*If the people who objected on this point had had any real understanding they wouldn’t have objected, rather they would have been obliged to agree.
What does it mean if an Unbeliever reads the Fatihah (Opening Chapter of the Qur’an)? What it means is that he has become a Believer. In the same way that we say that an Unbeliever, once he pronounces Kalimat-ush-Shahada (“I bear witness that there is no God save the One True God, Allah Almighty, and that Muhammad is His Messenger) doesn’t remain under the classification of “Unbeliever” but instantly becomes a Muslim so we can say this about one who pronounces Al-Fatihah.
If pronouncing Kalimat-ush-Shahada is enough to make one a Muslim, then what about the effect of reading Fatihah, which is called “The Mother of the Qur’an” (Umm-ul-Kitab)? Does it make any sense that Allah should guide His servant to pronounce that most honourable chapter of the Qur’an and then leave him in unbelief? Is that how they imaging that Allah guides His slaves?
They object when we say that an Unbeliever, even if he should read Fatihah only once in his life, should benefit. But what if his reading of the Fatihah were to coincide with his death — if the reading of the Fatihah were to become one of his last actions? In such a case that person would have died a Believer — is that not right?
Those who have been bestowed with understanding and vision may understand that it is not the Way of Allah to let one’s reading of Fatihah go to waste. No, reading Fatihah must eventually be the cause of that person’s changing his ways, and should lead to a profound change of heart. God forbid that he should remain an Unbeliever once his tongue has been honoured in such a manner! He has come under the Safeguard of Allah, as He Almighty has guided him to read a Surah that is the summary of the Qur’an; a Surah within which is to be found all the other Surahs of a Book (Qur’an) which contains within it all the earlier Revealed Scriptures. And so, reading Fatihah is like reading the whole Qur’an along with the other Holy Scriptures. To say that Allah will keep such a person in unbelief is a blasphemy. Therefore, when Grandsheikh said: ‘If an Unbeliever reads Fatihah…”, he was indicating the good fortune of that person.
Then Grandsheikh mentioned that Allah Almighty regards His slaves with the Eye of Equality. Does this need any explaination? Can anyone really object? How can they object, when each time they pray and read Fatihah they address Him Almighty as “Lord of the Worlds”?
If He wasn’t the “Lord of the Worlds” He would have described Himself as “The Lord of the Muslims” If such people don’t like to recognize what Grandsheikh says on this subject, then they will have to change the Qur’an so as to address Him as “The Lord of the Muslims” rather than “The Lord of the Worlds” — and to do such a thing would certainly be blasphemous! So, if they object to the statement of our Grandsheikh that in the sight of the Creator all His creatures are viewed with equality, and if they see this as being a mistake, they have, in effect, left Islam.
Through the Divine Mercy of our All-Merciful Lord, all of the Sons of Adam, all His slaves — Believer and Unbeliever alike — attain His Mercy in this life. In this life He bestows material blessings upon His creatures according to His Own Plan, not necessarily according to the belief or unbelief of the recipients of those gifts. But the difference between Believers and Unbelievers lies in what they will reap in the afterlife. What degrees of His Mercy one will attain in the afterlife is another matter. That is clear.
Thus there should be no objection, as what we are saying is a most basic and obvious fact: that Allah gives of His Mercy in this World without making belief in Him a condition. Proof of this can be found in the Quranic Verse that Grandsheikh cited:
“And We have been generous to and have honoured the Sons Of Adam”.
Allah Almighty didn’t say: “And we have been generous to and have honoured the Believers from among the Sons Of Adam”, no, rather He made it a general, all-inclusive statement. How can they object? He who objects, objects in his ignorance, not his knowledge. He objects in his pride and enmity and that isn’t worth anything.
