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If social behaviour is
not restrained and it is not trained on collective considerations,
mere individuality can not guard against deinviduation which
ultimately leads to dehumanization. In this context, it would
be seen that Al-Faatihah tames animality and trains man for
his social responsibilities and behaviour in collective settings.
It guards against emergence of ‘animality’ and
inculcates humanity. The use of plurals in this verse creates
dominating atmosphere and environment of common feelings of
sympathy, harmony and unity. This particularly cuts at the
very root of ‘animality’ raising its head in a
‘herd'. It inculcates individual and collective civility
and responsibility, through mutual love, respect and higher
human values in all situations. Above all, Al-Faatihah strengthens
the slave’s bond and his covenant with his Creator-Sustainer
in the oft-repeated submissions in personal audience and meetings,
even communion, at least five times a day. All the time God
conscious believer remains in ‘contact’ and he
doesn’t lose connectivity whether alone or in a company,
a crowd or a mob. It is the quality of the ‘Muttaqii’
(God conscious, God fearing, dutiful, righteous) that he fears
God as a dutiful conscious servant, in all situations, without
seeing Him.
This in fact guards against chances of such mischief,
crime and other corruption on the earth which destroyed many
societies, civilizations and nations, when they behaved like
herds and animality was born from twin action of deindividuation
and dehumanization e.g., in the last two world wars.
Fitnaah (The Trial)
Fitnaah:The
term refers to the process by which gold is separated from
other elements. It implies the tests and trials through which
believers are separated and distinguished from unbelievers
and hypocrites. Whether an individual gets guided to the true
path or goes astray by these trials or tests depends upon
his attitude towards the whole concept of the Diin and his
strength of belief. Verse 7-177 precisely explains both outcomes.
In wider sense all acts and deeds leading man astray are covered
in the meaning of Fitnaah. In 2- 191 and 2-217 it has been
held as ‘worse than slaughter’. Riches, children,
luxuries etc. all are included in the meaning of this term,
e.g in 64-15. If one takes positive attitude during test or
trial (fitnaah), he can feel closer to Allah. The believer
seizes upon the occasion to prove perseverance and commitment
to the high ideals acceptable to Allah. He attains maturity
of his personality during such challenges, both in affluence
and adversity. In the same situation the unbeliever may go
astray.
Collective approach in Al-Faatihah provides protection
from and trains believers for following situations: (i) When
there are temptations and the mischievous make effort to put
people into Fitnaah :17-73, 5-49, 37-161 to 163. (ii) Causing
Fitnaah : More than the resistance of the unbelievers and
violence of the disbelievers, hypocrites (Munaafiquun) ‘cause
fitnaah’. Al-Faatihah creates consciousness and awareness
of such situations and eventualities. It prepares pro-active
attitude and conscience for the common good of the society,
as is evident from the supplication itself. (iii) Guarding
against disputes: Oppression has always remained extremely
severe against believers. They use discord as the divisive
force in the ranks of believers. Therefore, believers have
to maintain unity and protect against external onslaughts:
“The unbelievers are protectors, one of
another:
Unless you do this (remain united and protect
each other)
There will be tumult and oppression on earth,
and great mischief.” 8-73
(iv) Common
causes of Fitnaah: (a) Holding one’s own desires above
the Pleasure of Allah, (b) Heedlessness, (c) Forgetting or
denying, temporary nature of life, world and everything, death,
resurrection, reckoning, and retribution, (d) Being carried
away by lusts, luxuries, abundance, affluence etc, (e) Possessions:
38-31 to 33, (f) Personal pride, qualities, faculties, attitudes,
aptitudes, etc. (g) Challenges including injustice, oppression,
torture, etc, etc. As in all other cases, but particularly
in this category, the list is too long: 10-83,85-10, 24-63,
10-85, 60-5, (h) Distress, Disaster, Disease, catastrophe,
etc., e.g., 9-126.
Keeping above in mind, in verses 6 and 7 of Al-Faatihah,
in their vastness, a servant seeks Allah’s help during
entire course of his journey in the world, in all situations.
The world is a place of trials, where one is tested in one
or the other way:
“Do men think that they will be left alone
on saying: ‘We believe’,
and that they will not be tested ?
We (Allah) tested those who went before them,
And Allah will certainly know who are true from
those who are false.” 29- 2 to 3.
There are different kinds of tests along the
‘way’:
“Every soul shall have a taste of death.
And We (Allah) test you all, by evil and by good,
by way of trial.
To Us you must return.” 21-35
AD-DUAALIIN
“Those who went astray”: It implies
that one chooses to take the wrong turn or go astray in spite
of the fact that the guidance is available. (Dars-e-Quran
(p.11), Dars-e-Quran Board, Idaara-e- Islaah wa Tableegh).
The people whom the Book was given, earlier, did
not preserve it. They even made incisions and alterations
in whatever was available. They turned away, went astray and
‘fell from the truth’. There was a need to explain
the Truth again and bring them back. This necessitated revelation,
the complete collection of which is the Quran. The ‘falling
off’ is in the sphere of doctrinal beliefs, as well
as in action and practice. Some of the most serious forms,
to which the Quran draws focused attention, are ‘going
astray from monotheism’, ‘falling off from the
basis of Ad-diin’, in ‘Tashaiyu’ and ‘Tahadhdhub’
(i.e. in division and group formation), e.g.:
"And who is more astray than one who calls
on besides Allah,
such as will not answer him till the Day of Resurrection
,
and who are unaware of their calls to them"
(46-5)
“But
the people have cut off, their affair between them, into sects,
Each party rejoices in that, Which is with itself.”
23-53
The Jews and
Christians devised a code of conduct exclusive and separate
to each of them. Although the religion of Jews and Christians
was the same and the Old Testament was the common heritage
of both. Their division into groups led to mutual hatred and
conflict. One condemned the other proclaiming denial of salvation
to it: 2-113.
The Straight Path has been defined not merely
by what it is but also by what it is not. It is not the path
of those whom God has shown disapprobation. Nor of those who
have wandering deviated. There are two kinds of such people.
Those who earned the displeasure of God, and those who have
no portion in the reward. Those who astrayed are those who
were shown light formally but preferred darkness. For such
people the verdict of history has always been in accordance
with the eternal law of life: 33-62, 35-43 to 45, 17-77.
“Already,
before your time, have examples been made.
Traverse the earth, then , and see
what was the end of those who rejected (Truth,
violated Law)” 3-137
Many statements
of the Quran about the rise and fall of nations provide illustration
of this verse.
"The Romans have been defeated, in the nearest
and (Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Palestine),
and they, after defeat, will be victorious; within
three to nine years .
The decision of the matter, before and after
is only with Allah.
And on that Day, the believers will rejoice,
with the help of Allah.
He helps whom He wills.
And He is the Ever All-Mighty the Ever All-Merciful.
A Promise of Allah, and Allah fails not in His
Promise,
But most of men know not." (30-2 to 6)
"And
with Allah rests the end of (all) matters." 22-41
Prophets (Peace be upon them) were sent to affirm
the unity of religion and universal brotherhood, but their
people ‘fell off’ the straight path of obedience
to God and righteous living, e.g.:
Noah (Peace be upon him): 23-23 to 26
After Noah (Peace be upon him): 23-32 to 38
Moses (Peace be upon him): 23-45 to 48
Jesus (Peace be upon him): 23-50
But men divided by group formation: 23-52 to 53
The urge for
division and group formation became so intense that they carved
out a separate place of worship, for each of them. Although
they worshiped the same God, they would not allow others to
worship in their places. They mainly constitute two distinct
groups: (i) Those who resisted violently and viciously violated
the code of the righteous deeds, and (ii) Those who took the
tangent off and astrayed from the Right Path of pure devotion.
Wal-la
dzuaaliin:Narrated Adi bin Hatim (may Allah
be pleased with him): ‘I asked Allah’s Messenger
(Peace be upon him), about the statement of Allah: (i) ‘Ghayr-il
Maghdzuubi Alayhim’ (not of those who earned Your anger);
he (Peace be upon him) replied: ‘They are the Jews’
and (ii) ‘Walad-duaalliin’ (nor of those who went
astray), he (Peace be upon him), replied: ‘The Christians,
and they are the ones who went astray.” (At-Tirmidhii,
Masnud Abu Dawuud). Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi has explained
this phrase that they are “those who have deviated from
the right course owing to their heedlessness and want of proper
serious thinking.”
For Lexicography and Comparison and Contradistinctions
of ‘DZALLA’ see Appendices 38 and 39 respectively.
Different
Aspects And Connotations Of The Term ‘Duaalliin’:
Dzualliin: They are those who did not recognizes
the Truth, erred and strayed.
Ad-Dzalaalu : To get off the straight path. It
is used as an opposite of ‘Hidaaya'h’. It covers
all kinds of ‘losing the way’, whether intentional,
unintentional, small or big deviation. It includes all kinds
of deviations and mistakes. This word is used for all, even
in the narrations about the Prophets (Peace be upon them):
"And He (Allah) found you unaware and guided
you?" 93-7
"They said: ‘By Allah! Certainly, you
are in your old error". 12-95
"Really,
our father is in a plain error". 12-8
"Verily,
we see her in plain error" 12-30
"Musa
said: ‘I did it then, when I was ignorant." 26-20
"So that
if one of them (two women) errs, the other can remind her".
2-282
"And they say: ‘when we are lost in
the earth, shall we indeed be created anew’? 32-10
Also see
: 4-113, 4-119, 36-62, 4-60, 38-26, 9-115, 47-8. 40-74, 14-27.
Imam Raghib
Isfahani explains, in Mufridaatul Quran, that ‘Dzalaalatun’
is of two kinds: (i) of doctrine. e.g.: “Any one who
denies Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and The
Day of Judgement, has gone far, far astray.” 4-136,
and (ii) of deed, e.g.: "Verily, those who disbelieve,
and prevent from the Path of Allah, they have certainly strayed
far away." 4-167. Some scholars are of the view that
Ad-dzualiin refers to Christians.”
On over all examination of this verse (1-7) it
may be summarized that it points out to following groups of
people: (i) Those who were rewarded: Shuhadaa, Siddiqiin,
Prophets, and Martyrs. (ii) Those who were angered upon: (a)
who tried to corrupt the doctrine, and (b) who violated and
resisted violently. (iii) Those who erred and strayed : These
are further of different kinds: (a) whom the message did not
reach, (b) whom the message reached but did not accept, (c)
who received the message, believed but followed their own
desires; i.e deviated from the straight course of devotion
to God and righteous deeds.(d) who erred and deviated in practice.
‘GHADAB’
– EXPLAINED FURTHER
In The Message of the Quran, Muhammad Asad has
recorded: "According to almost all the commentators,
God's ‘condemnation' (Ghadab' lit., ‘wrath') is
synonymous with the evil consequences which man brings upon
himself by ‘willfully' rejecting God's guidance and
acting contrary to His injunctions. Some commentators (e.g.,
Zamakhshari) interpret this passage as follows. "..the
way of those upon whom Thou (Allah) hast bestowed Thy blessings
- those who have not been condemned [by Thee], and who do
not go astray." In other words, they regard the last
two expressions as ‘defining' "those upon whom
Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings". Other commentators
(e.g. Baghawi and Ibn Kathir) do not subscribe to this interpretation,
which would imply the use of negative definitions, and understand
the last verse of the Surah in the manner rendered by me (see
his translation). As regards the two categories of people
following a wrong course, some of the greatest Islamic thinkers
(e.g. Al-Ghazali or, in recent times, Muhammad Abduh) held
the view that the people described as having incurred "God's
condemnation" - that is, having deprived themselves of
His Grace - are those who have become fully cognizant of God's
Message and, having understood it, have rejected it; while
by "those who go astray" are meant people whom the
truth has either not reached at all, or to whom it has come
in so garbled and corrupted a form as to make it difficult
for them to recognise it as the truth.”
(Abduh in Manaar II, 68
ff., Muhammad Asad ,The Message of The Quran, Footnote 4,
p. 2).
GROUPS
OF ‘MAGHDZUUB ALAYHIM AND DUAALLIIN’
The Quran has further informed about the groups
of people as they will be assembled in order on the Day of
Resurrection: 39-71. The Biblical statements, the Quran and
even secular history of the great civilizations and nations,
tell us about various calamities which arrogant and defiant
people suffered on the earth. Scientific, archaeological,
historical studies etc. are gradually confirming them. During
the Prophet’s period , these were (identified as) the
groups who were ‘Al-Maghdzuub’ and ‘Ad-Dualiin’,
but today most of the sects among muslims seem to have joined
them!
(Abdur-Rahman Kailani ,Taiseeruul
Quran,, Vol-I, p.20)
For derivatives
and usage of Dzalla, see Al-Muajamul Mufaharas, Muhammad Fawad
Abdul Baqi, pp 535-538, particularly p. 537 for Ad-dzualliin.)
Those
who have created divisions
"Truly, this, your ‘Ummah' is one religion,
and I (Allah) Am your Lord-Master-Sustainer, therefore worship
Me (Alone)" (92)
"But they have broken up and differed, as
regards their religion among themselves.
They all shall return to Us" (93) 21 - 92
& 93
SAYING
‘AMIIN’
‘Aamiin’ means ‘O Allah! Accept
our invocation.’
It is recommended to say ‘Aamiin’ after finishing
recitation of Al-Faatihah, on the authority of the Companions
(may Allah be pleased with them) and the Ahaadiith, reported
as ‘Hasan’. Abu Hurayrah narrated that he (the
Prophet, Peace be upon him) would say ‘Aamiin’
until those who were behind him in the first line could hear
him. (Abu Dawuud 1-575.). Then the mosque would shake because
of those behind the Prophet (Peace be upon him), reciting
‘Aamiin’. (Abu Dawuud 1-575, Ibn Majah 1-279).
“Jaffar
As-Saadiq stressed the ‘m’ in ‘Aamiin’.
“Saying Aamiin is recommended for those
who are not praying (when reciting Al-Faatihah) and is strongly
recommended for those who are praying, whether alone or behind
the Imaam.
“The two Sahiih recorded that the Messenger
of Allah (Peace be upon him) said:
“When the Imaam (who leads the prayer) says
‘Aamiin’ then say ‘Aamiin’, because
whoever says ‘Aamiin‘ with the angels, his previous
sins will be forgiven.” (Note that the Hadiith talks
about both the angels and the Muslims saying Aamiin at the
same time.) (Fath Al-Baari 11-203 and Muslim 1-307)
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:
“When the Imaam says ‘Walad-Duaalliin’ say,
‘Aamiin’ and Allah will answer your invocation.”
( Muslim 1-303 ).
“In addition, At-Tirmidhii said that ‘Aamiin’
means, ‘Do not disappoint our hope,’ while the
majority of scholars said that it means, ‘Answer our
invocation.’
“.. Aaishah (may Allah be pleased with her)
said that when the Jews were mentioned to him, the Messenger
of Allah (Peace be upon him) said: ‘They will not envy
us for anything more than they envy us for Friday, which we
have been guided to, while they were led astray from it, and
for the Qiblaah, which we were guided to, while they were
led astray from it, and for our saying ‘Aamiin’
behind the Imaam.” (Ahmad 6-134)
“ Also
Ibn Majah recorded this Hadiith with the wording, ‘The
Jews have never envied you more than for your saying the Salaam
(Islamic greeting) and for saying Aamiin.” (Ibn Majah
2-278 ). (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Vol-I, pp. 91-93,).
“The
word ‘Aamiin’ is traditionally recited, and this
word is not a part of the Quran. ‘It means: ‘O
God! Be it so,’, we should follow the blessed people
and get away from the betrayed ones.”
(Tafsir Usmani, Footnote
– 7, p. 2,)
“Repetition
of Aamiin at the conclusion of this Surah is desirable. It
means in Ibraani (Hebrew): ‘O Allah! May it be so.’
or ‘You accept our request’ !
“Repetition of Aamiin is a plea for salvation
from sins.”
(A.M.Yaqoob, Translation
Vol-I, pp.3)
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