سورة الفاتحة

Narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: When Allah took the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) on the ascent... Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: "Now you have reached Me; so mention My name". He said: "بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ [In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful]", and for this reason it was prescribed to say بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ [In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful] at the beginning of every surah. Then the Exalted Truth said to him: "Praise Me". He submitted: "الْحَمْدُ لِلهِ رَبِّ الْعالَمِینَ [All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds]". The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) then said within himself after the praise: "شُکراً [in thanks]". Immediately the Exalted Truth said: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! You cut off My praise by saying [shukran], so mention My name again". And for this reason, in Surah al-Hamd the phrase الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ [the Beneficent, the Merciful] is said twice.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Allah the Mighty and Majestic says, 'I have divided Fatihat al-Kitab between Myself and My servant: half of it is Mine, and the other half is My servant's, and My servant shall have what he asks for ... When he says, الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ [the Beneficent, the Merciful], Allah the Great and Majestic says, "My servant has borne witness that I am the Beneficent, the Merciful; I shall increase his share of My mercy, and I shall be more generous with his portion of My gift and bounty."'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): الرَّحْمنِ [the Beneficent] - He is Beneficent and Bountiful to all His creatures, and الرَّحِیمِ [the Merciful] to the believers in particular, He is Merciful and Kind.

Imam Reza (peace be upon him): الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ [the Beneficent, the Merciful] - it is the seeking of Allah's favor and the mention of His kindnesses and blessings upon all His creation and His servants.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Allah the Exalted said: "I have divided this surah between Myself and My servant. Whenever one of them says: الْحَمْدُ لِلهِ [Praise belongs to Allah], he has surely praised Me; and whenever he says: رَبِّ الْعالَمِینَ [Lord of the worlds], he has surely known Me; and whenever he says: الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ [The Beneficent, the Merciful], he has surely extolled Me."

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): In the tafsir of Imam Hasan al-Askari (peace be upon him), regarding الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ [the Beneficent, the Merciful], the Imam (peace be upon him) said: الرَّحْمنِ [the Beneficent] is the One who is intensely inclined toward the sustenance of His servants and does not cut off the sources of their sustenance from them, even if they cut themselves off from obeying Him. He is الرَّحِیمِ [the Merciful] to the believers, in lightening their obligations and acts of obedience upon them, and He is الرَّحِیمِ [the Merciful] to the disbelieving and ungrateful, [who seek His help and companionship, He deals] gently with them in calling them to agree with Him. The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) said: 'الرَّحْمنِ [the Beneficent] is the One who is intensely inclined toward the sustenance of His servants.' He said, 'And it is part of His mercy that, since He took away from the infant the power to rise and feed itself, He placed that power in its mother instead, and made her tender and compassionate toward it, so that she would undertake its upbringing and care. And if the heart of one of the mothers should turn hard and unfeeling, then the upbringing and care of this [helpless] child becomes obligatory upon the rest of the believers. And since the power to raise and see to the interests of the young was taken away from [the very nature of] some animals, He placed that power instead in their offspring, so that they rise as soon as they are born and set out toward the sustenance apportioned for them.' He said, 'And the interpretation of [الرَّحْمنِ] is this: الرَّحْمنِ, which is Allah's own word, is derived from رحم (rahm, the womb/kinship-bond). I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) say: Allah the Mighty and Majestic said, "I am الرَّحْمنِ [the Beneficent], and it (the kinship-bond) is الرحم. I derived a name for it from My own name. Whoever maintains ties with it, I maintain ties with him! And whoever severs it, I sever ties with him!"' Then Ali (peace be upon him) said, 'Do you know what this "rahm" is? Whoever maintains ties with it, الرحمان [the Beneficent] maintains ties with him, and whoever severs it, الرحمان [the Beneficent] severs ties with him.'

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): In the tafsir of Imam Hasan al-Askari (peace be upon him) it is recorded that the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (peace be upon him), said: The rahm (kinship-bond) that Allah derived from الرحمن [al-Rahman] is the rahm [kinship] of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), and honoring Allah includes honoring Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), and honoring Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) includes honoring the kin of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family); and every believing man and woman among our Shia is counted among the kin of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), and honoring them is honoring Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). So woe to whoever falls short in guarding the sanctity of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), and blessed is whoever properly observes his sanctity and honors the Prophet's kin (peace be upon him and his family) and maintains ties with them. And he said, 'As for الرَّحِیمِ [the Merciful], its meaning is that Allah is merciful and kind to His servants, and part of His mercy is that He created a hundred mercies and placed one of them among all His servants, by which people show kindness to one another, a mother shows tenderness to her child, and the mothers among the animals show affection to their young. And when the Day of Judgment comes, Allah will add this mercy to the other ninety-nine parts, and by all of it He will encompass the nation of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) with His mercy. Then He accepts their intercession for whomever they wish to intercede among the people of the faith, to the point that one person comes to a believer among the Shia and says to him, "Intercede for me!" That believer says, "What claim do you have upon me?" He replies, "I gave you water to drink one day." The believer recalls that day and intercedes for him, and his intercession is accepted. Another comes to him and says, "I have a claim upon you, intercede for me!" That believer says, "What claim do you have upon me?" He replies, "On a hot day, you sat for a while in the shade of my wall." The believer intercedes for him, and his intercession is accepted; and he keeps interceding until his intercession is accepted for his neighbors, companions and acquaintances, for the believer is more honored before Allah than [others] suppose.'

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): As for al-Rahim, its meaning is that He is merciful to His believing servants. And it is from His mercy that He created a hundred mercies! Of these, He placed one single mercy among all the creation and all creatures, and by it people are merciful and compassionate to one another, a mother is tender to her child, and [for this reason] mothers among the animals show affection and tenderness to their offspring.