Surah Al-Fatihah opens with Bismillah - a reflection on why the Qur'an, and every good work, begins in Allah's name.
Every class at Darus Saulieghien Quraan Academy, every juz revised, every page of Hifz attempted, begins the same way our students have been taught to begin anything: with the name of Allah (SWT). Surah Al-Fatihah, the surah every Muslim recites at least seventeen times a day in prayer, opens the same way.
The First Words of the Qur'an
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
"In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful." (Surah Al-Fatihah 1:1)
Before praise, before petition, before a single request is made, the Qur'an teaches the believer to begin in Allah's name. This is why the Prophet (SAW) described Al-Fatihah as unmatched: "Allah has not revealed in the Torah nor in the Gospel anything like Umm al-Qur'an (the Mother of the Qur'an)... it is divided between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks." (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2875)
A Habit Worth Teaching
We encourage our students to carry this same habit beyond the mus'haf, saying Bismillah before a meal, before starting homework, before beginning a new page of memorisation. It is a small phrase that reorders the heart before anything else happens: the effort about to be made is not ours alone, it is undertaken with and through Allah's (SWT) mercy.
May Allah (SWT) make every beginning our students undertake, in their Hifz and in their lives, blessed by starting in His name. Ameen.