Part 6 (a): Surah Al Ikhlas: The Divine Protection

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Read the Previous Part 6: The Last Three Surahs

Reason of Revelation

Surah Al Ikhlas was revealed in Makkah.

Ubayy bin Ka’ab (RA) said that the idolaters said to the Prophet (SAW), “O Mohammad! Tell us the lineage of your Lord.” So Allah revealed “Say: He is Allah, who is One. Allah is As-Samad. He begets not, nor is He begotten. And there is none comparable to Him.” (Ahmad/Tirmidhi)

Ibn Abbas (RA) said, “The Qur’an consists of three fundamental objectives:

1. Command and Prohibitions. They form the subject matter of the science of Fiqh.
2. Tales and narratives which include the stories of the Prophets and their communities.
3. The knowledge of tawheed and the description of those matters which are related to Allah and the Day of Judgment.”

Surah Al Ikhlas contains the third objective.

Virtues of Surah Al Ikhlas

‘Aa’ishah also reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent a man in charge of a small military campaign, and when he recited Qur’aan whilst leading his companions in prayer, he would always end with Qul huwa Allaahu ahad. When they came back, (his companions) mentioned that to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who told them to ask him why he did that. So they asked him, and he said, “Because it is a description of the Most Merciful, and I love to recite it.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Tell him that Allaah loves him.” (Al Bukhari)

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Is any one of you unable to recite one-third of the Qur’aan in one night?” They said, “How could anyone read one-third of the Qur’aan?” He said, “Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad is equivalent to one-third of the Qur’aan.” (Muslim)

Reciting Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad brings a reward equivalent to reciting one-third of the Qur’aan, but it does not take the place of reading one-third of the Qur’aan.

Tafsir of Surah Al Ikhlas

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّـهُ أَحَدٌ ﴿١﴾ اللَّـهُ الصَّمَدُ ﴿٢﴾ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ ﴿٣﴾

  وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ ﴿٤﴾٤

Say, “He is Allah, [who is] One, (1) Allah, the Eternal Refuge. (2) He neither begets nor is born, (3) Nor is there to Him any equivalent.” (4)

Listen to Surah Al Ikhlas: [mp3: http://www.areweprepared.ca/audio/112.mp3]

1. Say, Allah is Ahad
   • Ahad means unique
   • This word is more emphatic than wahid (the only one)
   • Allah negated partnership in every sense

2. “Allah is As-Samad”
   • As-Samad means the eternally besought of all.
   • All creation turn to Him and they depend on Him, to fulfill their needs.

3. “He neither begets nor is born”
   • This is called Tawheed of purity.
   • Nothing came out of Him nor did He come out of anything.

4. “Nor is there to Him any equivalent.”
   • He has no equal.

Domination of the concept of Tawheed in this Surah

Ibn Taymiyyah said: “The affirmation of Oneness for the Lord in total and absolute contradiction to all forms of Polytheism. His character of being “Eternally Besought of all”, which proves all His Attributes, that He cannot suffer from any defect. Negation of father and son which is an implication of Him being in no need and that all is in need of Him…”

This surah includes all these matters and is therefore rightly deserving of being called equal to a third of the Qur’an.

Read the next Part 6 (b): Surah Al Falaq