IOK Ramadan: Asking for Guidance | Keys to the Divine Compass [Ep1]

This Ramadan, MuslimMatters is pleased to host the Institute Of Knowledge‘s daily Ramadan series: Keys to the Divine Compass. Through this series, each day we will spend time connecting with the Qur’an on a deeper, more spiritual, uplifting level.

Juzʾ 1 Contains: Sūrah al-Fātiḥah – Sūrah al-Baqarah (#1-2)

Sūrah Al-Fātiḥah (1)

ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَ ٰ⁠طَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِیمَ

صِرَ ٰ⁠طَ ٱلَّذِینَ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَیۡهِمۡغَیۡرِ ٱلۡمَغۡضُوبِ عَلَیۡهِمۡ وَلَا ٱلضَّاۤلِّینَ

“Guide us to, on, through, and until the very end of the straight correct path: the path of those You have favored and blessed, not the path of the ones who are the receipts of anger nor the ones lost.”

Our Lord and Master, Allāh ﷻ teaches us this duʿāʾ. In this Divine Compass, He ﷻ taught us exactly what to ask or and how to ask for it. He ﷻ taught us the importance of guidance by telling us to ask for it.

Guidance is crucial. It is how we navigate through life and new places. If I visit a new country, I need a tour guide to benefit from the new country. I need someone to make recommendations: best spots to visit, best spots to eat, places to avoid, prices to avoid. That will allow me to survive, but also to be successful. Guidance from Allāh is exactly that. It allows us to survive this life, navigate this life, find purpose and reason in this life. And it allows us to be successful in this life as we work for the Hereafter.

Next is the beautiful wording. Allāh teaches us to say, “ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَ ٰ⁠طَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِیمَ” – if we translate that in the most literal sense without connotation, that would mean, “guide us the straight path” since there is no preposition (to, towards). What that means in Arabic, is essentially, full service guidance. We ask Allāh ﷻ to:

1. Tell us where the path is
2. Where it leads us to
3. How do we get to the path
4. Describe the path for us
5. Tell us about the ups and downs of the path, obstacles, challenges
6. What we need on the path
7. Help us get to the path
8. Help us traverse the path
9. Help us reach the final destination
10. Continuously keep us on the path
11. Save us from accidentally (or purposely) getting lost or veering off the path
12. And everything else that is needed for me to go from where I am right now until the very end (which is His Pleasure and Jannah)

Then He ﷻ tells us about the path. It is “ٱلصِّرَ ٰ⁠طَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِیمَ – the straight correct path”. Between point a and point b, a straight line is the fastest, shortest, and simplest route. No curves, no crookedness, no bends, no turns. It’s a straight shot. It is the optimal route. The Divine Compass already chose the best path for us. The path is nothing other than Islam, The Truth, The Religion taught by the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ.

But not only that, Allāh ﷻ teaches us that we are believers together. That is why we asked, “guide US” and not just “guide ME”. That is further exemplified by us ask specifying that we want to be on the same exact path of those who came before, and were blessed by Allāh ﷻ. We say, “صِرَ ٰ⁠طَ ٱلَّذِینَ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَیۡهِمۡ – the path of those whom You have blessed” because we want to be in the same camp, the same group as those whom we know lived and died on the truth: the prophets, their followers, the martyrs, and the righteous (see Sūrah Al-Nisāʾ #69). They have already traversed this life with guidance and were successful. They are our role models. They did two things: (a) accepted the guidance, and (b) lived according to the guidance. When they were handed a divine compass, they recognized that it was from the divine, and followed it.

There are two other types of people who failed to do one or both of those two things; we do not want to follow their path. First, the recipients of anger “ٱلۡمَغۡضُوبِ عَلَیۡهِمۡ”. They accepted the truth, they had the divine compass, but they chose to ignore it. That is why The Giver of guidance (Allāh ﷻ) is angry with them. Second, those who are lost “ٱلضَّاۤلِّینَ”. They never accepted the truth, they never chose to acknowledge guidance, and they ignored the compass given to them. Since they never had the first step of accepting guidance, they obviously never followed it. So they are lost, roaming aimlessly without a compass. Allāh knows who are the best and who are the worst. And He ﷻ taught us, from His Infinite Knowledge and Wisdom, to ask to not be on the same path as these two groups, but rather to be on the path of the successful ones whom Allāh ﷻ has blessed.

May Allāh answer this prayer of ours that we make abundantly every day. Never let Sūrah Al-Fātiḥah become mundane.