الفاتحة
al-Fātiḥa
The opening chapter of the Quran, recited in every unit of the prayer.
What it means
Its seven verses begin “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds” and end with the prayer “guide us to the straight path, the path of those You have favoured, not of those who earn Your anger, nor of those who go astray” (1:1–7). The Prophet said that there is no prayer for one who does not recite it (Sahih al-Bukhari).
What the sources say
Many commentators identified “those who earn anger” and “those who go astray” with Jews and Christians, from a hadith reported in al-Tirmidhi. Others, including many modern scholars, take the phrases as describing anyone who knows the truth and rejects it, or who strays from it without knowing, whatever his community.