112- AL-IKHLAS
SINCERITY
Most commentators say that al-Ikhlāṣ is from the early Makkan period, although some allow that it may be from the Madinan period (Āl, Ṭs, Z). This is one of only two sūrahs that do not take its name from something mentioned within it. The title, al-Iklhāṣ, instead describes its content, as it denotes a combination of sincerity, devotion, and purity and can also indicate being saved (khalaṣa).
This sūrah has been known by at least twenty different epithets (R), among them “The Absolver” (al-Barāʾah), because anyone who recites it with sincerity is absolved of the practice of idolatry (Āl, R); “The One That Casts Away” (alMunaffirah), because it casts Satan away from one who recites it (Āl, R); “Deliverance” (al-Najāh), because it delivers one from ascribing likeness (tashbīh) unto God (Āl, R); “Recognition” (al-Maʿrifah), because true knowledge of God can only be obtained by recognizing the truth of what this sūrah contains (Āl); “The Reminder” (al-Mudhakkirah), because it reminds one of Divine Unity (tawḥīd) in a pure and simple form (Āl); and “The Light of the Quran” (Nūr alQurʾān), because of a ḥadīth that says, “Everything has a light, and the light of the Quran is Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ”
Regarding the occasion of revelation, Ubayy ibn Kaʿb relates that the idolaters asked the Prophet, “What is the lineage of your Lord?” and so God revealed this sūrah, which begins, Say, “He, God, is One, God, the Eternally Sufficient unto Himself.” The Eternally Sufficient unto Himself is He Who begets not; nor was He begotten, for anyone who is begotten will certainly die, and it is only for those who die that one can speak of a lineage. According to other accounts, this sūrah was revealed in response to a group of Jews who asked the Prophet for “the lineage of His Lord” (R, Ṭ, Ṭs). A third perspective says that it was revealed in relation to a similar question posed by a group of Christians
A ḥadīth qudsī echoes the words of vv. 2–4 of the sūrah: “God said, ‘The son of Adam tells a lie against Me, though he has not the right to do so. He abuses me, though he has not the right to do so. As for his telling a lie against Me, it is his saying that I will not re-create him as I created him for the first time. In fact, the first creation was no easier for Me than a new creation. As for his abusing Me, it is his saying that God has begotten children, while I am the One, the Eternally Sufficient unto Himself; I beget not, nor was I begotten, and none is like unto Me.”
According to many early authorities, the Prophet said that this sūrah is “equivalent to one-third of the whole Quran” (Āl, IK, Q, R, Ṭs), which is understood by some to mean that the message regarding the Oneness of God is one-third of the Quran’s message. It has been reported on the authority of the Prophet’s wife ʿĀʾishah that the Prophet would recite al-Ikhlāṣ and the two immediately following it, al-Falaq and al-Nās, together while breathing into his palms, and then rub them over himself every night. The three together are thus understood to provide protection.
This sūrah is second only to Sūrah 1, al-Fātiḥah, in Muslim devotional life and is often recited in both canonical and supererogatory prayers as well as supplications (duʿāʾ). According to some, it is closely connected to Sūrah 109, alKāfirūn, as the two together are said to constitute the complete expression of Divine Unity: al-Kāfirūn provides a firm denial of all falsehood, and al-Ikhlāṣ provides a complete affirmation of all truth (Āl). Thus the two sūrahs are known together as “The Two Cures” (al-Muqashqishatān) and are often recited together, especially in the two cycles of the morning prayer (fajr), the morning supererogatory prayer (ḍuḥā), and the supererogatory prayer after the sunset prayer (Āl). Al-Ikhlāṣ is also usually the first sūrah that one memorizes after the Fātiḥah. In summarizing the merits and the centrality of this sūrah, al-Rāzī writes, “The entire Quran is an oyster, and the pearl is His statement Say, ‘He, God, is One.’”
(source: “The Study Quran” a new translation and commentary by Seyyed Hossein Nasr)
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