Surah al-Fatihah is a Cure for the Diseases of the Heart and the Body

[thayyuba bint shariff]

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH , MOST GRACIOUS,MOST MERCIFUL
Surah al-Fatihah is a Cure for the Diseases of the Heart and the Body



The disease of the heart occurs due to two basic matters:

1. The corruption of knowledge

2. The corruption of intent.

These in turn lead to two fatal illnesses: misguidance and anger,
misguidance being the end result of the corruption of
knowledge and anger being the end result of the corruption of intent. These two
illnesses are the kings of
all the diseases of the heart.



When one asks for guidance to the Straight Path then he is asking for that
which will cure the disease of misguidance.
This is why this Surah has been made obligatory upon every servant in every
prayer. Actualizing the
verse, "You Alone
we worship and You Alone we ask for help “serves as a cure for the corruption
of intent. This is because the intent is linked to the objectives and means of
attaining them.



Therefore this cure is composed of six matters:

1. Worshipping Allah Alone

2. By performing what He commanded and legislated

3. Not by following ones own desires

4. Neither by following the mere opinions of people

5. By asking Allah for His Help to enact this

6. And not relying on oneself

Furthermore the heart is beset with two dangerous and destructive diseases
and this verse serves as a cure for them.



Ibn Taymiyyah said,

‘You Alone we
worship’ represses ostentation and ‘You Alone we ask for help’represses
arrogance.



Mawdudi states:

Al-Fatihah is actually a prayer that
Allah teaches to all who embark upon the study of His Book. Its position
at the beginning signifies that anyone who wants to benefit from the Book
should first offer this prayer to the Lord of the Universe. Man
naturally prays only for what his heart desires and only
when he feels that the object of his desire is at the disposal of the One
to Whom his prayer is addressed.

The placing of this Surah at the head
of the Qur’an is a sign that Allah urges man to read this Book with the
aim of discovering the right course in life i.e. the Straight Way, to
study it with the earnestness of a
seeker after Truth, and never to forget that the real source of true
knowledge is Allah Himself. The student of the Book

should therefore begin by
making a humble petition to Him for true guidance .Once this is
grasped, it becomes self-evident that in relation
to the Qur’an this opening Surah, al-Fatihah is not just an introduction
or foreword; the relationship is really one of prayer and response.



Al-Fatihah is a prayer from man,
and the rest of the Qur’an is Allah’s response to this prayer. Man prays to
Allah that He may show him the Straight Way and in response to this prayer
Allah offers the Qur’an as the true guidance, the Straight Way which man
has sought and prayed for.

MAY ALLAH GUIDE US ALL TO THE STRAIGHT PATH


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