Al-Fatiha as Umm al-Kitab (the mother of the Book)

The Fatiha is called the Umm al-Kitab, and prayer is not valid without it. Sha'rawi cites the hadith to that effect and a hadith qudsi that divides prayer between God and His servant, noting that it says "I divided the prayer", not "the Fatiha". ¹

Sha'rawi holds that the repetition of the divine name and of "the Merciful, the Compassionate" in the basmala and the Fatiha does not repeat the meaning, since the speaker is God who places each word in its right place. ^{1 2}

This is Sha'rawi's reading and is attributed to him. The grading of the two hadiths is not checked here, and the scan gives no jurists' views on reciting the Fatiha behind an imam. The edition is unverified.