SURAH- al-FATIHAH (The Opening) - 8

 HUMAN BEINGS LEARN FROM HUMAN BEINGS

 

There is another very important point to consider here which is that in describing the ‘straight path’ Allah Ta’ala could simply have said, “adopt the path of Allah Ta’ala and His Messenger, or, adopt the path of the Holy Qur’an”, but Allah Ta’ala has not done that. Allah Ta’ala has ordered us to follow the path of those people upon whom He has bestowed His grace who have been further identified in other verses as Prophets, Siddiqin (always truthful), Shuhada (martyrs, those who bear witness), and Salihin (the pious ones).

 

Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Shafi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) has written in Ma’ariful Qur’an that the reason for not ordering people to follow the Qur’an alone is that a book alone is not sufficient for training a human being in any manner of expertise. Similarly, the reason people have not been ordered to follow the Prophets alone is that no Prophet stays in this mortal world for ever. That is why in the list of people through which the quest for the ‘straight path’ can be achieved a few more categories of people have been included who will always be here till Doomsday, like Siddiqin, Shuhada and Salihin.