apply these words in our life.
5- Accepting God's absolute authority over all things leads us to make God the One whom we seek for help.
Seek God's help and be patient. 7:128
In reciting the words: "You alone we ask for help" (verse 5), we fulfill this Quranic instruction.
6- We read in Sura 2 that it is God who guides to the straight path:
God guides whom He wills to a straight path. 2:213
By reciting the words "Guide us to the straight path" (verse 6), we implore God to make us among those guided to the straight path.
7- The greatest reward the human being can attain is God's blessing:
The ones who obey God and the messenger, they shall be with those whom God has blessed of the prophets, the truthful ones, the witnesses and the righteous. What fine company such people are! 4:69
By reciting the words "those whom You have blessed" (verse 7), we implore God to make us among those whom He has blessed:
8- In contrast, those who have incurred God's wrath will be in utter ruin:
Do not transgress therein or my wrath will fall upon you. Whoever incurs My wrath has surely plunged to his ruin. 20:81
By reciting the words "not of those who have incurred wrath" (verse 7), we implore God not to make us among those who have incurred His wrath:
9- Not least, those who transgressed and rejected God's revelations will never be guided by God:
Whomever God misguides, you will not find for him a way. 4:88
By reciting the words "nor of the misguided" (verse 7), we also implore God not to make us among the misguided ones.
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To attain the full benefit of the words we read in the Fatihah, they must be recited with sincerity and with a genuine intention of applying them in our daily life.
Finally, the Fatihah is the only Sura that has the following attributes:
FIRST: As presented above, it is evident that the Fatihah is not a mere collection of righteous words, rather, the Fatihah incorporates all the major acts of the religion of Islam. These acts are:
Worshipping God alone, praising and glorifying God, acknowledging God's absolute authority, dependence on God alone, being on the straight path, being among those whom God has blessed, not being among those who have incurred God's wrath or the misguided.
As such, the Fatihah can be regarded as a synopsis of the religion of Islam.
SECOND: As shown above, the Fatihah is the only Sura in the Quran whereby every one of its verses is a fulfilment of a principal Quranic verse.
THIRD: In its entirety, the Fatihah is a prayer addressed to God by the believers. No other Sura has such a property.
He who achieves the mentioned acts and benefits of the Fatihah will no doubt be among the winners to be rewarded with Paradise, and indeed, has nothing to fear.
SECOND: Mathematical design in the Fatihah
The Arabic word Al-Fatihah has two meanings: the 'Key' and also the 'Opener'. The Fatihah is God's gift to the believers to establish contact with Him. The word Salat means connection or contact, and that is why the Fatihah is recited when we make contact with our Maker. This fact is supported by a miraculous mathematical design in the Fatihah. A design that is easy to witness yet impossible to duplicate.
Table 1
The Fatihah verses: words, letters and
Gematrical values
Verse | Words | Letters | G. Value |
1 | 4 | 19 | 786 |
2 | 4 | 17 | 581 |
3 | 2 | 12 | 618 |
4 | 3 | 11 | 241 |
5 | 4 | 19 | 836 |
6 | 3 | 18 | 1072 |
7 | 9 | 43 | 6009 |
Total | 29 | 139 | 10143 |
1- Sura (1) - verses (7) - number of words in the Sura (29):
1 7 29 = 19 x 91
1 + 7 + 2 + 9 = 19
1 1234567 = 19 x 5912932- Sura number (1) - GV of the Sura (10143):
1 10143 = 19 x 5797
4- Sura number (1) followed by the number of every verse in the Sura:
3- Sura (1) - verses (7) - letters (139) - GV of the Sura (10143):
1 7 139 10143 = 19 x 90205797
4- Sura number (1) followed by the number of every verse in the Sura:
5- Sura number (1) - followed by the number of letters in every verse:
1 19 17 12 11 19 18 43 = 19 x 6272169010097
6- The number of letters in each of the 7 verses in reverse order:
43 18 19 11 12 17 19 = 19 x 2272732164301
7-Sura (1) - verses (7) - number of words in each of the 7 verses:
1 7 4423439 = 19 x 9180181
8- Sura number - followed by the number of letters in every verse - followed by the G. Value of the verse:
1 19(786) 17(581) 12(618) 11(241) 19(836) 18(1072) 43(6009) =
19 x 630453556901377953901044009530128211
9- The same figure in item 3 but with its components written backwards:
(6009)43 (1072)18 (836)19 (241)11 (618)12 (581)17 (786)19 1
= 19 x 3162858459046506275848220066216725589
10- Same as point 3 but with the insertion of the verse numbers:
1 1 (19 786) 2 (17 581) 3 (12 618) 4 (11 241) 5 (19 836) 6 (18 1072) 7 (43
6009) = 19 x 5893611671480592728480218525455884775128211
11- Sura number (1) - number of verses in the Sura (7) - the first verse number (1) - the number of letters in the first verse (19) - GV of every letter in first verse. This is followed by the same data for verse 2, then verse 3 and so on until verse number 7.
For demonstration, the Sura number (1), followed by the number of verses in the Sura (7), followed by the parameters of verse 1 will read:
1 7 1 19 (2 60 40) (1 30 30 5) (1 30 200 8 40 50) (1 30 200 8 10 40)
This is then followed by the parameters of verses 2,3,4,5,6 and 7.
The resulting number is made up of 274 digits and is also a multiple of 19.
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The frequency of the word 'Allah' in the Sura also plays an important role in the mathematical design of the Sura. The word 'Allah' appears twice in the Sura, once in verse number 1, and once in verse number 2 (total 2).
12- Sura number (1) - number of words in the Sura (29) - frequency of the word Allah in the Sura (2):
1 29 2 = 19 x 68
13- Sura number (1) - number of words in Sura (29) - number of letters
(139) in Sura - frequency of the word Allah in Sura (2):
1 29 139 2 = 19 x 67968
14- Sura (1) - verses in Sura (7) - words in Sura (29) - letters in Sura (139) - GV of the Sura (10143) - frequency of the word Allah in Sura (2):
1 7 29 139 10143 2 = 19 x 91007321128
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The following patterns demonstrate the relation of the first verse of the Fatihah (Basmalah) within the whole Sura:
15- Sura (1), verse (1) 'Basmala', number of words in 'Basmala' (4):
1 1 4 = 19 x 6 (Number of Suras in the Quran).
16- Sura (1), verses (7), total letters of the Sura (139), verse (1) has (4) words and (19) letters.
Place all these numbers side by side:
1 7 139 1 4 19 = 19 x 9020601
17- The total of the previous numbers:
1 + 7 + 139 + 1 + 4 + 19 = 171
= 19 x 9
18- Sura (1) + verses (7) + number of words in 'Basmala' (4) + the number of letters in ‘Basmala (19), + the G. Value of the 'Basmala' (786):
1 + 7 + 4 + 19 + 786 = 817
= 19 x 43
19-Sura (1) - Number of verses in Sura (7) - Verse 1 (Basmalah) - Number of words in Basmalah (4) - Number of letters in Basmalah (19) - GV of Basmalah (786).
1 7 1 4 19 786 = 19 x 9022094
20- Again the appearance of the word Allah is a feature of the signs of the
'Basmala':
Sura number (1) - Verse (1) Basmalah - Number of letters in
Basmalah (19) - Number of times the word God appears in
Basmalah (1).
1 1 19 1 = 19 x 589
21- Finally, the following are GV of the 19 letters of the Basmalah:
(2 60 40) (1 30 30 5) (1 30 200 8 40 50) (1 30 200 8 10 40)
If we add the single digits we get 66
The G. Value of the word Allah is 66.
All praise and glory to God,
the One, the Almighty
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