Lesson 5: The variances in the Chapters of the Qur’an and the Great Virtue of Surah Al-Fatiha by Alhuda Bolton

Sat 3 Feb 2018
✏️ Authentic Adhkār from the Qur’an & Sunnah:

Lesson 5: The variances in the Chapters of the Qur’an and the Great Virtue of Surah Al-Fatiha

• The chapters in the Qur’an have different levels of virtue
• NOTE: it is important to emphasise that ALL the chapters of the Qur’an are equal in one aspect, that is that they are all the speech of Allah and his revelation
o Therefore, all the chapters of Qur’an have a great status by default
• The remembrance of Allah through the recitation of the Qur’an and pondering over the Qur’an has a great amount of reward
• However, different chapters have certain virtues,
o the speech of Allah has different topics and this determines what types of virtues are present,
o For example, Suratul-Ikhlaas (The Sincerity) talks exclusively about the Tawhid of Allah (monotheism)
o Another example is surah #
• The speech of Allah can be of two types:
o 1. Information regarding the creator (e.g. the names and attributes of Allah) or the creation (e.g. stories of prophets, heaven and hell, future events)
o 2. Information regarding the rulings (halaal and haraam, commands)
• The greatest of the topics in the Qur’an is where Allah tells us about himself
o Therefore, those verses talking about Allah are going to be more virtues than the verses about the creation etc
• Virtues of Surah Al-Fatiha:
o Thwere is nothing in the Torah nor in the injeel (Bible) nor in the rest of the Qur’an that is equal to surah Al-Fatiha, see below hadith.
o Hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) went out to Ubayy bin Ka`b, and so the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said "O Ubayy!", and he (Ubayy) was praying, Ubayy turned and did not answer him. Ubayy made his prayer light then went to the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) saying, `Peace be unto you, O Messenger of Allah!' He said, "Peace be unto you. O Ubayy, what prevented you from answering me when I called you?" He said, `O Messenger of Allah! I was praying.' He said, "Did you not read among what Allah has sent down to me,"﴿اسْتَجِيبُواْ لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ﴾"Answer Allah (by obeying Him) and (His) Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life" [8:24]. He said, `Yes, O Messenger of Allah! I will not do it again.' the Prophet said, "Would you like me to teach you a Surah the likes of which nothing has been revealed in the Tawrah, the Injil, the Zabur (Psalms) or the Qur'an?" He said, `Yes, O Messenger of Allah!' The Messenger of Allah said, said, (What do you read in the prayer.) Ubayy said, `So I recited Umm Al-Qur'an to him.' He said, "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul! Allah has never revealed in the Tawrah, the Injil, the Zabur or the Qurqan a Surah like it. It is the seven repeated verses that I was given."[Reported by At-Tirmidhi, authenticated by Shaykh Al-Albaani]
o This hadith highlights to us the great virtue of Surah fatihah, it has different names, the seven oft repeated verses (see verse 15:87) and also the The core of the Qur’an. Other names are “Ash-Shifa” (the curer).
o Another virtue of Surah Al-Fatiha is that your prayer is invalid without it. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said whomsoever prays without reciting surah Al-Fatiha then his prayer will be incomplete. See below Hadith of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him)

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