# Ruhuna Fatiha



## FlyingBird

I can see it written in tombs

*Ruh*=*soul*
*Ruhu*=*His/her* *soul*
*Ruhuna*=*to* *his/her* *soul*
*Ruhuna*=*to* *your soul*

İs it correct?

And what 'Fatiha' mean?


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## ancalimon

Fatiha is a Muslim prayer.


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## FlyingBird

ancalimon said:


> Fatiha is a Muslim prayer.


so it would mean 'Fatiha to their soul'?

But still dont understand it


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## Stranger_

FlyingBird said:


> so it would mean 'Fatiha to their soul'?
> 
> But still dont understand it



It is like giving a eulogy in Christianity. "Fatiha" is the name of the first chapter in Quran.


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## ancalimon

It's like when you read Fatiha prayer to someones soul, it would be good for him. It's just a Turkic custom. I'm not sure if Arabs have this custom or not.


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## Gemmenita

This is almost all *Moslems*' religious custom and belief all around the world.


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## ancalimon

Chaton.marchande said:


> This is almost all *Moslems*' religious custom and belief all around the world.



I'm saying this because most Arabs don't go to graves to give prayers. Most don't even know where their relatives are buried. So I take it's more a cultural tradition than a Muslim one.


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## Gemmenita

> ancalimon:
> (...)It's just a Turkic custom (...)






> ancalimon:
> I'm saying this because most Arabs don't go to graves to give prayers. Most don't even know where their relatives are buried. So I take it's more a cultural tradition than a Muslim one.



Oh! I was talking in general. (Maybe you agree with me on that) to say that it's not only a Turkish custom. And I don't know about what you said and of which Arabs you are talking (I mean of which country, because we have Arabs in many nationalities)!


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## ancalimon

Chaton.marchande said:


> Oh! I was talking in general. (Maybe you agree with me on that) to say that it's not only a Turkish custom. And I don't know about what you said and of which Arabs you are talking (I mean of which country, because we have Arabs in many nationalities)!



I mean it's not related to Islamic tradition. What we do is related to Turkic tradition regardless of our religion. By Arabs, I mean all of the Muslim ones that are not influenced by Turkic culture a lot. I think most would even look down upon such behaviour.

By saying "it's just a Turkic custom" I didn't mean "it's a custom which only the Turks have".


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## Gemmenita

ancalimon said:


> I mean it's not related to Islamic tradition. What we do is related to Turkic tradition regardless of our religion. By Arabs, I mean all of the Muslim ones that are not influenced by Turkic culture a lot. I think most would even look down upon such behaviour.
> 
> By saying "it's just a Turkic custom" I didn't mean "it's a custom which only the Turks have".



I don't get what you have exactly in your mind about Turkey's religion and Arabs and other Muslims, neither I don't know about your personal religion. But I know that Turkey is *one of *the Muslim countries in the world : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey#Religion (the part of Religion) and this is exactly regarding their religion that they do that.


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## Reverence

Even though the custom of visiting graveyards and paying respects to the dead has a certain prominence in Islam, Arabs in general are not big on practicing the custom, as far as I can tell. See, they had these rather peculiar habits which harkened back to the pre-Islam ignorance era and entailed freaking out and/or bragging about the dead on graveyard visits; for this very reason, graveyard visits were even forbidden during the first years of Islam. The ban was lifted after a while, but it never got its popularity back in Islamic communities. Except in Turkey, where we always gave due to the departed, Islam or no. Practice was slightly different before Islam, but the spirit was largely the same. After Islam became the major religion among Turks, visits were gradually adjusted to Islamic instructions. Nowadays the more elaborate practices are mostly abandoned, but many Turks still make a point of gathering the family and visiting their relatives' graves for a couple of prayers, mainly the sura Fatiha, and a few minutes spent tending the graves every now and then. Things, say, a Vehhabi couldn't care less about for the most part.


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## ecdadihifzeylerdi

Refusing graves is a Wahhabi tradition and there are only two Arabic countries who are predominantly Wahhabi: Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Some El-Kaide type of extremist jihadi groups also rejects grave yards and tombs, and destroy them when they can. The majority of Arabs have graves and Fatiha is very important for them as well and written on their tombstones. I even heard that you need to recite Fatiha in order to enter Masjid-i Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, to prove that you are a Muslim.

Fatiha means opening or opener, as it is the opening prayer of the Qur'an. It is considered as the most important prayer in Islam.


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## MetinS

Simply asks the bypassers to cite Fatiha for his/her soul.


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## thelastchoice

This custom can be found in Arab countries   BUT it is considered Bid'ah بدعة as it is a innovation to Muslim practices and was not practiced by niether Prophet Mohammad صلي الله عليه وسلّم nor his companions. When a Muslim dies, you can pray for him But Reciting AlFatihah is a عبادة Ibadah "Islamic Act of worship" that will benefit this deceased Muslim is an innovation "Bid'ah" as it is a clear Islamic rule that: العبادات توقيفية i.e.: Ibadat or "acts of worship" are based on tawqeef توقيف which means that it it is not permissible to worship Allah, may He be exalted, through any act of worship unless this act of worship is proven in the shar‘i texts (Qur’aan and Sunnah) .


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## OEDS-KZ

Also Turks say Ruhuna El-Fatiha.


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