Al-Fātiḥah 1:6

The issue

During prayer, Muslims ask Allah to guide them to “the right path.” In Arabic, this phrase implies that the petitioner is lost and cannot find the right path. Therefore, Allah is asked to guide the way to the correct path. According to Islāmic scholars, “the right path” could mean the Qur’ān, Islām, or paradise. Furthermore, Muslims believe that Islām is the true religion. They follow its teachings, glorify the Qur’ān, and believe that they are already guided to “the right path” and that heaven will be their future abode. Therefore, all the various definitions given by the Islāmic commentators cause the verse to be contradictory to Islāmic belief. If a Muslim already believes that he or she has found “the right path,” then why would Allah be repeatedly petitioned to help the believer finds it?

Question: What is the purpose of praying this prayer if a Muslim already has been guided to the straight path (Islām)? To Muslims, is not the answer to this prayer already an established fact?

In the face of this dilemma, Muhammad Ibn Abī Bakr Ibn ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Rāzī (M. al-Rāzī) offers this comment about this verse: “[I]t means hold us steadfast on it [the right path] and keep us in this behavior, out of fear of a bad ending.”14 This statement does not resolve the contradiction mentioned above about this verse. The early Islāmic scholars also said that the phrase “those Thou art gracious to” is about Muslims; in other words, it is about Muhammad and his Companions.15 However, it is improbable and contradictory for Muhammad to ask Allah to help him find the right path; he already believes himself to be walking on it.

It is illogical for Muhammad and his Companions to ask Allah for the guidance of those upon whom Allah has bestowed his grace if they think they were the ones upon whom Allah has already bestowed his grace. If we accept these Islāmic explanations, then the contradictions between these two verses become even stronger. Therefore, in order to understand these two verses (Q 1.6-7), we must understand their historical context.

When Muhammad and his followers recited Q 1, the “Praise Hymn,” in their minds they were thinking of a generation that preceded them, a generation whom they wanted to imitate. Al-Rāzī refers to this way of thinking in his commentary on the phrase, “those Thou art gracious to,” when he states, “It means, ‘show us the right path of those upon whom you bestowed your grace before us [or before our time].’ And those who preceded the Muslims of other nations did not have the Qur’ān or Islām.” Then he adds, “The intent is, ‘show us the right path of those truthful ones who deserved paradise.’”

When we view these two verses according to this interpretation, the contradiction is clear. Muhammad is asking Allah to put him on the path of those “who preceded Muslims of other nations”—that is, the People of the Book (Jews and Christians). It appears that these two verses were from the Meccan part of Q 1. However, resolving the contradictions in these verses will create other contradictions in the Qur’ān. While Q 1 hails “those nations who preceded the Muslims,” we find severe attacks against Jews and Christians within the Medinan portions of the Qur’ān, especially in Q 9.