Why Al-Fatihah Is Your Entire Prayer
The Significance of Surah Al-Fatihah: The Essence of Prayer and the Quran
Summary
This is a Jummah (Friday sermon) focused primarily on the importance of Surah Al-Fatihah (the opening chapter of the Quran) in daily prayers. The speaker elaborates on how Al-Fatihah is the essence of the Quran, mentioning that all 113 subsequent surahs are merely reflections and explanations of its meanings. He discusses several hadiths emphasizing that prayer is invalid without reciting Al-Fatihah, and explains the divine dialogue that occurs when reciting it, where Allah directly responds to each verse. The sermon emphasizes the need for mindful, conscious recitation rather than mechanical repetition, and warns against performing prayer while mentally distracted. The speaker concludes with an address to recent graduates, urging them to prioritize pleasing Allah above all else and to actively contribute to Islam's message in their communities and professions.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
[Arabic recitation]
[Silence]
My dear brothers, respected elders, beloved youth, mothers and sisters, we thank Allah subhana wa ta'ala for keeping keeping us alive one more on the path of Islam on the and allowing me and you to enter his house and worship him in the manner that pleases him. I ask Allahh to accept from me and accept from you the little his path. Amen. And we bear witness there is no deed worthy of worship except for Allah and prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam is his last and final messenger. For surely who Allah subhana t choose to guide n misguide and humor choose to misguide nurse and guide him back to the path and we seek refuge in Allah from darkness of ourselves and evil of our deeds for Allah is all knowing and allseeing what his creation does. Alhamdulillah Allah subh have given us chance to start on the topic of fat and as I mentioned in the previous 30 minutes or 25 minutes that we have doesn't do justice to single ayah of the Quran regardless regardless of the fact we'll continue inshallah and we'll look at some of the hadith that have come on the on the glory ofah fathy and how it's an important part of our of our daily prayers as I mentioned Last week the hadith ofam mentions in explicit narration mentions in aith that he said he saidatam that the salah is not valid in which fata of the book is not recited and I mentioned the two names or four names that had as mentioned Imamuti has mentioned over 25 names for the fat and itself I have discussed some of those but are the two ones that come from the same word a root word and as such Allah subhana t has made it an amazing surah not only is the opening chapter of the Quran but Allah wasallam mentioned it is it is the the seven most recited verses and Allahh as Allah says in the Quran that we have given you have given you the most recited seven verses and the Quran meaning that the essence of the Quran the essence the main crux of the Quran are those seven ayats in the beginning and every single thing that follows is its transliteration it's in detail and every single thing that comes after Allahh has opened it up and explained further and further and further and further into it so imagine seven ayats and then of the suras that are 113 after that 114 suras in the Quran. I'm saying minus the one in fat 113 following it are all just reflecting on the meaning of the fat itself. It's an amazing situation and unfortunately we as p practitioners in daily life don't pay enough attention to fata. We do not pray pray incognizant of fat. And I said, you know, a lot of times when we are praying the salah, you know, sometimes you have requests where the imam, you know, make read from this chapter or read from that chapter or read this ayah or sometimes the imam will read what was, you know, corresponded or collaborated in the hudba. That is perfectly fine. But the crux of the salah is that the seven and as such we have to do due diligence on it. It's mentioned on the authority of it says.
[Silence]
So Abbas mentions a narration that he says one day was sitting with and he heard a noise coming from the sky. So he looked up and he told a door of the heavens has been opened that has never been opened before. Then an angel comes down from that door and he says to this explaining to he says this angel has never come down on the earth ever before. So he said amazing. He says the there the the angel comes down and saysam and he says I bless you. I'm giving you the glad tiding to give you the two of the n the two light things the two of the the like a a candle or a light from the Quran and what is it what were they fat that's the fat we read in the book in the beginning alhamdulillah and the last two ayah of and he said nobody reads them except Allah will grant them what they are wanting the last two, you know, they're not that that big. Well, I mean, they're a little lengthy, but they're not that hard to remember. And they are reaffirming our faith in Allah subhana tala. So for us in the I don't want to get on track but just just to follow up the hadith at the end of the hadith for foratam has said whoever reads the last two ayah or the last part of bakar at night it will be enough for him meaning that it will take care of all of his issues his his he will calm him down his security whatever it is Allah will take care of So we need to make a habit of it. As I mentioned last week, a lot of times when we are doing on ourselves and our children and doing those things, we don't do fat fat is known as well. As I mentioned, if you were here for the last J last night or Friday, I mentioned the hadith, a pretty lengthy hadith of how it become it became the the meaning that it gives shifhat to people. So we need to make that a habit of ours to pay attention to what Allah subhana ta has revealed and what mentions in that in that in the mentions of the suras that are mentioned by Allah subhana wa tala. It is one thing you know me and you decide you know this is important I this ayah I that ayah. We all have favorite suras in the Quran. We have favorite ays in the Quran. But this is Allahh telling us these are new rain. They're the two lights. Inshallah we should use that for our guidance. Let's come to what I mentioned last week and I be meant to mention it. Allah subhana ta and Allahh said in in so Allahh says I have divided the prayer between my myself and my servant in two halves. But the amazing part of the hadith is when Allah says he's referring toah as if is the main essence of the salah. The salah is as mentioned in it's not valid if we don't read fat. You can start mashallah the first raka and you can start with bakar and in the second raka you can finish at nas the salah is not valid until you read fat before all of that. So Allah subh saying hadith mentioned on the authority of.
[Silence]
So Abu mentions that said Allah subhana t has said I have divided the prayer between me and my servant half and half and my servant shall have what he asks For when my servant says alhamdulill all praises is due to Allah subhana tala the lord of the worlds. Allah says, "My servant has praised me." And when the servant says, And when the servant says, "The gracious, the merciful Allah," Allah says, "My servant has exalted me." And then when the servant says, "The master of the day of judgment, Allah says, my servant has glorified me.
[Silence]
And and then when the servant who's reciting the fat comes and he says my my Allah my servant is glorified my servant has submitted to me when he says you alone we worship and you alone we ask for help. Allah says this is between me and my servant and my servant will have what he asks for. An amazing situation. Every there is not an any other surah in the Quran or ayah in the Quran that Allah is saying that he responds immediately. This response is immediate from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. And pay attention how it starts off. It starts off with praising Allahh his alhamdulillah that is that is so you start with then you go to you know is then you go to and then he goes to his to Allahh so you're glorifying Allah subhanaa tala you're exalting him you're praising him in just the first three verses Three verses alone are focusing on glorifying Allah subhana tala and that goes to show you you know in our dealings with somebody if we need a favor from somebody you know we go to that person we say then we say mashallah brother you're looking good I haven't seen you in a while how's your family how things are you know mashallah I heard you know in your family somebody had some good news congratulations so we we start by setting up a decorum, a way to speak to somebody. And this is what Allah is showing us that there is a way to speak to him. And as such, this is a dua in its essence. So the manners are being taught to us. You know, a lot of times people come and say, "Well, how do I make a dua? I don't know how to make dua or Allah doesn't respond to our duas." We have the dua available. We have to pay attention to it. You know, I had a I had a I had a brother tell me not too long ago. He said, you know, I I I don't understand what's going on. We're asking so many Muslims are making dua to Allah subhana tala and Allah's not accepting our duas. This is not the truth of it. There is a timeline that Allah has. But for us to be cognizant of what we're asking for. To be honest with you, majority of us are going through repetition that we have memorized since an early childhood or as a habit. That's it. Even when you're sitting in how many of our cognizant we're asking Allahh How many are being cognizant of asking that to Allah? We have parited those lines and they flow out of our tongue at 70 miles an hour and we have no comprehension of it or remember if we remember it or not you know it has happened but somebody comes and asks you know I don't remember if I fath or not okay it happens we're human beings I'm not making fun of the fact. I'm just saying that that's the condition we're in. How is Allah subhana t supposed to respond to us when we are not in the dua ourselves? We're not present with Allah. You know, if I'm having a conversation, I'm so let's just take I'm just I want to pick everybody. I'm giving audation is that I look I scan the room. I look around and try to make as much contact with folks that are present here. Again, if I didba and I was here the whole time, how many of you feel that it was the hudba was being delivered to you? Or if I turned sideways and I started looking at the wall, there's no connection anymore. Zero connection. So, you're standing in front of Allah. You went and you did wudoo. You made sure your clothes were clean. You did proper woodoo to the best of your knowledge. You drove to the masid. You put all that effort in. You left your house. You came here. You did waboo. You had nice clothes on. You had clean clothes. You came and you made sure that your face was towards, you know what I mean? You were proper standing proper. And you said Allahbar. And the first thing that happens is you're out of your salah. That's it. You don't remember anymore. You have no idea what your salah is about. So, you're just going through the motions because you have memorized them. And in my salah and with all due respect to everybody every almost 90% of us are in the salah thinking what comes after fat what should I read should I read that that's too short in the first what should I read in the second I don't know it's time should I do said I want to meet somebody can I pick That's it. That's short. Let's do that. You're reading and you're thinking about the next ayah or the next. This is not how Allah is going to engage us. This is how you want. Is that how you want him to react to you? No. Allah wants us to be engaged properly in salah with him so we can have a conversation where he went he went he went up the seven heavens and met Allah. This is and what are we doing in army? Everything else except for praying. Let me finish the hadith. Our time is running out.
[Silence]
Inshallah. So when you start from the last part Allah says this is for my servant and whatever he asked what is the last part we're reading you are the only one we worship that's it there's nobody else you know there's a fine point I will say this when when used to do the tap for this you know he he had a funny way of explaining it. I'll say it in order. , there's no way to translate it for me in English, so I apologize for you if you find a neighbor who can translate for you. You know, it's to to say, you know, it's I worship you or I worship you as well. That's in a nutshell. you know, we were not that smart. So when he explained, you know, he explained a little dumb down version for all of us. You know, that's how you explain. It's it's a beautiful explanation. Either I worship you alone or I worship you as well. And I think that's our condition. When our condition is we're worshiping every single thing else and Allah, how is he going to respond to us? Why should there be a response when my life has become upon matching what the other side is doing? They have worldly gains, so should I. They have this, so should I. Allah is telling you over and over again that this is going to be over soon. Brothers, if you have some space in front of you, please move forward. Allah is telling you over and over again to pay attention to pay attention to pay attention to pay attention. So inshallah I'll finish with this. inshallah I don't have next week so inshallah when we meet again inshallah if we have time we'll we'll dissect a little bit further or we do a inshallah or pick a different topic. I don't want you to think I'm doing same topics every week now. Subhan Allah. You know every two weeks we're doing the same topic. So if you have time inshallah we'll finish on that on on that on that inshallah sometime soon. But what I want you to request personally from each one of you is regardless of this salah is salah or it's salah or any other salah pay attention to fat. It is a direct conversation that you and Allahh is having. There's not a surah that is as great of magn magn magnificence in the Quran that fat has. There's not a surah in the Quran that has is as glorious as mag all the Quran is revealed by Allah but all the suras have their distinctions. So inshallah pay attention to what we're reading.
[Silence]
For Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. As I mentioned the hadith wasallam in the beginning best of us are who learn the Quran and then teach it. I want to take a moment and just address graduates that have graduated this week from all different schools, universities, kindergartens and going forth all of them. Allah subhana ta did not look at you and put you or make you a Muslim because you were his favorite or he liked you. Allah subh l looked at each of our souls especially the graduates and said this is the best person who can carry my message forward and as such it is your responsibility Allah's dean will continue forward with or without your aid whenallam was the only person in Mecca declaring the shahada Allah aided him and it continued regardless but what I want to make sure is that you understand is that first and foremost people will never be happy and satisfied with you. Your job should be to please Allah subhana wa ta'ala purely purely for his sake. That's it. And if Allah is happy with you, he will make sure everything aligns for you in the world. And if Allah is displeased and dissatisfied with you, then regardless of what rank you end up on, it will never be beneficial or have blessings in it. I think it was George Bernard Shaw who said, "Some men think see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not." I ask you to ask why not. You are in the mix of history in an unprecedented time in this country. If you don't pay attention and you don't prepare yourself to aid others, the history will not look down upon you kindly. I understand there was a generation before you and generation before them. They should have done what was needed but unfortunately did not. So the job is yours now in every part of life. Regardless if you are a lawyer or a doctor or a nurse or a physician or a taxi driver or a shop worker or a person who's flipping burgers on a grill. Allah subhana ta did not make you in lessened form. Allahh says you are a human. You are a Muslim. Allah has glorified you. I finish with my sermon on this and I say this I've said this to a lot of folks and I'll say this. John F. Kennedy is very famous for for having a quote that says ask not what you can do. Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country. I have a quote that is similar to his code. I copied his code. And I say this to you all, old, young, whatever you are, ask not what Islam can do for you, but ask what can do for Islam.
[Silence]
For Sudan Congo Sham Kashmir What is.
[Silence]
Please move forward. Fill the gaps. Fore! Foreign! Foreign!
[Silence]
The chairs are no longer needed. Somebody can fold them in space. Strain your lines. Fill the caps. May Allah subh mer have mercy upon us. Allahb alhamdulillah. Foreimch.
[Silence]
Holy. Amen.
[Silence]
All.
[Silence]
Father Ashe.
[Silence]
For.
[Silence]
For Allah abbar. S Allah Allah abar. Allah above my love.
[Silence]
Alhamdulillah. I for him. Amen. Amen.
[Silence]
For.
[Silence]
Now,.
[Silence]
Say Allah. Allah abar.
[Silence]
Allahbar Allahbar.
[Silence]
Allahbar.
[Silence]
My dear brothers and sisters, assalamu alaykum. As usually I ask for you some time. Today I'm not only asked for fundraising. I promise you that. But I do have something very very special to share with you. Yesterday I was blessed to join the Rahma Academy celebration for their annual graduation and that was pretty heart moving and I just wanted to I made up commitment to myself that I'll share that with you. The feelings were tremendous and there's a message there and that is alhamdulillah alamine we have an academy now that is about 77 children strong it is producing tremendous good results there is focus on both sides education the teaching of the dean and also making sure that the kids are excelling now having seen all of that firsthand is the only way you can believe it. So I would to encourage you to at least contact brother Ahmed Jabber or come and join us and and talk to the teachers because it is something that is very very valuable. It's going to help you to understand why we are focusing or why we are asking you to make the Rama Academy as a choice for the child at a very early age. And definitely when you see the kids reciting, when you see the kids doing the having the the manners that are so beautiful and they are so well nurtured, you will believe that. So I'm very thankful and of course I'm thanking all the teachers, the principal and everybody involved with the Rahma Academy. again, no fundraising today, but I will say at least there's a QR code on the wall. You can click on that and get at least the understanding that you can enroll your child in the academy very easily. And if there is any question about the fees and all that, there's a several programs we have. We're tapping into all programs that are available to the Puma community to our community here and those are basically you can have this education free of charge. So basic, you know, please put effort into it, learn about it, and I'm I'm pretty sure that you will be happy with the results, inshallah. just following up on that, the the summer program, inshallah, the the July June 2nd to July 25th, again, that's going to be 9 to3 during the weekdays and it's this is offered by the Rahma Academy. So if you have a child that you may have been maybe on the edge here saying look I mean do I want the child to go to this school or not this is the best time to bring your child enjoy a few days here with the with the kids and see what you can do and if you it then you can definitely enroll for the future for the next year inshallah again that is from June 2nd to July 25th and I am going to offer again brother Ahmed Jabber who is around here and there's a QR code on the All see if you can take a benefit of these resources inshallah. Please donate generously for your masid on the way out.