Al-Fatiha: Difference between revisions

Several lines of evidence converge to show that this was a prayer prepended to the Qur'an, perhaps to be said before reading it. This prayer was composed orally before the Qur'an was put to writing, and changed over time. This prayer may not have been included in the recension that produced the current longest-to-shortest ordering of the suras. When the Qur'an was printed the exact pronunciation had likely been forgotten, which would explain the ambiguity of 1:5.