Reciting Verse by Verse

Then he would recite Sūrat al-Fātiḥah, breaking it up verse by verse: he would say bismi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm (In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate), then pause; then say al-ḥamdu li-llāhi rabbi l-ʿālamīn (Praise be to Allah, Lord of all beings), then pause; then say ar-raḥmāni r-raḥīm (the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate), then pause; then say māliki yawmi d-dīn (Master of the Day of Judgment)—and so on until the end of the sūrah. This was his general practice: he would stop at the end of every verse and would not join it to what followed. At times he recited it as maliki yawmi d-dīn (King of the Day of Judgment) and at other times as māliki yawmi d-dīn (Master of the Day of Judgment). (p. 293–299)

The Essential Status of al-Fātiḥah and Its Merits

He ﷺ accorded this sūrah immense importance and would say, “There is no prayer for the one who does not recite in it Sūrat al-Fātiḥah and more.” In another wording: “A prayer is not valid in which a man does not recite Sūrat al-Fātiḥah.” At other times he said, “Whoever performs a prayer in which he does not recite Sūrat al-Fātiḥah, that prayer is defective, defective, defective—imperfect.”

He also said, “Allah, Exalted be He, says: ‘I have divided the prayer between Me and My servant into two halves—half for Me and half for My servant—and My servant shall have whatever he asks.’” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then explained: “Recite: the servant says al-ḥamdu li-llāhi rabbi l-ʿālamīn (Praise be to Allah, Lord of all beings); Allah the Exalted says, ‘My servant has praised Me.’ The servant says ar-raḥmāni r-raḥīm (the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate); Allah the Exalted says, ‘My servant has extolled Me.’ The servant says māliki yawmi d-dīn (Master of the Day of Judgment); Allah the Exalted says, ‘My servant has glorified Me.’ Then the servant says iyyāka naʿbudu wa-iyyāka nastaʿīn (It is You we worship, and You we ask for help); He says, ‘This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks.’ The servant then says ihdinā ṣ-ṣirāṭa l-mustaqīm, ṣirāṭa llaḏīna anʿamta ʿalayhim, ghayri l-maghḍūbi ʿalayhim wa-lā ḍ-ḍāllīn (Guide us to the straight path—the path of those You have favored, not of those who draw anger nor of those who go astray); He says, ‘All that is for My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks.’”

He ﷺ would say, “Allah has not sent down in the Torah or the Gospel anything comparable to Umm al-Qurʾān; it is the Seven Oft-Repeated and the Magnificent Qurʾān that I have been given.”

He instructed the man who had prayed poorly to recite it in his prayer, and he said to the one who could not memorize it, “Say: subḥāna llāh, al-ḥamdu li-llāh, lā ilāha illā Allah, Allahu akbar, and lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā bi-llāh.” He also told the same man, “If you have any Qurʾān with you, recite it; if not, then praise Allah, magnify Him, and declare His oneness.” (p. 300–326)