سورة الفاتحة

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): When he says, "اهْدِنَا الصِّراطَ الْمُسْتَقِیمَ" [Guide us to the straight path]... Allah says: "This is for My servant, and My servant shall have whatever he asks. I have answered My servant, given him what he hoped for, and granted him safety from what he feared".

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): "اهدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِیمَ" [Guide us to the straight path] means: keep granting us the enabling grace by which we obeyed You in our past days, so that we may obey You in the same way for the rest of our lives. The straight path is two paths: a path in this world and a path in the hereafter. As for the straight path in this world, it is what falls short of excess and rises above negligence, remaining upright and never turning toward anything false. As for the other path, it is the path of the believers to Paradise, which is straight; they do not turn from Paradise toward the Fire, nor toward anything but Paradise.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), regarding the verse "اهدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِیمَ" [Guide us to the straight path], said: Guide us to the straight path; guide us to keep to the path that leads to Your love and reaches Your religion, and that prevents us from following our own desires and so being destroyed, or holding to our own opinions and so perishing.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Ali al-Halabi says: While I was praying behind Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), I heard him recite countless times: "اهدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِیمَ" [Guide us to the straight path].

Imam Reza (peace be upon him): "اهدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِیمَ" [Guide us to the straight path] is a request to be guided toward Allah's religion and to hold fast to His rope, and a request for increase in knowledge of the Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, and knowledge of His greatness and majesty.

Imam Baqir and Sadiq (peace be upon them): "الصِّراطَ الْمُسْتَقِیمَ" [The straight path] is the very religion of Allah which Gabriel revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family).

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Imam Ali (peace be upon him) wrote to Caesar: ... As for the word of Allah the Exalted, "اهْدِنَا الصِّراطَ الْمُسْتَقِیمَ" [Guide us to the straight path], it means the clear path; whoever does righteous deeds in this world travels by that path to Paradise on the Day of Judgment.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "اهدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِیمَ" [Guide us to the straight path] is the path of the prophets (peace be upon them) and those whom Allah favored with blessing.

Imam Reza (peace be upon him): Imam Reza (peace be upon him) was asked: "Where in Ummul Kitab is Ali (peace be upon him) mentioned?" He said: "In this verse: اهْدِنَا الصِّراطَ الْمُسْتَقِیمَ [Guide us to the straight path], which refers to Ali (peace be upon him)".

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Hammad narrates from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The Imam (peace be upon him), regarding the word of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, "الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِیمَ" [The straight path], said: "That is Amirul Mu'minin Ali (peace be upon him) and knowledge of him. And the proof that it is Amirul Mu'minin (peace be upon him) is the word of Allah the Exalted: "And it, in "Ummul Kitab" [the Preserved Tablet], is exalted and firm with Us!" (Zukhruf/4). And in Ummul Kitab and in the word of Allah the Exalted, the straight path is Amirul Mu'minin Ali (peace be upon him)".

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Indeed, I am the way and the straight path of Allah.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): We are the straight path.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): By Allah! We are the very path you must follow. I swear by Allah! We are the straight path.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "اهدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِیمَ" [Guide us to the straight path]; the path is Amirul Mu'minin Ali (peace be upon him), and knowledge of the Imam.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): When the Day of Judgment comes and the path is set over Hell, none may cross it except one who carries with him a pass bearing the wilayah (guardianship) of Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him). And that is the word of Allah the Exalted, who said: "Stop them, for they are to be questioned!" (Saffat/24), meaning about the wilayah of Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him).

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) says: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to Ali (peace be upon him): "O Ali (peace be upon him)! When the Day of Judgment comes, I, you, and Gabriel will sit upon the path, and no one will have the right to cross from there unless he holds a pass on which his acquittal and deliverance, by virtue of your wilayah, has been recorded".

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn al-Fudayl narrates from Imam Musa ibn Ja'far (peace be upon him): I said: "What is meant by the verse: Is he who walks fallen upon his face more guided, or he who walks upright on a straight path? (Mulk/24)"? He said: "Allah has given an example: whoever turns away from the wilayah of Ali (peace be upon him) is likened to one who walks fallen on his face, unguided, going nowhere; and whoever follows him is likened to one who walks upright and firm on the straight path. And the straight path is Amirul Mu'minin (peace be upon him)".

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Allah revealed to His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): "Hold fast to what has been revealed to you; indeed, you are on a straight path" (Zukhruf/43). That is, you are upon the wilayah of Ali (peace be upon him), and Ali (peace be upon him) is that very straight path.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): Abdullah ibn Abbas, regarding the word of Allah the Exalted, "اهدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِیمَ" [Guide us to the straight path], said: O company of Allah's servants! Say: Guide us toward the love of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his household (peace be upon them).

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): "اهْدِنَا الصِّراطَ الْمُسْتَقِیمَ" [Guide us to the straight path] means: O people! Say: "اهْدِنَا الصِّراطَ الْمُسْتَقِیمَ" [Guide us to the straight path], meaning: O our Lord! Guide us to the wilayah of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his household (peace be upon them)!

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): صِرَاطَ الَّذِینَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَیهِمْ [the path of those You have favored] means Muhammad and his household (peace be upon them).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): In some of the ziyarat texts of our master Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), it is stated: السَّلَامُ عَلَیْکَ أَیُّهَا النَّبَأُ الْعَظِیمُ وَ الْخَطْبُ الْجَسِیمُ وَ الذِّکْرُ الْحَکِیمُ وَ الصِّرَاطُ الْمُسْتَقِیمُ [Peace be upon you, O great news, and O mighty, powerful one, and O wise book, and O straight path!]

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Abu Barzah said: While we were with the Messenger of Allah, he suddenly pointed with his hand toward Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) and said, 'This is my straight path, follow it! And do not follow the scattered [and deviant] paths.' (An'am/153) Ali ibn Abi Talib and the Imams (peace be upon them), from the children of Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her), are the path of Allah. Whoever turns away from them has entered the other paths referred to in the verse.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): The firmest of you in foot upon the Sirat (the path) is the one who loves my household (peace be upon them) the most.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: On the Day of Judgment, beside the bridge of Sirat, a great number of people will be seen whose count none but Allah knows; they [in the world] were lovers of Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him), and many of them are people of sins and forbidden deeds; at that moment, a wall will come between them and the path across the Sirat and the way of passage to Paradise; they will say: "O Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him)! You see the state we are in!" Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him), addressing the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), will say: "You see my lovers, they are seeking help from me." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), addressing Ali (peace be upon him), will say: "O Ali (peace be upon him)! Help your uncle in aiding his lovers and rescuing them from the Fire!" At that moment Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) will bring the spear with which Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) used to fight the enemies of Allah in the world and will place it in the hand of Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) and will say: "O uncle of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and uncle of the brother of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! With this spear drive the Fire away from your lovers, just as with it in the world you used to drive the enemies of Allah away from the friends of Allah." Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) will take the spear in his hand and place its butt-end into the wall of fire that stands between his lovers and the path of passage over the Sirat toward Paradise, and will thrust it away in a single push, moving it away by a distance of five hundred years; then he will address those who in the world were his lovers: "Pass [over the bridge of Sirat]." They too will pass over the Sirat in complete safety and security while the Fire and the fear of it have been removed from them, and they will enter Paradise together with spoils and success.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Imam Ali (peace be upon him) is the ruler and manager of this ummah, its witness, and the one in charge of its reckoning. He is the possessor of the greatest rank, and the path of truth whose way is flourishing, and he is the straight Sirat of Allah. Through him, after me, people are guided out of misguidance and gain insight out of blindness.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal ibn Umar said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about al-sirat (the path). He said: "Al-sirat is a path to the knowledge of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, and there are two siratat: a sirat in this world and a sirat in the hereafter. As for the sirat in this world, it is the Imam whose obedience is obligatory. Whoever knows him in this world and follows his guidance will pass over the sirat in the hereafter, which is the bridge over Hell. And whoever does not know him in this world, his foot will slip on the sirat in the hereafter and he will fall into the Fire of Hell and perish."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) narrated from his fathers: The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said to Imam Ali (peace be upon him), '[Whenever] your love and affection settles in the heart of a believer, it causes that if one of his feet slips on the Sirat, his other foot remains firm, until Allah, because of his love for you, admits him into Paradise.'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Sa'dan ibn Muslim said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about al-sirat. He said: "It is finer than a hair and sharper than a sword. Some pass over it like lightning, some like the galloping of a horse, some walking, and some crawl over it on their hands and chest, clinging to it. So the Fire burns some of their limbs and leaves others."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ibn Ghiyath said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) described al-sirat and said: "A thousand years of ascent, a thousand years of descent, and a thousand years of level ground."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): And know that your crossing is over the Sirat, the place where feet slip, the place of terror and fear, and every kind of danger.