Al-Fatiha - The Opening: Al-Fatiha is only 28 words

Friday, December 17, 2010

Al-Fatiha is only 28 words

Listening to Lesley Hazelton's presentation about the Qur'an on TED, it was fascinating to discover that there are only 28 words in the Arabic version of Al-Fatiha.

Here's the link to the TED presentation:
http://www.juancole.com/2010/12/on-reading-the-quran-hazleton.html

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Al-Fatiha ~ The Opening

DEDICATION

This Sacred Space is dedicated to celebrating
Al-Fatiha
or
Al-Hamd
The Opening Seven Verses of the Holy Qur'an
the one fundamental
"lived experience"
shared by every single Muslim,
with the intention of fostering a profound and abiding level of commitment to Love and Unity within the Ummah,
in commemoration on July 11, 2007 of the Golden Jubilee of the Imamat of His Highness, Prince
Karim al-Hussaini, Aga Khan,
The Imam of the Time.
Inshallah, it will also serve as a deep wellspring of inspiration, creativity and knowledge in the direction towards developing
An Integral Psychology of Islam.

THE CONTEXT

"A central element in a truly religious outlook, it seems to me, is a recognition that we all have a great deal to learn from one another. The Holy Quran speaks of how mankind has been created by a single Creator "from a single soul…" – a profound affirmation of the unity of humanity. This Islamic ideal, of course, is shared by other great religions. Despite the long history of religious conflict, there is also a long counter-history of religious tolerance. Instead of shouting at one another, our faiths ask us to listen - and learn from one another. As we do, one of our first lessons might well center on those powerful but often neglected chapters in history when Islamic and European cultures interacted cooperatively and creatively to realize some of civilization's peak achievements. The spirit of pluralism is not a pallid religious compromise. It is a sacred religious imperative. In this light, our differences can become sources of enrichment, so that we see "the other" as an opportunity and a blessing - whether "the other" lives across the street - or across the world."
~ His Highness the Aga Khan,
Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris,
June 15, 2007

REMARKS BY HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN

This programme is also an opportunity for achieving insights into how the discourse of the Qur’an-e-Sharif, rich in parable and allegory, metaphor and symbol, has been an inexhaustible well-spring of inspiration, lending itself to a wide spectrum of interpretations. This freedom of interpretation is a generosity which the Qur'an confers upon all believers, uniting them in the conviction that All-Merciful Allah will forgive them if they err in their sincere attempts to understand His word. Happily, as a result, the Holy Book continues to guide and illuminate the thought and conduct of Muslims belonging to different communities of interpretation and spiritual affiliation, from century to century, in diverse cultural environments. The Noble Qur’an extends its principle of pluralism also to adherents of other faiths. It affirms that each has a direction and path to which they turn so that all should strive for good works, in the belief that, wheresoever they may be, Allah will bring them together. Tradition honours the vocation of the learned scholars who are gathered here for this colloquium. The Qur’an itself acknowledges that people upon whom wisdom has been bestowed are the recipients of abundant good; they are the exalted ones. Hence Islam's consistent encouragement to Muslim men and women to seek knowledge wherever it is to be found. We are all familiar that al-Kindi, even in the 9th century, saw no shame in acknowledging and assimilating the truth, whatever its source. He argued that truth never abases, but only ennobles its seeker...
Does not the Qur’an challenge the artist, as much as the mystic, to go beyond the physical - the outward - so as to seek to unveil that which lies at the centre but gives life to the periphery? Is not a great work of art, like the ecstasy of the mystic, a gesture of the spirit, a stirring of the soul that comes from the attempt to experience a glimpse of, and an intimacy with, that which is ineffable and beyond being?
Remarks made on October 19, 2003 at
"Word of God, Art of Man: The Qur’an and its Creative Expressions"
at an International Colloqium sponsored by the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, England.

SUBMISSIONS FOR A LITERARY ANTHOLOGY

You are graciously invited to submit essays, reflections, meditations and stories on al-Fatiha. A selection of these from the following age groups will be ultimately published in a literary anthology: Under 12, 12-18, 18-25, 25-40, 40-65, 65-99. Please send with your submissions the following information: 1) Name, 2) City and State or Country, 3) Age, 4) At what age did you first hear al-Fatiha recited? 5) At what age did you learn to recite al-Fatiha? 6) At what age did you learn the meaning of al-Fatiha? 7) How has the meaning changed as you have aged? Kindly e-mail me at: Jalaledin@aol.com It is my intention to review these submissions towards developing a Psychology of Islam. Your submission implies your consent to publish on this blog and/or in the literary anthology. "It would be wise, then, to invite a conversation amongst Muslim women and men of letters and learning, amongst the imams and sheikhs, mystics and philosophers, the culturally habituated and the inspired, professionals and entrepreneurs, soldiers and the constabulary, judges and prison inmates, the infirm and the impoverished, the children and the adults of this great world wisdom tradition for the purpose of illuminating and uncovering a psychology of Islam. By examining what a Muslim understands, experiences and “imagines” in the devotional recitation of this prayer, which is very often intoned or whispered by the faithful up to seventeen times a day, one can begin to approach the psychology of over one fifth of all humanity. A final selection of submissions from this conversation will result in a literary anthology. This anthology seeks to penetrate that fundamental kernel of the psychology of Islam through the images, stories, meditations, contemplations, emotions and transpersonal experiences invoked and inspired by its most sacred and treasured activity – the salat, du'a or prayer and supplication."

Al-Fatiha - The Opening

Friday, December 17, 2010

Al-Fatiha is only 28 words

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Collection of Videos on al-Fatiha

DEDICATION

THE CONTEXT

REMARKS BY HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN

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SUBMISSIONS FOR A LITERARY ANTHOLOGY

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