صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ ﴿7﴾

﴾7﴿ Siraatal-lazeena an'amta 'alaihim ghayril-maghdoobi 'alaihim wa lad-daaalleen

﴾7﴿ The path of those upon whom You have bestowed blessings, not of those who have incurred wrath, nor of those who have gone astray.

[7] “The path of those upon whom You have bestowed blessings”—since many people claim to be on the straight path, a clear sign is given: following the way of those who have been blessed.
The special blessings mentioned for these people in the Noble Quran are: (1) harmony and love within the family,
(2) the gift of the Book of Allah and wisdom,
(3) obedience to Allah and His Messenger,
(4) unseen divine help,
(5) salvation from worldly punishments,
(6) entry into Paradise.
It is clear from various Quranic verses that those specially favored are the prophets (peace be upon them) and their noble companions, as detailed in the commentary “Ahsan al-Kalam.”
The main point is that the straight path is the way of the prophets (peace be upon them) and their companions, so anyone who does not follow the way of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) and his companions, and does not have evidence for the sunnah of the Prophet and his companions, their claim to be on the straight path is false.
“Not of those who have incurred wrath, nor of those who have gone astray”—this is a clarifying attribute that separates “those You have blessed” from those who have earned anger and those who are astray.
Those who have incurred wrath are the Jews, as mentioned in the hadith, as well as anyone who has the causes of anger within them, which are detailed in eleven places in the Quran.
Linguistically, “those who have incurred wrath” implies that they face anger from every direction—from Allah, the angels, the believers, and on the Day of Judgment from their followers.
Those who are astray are the Christians, as mentioned in the hadith, as well as anyone who possesses the causes of misguidance, which are also mentioned in eleven places in the Quran.
In this way, all followers of falsehood are included in these two terms, whether their opposition to the truth is out of ignorance, enmity, or stubbornness.
This indicates that the prophets (peace be upon them) are free from the causes of anger and misguidance, and the noble companions are protected from them.
Saying “Ameen” at the end of this surah, whether in prayer or outside of it, is sunnah, and in audible prayers it is sunnah for both the imam and the followers, as established by Imam Bukhari who dedicated a chapter to this and mentioned authentic narrations.
Likewise, the hadith of Wa’il ibn Hujr, recorded by Imam Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, is clear evidence for this.
Detailed discussion on this is found in the commentary “Ahsan al-Kalam,” and the recitation of the surah behind the imam is discussed in detail in Surah al-A‘raf.