– al-ḥamdu lillāh (all praise belongs to Allah): al-ḥamd denotes commending the One who is praised for His beautiful attributes and actions; its opposite is blame (dhamm). It is said: ḥamida —with a kasrah on the mīm— yaḥmaduhu —with a fatḥah.
Al-Wāḥidī said: the definite article al- in al-ḥamd is generic, meaning that every form of praise is Allah’s alone, for He is characterized by absolute perfection in His qualities and praiseworthy deeds.
– lā ilāha illā Allah (there is no god but Allah): the particle lā negates the divinity of every being that might be worshipped; illā Allah affirms that the right to divinity is restricted exclusively to Allah.
– Allahu Akbar (Allah is Most Great): left unrestricted, it conveys total generality, for He is greater than everything.
– lā ḥawla (there is no power to turn): There are five possible grammatical analyses; the best is to treat lā as the negation of genus (lā nāfiyatu lil-jins), ḥawl as its subject, and illā billāh as its predicate. Ḥawl here means the ability to act; hence, there is no turning from disobedience to obedience except through Him.
– lā quwwata (and no might): its grammatical parsing is the same as the previous phrase; quwwa means strength or capacity.
What is derived from the ḥadith
1 – It was previously mentioned that reciting al-Fātiḥah in every rakʿah of the prayer is a pillar without which the prayer is invalid, as shown in the ḥadith of the man who prayed incorrectly. Nevertheless, the Sharʿī principle is that obligations are waived when one is incapable of performing them, either with a substitute or without one. This is taken from the verse, “So fear Allah as much as you are able,” and the Prophet’s ﷺ saying, “When I command you to do something, do of it what you are able.” [al-Bukhārī 6858].
2 – The ḥadith indicates that a person who cannot recite al-Fātiḥah, or any part of it, may say the remembrances mentioned in this narration, and they will suffice in its place, as a facilitation and ease for the servants.
3 – Al-Buhūtī said in Sharḥ al-Iqnāʿ: If one is unable to learn al-Fātiḥah, or the time is too short, its recitation is waived and he must recite something else from the Quran; for example, if he knows a single verse from al-Fātiḥah or from another surah, he repeats that verse for the same length. If he knows nothing of the Quran, he must say: