Commentary on Surah al-Fatiha

An-Nasafi's commentary on Surah al-Fatiha introduces the qualities that characterize Madarik at-Tanzil throughout: clear Arabic prose, systematic theological orientation, careful linguistic analysis, and a consistently Hanafi-Maturidi perspective on points where theological schools differ.

He opens the Fatiha commentary with the standard discussion of the surah's names and virtues, drawing on widely transmitted narrations. His treatment of the Basmala question reflects the Hanafi position that the Basmala, while present at the beginning of each surah, is not a verse of al-Fatiha itself and should not be recited aloud in congregational prayer. This position, based on the transmission of early Madinan and Kufan practices, is one of the most visible Hanafi-Shafi'i differences in daily prayer.

For the divine names ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim, an-Nasafi's commentary reflects the Maturidi theological framework's approach to divine attributes: affirming them as real attributes of the divine essence while interpreting them in ways consistent with divine unity and transcendence. The Maturidi position on attributes shares much with the Ash'ari position but has specific distinctions that an-Nasafi's commentary makes visible to attentive readers.

His discussion of 'Iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'in' engages the question of human agency through the Maturidi lens, which gives somewhat more weight to human capacity (istita'a) than the classical Ash'ari position while firmly rejecting the Mu'tazili view of uncaused human free will. An-Nasafi explains that the worshipper genuinely worships and genuinely seeks help — the acts are real human acts — while their ultimate enablement comes from divine creation and sustenance.

The closing verse on guidance draws from an-Nasafi a characteristic Hanafi observation: the verse's identification of 'those who have earned anger' and 'those who have gone astray' is understood in connection with the principle that divine guidance and misguidance are responses to human choices, not arbitrary impositions — a Maturidi emphasis that distinguishes this school's theodicy from the most deterministic readings of Ash'ari doctrine.