The Essence of Islam – Volume I — Page 451
The Holy Qur'an 451 poses of the Holy Qur'an. This is referred to in the verse: و لَقَدْ أَتَيْنَكَ سَبْعًا مِّنَ الْمَثَانِي وَ الْقُرْآنَ الْعَظِيمَ 257 This means that: O Prophet! We have bestowed upon thee the seven verses of the Surah Fatihah which briefly comprehend all the purposes of the Holy Qur'ān and, in contrast with them, there is the Great Qur'ān which sets out religious purposes in detail. For this reason, this Surah is known as the Mother of the Book and the Comprehensive Surah. It is the Mother of the Book because all purposes of the Holy Qur'an can be derived from it, and it is called the Comprehensive Sūrah as it briefly comprehends all types of learning contained in the Qur'an. It is for this reason that the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] has said that reciting Surah Fatihah, is like reciting the whole Qur'an. The Holy Qur'an and the Ahādīth show that the Surah Fatihah is a mirror that displays the Qur'an. For instance, it is one of the purposes of the Holy Qur'an that it sets out all the perfect praise of God Almighty and states clearly the complete perfection that He possesses. This is briefly set forth in the Surah Fatihah in the verse: الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ 258 which means that all types of perfect praise are estab- lished for Allah Who is comprehensive of all excellences and is worthy of every type of worship. The second purpose of the Holy Qur'an is that it mani- fests God's being the Perfect Fashioner and the Creator of the universe, and sets forth the beginning of the universe, 257 al-Hijr, 15:88 [Publisher] 258 al-Fatihah, 1:2 [Publisher]