فتح
fataha
Said of God: to grant His servants victory over their enemies, or to open a way out of their difficulties, moral or material.
What it means
Fataha means to open. When God is the subject, it means He opens a path for His servants, whether by giving them victory over an enemy or by releasing them from a hardship. “Whatever mercy God opens for people, none can withhold it” (35:2). Surah 48 begins: “Truly We have granted you a clear victory” (48:1), using the same root.
The Quran also uses the verb for blessings opened to those of faith: “Had the people of the towns believed and been mindful of God, We would have opened upon them blessings from heaven and earth” (7:96). In this sense the verb joins the moral and the material. A breakthrough in the heart, such as guidance or relief from despair, is as much a gift of God as success in battle.
Often misunderstood as
Rendered “to conquer”, which narrows an act of divine opening that may be moral as well as military.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 42, listed as FATAḤA. The definition is restated here.