Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of 

the Quran (Minneapolis: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1989); 

Helmer Ringgren, Studies in Arabian Fatalism (Uppsala: 

Lundequistska Bokhandeln, 1955); W. Montgomery 

Watt,  The Formative Period of Islamic Thought (Edin-

burgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 1973).

Fatiha

 

(Arabic: The Opening, or the 

Opening of the Book)

The Fatiha is the first of the q

Uran

’s 114 chapters. 

It is the one most widely memorized by Muslims 

and is used in their worship and daily life. Unlike 

most of the other chapters, which have mixed 

contents such as apocalyptic visions, sermons, 

dialogues, stories, commandments, and 

prayer

s,

the Fatiha is strictly a verbal prayer. It consists of 

seven verses:

1.  In the name of God, the merciful, the com-

passionate.

2.  Praise be to God, the lord of the worlds (or 

beings),

3.  The merciful, the compassionate,

4.  Master of the Day of Judgment.

5.  It is you whom we worship, and it is you to 

whom we turn for help.

6.  Guide us on the straight path,

7.  The path of those on whom you have 

bestowed your blessing, and not of those 

who have incurred your anger and have 

gone astray.

Muslim and non-Muslim scholars generally 

agree that this chapter dates to the time when 

m

Uhammad

 was still living in m

ecca

 (ca. 619), 

although it was probably not widely used until 

the Islamic religion became more organized after 

the  h

iJra

 to m

edina

 in 622. Some have argued 

that it is comparable to the Jewish Shema prayer 

(Deut. 6:4–9) and the Lord’s Prayer (Mt. 6:9–13) 

in Christianity and that it was probably originally 

intended for use in worship. Indeed, since as early 

as the seventh century, it has been a required part 

of the five daily ritual prayers (salat), the weekly 

communal prayers, and the two annual Id prayers 

(i

d

 

al

-F

itr

 and i

d

 

al

-a

dha

). Muslim jurists have 

ruled that performance of a salat is invalid if 

recitation of the Fatiha is omitted. The fact that