meaning al fatihah ayat 7

When he says,

(Guide us to the straight path. The way of those on whom You have

granted Your grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your anger,

nor of those who went astray), Allah says, `This is for My servant,

and My servant shall acquire what he asked for.').''

These are the words of An-Nasa'i, while both Muslim and An-Nasa'i collected the following wording, "A half of it is for Me and a half for My servant, and My servant shall acquire what he asked for.''

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being, the All-merciful, the All-compassionate, the Master of the Day of Doom. Thee only we serve; to Thee alone we pray for succour. Guide us in the straight path (Ihdina al-sirata al-mustaqeema), the path of those whom Thou hast blessed (Sirata allatheena anaamta), not of those against whom Thou art wrathful, nor of those who are astray. S. 1:1-7

What many non-Muslims may not realize is that Islamic tradition has understood verse 7 to be referring to the Jews as those with whom Allah is angry and to the Christians as the people that have gone astray. This view is reflected in the following English version of the Quran:

The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians). S. 1:7 Hilali-Khan

Lest a Muslim object and claim that this is nothing more than a sectarian or isolated interpretation note what the following Islamic sources state:

Narrated Adi bin Hatim: I asked Allah’s Messenger about the Statement of Allah: "Gharil maghdubi ‘alaihim [not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger]," he replied: "They are the Jews". And 2: "Walad dallin (nor of those who went astray)," he replied: "The Christians, and they are the ones who went astray". [This Hadith is quoted by At-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud]. (Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali and Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan, Interpretation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur’an in the English Language with Comments from Tafsir At-Tabari, Tafsir Al-Qurtubi and Tafsir Ibn Kathir and Ahadith from Sahih Al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim and other Ahadith books [Darussalam Publishers & Distributors, Riyadh, Lahore, Houston, New York], Part 1: From Surah 1 to 5, p. 30; underline emphasis ours)

And:

the path of those whom You have favoured, with guidance (from alladhina together with its relative clause is substituted by [ghayri l-maghdubi 'alayhim]) not [the path] of those against whom there is wrath, namely, the Jews, and nor of those who are astray, namely, the Christians. The subtle meaning implied by this substitution is that the guided ones are neither the Jews nor the Christians. But God knows best what is right, and to Him is the Return and the [final] Resort. May God bless our lord Muhammad (s), his family and companions and grant them everlasting peace. Sufficient is God for us; an excellent Guardian is He. There is no power and no strength save in God, the High, the Tremendous. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn; source; underline emphasis ours)

Again:

(The path of those whom Thou hast favoured), the Religion of those whom You have blessed with the Religion and who are the followers of Moses, before the blessings of Allah deserted them, in that He shaded them with a white cloud and sent down on them honey and quails when they were in the wilderness. It is also said that (the path of those whom Thou hast favoured) refers to the prophets. (Not of those who earn Thine anger), not the religion of the Jews who earned Your anger, whom You forsook and whose hearts You did not protect until they became complaisant. (Nor of those who go astray), nor the religion of the Christians who erred from Islam. Amen: thus shall be its custodians; it is also said that Amen means let it be so. It is also said that it means: O our Lord! Do with us as we have requested You. And Allah knows best'. (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs; source; underline emphasis ours)