Spiritual Quest

Reflections on Quranic Prayer According to the Teachings of Imam Ali

Reza Shah-Kazemi

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781848854475
• eBook ISBN: 9780857735287
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

The Qur'an is the sacramental foundation of prayer in Islam. Its inspirational power is perpetually renewed through being recited and meditated upon by Muslims on a daily basis throughout their lives. This succinct monograph provides a unique contemporary insight into the spiritual, intellectual and moral dynamics set in motion by the short Qur'anic chapters recited in their prayers by Muslims of all traditions, but which are particularly recommended within Shi'i Islam. Dr Shah-Kazemi engages creatively with the chapters of the Qur'an, including the 'Opening' (al-Fatiha) chapter, basing his own philosophical reflections on the teachings of Imam 'Ali. He focuses in particular on the relationship between the moral and the mystical aspects of the texts. The result is a stimulating philosophical meditation probing the depths of meaning comprised within the verses of a Revelation by which the spiritual quest of Muslims has constantly been inspired, nourished and fulfilled.

Al-Fātiḥa: The Opening¹

[1:1] In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

[1:2] Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds;

[1:3] The Compassionate, the Merciful;

[1:4] King of the Day of Judgement.

[1:5] Thee alone we worship and from Thee alone we seek help;

[1:6] Guide us upon the straight path;

[1:7] The path of those whom Thou hast blessed; not the path of those who are subjected to anger, nor of those who go astray.

The importance of this chapter is expressed by many sayings of the Prophet Muḥammad, for example: ‘There is no prayer without the Fātiḥa (lā ṣalāta illā bi-fātiḥati’l-kitāb).’² It is referred to by a number of epithets, all of which express its crucial status as embodying the quintessence of the Qurʾānic Revelation: Umm al-kitāb (‘Mother of the Book’), al-Sabʿ al-mathānī (‘The Seven [verses] oft-repeated’), al-Shifāʾ (‘The Healing’), al-Asās (‘The Foundation’); al-Ṣalāt (‘The Prayer’), al-Kāfiya (‘The Sufficient’), al-Kanz (‘The Treasure’), al-Nūr (‘The Light’), to cite some of the most important.³ In one saying of the Prophet, found in the canonical Sunni collection of Bukhārī, the Fātiḥa is described as being ‘the most tremendous chapter in the Qurʾān (aʿẓam al-suwar fi’l-Qurʾān)’; the Prophet continued, referring to it also as ‘the seven [verses] oft-repeated (al-sabʿ al-mathānī), the tremendous Qurʾān (al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm), which I have been given.’⁴ The implication in this statement is that the Fātiḥa is not just the ‘most tremendous chapter in the Qurʾān’, but also that somehow it constitutes the ‘tremendous Qurʾān’ itself. In the verse referring to the ‘seven oft-repeated’, we read: ‘We have given thee seven of the oft-repeated [verses] and the tremendous Qurʾān’ (15:87), the implication here being that the seven verses are distinct from, or at least, a distinct part of, the Qurʾān as a whole. In the ḥadīth, however, it appears as if there is an identification of the whole with the part, the Qurʾān being as it were synthesised within the Fātiḥa, the Fātiḥa thus being the quintessence of the Qurʾān.

This identification between the Fātiḥa and the Qurʾān is further reinforced by this esoteric saying of Imam ʿAlī: ‘Everything in the Qurʾān is in the Fātiḥa; everything in the Fātiḥa is in the [phrase] Bismi’Llāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm; everything in Bismi’Llāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm is in the [letter] bāʾ; everything in the bāʾ is in the dot [beneath it]: and I am the dot beneath the bāʾ.’⁵

Our reflections on the Fātiḥa can be guided by this remarkable saying. I shall leave aside the challenging arcane dimensions of the final three parts of this saying, which go beyond the purposes of this monograph, and focus on the first two parts only, asking how the whole of the Qurʾān can be found in the Fātiḥa, and how the Fātiḥa can be found in the Basmala.⁶ For in making this assertion, it is as if Imam ʿAlī is implicitly issuing an invitation to every single Muslim who recites the Fātiḥa: Do you see the way in which the Fātiḥa encapsulates the entire Qurʾān, and how it in turn is encapsulated within the Basmala? Can you exercise your faculties of reason, imagination, reflection and meditation such as to discern and discover in this short chapter of seven verses everything that is contained within the Qurʾān, with its 114 chapters, comprising over 6,000 verses? What follows is my attempt to demonstrate how the teachings of the Qurʾān might be said to be ‘contained’ within the Fātiḥa, the veritable cornerstone of prayer in Islam.

We can begin by considering the structure of the Fātiḥa, and then proceed with a closer look at the themes configured within this structure. The verses of the chapter can be conceived as so many rungs in a ladder descending from the divine to the human. We begin with the formula of consecration, the ‘name’ by which ultimate Reality discloses itself, Allāh, whose intrinsic nature is described as ‘the Compassionate, the Merciful’; this Absolute is then declared to be Lord of all creation and King of the Day of Judgement; and we finish with the human being, defined in a tripartite fashion: those graced by God, those who experience wrath, and those who go astray. In between these two descriptions of the divine and the human, respectively, we have, at the middle of the ladder, the contact between the divine and the human: God alone is worshipped, and from Him help is sought, the substance of this help being guidance along the straight path. So, in terms of the simple structure of the chapter, three quintessential elements of the Qurʾānic teaching can be seen to be comprised in seed-form: a revelation of the nature of ultimate Reality; the possibilities inherent in the nature of man; and the worship which leavens the soul and brings to fruition, through divine grace, the seeds of salvation embedded within the human being. One might say that the ‘whole’ of the Qurʾān is summarised in these principles, as simple on the surface as they are profound in depth.

To probe this depth a little, let us enter into a more detailed exploration of the thematic trajectories established by the verses of the Fātiḥa, and see whether these themes can indeed be said to encompass the entirety of the Qurʾānic teaching. If Imam ʿAlī declares that the whole of the Qurʾān is contained within the Fātiḥa, this means that the Fātiḥa must be a synthesis of the Qurʾān; and that, conversely, the Qurʾān is the differentiated, diversified articulation of the synthetic principles expressed by the Fātiḥa: the Qurʾān is the Fātiḥa exteriorised, the Fātiḥa is the Qurʾān interiorised.⁷ For the Muslim who is attuned to the totality of the Qurʾān, therefore, each recitation of the Fātiḥa renders present—potentially, virtually or actually—the quintessence of everything that the Qurʾān teaches by way of revealed truth, and everything that it constitutes by way of sacred presence.

As regards sacred presence, one readily appreciates how the spirit of the entire Qurʾān is rendered present through the recitation of the Fātiḥa, for the Qurʾān’s essential substance is one, that is, it is simple, not compound. Although outwardly or formally composed of sounds, words and letters, the sacred substance of Revelation is one and the same throughout the whole of the Qurʾān, transforming its outward multiplicity of form into a seamless unity of essence; the substance is unique, invariably the same from verse to verse, even if some verses are invested with more theurgic power and doctrinal profundity than others.⁸ As regards the aspect of truth, however, and the specific doctrinal content of the text, one needs to enter into more concrete details, and to creatively apply the exegetical principle of Imam ʿAlī noted earlier: ‘Parts of it [the Qurʾān] speak through other parts, and some parts of it bear witness to other parts.’

Let us then look at each of the principal themes of the Fātiḥa, as they occur in the order of their appearance, and evaluate them according to the exegetical principle expressed in Imam ʿAlī’s saying. In doing so, we will place great stress on the principle of Raḥma, which one might translate as ‘loving mercy’, for reasons which will become clear in a moment. This principle is the essential message of the Basmala, which in turn must be the essential message both of the Fātiḥa and the whole of the Qurʾān, according to the implications of Imam ʿAlī’s saying. In what follows, then, we hope to show how the principle of Raḥma operates as a kind of celestial spring, from which gushes the river of the Fātiḥa; and how this river of the Fātiḥa flows into, and comes to constitute, the ocean of the Qurʾān.⁹ Everything in that ocean is already ‘in’ the river, which in turn is ‘in’ the spring. The water which flows from the spring to the ocean can here symbolise the flow of the Revealed discourse, which arises out of the unseen (al-ghayb), the eternally unknowable Essence, hidden in the deepest ground of Being.¹⁰

1. Ontology (verses 1–3)

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds;

The Compassionate, the Merciful.

The ‘Name’ is that by means of which a thing becomes known. In relation to God, the revelation of the name Allāh is that by means of which the utterly unknowable essence of absolute Reality makes itself known, or makes known that aspect of itself which is knowable. The relative has no access to the Absolute save by means of the self-manifestation of the Absolute—and the most direct of these manifestations or theophanies is the ‘Name’ of God. Knowledge of the absolute reality of God, and the relative nature of all else, is implied by the second verse: Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds. Praise belongs to God on principle, for everything else in existence depends upon the Lord for its very existence, from moment to moment, and not just as regards its initial creation: ‘There is no thing which does not glorify Him with praise’ (17:44). The ‘praise’ which every single thing offers God is constituted by...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Al-Fātiha: The Opening
• Recommended Sūras
• Notes
• Bibliography