—of qaṭʿ. If it is followed by an alif of waṣl, and the letter immediately before the ha is either kasrah or a vowelless ya, Hamzah and al-Kisa’i pronounce both the ha and the mim with dammah, whereas Abu Amr pronounces them both with kasrah. Yaqub does likewise when the preceding letter has kasrah. The remaining reciters pronounce the mim with dammah and the ha with kasrah in every case, because of the ya or the kasrah preceding it; the dammah of the mim is according to its original form.

Concerning His words, “not of those who have incurred anger”: that is, the path of those upon whom You have become angry. Anger is the will to exact vengeance upon the disobedient; Allah Most High’s anger does not befall sinful believers, but only the disbelievers.

“And not of those who have gone astray”: that is, and not the path of those who have strayed from guidance. The root meaning of misguidance is perishing and disappearing. Thus, one says, “The water has gone astray in the milk,” when it has perished and disappeared. Here, ghayr means “not,” while la means “other than”; hence coordination is permitted, as when one says, “So-and-so is neither virtuous nor gracious.” But when ghayr means “other than,” it cannot be conjoined with la. Thus, one cannot say, “I have other than Abd Allah, nor Zayd.”

Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, recited: “The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have incurred anger, and not of those who have gone astray.” It was said: Those who have incurred anger are the Jews, and those who have gone astray are the Christians, because Allah Most High judged the Jews to be subject to anger, saying: “Whom Allah has cursed and with whom He is angry” (al-Ma’idah 60); and He judged the Christians to be astray, saying: “And do not follow the desires of a people who went astray before” (al-Ma’idah 77). Sahl ibn Abd Allah said: “Not of those who have incurred anger (1) through blameworthy innovation, nor of those who have gone astray from the sunnah.”

It is sunnah for the reciter, upon finishing the recitation of al-Fatihah, to say “Amin,” with a pause separating it from al-Fatihah. It is pronounced without gemination, though grammarians permit it to be pronounced either lengthened or shortened. Its meaning is: “O Allah, hear and answer.” Ibn Abbas and Qatadah said: Its meaning is, “So may it be.” Mujahid said: It is one of the names of Allah Most High. It was also said: It is the seal of supplication. And it was said: It is Allah’s seal upon His servants, by which He repels afflictions from them, just as the seal upon a letter protects it from corruption and from disclosure of what it contains.

Imam Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Qadi and Abu Hamid Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Salihi informed us; they said: Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Hasan al-Hiri informed us; Abu Ali Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Maqil al-Maydanī informed us; Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us; Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us; Mamar informed us, from al-Zuhri, from Ibn al-Musayyab, from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “When the imam says, ‘not of those who have incurred anger, nor of those who have gone astray,’ then say, ‘Amin.’ For the angels say, ‘Amin,’ and the imam says, ‘Amin.’ Whoever’s saying of Amin coincides with that of the angels will have his previous sins forgiven.” (3) Authentic.