SURAT AL-IKHLAS - PART ONE

 

There are many narrations about its revelation but it is sufficed to state that Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “A Jew asked the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) to describe the identity of Allah, and he recited the “Surat al-Ikhlas” which is:

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Say: He, Allah, is One, Allah, the Eternal, He begets not, nor is He begotten, and there is 

                                                            none like unto Him.

The extra-ordinary greatness of the recitation of this Surat may be imagined by the fact there are ninety traditions and narrations, with their approved references, on the virtue and commentary on this Surat in Tafsir-i-Nur -uth-Thaqalayn volume 5 pages 699-715.For example, It is narrated that the recitation of this Surat, when, arriving at a home,  causes the increase of sustenance and removing of poverty from the people therein. It is argued that the Glorious Qur’an contains ordinances, creeds (Monotheism) and history, and that this Surat states the creed part in an intensive form. Hence, there is a tradition that the thawab of reciting this Surat is equivalent to reciting One-third of the Holy Qur’an. 

Allah is a proper noun applied to the being ‘the Being Who exists necessarily, by Himself; comprising all the Attributes of perfection, a proper name denoting the true God, containing all the Excellent Divine Names; a unity having all the Essence of existing things’. This sacred Name is mentioned in the Glorious Qur’an almost one thousand times, which is more than any other of His Holy Names. This name brings light in in our heart, makes us firm and calm, and takes us into a world full of purity and serenity. 

The term ‘wahid’ conveys the idea of number which follows by two and three. While the term ‘Ahad’ is the one in the sense of Absolute Oneness of His Essential Existence, not in the numerical sense of the word, which has its second and third, but, the One which has no second.

As for the term ‘Eternal’ or ‘Samad’, there are many explanations given by people, but we restrict ourselves to the explanation given by the King of Martyrs, Imam Husayn ibn Ali (a.s.): “Samad is a Lord Whose Lordship has attained its utmost point or degree’ Samad is an Essence and Being that continues for ever; Samad is an Existence that has not a hollow inside; Samad is the One Who takes no nourishment, food or drink; Samad is the One Who does not sleep.” He (a.s.) further said, ”Allah, Himself, has rendered ‘Samad’ to mean: ’ He begets not , nor is He begotten, And there is none like unto Him’ Yes, Allah is Samad who is not from anything and is not in anything or on anything; He is the Creator of everything and all are from Him by His Power; what He has created to perish will perish at His Will, and what He has created to remain will remain in His Knowledge. This is Allah; al-Samad.” 

The Christians believe in Trinity; the Father, the son (Jesus) and the Holy Ghost. The Jews believe ‘Ezra’ (Uzair) was the son of God. The Arab pagans believed that the angels were the daughters of Allah (6:100). The King of Martyrs Imam Husayn (a.s.) commented about the material relations of ‘son and father’ about the Creator saying:” There emitted nothing from Him – neither material things nor a child, nor other things that emits from creatures, nor a delicate thing like a soul. Nothing appears in Him like a sleep, imagination, grief, sadness, happiness, laughter, tears, fears and hope, courage and discouragement, hunger, and satiety. Allah is more Exalted than that something should emit from Him, or that He begets something material or delicate, nor is He begotten from something material or delicate. Similar to a living creature coming out from another one, or a plant from the earth, water from a spring, fruits from the trees, nor the like, emitting delicate things from their sources, such as vision from the eye, hearing from the ears, smelling from the nose, tasting from the mouth, speech from the tongue, knowledge and understanding from the heart (insight and soul), and particles of fire from stone. (Bihar-ul-Anwar v.3 p. 224 and Majma’-al-Bayan v.10 p.566)

Sources: Tafsir-e-Namouna by Ayatullah Naser Makarem Shirazi, An Enlightening Commentary into the Light of Holy Qur’an, Ayatullah Agha H.M.M Pooya (r.a.) & S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali, A Commentary on the Prayer by Muhsin Qara’ti