The Speed of Surah al-Fatihah

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Shaykh Swalih ibn Muhammad al-Ja’fari (r.a.) said, “I saw, in a dream, a scholar from the dead stretched out on his bed, and to his side was what looked like a male nurse in his white uniform.  I said to him, ‘It has reached me about you that you were very eloquent in speech, and I want to hear your eloquence.’ 

He signaled to me in a way that I understood that he was hungry, and unable to speak.  I sat on a carpet next to him, and recited al-Fatihah for him.  When I said, ‘Amen’, what looked like a silver riyal came down from the ceiling.  The man next to him took it.  At this point, the scholar sat up cross-legged, and said to him, ‘Get some food.’ 

I said to him, ‘Does the Qur’an reach you this quickly?’ 

He said, ‘Yes, but not at this speed with which the reward of al-Fatihah arrived.’”  This meaning that Surah al-Fatihah reaches earlier than the other suwar.  “He then added, ‘You also benefit from it, though you are not aware of that.  It harms not the mid-day Sun rising above the horizon that the blind man cannot see its brightness.’ 

I asked, ‘Can al-Fatihah be read for the honoured Prophet (s.a.w.), even though Allah (s.w.t.) Forgave him all of his prior and later sins?’ 

He answered, ‘The Malikis said it is not to be read.  The Shafi’is said it is to be read.  We read it according to their madzhab.’  He added, ‘The prayers of the angels are like our prayers.  They say, ‘Oh Allah, Send Greetings of Peace and Blessings upon Muhammad and his family and companions.’  As for the Prayer of the Lord of Majesty, it is a Bestowal that is Given to him from the Most Wise, the Most Knowledgeable.’”