Exegesis of Verses from Surat al-Najm
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Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
To proceed: This is the sixty-sixth session of the weekly meetings known as the Open Meeting, which take place every Thursday, and this is the twenty-fourth Thursday of the month of Jumada al-Ula in the year 1418 AH.
We begin this meeting with what we have become accustomed to beginning our meetings with, which is a brief exegesis of what has been made easy from the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says: I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan,In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful: [An-Najm:1].
The Basmala is an independent verse from the Book of Allah the Exalted; it is not an appendage to the surah before it or the one after it, but it is an independent verse. For this reason, it is not counted among the verses of the surahs.And the evidence for that is: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “There is no prayer for one who does not recite the opening of the Book”,And in a wording: “(by the Mother of the Book)”. We saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) not recite the Basmala aloud when he recited the opening of the Book. This indicates that it is not part of it; for if it had been part of it, he would have recited it aloud just as he recited the rest of the verses aloud. Furthermore, it is established in the authentic hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said: “The prayer was divided between me and my servant into two halves,When he says: “(Praise is to Allah, Lord of the worlds)” [Al-Fatihah:2]. Allah the Exalted said: “My servant praised Me.”And when he said: “(The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy)”. Allah the Exalted said: “My servant described Me with attributes.”And when he said: “(Master of the Day of Judgment)”. Allah the Exalted said: “My servant glorified Me.”And when he said: “(You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help)”. Allah said: “This is between Me and My servant, two halves, and for My servant is what he asks.”When he says: “(Guide us to the straight path)” “(The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have earned Your anger or of those who are astray)”. Allah the Exalted said: “This is for My servant, and for My servant is what he asks.” This indicates that the Basmala is not a verse of Al-Fatihah. For this reason, if a person recites Al-Fatihah without reciting the Basmala, his prayer is valid, because it is not part of it.And with this, if a questioner brings us a question: Is the Basmala in Al-Fatihah not written as a verse, and is its number not one?We said: Yes, but this is based on another opinion in the matter, which is a weak opinion.When he says: So, would Al-Fatihah be six verses if we do not count the Basmala among them?We said: No, rather it is seven verses without it.Let us read:[Al-Fatihah 1:2] This is the first, the second, [Al-Fatihah 1:4] the third, [Al-Fatihah 1:5] the fourth, [Al-Fatihah 1:6] the fifth, [Al-Fatihah 1:7] the sixth, [Al-Fatihah 1:7] the seventh,And with this, the verses of Al-Fatihah are balanced in wording and meaning: As for the wording: if you count three verses from the beginning, and the fourth and fifth, you will find that they are close in the number of words.But if you make:[Al-Fatihah 1:7] If it were a single verse, the verses would not have been balanced; rather, this verse would have been long compared to what came before it. If we divide it into two verses, the verses become equal or very close in length.
As for the meaning, we say: The verses of Al-Fatihah are seven: three for Allah, three for the servant, and one between them. The three verses for Allah are:It is: [Al-Fatihah:2-4],And the three verses for the servant are: [Al-Fatihah:6-7]. And the verse between them is the middle verse of these seven, which is: [Al-Fatihah 1:5]. And with this it becomes clear that the Basmala must be outside the count of Al-Fatihah, and likewise for the rest of the surahs.
If someone were to say: Why was the Basmala not written between Al-Anfal and Al-Bara'ah?We said: Because the Basmala was not revealed between them. If it had been revealed, it would have been preserved and the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) would have written it.
If someone were to say: So, why is there a separation between them?We said: Because the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) hesitated: is the surah of Al-Bara'ah the remainder of the surah of Al-Anfal, or is it an independent surah? For this reason, they made a separation and did not make it a Basmala; because the Basmala was not revealed between it and the surah of Al-Anfal.
To proceed: This is the sixty-sixth session of the weekly meetings known as the Open Meeting, which take place every Thursday, and this is the twenty-fourth Thursday of the month of Jumada al-Ula in the year 1418 AH.
We begin this meeting with what we have become accustomed to beginning our meetings with, which is a brief exegesis of what has been made easy from the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says: I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan,In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
By the star when it descends,
وَالنجم إِذَا هَوَىThe Basmala is an independent verse from the Book of Allah the Exalted; it is not an appendage to the surah before it or the one after it, but it is an independent verse. For this reason, it is not counted among the verses of the surahs.And the evidence for that is: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “There is no prayer for one who does not recite the opening of the Book”,And in a wording: “(by the Mother of the Book)”. We saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) not recite the Basmala aloud when he recited the opening of the Book. This indicates that it is not part of it; for if it had been part of it, he would have recited it aloud just as he recited the rest of the verses aloud. Furthermore, it is established in the authentic hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said: “The prayer was divided between me and my servant into two halves,When he says: “(Praise is to Allah, Lord of the worlds)” [Al-Fatihah:2]. Allah the Exalted said: “My servant praised Me.”And when he said: “(The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy)”. Allah the Exalted said: “My servant described Me with attributes.”And when he said: “(Master of the Day of Judgment)”. Allah the Exalted said: “My servant glorified Me.”And when he said: “(You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help)”. Allah said: “This is between Me and My servant, two halves, and for My servant is what he asks.”When he says: “(Guide us to the straight path)” “(The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have earned Your anger or of those who are astray)”. Allah the Exalted said: “This is for My servant, and for My servant is what he asks.” This indicates that the Basmala is not a verse of Al-Fatihah. For this reason, if a person recites Al-Fatihah without reciting the Basmala, his prayer is valid, because it is not part of it.And with this, if a questioner brings us a question: Is the Basmala in Al-Fatihah not written as a verse, and is its number not one?We said: Yes, but this is based on another opinion in the matter, which is a weak opinion.When he says: So, would Al-Fatihah be six verses if we do not count the Basmala among them?We said: No, rather it is seven verses without it.Let us read:
[All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds -
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَThe Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy
الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِSovereign of the Day of Recompense.
مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِIt is You we worship and You we ask for help.
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُGuide us to the straight path -
اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَThe path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْnot of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.
غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلا الضَّالِّينَThe path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلا الضَّالِّينَAs for the meaning, we say: The verses of Al-Fatihah are seven: three for Allah, three for the servant, and one between them. The three verses for Allah are:It is:
(2) [All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds - (3) The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful, (4) Sovereign of the Day of Recompense.
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ * الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ * مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ(6) Guide us to the straight path - (7) The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.
اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ * صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلا الضَّالِّينَIt is You we worship and You we ask for help.
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُIf someone were to say: Why was the Basmala not written between Al-Anfal and Al-Bara'ah?We said: Because the Basmala was not revealed between them. If it had been revealed, it would have been preserved and the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) would have written it.
If someone were to say: So, why is there a separation between them?We said: Because the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) hesitated: is the surah of Al-Bara'ah the remainder of the surah of Al-Anfal, or is it an independent surah? For this reason, they made a separation and did not make it a Basmala; because the Basmala was not revealed between it and the surah of Al-Anfal.