The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 25
AL-FĀTIḤAH which the Holy Prophet said refer-red to the Jews, the Quran warns Muslims against meeting the fate of the Jews by rejecting the Promised Messiah when he appears among them. This prophecy of the second advent of Jesus has been fulfilled in the person of Ḥaḍrat Mirza Ghulām Aḥmad of Qadian, the Holy Founder of the Aḥmadiyya Movement. The other danger is alluded to in which, according to the Holy Prophet, refers to Christians. The verse foretells a time when Christian nations would dominate the world, and it warns Muslims to be on their guard against the false beliefs and evil culture of these nations. A most dreadful warning, but most deplorably neglected! or This, the last verse of Al-Fatihah, embodies yet another great prophecy. As we have seen, this chapter was revealed early in Mecca when the Holy Prophet was surrounded by idolaters and Islam had not yet come in contact with either Jews Christians. Yet the prayer in this verse refers to the danger of Jews and Christians and not to the danger of idolatry. This unexpected omission in the case of idol-worshippers and this unexpected reference to the People of the Book is not without significance. Idol-worship was to be swept out of Arabia and was no longer to be a danger to Islam, but dangers far more formidable were to confront it in the Latter Days the internal danger of Muslims becoming like Jews, and the external danger of their becoming like Christians. The prophecy in this verse therefore has a threefold 25 CH. 1 significance: (1) it refers to the early extinction of idolatry from Arabia; (2) it speaks of the danger of Muslims drifting into a state like that of Jews, and (3) it alludes to the universal ascendance of Christian nations in the Latter Days, and warns Muslims against adopting their faith and imbibing their culture. All these prophecies have been literally ful- filled. The Holy Prophet says that when a Muslim comes to the end of the prayer contained in Al-Fatihah, he should say (Amen), i. e. 'Accept our prayer, o Lord!' It is therefore customary with Muslims to say 'Amen' after reciting Al-Fatihah. A General Note on the Chapter Al-Fātiḥah Al-Fatihah, the opening Surah of the Quran, reveals a beautiful order in the arrangement of its words and sentences. It is divided, as the Holy Prophet has said, into two halves. The first half pertains to God, the second to man, and the different parts of each portion correspond to one another in most remarkable Corresponding to the name (Allah), which stands for the Being possessing all noble attributes, in the first half, a manner. we have the words, Thee alone do we worship. In the second half, as soon as the devotee thinks of God as being free from all defects and possessing all perfect attributes, the cry of Thee alone do we worship spontaneously rises from the depths of his heart. Again, corresponding to the attribute(Lord of all the worlds) in the first part, we have the