Chapter 112 - Surah Ikhlas

Surah Al-Ikhlas (Sincerity)

Al-Ahad (the One) and al-Samad (the Self-Sufficient) are two of the great Names of Allah !

Revealed in Mecca

From Qatadah ibn al-Nu'man (may Allah be pleased with him) who said that a man stayed up to worship Allah at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) just before dawn and recited Qul huwa Allahu ahad, but did not recite anything else. In the morning, the man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and told him about this, thinking that perhaps he was not doing enough.

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, it is equivalent to one-third of the Quran.

(al-Bukhari, 4627)

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Ahmad reported from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that a man said, O Messenger of Allah, I have a neighbour who prays at night and he only ever recites Qul huwa Allahu ahad as if he did not think much of this. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, it is equivalent to one-third of the Quran.

(al-Musnad, 10965)

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Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to his Companions: Could any one of you not recite one third of the Quran in one night? They found the idea too difficult, and said, Who among us could do that, O Messenger of Allah? He said, Allahul-ahad, al- samad [i.e., Surat al-Ikhlas] is one third of the Quran.

(Reported by al-Bukhari, 4628)

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`Aishah reported that when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went to bed, he would cup his hands together, blow into them and recite into them

Qul huwa Allahu ahad [Surat al-Ikhlas],

Qul a'udhu bi Rabbil-falaq [Surat al-Falaq] and Qul a'udhu bi Rabbil-nas [Surat al-Nas] (these are the last 3 surahs of the Quran). Then he would wipe as much of his body as he could with his hands, starting with his head and face, and the front of his body. He would do this three times.

(Reported by al-Bukhari, 4630)

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`Aishah also reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent a man in charge of a small military campaign, and when he recited Quran whilst leading his companions in prayer, he would always end with Qul huwa Allahu ahad.

When they came back, (his companions) mentioned that to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah 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 Allah be upon him) said: Tell him that Allah loves him.

(Reported by al-Bukhari, 6827)

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'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abza reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to recite Sabbih isma Rabbik al-A'la (Surat al-A'la, #87), Qul ya ayyuhal-kafirun (Surat al-Kafirun, #109) and

Qul huwa Allahu ahad (Surat al-Ikhlas, #112)

in his witr prayer, and when he had finished, he would repeat Subhan al-Malik al-Quddus (Glory be to the King, the Holy) three times, making the last vowel long on the third recitation.

(Reported by al-Nasai, 1721)

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'Uqbah ibn 'Amir said: I met the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he said to me,

O 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir, shall I not teach you some Surahs the like of which have not been revealed in the Tawrat (Torah) or the Zabur (Psalms) or the Injil (Gospel) or in the Quran? There is no night that comes but you should not recite (i.e., every night you should recite)

Qul huwa Allahu ahad [Surat al-Ikhlas],

Qul a'udhu bi Rabbil-falaq [Surat al-Falaq] and Qul a'udhu bi Rabbil-nas [Surat al-Nas].

'Uqbah said: So every night I would recite them. It became my duty to recite them, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had commanded me to do so.

(Musnad Ahmad, 16810)

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Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) heard a man reciting Qul huwa Allahu ahad, and said, It is his right. They asked, O Messenger of Allah, what is his right? He said, Paradise is his right.

(Reported by Imam Ahmad, 7669)

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

Whoever recites Qul huwa Allahu ahad ten times, Allah will build for him a house in Paradise.

(Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir, 6472).

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Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) recited in the two Sunnah rak‘ahs of Fajr :

{Qul ya ayyuha’l-kafirun (Say, "O disbelievers)} [al-Kafirun 109] and {Qul huwa Allahu ahad (Say, He is Allah, [who is] One)} [al-Ikhlas 112].

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

I watched the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) twenty times reciting in the two rak‘ahs after Maghrib and in the two rak‘ahs before Fajr, :

{Qul ya ayyuha’l-kafirun (Say, "O disbelievers)} [al-Kafirun 109] and {Qul huwa Allahu ahad (Say, He is Allah, [who is] One)} [al-Ikhlas 112].

(Narrated by al-Nasai, 992)