Sincerity
﷽
In the Name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful to All of His Creation and the Specially Merciful to the Believers.
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ﴿١﴾ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ ﴿٢﴾ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ ﴿٣﴾ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ ﴿٤
”Say, He is Allah—the One [indivisible] Allah—the Eternally Self-sufficient Refuge. He begot none nor was He begotten. And there is none comparable to Him.”
When I was a child, I remember that after I was required to memorise and understand Surah Al-Fatiha, ‘The Opening’, which is the first chapter of the Qur’an, I was required to memorise Surah Al-Ikhlas, often translated as ‘Sincerity’. I likely did the same thing with my own children.
Al-Ikhlas is perhaps the most oft repeated Surah, after Surah Al-Fatiha, in the lives of many Muslims, children and adults alike. And yet, for most of my life, the nuances and subtleties of the surah escaped me, until I decided to delve further into the meanings of the 99 Attributes of Allah, ‘Asma Al-Husna’.
The chapter was revealed in response to a question, posed by a bedouin, who came to the Prophet, ﷺ, and asked the Prophet, ﷺ, to describe Allah’s lineage to him.
This may be a very short surah in length, but its importance and magnificence is such that, the Prophet, ﷺ, stated that it is equivalent to 1/3 of the Qur’an, in terms of blessings, in terms of rewards, and in terms of the importance of ‘tauheed’ (the Oneness of God). As a side note, 1/3 of the Quran deals with the Attributes of God, 1/3 of the Qur’an deals with the Laws of Islam, and 1/3 of the Qur’an deals with heaven and hell and the stories of the Qur’an.
Reflections…
Surah Al-Ikhlas is the 112th chapter of the Qur’an.
In these short verses, there are two attributes of Allah, ‘Al-Ahad’ and ‘As-Samad’. These attributes are not mentioned anywhere else in the Qur’an.
The attribute ‘Al-Ahad’, meaning, there is no competition with Him by anything else, He is unique, He is indivisible, and there is nothing like Him.
‘Ahad’ affirms the perfection of God in Himself and in His attributes.
The attribute 'As-Samad', meaning the One who is perfect in Himself, and the One whom the creation (in their imperfection) turn to for all of their needs. ‘As-Samad’ affirms the perfection of Allah in a relationship with the creation.
The God, ‘Al-Ilah’, the Supreme Creator, does not need anything, but everything that is created by Him, needs Him for everything.
‘As-Samad’ is the One to whom the hearts turn to in distress and in desperate need, seeking refuge, when all other avenues are cut off.
Therefore, Allah is ‘Al-Ahad’ and He is ‘As-Samad’. This surah summarises who Allah is, who Allah is not, and what our relationship with the One God is.
Abdullah ibn Khubayb (RA) reported: the Prophet, ﷺ, said, “Speak.” I said, “What should I say?” The Prophet said, “Say: He is Allah, the One, (Surah Al-Ikhlas) and the two chapters of refuge, (Al-Falaq and Al-Nas), every evening and morning three times. They will be enough for you against everything.”
Abu Huraira (RA) reported: I met with the Prophet, ﷺ, and he heard a man reciting the verses, “Say: He is Allah, the One, the Eternal Refuge,” (112:1-2). The Prophet, ﷺ, said, “It is obligatory for him.” I said, “What is obligatory?” The Prophet, ﷺ, said, “Paradise.”
Mu’adh ibn Anas (RA) reported: the Prophet, ﷺ, said, “Whoever recites the chapter ten times completely, ‘He is Allah, the One’ (112:1), Allah will build a palace for him in Paradise.”
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (RA) reported: The Prophet, ﷺ, said to his companions, “Is it difficult for one of you to recite a third of the Quran in a single night?” That was difficult for them, so they said, “Which one of us can do that, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet, ﷺ, said, “The chapter, ‘Allah, the One, the Refuge’ (112:1) is worth one-third of the Quran.”
Anas ibn Malik (RA) reported: A man said, “O Prophet, ﷺ, I love this chapter, ‘Say: He is Allah, the One,’” (112:1). The Messenger of Allah, ﷺ, said, “Your love for it will admit you into Paradise.”
When Bilal ibn Rabah (RA) was being tortured by his master, Umayyah Ibn Khalaf, Bilal ibn Rabah (RA) kept repeating “Ahad-un-Ahad, Ahad-un-Ahad, Ahad-un-Ahad.”
In the same manner, the battle cry of the Battle of Badr, was “Ahad-un-Ahad, Ahad-un-Ahad, Ahad-un-Ahad.”
Allah and His Messenger know best.
