Surah Al-Ikhlas of the Holy Quran was among those to receive many different titles. It is a declaration of tawhid, Allah's absolute oneness, consisting of four verses. Surah Al-Ikhlas is called Ikhlaas (pure), although this word does not occur in this Surah. Ikhlaas literally means purity, sincerity or refining. Al-Ikhlas is not merely the name of this surah but also the title of its contents, for it deals exclusively with Tawhid. This surah is characterized by the shortness of its verses, conciseness in wording, and perceptive in reasoning; to distort the new faith (unification or Oneness of God) in a very comprehensive way. Surah Al-Ikhlas describes monotheism completely. Belief in tawhid explains Allah as our creator, it gives humans purpose and supports a belief that science and religion can work to- gether as science helps us to gain understanding about creations of God. Different aspects of Oneness of Allah, highlighted in this surah, are spread all over the Quran, such as, in: 2:28-29, 16:21,17:22-42,23:9,
People hearing the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to worship Only One Allah, raised questions as to what He was like, to whose worship and service he was inviting. It was customary among Arabs to enquire about lineage and ancestry of a person. Some of such narrations are that Quraysh raised a challenge over the distinguishing attributes of the GOD, and asked Prophet to describe his Lord so that they might know and worship Him. A Jew asked the holy Prophet (PBUH)to describe the identity or to relate the genealogy of Allah. He remained silent and did not no reply. However, once this surah was revealed, they were replied accordingly.
The first verse of this surah, is an answer to the repeated questions of many people from different groups or tribes who asked about the attributes and identity of Allah. This Surah rejects even any fraction of imagination or idea of polytheists. The Prophet (PBUH) clarified and explained to them, accordingly. There is no true deity but Allah, the one and the only. All the universe is dependent on Him.
Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
1.Qul huwal laahu ahad
Say, "He is Allāh, [who is] One
2.Allah hus-samad
Allāh, the Eternal Refuge
3.Lam yalid wa lam yoolad
He neither begets nor is born,
4.Wa lam yakul-lahoo kufuwan ahad
Nor is there to Him any equivalent.
( 112:1-4)
The word 'Qul' in first verse means ‘say or tell’ in Arabic. The word Qul is for order or command that means to declare, or openly announce something so that every person becomes fully aware of it and there remains no ambiguity about it. Say: He, is Allah, Hu or Huwa (meaning “He”) is a name for God, literally, for the English third person, but without grammatical gender. Hu or Huwa is the pronoun used for Allah or God. "There is no God but He".
In Arabic Ahad means "one" and is usually used by Muslims when referring to God by prefixing Al- i.e., Al-Ahad.
The first verse is about absolute Oneness, of Allah i.e., single and indivisible with absolute and permanent unity and distinct from all else, who is unique in His essence, attributes, names and acts, the One who has no second, no associate, no parents, no offspring, no peers, free from the concept of plurality, multiplicity, duplication or description even as image or reflection and far from conceptualization and limitation, and there is nothing like Him in any respect.
As-Samad is the name of Allah that appears only once in the Quran, in the second verse of the Surah Al-Ikhlas. The name As-Samad has many aspects to its meaning. It refers to One Who is Lord, Who is Al-Mighty, possessing absolute power, Whose pre-eminence is absolute, Who has full knowledge and wisdom. Who possesses and disposes of all affairs, one Whom people come to with their needs, but Who at the same time is complete and self-sufficient. He is ultimate source of all existence, perfect, unique and pure. Who does not need to eat or drink, sleep or rest; who needs nothing while all of creation is in absolute need of Him; and to whom all matters will ultimately return.
He begets not, nor is He begotten (He is unborn and uncreated). There is none comparable nor similar to Him in His creation whether it be in His names, attributes, or actions. He is truly unique in every way.
This Surah is regarded as one third of the Quran because of all-embracing coverage of the doctrine of Oneness. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: “By Him (Allah) in Whose hand my soul is, it (Al-Ikhlaas) is equal to one-third of the Quran.” (Bukhari, 9-471)
Surah Ikhlas is so important that there are a great number of the traditions of Hadith, which show that the Prophet (PBUH) on different occasions and in different ways told the people that this Surah Ikhlas is equivalent to one third the Quran. Several ahadith on this subject have been related in Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daud; Nasai, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Musnad Ahmad, Tabarani and other books.
Commentators have mentioned many explanations and their point of view. According to Abu Abbaas ibn Surayj, and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (Majmo’ al-Fataawa, 17/103,137,139)
“This surah (112) has great virtue because the Qur’an deals with three topics: one-third for rulings, one-third for promises and warnings, and one-third for the Divine names and attributes. This Surah combines names and attributes. The knowledge cannot be complete unless one looks at the Book of Allah as a whole.
The people need the commands, prohibitions and historical accounts that are in the Qur’an, under 'Tawheed', the overarching concept. Man needs to know what he is enjoined to do and what he is forbidden to do; he need to know what is enjoined upon him and the stories, promises and rewards. These cannot be replaced by anything else, and Tawheed cannot be replaced by these. The knowledge that is to be gained by reading the rest of the Qur’an cannot be gained by reciting this surah only. So, whoever reads the whole Qur’an is better than one who simply recites this surah three times in the sense that he earns different kinds of reward, even though the one who recites Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad earns a reward equivalent to that reward, but it is of one type and does not include all the types that a person needs.”
In conclusion, almost every Muslim memorizes surah Al-Ikhlas by heart. Besides memorizing we should understand these Divine Attributes and let them be an effective component in our lives; we should emulate and practice them as much as we can.