Gems From Surah Al-Ikhlaas - Ustadh Aqeel Mahmood

Gems From Surah Al-Ikhlaas

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the most honored of prophets and messengers, our prophet Muhammad, and all his family and companions. My Lord, open my heart and facilitate my affairs, and loosen the knot of my tongue so that my speech may be understood.

The Story of Kulthum ibn al-Hidam

There was once a man from the Ansar, from the people of Medina, and his name was Kulthum ibn al-Hidam. Kulthum ibn al-Hidam used to lead the people in prayer in the first masjid that was ever built in the history of Islam — Masjid Quba, the masjid that was built even before the Prophet's masjid in the city of Medina.

He used to lead the people in prayer, and when he used to lead them in prayer, after he would recite Surah al-Fatihah, he would follow up his recitation of al-Fatihah with Surah al-Ikhlas:

Once he had recited this surah, he would recite another surah after this. But he would always recite this surah — without fail, he would recite this specific surah in every salah, in every rak'ah.

And so the people who were praying behind him, the other companions, they started to say amongst themselves: why does he always recite this surah? Why doesn't he just recite another surah? Why does he always stick to reciting Surah al-Ikhlas every single time? Maybe if he left it, maybe if he didn't read it sometimes, or left it altogether and read another surah instead. So they approached him and they asked him, they said: can you leave this surah? Don't recite this surah all the time. Read another surah instead.

And they considered him to be the best from amongst them — the one who they respected the most. That's why he was their imam. When the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, left the city of Mecca and made the hijrah to Medina, when he arrived in Quba, he stayed in the house of Kulthum ibn al-Hidam. So this man was someone who was respected amongst the companions.

So when they approached him and they asked him — they said, read something else, read other surahs, don't always read Surah al-Ikhlas — he said to them: I'm not going to stop reading Surah al-Ikhlas. I'm not going to stop reading it. And if you want, you can have another imam who will lead you in the prayer. But me, I can't leave reciting this surah. I'm going to carry on reciting how I'm reciting.

So the companions went to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and they told him this situation. And so the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, he called Kulthum ibn al-Hidam. He called him and he asked him, he said: what stops you from doing what your companions are asking you to do? And he said: O Messenger of Allah, I love reciting this surah. Verily, I love reciting this surah.

And the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, he said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 774)

Your love for this surah will cause you to enter into paradise.

The Importance of Understanding What We Recite

Brothers and sisters, this surah is a surah most of us recite every single day — maybe for the correct reasons, and maybe because it's convenient for us because it's such a short surah. It's a surah which most of us know, most of us memorized at a young age, most of us recite every single day in our salawat. Yet how many of us actually understand what Allah is telling us in this surah? What is his message? What is he trying to convey to us? What is Surah al-Ikhlas all about? What is the meaning behind these words that we recite every single day?

Nowadays, when a person prays, it's like as if he's absent-minded. He's not focused on the salah. He's not paying attention to what he's reciting. It's just a formality. He goes through the motions. He says what he needs to say and does what he needs to do. To such an extent that sometimes we pray a salah — we pray Asr or Maghrib — and the time for the next prayer comes and we're thinking: have I prayed Asr? Did I pray Asr? A person can't even remember if he prayed.

So a person needs to be focused. He needs to understand what he's doing and what he's reciting in the salah. And every single one of us here needs to understand and try to gain some insight into the tafsir of Surah al-Ikhlas, and the virtues of Surah al-Ikhlas, and the status of this beautiful surah.

The Name and Meaning of Surah Al-Ikhlas

This surah is known as Surah al-Ikhlas, and ikhlas means sincerity and it also means purity. The reason why it's called Surah al-Ikhlas is because this surah is unique in the sense that its only message — the only thing that this surah talks about, the only subject that it covers, the only thing that it deals with — is Tawheed, the oneness of Allah. It doesn't talk about anything else. All it talks about is the oneness of Allah. And this is why another name for this surah is Surah al-Tawheed, the surah of Tawheed.

The Virtues of Surah Al-Ikhlas

Equivalent to a Third of the Quran

From the virtues of this surah, brothers and sisters, is that this surah is equivalent to a third of the Quran. Once a man came to the Messenger of Allah and told him: O Messenger of Allah, there is a man who gets up during the night to pray, and all he prays is Surah al-Ikhlas. That's all he prays. He doesn't recite anything else. It was as if he was trying to demean and lower the value of his night prayer because that's the only surah he would recite. And so the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, told him:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5013)

Verily this surah is equivalent to a third of the Quran.

Now this shouldn't make a person think that if I read this surah three times, I've recited the whole of the Quran. And it shouldn't stop a person or refrain a person from reciting the rest of the Quran.

Why is it equivalent to a third of the Quran? The Quran in and of itself covers three main topics:

From the topics that the Quran covers is rules and regulations — how a person should pray, how a person should do wudu, marriage and divorce, fasting, and how to give charity. Things that relate to rules and regulations in Islam.

The second thing that the Quran covers is rewards and punishments — the rewards of those who do good deeds, stories of those who are from the righteous and things that they used to do, the punishments of those people who used to sin and what they used to do, examples of those people from the past and their punishments in the hellfire.

And the third category that the Quran talks about is at-Tawheed, the oneness of Allah. And this is why Surah al-Ikhlas is considered to be a third of the Quran, because all this surah talks about is at-Tawheed.

Love for This Surah Leads to Jannah

Another virtue of this surah, brothers and sisters, is the fact that if a person loves this surah, his love for this surah — as we have already mentioned — will cause him to enter into Jannah. Because Allah has ordered us to do lots of things, lots of deeds, lots of obligations. And when we do an act of worship, we are doing it to gain closeness towards Allah, to gain the love of Allah.

You know, when we do something for our parents, when we do something for our family members, and we know that if we do this they will love us for it, they will become happy — and that increases the love between each other, between you and your spouse for example, or you and your children, or you and your parents. This surah — loving this surah, reciting this surah — will cause you the love of Allah, and will cause you to enter into Jannah. So every single person should have a love for this surah. Every single person should have an affection for this specific surah.

A Source of Protection at Night

From the virtues of this surah is that it's a source of protection for the believer at night before he goes to sleep. A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, she said that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, before he would go to sleep, he would cup his hands together and he would blow into them, and he would recite the last three surahs of the Quran. And then he would wipe his face and the rest of his body, and then he would go to sleep. So this surah is a source of protection for the believer before he goes to sleep.

Why Was Surah Al-Ikhlas Revealed?

Why was this surah revealed? At what moment was it revealed? Some of the Quraysh, and those who used to worship idols, they would come and they would try to challenge the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. They would try to trick the Prophet, peace be upon him, and try to find some fault in this so-called new religion that he was trying to propagate to the rest of the people. And so they would say to him:

Tell us the lineage of your Lord. Where does your Lord come from? And so Allah revealed this surah:

A Verse-by-Verse Explanation

I want to go through this surah and the ayat and what they actually mean, so that next time we pray, next time you're in salah and you're reciting this surah, or you're in salah and the imam recites this surah, you can understand and you know what this surah means. You know what Allah is saying.

Verse 1: Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad

Allah says: Say, He is Allah, the One. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was given this surah, and Allah is saying: Say, He is Allah the One. Who is he talking to? The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. But when the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, recited this surah after he was given it, he would still say Qul huwa Allahu ahad — he would still say Say, He is Allah the One.

If Allah is telling the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, to say Huwa Allahu ahad, then why would the Prophet, peace be upon him, say Qul at the same time? If he's already the one saying it, he's being told to say it. So wouldn't it be more appropriate for him to say Huwa Allahu ahad? What's the point of him saying Qul huwa Allahu ahad — he's already saying the next three words?

Because the Quran wasn't something which was just preserved with regards to its meaning, but also it was preserved literally — every single word of the Quran, every single letter of the Quran, is preserved. And it also shows us that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was simply a messenger. He was simply a conveyor of the message. He would receive the message from Allah and then he would convey it to the rest of the people. That was his job, that was his duty. Just as he was given the revelation, that's how he would give it to the rest of the people.

And then Allah says Huwa Allahu ahad — He is Allah, the uniquely One. And Allah mentions this attribute and this name, but before he mentions this name, he mentions another name. He mentions Allah. And the scholars say that from the greatest names of Allah is Allah itself. The name which is mentioned most in the Quran is Allah. There is no other name which is mentioned more. And the greatest verse in the whole of the Quran starts with the word Allah:

Ayatul Kursi. And then Allah says Qul huwa Allahu ahad — he mentions this name of Allah, ahad, meaning the uniquely One. Allah is unique — unique in what sense? In every single sense of the word. There is no one who is equal to Allah. He has no partners. He has no spouses. He is unique in the sense that nothing should be worshipped except him. He is unique in the sense that he is the creator of everything in existence. He is unique in the sense that he is the sustainer of everything that exists.

The heartbeat that is in every single one of us — it keeps pumping, it keeps beating, every single day, every single minute, even when we are asleep. And it is Allah who sustains this. It is Allah who makes sure that our hearts are beating day in and day out, non-stop. And when it does stop, then that is the end of our lives.

Verse 2: Allahu As-Samad

Allah the Self-Sufficient — As-Samad. Another name of Allah. And both of these names are unique in the sense that they are not mentioned in any other surah of the Quran. Al-Ahad and As-Samad are only mentioned in Surah al-Ikhlas.

Allah is Self-Sufficient — meaning he doesn't need anything from us. He doesn't need any help from us. You know, sometimes we do a good deed. We pray our five daily prayers, or we do an extra type of good deed — we decide to give in charity, or we decide to read some Quran one day. And we're happy and we're proud of ourselves, and we think, yeah, I've done such a good deed today. I don't normally do this. And you get happy and you get proud, and it's as if you're doing Allah a favor. And then you don't do anything else for the whole week, thinking that's enough.

Allah is Self-Sufficient. He doesn't need any of our deeds. The only reason we're doing the deeds that we're doing every single day is for our own selves, for the reward of Allah, so that Allah will give us the reward and will benefit us in this life and in the hereafter. And this is why Allah says:

I don't want any provision from them, nor do I wish for them to feed me. I don't need any food or drink. I don't need anything from anyone else. Allah is Self-Sufficient. And Allah also talks about those who do good deeds, for example those who pray or do other types of acts of worship. He says:

Neither their meat nor their blood reaches Allah. When someone sacrifices an animal — another act of worship — the meat doesn't reach Allah, nor does the blood. Meaning Allah doesn't need that meat. We're not sacrificing an animal so that Allah can eat that food. That's not why we're sacrificing that animal. But it's your piety, it's your taqwa that reaches him. When a person does these deeds for the sake of Allah, when they do these good deeds purely for his sake, that's what's going to benefit him in this life and in the hereafter. It's not going to benefit Allah. Rather, we're doing these deeds for our own selves.

Verse 3: Lam Yalid wa Lam Yulad

He does not give birth, nor was he born. Now Allah doesn't mention birth first. He mentions the fact that he doesn't give birth, and then he mentions that he wasn't born. Normally and generally, ideally, he would mention the fact that he wasn't born first, and then say nor does he give birth. But it's the other way around. Why is it the other way around? Why does Allah say he doesn't give birth, and then say nor was he born?

Because the people differed with regards to Allah having a child. And this is why Allah starts with him giving birth. He says: He doesn't give birth. Nor was Allah born.

In the first part of this ayah he refutes those who claim that Allah gave birth to a child — for example the Christians, who would say that Isa was the son of Allah, and the Jews, for example those who used to live in Arabia, those who were from Yemen, who would say that Uzair is the son of Allah. And Uzair was from the people of Israel, he was from Bani Israel. It is said that the people used to respect him and they loved him and they would hold him in high regard. Why would they hold him in such high regard? Because he was the only one who had memorized the whole of the Torah. He had memorized the whole of that book, the book of the Jews. And that's why they held him in such high esteem. And they went overboard in their respect for him, and they started to say that he was the son of Allah.

And then Allah, after refuting those who claim that he had a child, says: He doesn't give birth. Nor was he born. Allah wasn't born. Because you have people who ask these kinds of questions. They say: if Allah was the creator, who created Allah? And they try to trick people. Atheism is spreading like wildfire. There are Muslims who are leaving Islam and entering into atheism. And a person needs to be aware; he needs to know how to deal with these questions.

If Allah created every single thing in existence, then who created Allah? Allah is the first and he is the last. He is the creator of every single thing in existence. He created everything and nothing created Allah. And that's our belief as Muslims. Because we believe that there had to be an ultimate creator.

Say for example you're at work and you want to go on break, and so you tell your boss, you tell your manager: I want to go on break. And so your manager says: let me find out from my manager if you can go on break; I'm not sure if I can give you a break. So he calls his manager and asks him: can my employee go on break? And then his manager says to him: I'm going to call my boss and ask him. And so he calls his manager. And then he asks him the same thing. And then he says: I'm going to call my manager and I'll ask him the same thing. Will that person ever go on break? That person is never going to go on break — he'll end up working 8 or 9 hours straight.

The point is, brothers and sisters, that the buck has to end somewhere. There has to be an eternal creator. There has to be someone where the buck ends. There has to be someone who created every single thing in existence, who decides what's going to happen on this earth, who decides what's going to happen in the future, and what's already happened, and what's happening right now.

And this is our belief as Muslims. Also from our belief is that he was the first — there was nobody else who came before him. If I said, for example, Abdullah was the first one to enter into this masjid, and then somebody came and said: yes, but who came before Abdullah? I would say Abdullah was the first one to come into the masjid. There was nobody else who came before him. Allah is al-Awwal — He is the First. There was nothing which came before him. And he is al-Akhir — once everything else ceases to exist, Allah will still be here. There is nobody who came before him, and there will be no one who comes after him.

Verse 4: Wa Lam Yakun Lahu Kufuwan Ahad

And there is none that is equal to him. So after mentioning in the first ayah that he is uniquely One, he emphasizes this and he finishes the surah by emphasizing and restating what was said at the beginning of the surah. Wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan ahad — and there is none equal to him. Allah is unique in every single sense of the word. Nobody is equal to Allah.

A Reminder of Death and the Importance of Prayer

One of the brothers who is a member of our congregation mentioned to me that one of his family members has passed away. And this is a reminder for every single one of us. And we ask Allah that he forgives all of those who have had a deceased member of their family, or someone in their family who has passed away.

Every single person shall taste death. And a person when he prays to Allah, when he stands in the salah, he should stand in the salah and think and pray as if it is going to be his last prayer. Pray as if when he leaves the masjid he is not going to live anymore, he is not going to survive the day, and that he won't be able to pray after that. And when he recites the words of Allah, he should try to understand and contemplate what he is reciting. Try to focus on the prayer.

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, he said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 14648)

Prayer is the key to paradise. If a person's prayer has problems in it, he is going to have problems entering into paradise. If his salah is good, if his prayer is good, it is going to be easier for him to enter into paradise.

And a person needs to understand the conditions of the prayer — what he has to do in the prayer, what are the actions of the prayer. And this is why this weekend the masjid has organized an overnight tarbiyah program all about the prayer: how a person should pray, what he is supposed to say in the salah, what he is supposed to do in the prayer, the actions of the prayer, how he can maintain focus in the prayer, what are the conditions of the prayer, and what he has to do before he starts to pray. And so I advise the brothers to try to attend this course, try to register, and try to benefit from this program which is taking place this weekend inshallah. They can find out more information from the registration office.

Du'a

O Allah, make the great Quran the spring of our hearts, and the light of our hearts, and the remover of our sorrows. O Allah, do not make this world a greater burden for us, nor our knowledge, nor our fate to the hellfire. O Allah, help our Muslim brothers everywhere. O Allah, help our Muslim brothers in Damascus, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa. O Allah, help our Muslim brothers in Palestine, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, forgive the believers and the Muslims, the living and the dead.

Indeed, Allah commands you to do justice and to do good, and to give to those who are near, and forbids immorality, evil, and transgression. He warns you that you may remember. So remember Allah, the Great, the Glorious — He remembers you. And call on Him for His blessings to increase you. And the remembrance of Allah is higher, more precious, and greater. And Allah knows what you do.