00:00Al-Fatihah, which means the opening, is the first chapter in the Qur'an.
00:04Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, called it the greatest chapter.
00:08It's referred to as the mother of the book because it encompasses the entire message of the Qur'an.
00:13Every chapter that comes after stems from its central message.
00:17It's also known as the seven oft-repeated
00:20because its seven verses are recited several times throughout the day by Muslims during their daily prayers.
00:26Now, if we look at these seven verses, we can divide them into three main parts.
00:30First, we have verses 1 through 4, which discuss the nature of God,
00:34who he is, and some of his important qualities and attributes.
00:38The middle part is just one verse, verse 5,
00:41and it describes our relationship with God and what that should look like.
00:45The last part, verses 6 and 7, we ask God to guide us to the straight path.
00:50These three parts come together to form the central message of the opening.
00:55Now, let's dive into each part.
00:57The first part, which talks about the nature of God, begins with,
01:01in the name of God.
01:03This sets the tone not only for the chapter, but for how to approach everything we do.
01:07We learn from the very beginning that whether we are reading the Qur'an or even taking a sip of water,
01:13everything we do should be in God's name and for his sake.
01:17It's a way to calibrate our mindset and bring our focus back to God.
01:20The verse goes on to affirm two important names and attributes of God,
01:25the compassionate and the merciful.
01:27It's understood here that the word compassionate is meant for all of his creation in this world,
01:33and the word merciful is meant for the believers, particularly in the afterlife.
01:38In the second verse, we praise God, Lord of all worlds,
01:42expressing our gratitude for all his blessings and for making us part of his creation.
01:47God then reaffirms for the second time
01:50two of his important qualities, as the compassionate and the merciful.
01:54The last verse in this part refers to God as master of the day of judgment,
01:59which introduces us to the reality of an afterlife,
02:02when we will all stand before God to be judged on our actions,
02:06which will ultimately lead us to either heaven or hell.
02:09The next part, verse 5, describes the two components of what our relationship with God should be like.
02:15First, we should always remember God and worship him.
02:18And second, we should always turn to him to seek help and guidance.
02:22So we've talked about the nature of God, our relationship with God,
02:27and now we come to the last part of the chapter, which focuses on the straight path.
02:31In verses 6 and 7, we ask God to guide us to the straight path,
02:36the path that was taken by all the prophets and believers who came before us,
02:40and not to be with those who God is unhappy with or those who have gone astray.
02:44These three main pieces come together to teach us who God is and how to worship him.
02:50This central message of the opening sets the stage for what's to come throughout the Quran.
02:55Every single chapter, from here on out, will always tie back to the opening and its message.
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