Al-Fåtihah: The Opening
Introduction
This is apparently the Muslim version of the Lord’s Prayer, only with more importance. It is the prayer a Muslim should make at the beginning of each day, beginning each lesson, etc. The prayer I use before each Bible lesson is rather different than the Lord’s Prayer, so I used the Lord’s Prayer in comparison when teasing out the nuances.
The Muslim opening prayer is a fairly simple seven-verse thing, listing attributes of Allah and requesting Allah’s help in being led on the right path, neither that of those upon whom wrath is brought down nor those who go astray. On the surface, there is nothing really wrong with it, and further inspection finds some quirks, but still a fairly decent prayer for a good Muslim. If I did not have the Lord’s Prayer to compare it with, I might agree with the author of my English translation that the concepts expressed are nothing short of sublime.
Divine Attributes
The divine attributes are four in number, being providence, beneficence, mercy, and requital. For all that, the English translation doesn’t use the word ‘providence’, unless it is hidden somehow in it’s mention of Allah as ‘Lord’. I get a gentle chiding here for the frequent English translation of ‘King’. An emphasis on the word used strengthens the definition from ‘King’ to something further, a ‘Master’. The difference is important, because a master could forgive his servants without breaking the law, while a king could not. I find that interesting, as it suggests that in Islam the forgiveness of sins is possible only because Allah is above the law, while in Christianity it is the fulfillment of the law through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Beneficence and Mercy barely need mention, as I pretty much agree with them. To a Christian comparing the Quran to the Bible, they need no explanation.
The one that really caught my eye was requital. I had to look up the word to make sure I had the nuance correct. It’s most common synonym is ‘reciprocate’ or ‘return’, the idea of giving back what is given to you. For a judgmental god, that makes some sense. You do good, you get good. You do bad, you get bad. Unfortunately, it leaves no room for forgiveness of sins, or for the Biblical verses about even our righteousness being no better than dirty rags before God’s glory. Again, the translator/commentator set me straight. The judgment of Allah is not apparently the rigid judgment of natural law, but the beneficent judgment of a loving Master.
Is that different from Christianity? I see one way that it is, and that one way is strengthened by what the Lord’s Prayer has that the Fatihah does not.
Forgiveness and Remission of Sins
The Lord’s Prayer and the Fatihah has concepts in common regarding God’s magnificence, beneficence, love and power. They both request direction in the supplicant’s life. The mention of “Thy Kingdom Come” and the meaning of it’s omission in the Fatihah will have to wait until I have more information. The two extra parts in the Lord’s Prayer are the appeal for sustenance (“Give us this day our daily bread”) and for forgiveness of sins.
While one of the words used to describe Allah in these seven verses refers to him as ‘sustainer to perfection’, I do not come away from reading the prayer with a feeling that you can request that sustenance of him, or a sense that forgiveness is something you specifically seek. The Lord’s Prayer suggests, as other words of Jesus confirm, that remission of sins is something that you can not only hope for but expect once you have made your request. God is seen as a faithful and steady keeper of His word, and that expectation is strengthened by the knowledge that salvation and forgiveness is the fulfillment of the Law and not it’s bypassing. For that Jesus’s sacrifice was needed.
For Allah, on the other hand, whose forgiveness appears to be above the Law, I see no guarantee of remission of sins beyond the simple assurance that Allah is loving and merciful, and it is not beyond his nature to do so.
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