Simply Deen : Learning The Surah of Al-Quran: al-Ikhlas (112: The Purity)

This is one of the most important surahs because it describes the main points of Islamic believe about God. It is related in several hadith that it was revealed in response to questions asked by the Makkans of the Prophet (PBUH) about the nature of Allah. The idolators asked:'Tell us of your Lord's ancestry'; some Jews asked:'..Allah created the angels from light, Adam from the rotten clay, Iblis (Satan) from the flame of fire, the sky from a smoke, and the earth from the foam of water. Now tell us about your Lord(what he is made of).' A group of Christians came and asked:' O Muhammad, tell us what your Lord is like and of what substance He is made.' In each case, the Prophet answered with this Surah.

What is the right way to understand the Oneness of God, Allah? It is not in the sense of numbers and counting, because the word AHAD is not the same as the Arabic word WAHID which is used for the number one. Allah is ONE in the sense that He is unique, and there is nothing like Him anywhere with which He could be compared. He is not one of a group of 'god and goddesses' who fall in love, marry, plot against each other or put silly curses on humans. He canno tbe divided into parts, such as in the Christian concept of the trinity in which somehow, three gods or parts of God are believed to merge into one. He is not in need of anything; He does not have a father, and He does not need a wife for company or a son to help Him.

He is not a father in the sense that He provides everything for His creatures as a father does, and He does not have children except in the sense that those who follow His commandments are well-loved by Him, as a human father might love those of this children, and more pleased with the mother is to her beloved child, and more pleased with the repentance of a servant of His than a man who loses his camel in the hot desert and then finds it again.

He is the Eternal One who never dies, the Guide and Protector to whom everyone calls when they are in desperate need of help, Who does whatever He wills in perfect wisdom.

The Prophet Muhammad saw said that al-Ikhlas is equal to one-third of the Quran, and that we should recite it often. A man came to the Prophet and said, 'Messenger of Allah, I love suratul-ikhlas;, and the Prophet told him that his love for it would admit him to Paradise.

TRANSLATION:

Surah al-Ikhlas (112: The Purity)

In the name of Allah, the Kindest and Most Merciful One..