سُوۡرَةُ الإخلاص
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بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
قُلۡ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
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ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ
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لَمۡ يَلِدۡ وَلَمۡ يُولَدۡ
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وَلَمۡ يَكُن لَّهُ ۥ ڪُفُوًا أَحَدُۢ
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"Say: 'He is Allah, the Absolute One.
Allah is the Eternal, the Most besought of all *,
He begets not, and neither is He begotten;
And there is nothing that could be compared to Him."
(Qur'an: Surah al-ikhlas: 112: 1-4)
* the original Arabic word "as-somad - ٱلصَّمَدُ " means "the Eternal, the Uncaused Cause of all being" is therefore applied to God alone. It comprises the concepts of the Primary Cause and eternal, independent Being; and also the idea that everything existing or conceiveable goes back to Him as its source and is therefore dependent on Him for its beginning as ell as for its continued existence.
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From Tafsir ibn Katsir:
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The Reason for the Revelation of this Surah
Imam Ahmad recorded from Ubayy bin Ka`b that the idolators said to the Prophet, "O Muhammad! Tell us the lineage of your Lord.'' So Allah revealed:
[قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ - اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ - لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ - وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَّهُ كُفُواً أَحَدٌ ]
(Say: "He is Allah, One. Allah He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is non comparable to Him.'') Similar was recorded by At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Jarir and they added in their narration that he said,
[الصَّمَدُ]
"(As-Samad) is One Who does not give birth, nor was He born, because there is nothing that is born except that it will die, and there is nothing that dies except that it leaves behind inheritance, and indeed Allah does not die and He does not leave behind any inheritance.
[وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَّهُ كُفُواً أَحَدٌ ]
(And there is none comparable to Him.) This means that there is none similar to Him, none equal to Him and there is nothing at all like Him.'' Ibn Abi Hatim also recorded it and At-Tirmidhi mentioned it as a Mursal narration. Then At-Tirmidhi said, "And this is the most correct.''
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A Hadith on its Virtues
Al-Bukhari reported from `Amrah bint `Abdur-Rahman, who used to stay in the apartment of `A'ishah, the wife of the Prophet , that `A'ishah said, "The Prophet sent a man as the commander of a war expedition and he used to lead his companions in prayer with recitation (of the Qur'an). And he would complete his recitation with the recitation of `Say: He is Allah, One.' So when they returned they mentioned that to the Prophet and he said,
«سَلُوهُ لِأَيِّ شَيْءٍ يَصْنَعُ ذَلِكَ؟»
(Ask him why does he do that.) So they asked him and he said, `Because it is the description of Ar-Rahman (the Most Compassionate, God) and I love to recite it. So the Prophet said,
«أَخْبِرُوهُ أَنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى يُحِبُّه»
(Inform him that Allah the Most High loves him.)'' This is how Al-Bukhari recorded this Hadith in his Book of Tawhid. Muslim and An-Nasa'i also recorded it. In his Book of Salah, Al-Bukhari recorded that Anas said, "A man from the Ansar used to lead the people in prayer in the Masjid of Quba'. Whenever he began a Surah in the recitation of the prayer that he was leading them, he would start by reciting `Say: He is Allah, One' until he completed the entire Surah. Then he would recite another Surah along with it (after it). And used to do this in every Rak`ah. So his companions spoke to him about this saying; `Verily, you begin the prayer with this Surah. Then you think that it is not sufficient for you unless you recite another Surah as well. So you should either recite it or leave it and recite another Surah instead.' The man replied, `I will not leave it off. If you want me to continue leading you (in prayer), I will do this; and if you all do not like it, I will leave you (i.e., I will stop leading you).' They used to consider him to be of the best of them to lead them in prayer and they did not want anyone else to lead them other than him. So, when the Prophet came they informed him of this information and he said,
«يَا فُلَانُ، مَا يَمْنَعُكَ أَنْ تَفْعَلَ مَا يَأْمُرُكَ بِهِ أَصْحَابُكَ،
وَمَا حَمَلَكَ عَلَى لُزُوم هَذِهِ السُّورَةِ فِي كُلِّ رَكْعَةٍ؟»
(O so-and-so! What prevents you from doing what your companions are commanding you to do, and what makes you adhere to the recitation of this Surah in every Rak`ah) The man said, `Verily, I love it.' The Prophet replied,
«حُبُّكَ إِيَّاهَا أَدْخَلَكَ الْجَنَّة»
(Your love of it will cause you to enter Paradise.) This was recorded by Al-Bukhari, with a disconnected chain, but in a manner indicating his approval.
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A Hadith that mentions this Surah is equivalent to a Third of the Qur'an
Al-Bukhari recorded from Abu Sa`id that a man heard another man reciting
[قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ]
(Say: "He is Allah, One.'') and he was repeating over and over. So when morning came, the man went to the Prophet and mentioned that to him, and it was as though he was belittling it. The Prophet said,
«وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ إِنَّهَا لَتَعْدِلُ ثُلُثَ الْقُرْآن»
(By He in Whose Hand is my soul, verily it is equivalent to a third of the Qur'an.) Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i also recorded it. Another Hadith Al-Bukhari recorded from Abu Sa`id, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah said to his Companions,
«أَيَعْجِزُ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يَقْرَأَ ثُلُثَ الْقُرْآنِ فِي لَيْلَةٍ؟»
(Is one of you not able to recite a third of the Qur'an in a single night) This was something that was difficult for them and they said, "Which of us is able to do that, O Messenger of Allah'' So he replied,
«اللهُ الْوَاحِدُ الصَّمَدُ ثُلُثُ الْقُرْآن»
("Allah is the One, As-Samad'' is a third of the Qur'an.) Al-Bukhari was alone in recording this Hadith.
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4 comments:
Assalamualaikum wr. wb.
Ya Ustaz,
It is interesting that the asbab for this surah is the enquiry of the "idolaters". Firstly, it appears as a challenge to RasululLah s.a.w. as a person whom, to them, is bringing a new religion to describe who or what is Allah s.w.t. Secondly, we all know how the Arabs are concerned about lineage and indeed this is a concern for Muslims generally and that is why this person asks Raslulllah s.a.w. about the lineage of Allah. Of course, such a question is absurd but to th e non-Muslim who indulges in anthropormorphism, it is a valid question. But the answer is not to brush off the question as absurd but to explain about Allah s.w.t.
Also to ascribe lineage to God is shirik in a sense of association God with another, an unforgiveable sin as indicated in Surah Al-Nisa’:
"Allah forgives not
That partners should be set up
With Him; but He forgives
Anything else, to whom
He pleases; to set up
Partners with Allah
Is to devise a sin
Most heinous indeed."
[Al-Qur’an 4:48]
It is also interesting that Surah Ikhlas is translated as the "Verse of Purity" by some translators. To me this signifies that Allah s.w.t. is "pure" from what others associate Him with.
Wasalaam.
Abdul Halim
Wa 'alaykum salaam wr. wb.,
Actually to the Arabs at the time of Jahiliyyah, the reference to the name “Allah” (with Tauhidic connotations as propounded by Prophet Ibrahim a.s.) has been corrupted – from signifying the One Unique God into merely the principle God, when idolatrous worship was introduced into the Ka’aba. (By the way, the Ka’aba was still called “Baytullaah”- literally ‘the house of Allah’). This term “Allah” then deteriorated to merely refer to anything that have the divine power, – just like the Malay term ‘Tuhan’, as something still vague, requiring further concretization through forms, tangible description, personality etc. Those whose undestanding were the exceptions at that time were the “Hunafaa’ “ (plural of “Haneef” i.e. those who still adhered to the original religion of Prophet Ibrahim a.s.). The rest of the Quraysh and Arabs, they had lost the knowledge that “Allah” actually refers to a personal God - not mere vague concept.
With idolatry, they had succumbed to anthropomorphism. They were very open to any new deities to be introduced, and by their convention, were even welcomed - but each idol or deities to be introduced needed to have some sort of background info, which supported its claim of honour, deserving of being worshipped. Islamic scholars of history traced many of these idols to have belonged to actual personalities or popular myth of past history, highly regarded by them, perhaps prophets or saintly figure or even angels or spirits, and these thus were subsequently elevated into ranks of deity. This background must be considered.
When the Prophet s.a.w. began to speak of Allah s.w.t. not as a general or vague concept but as a personal Deity, certainly to them it was a most radical idea then, so they had to probe by asking that question (according to their convention to anyone trying to introduce a new god).
Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. was to overturn and replace their convoluted idolatrous practice with that of 'Tauhid'and its entire Islamic worldview connected with it. It had to begin by rejecting their notion that Allah s.w.t. can have partners and associates – termed “shirk” – (this is contained in the first half of the Islamic declaration of Tauhid - ... لا إلهَ ). And this was what made them to be hostile to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. message and mission.
Actually the meaning of 'Surah al-Ikhlas' should be correctly translated as "Chapter of the Purity of Faith.” So it does not imply -“signifies that Allah s.w.t. is "pure" from what others associate Him with” – as you stated. It is “purity” of our believe or any persons believe in God. The English term “Pureness” here is rather vague, but it must be linked to the original Arabic word “Ikhlas” – also meaning “sincerity”- therefore it is referring to our conception, our faith.
WaAllaahu a’lam
Assalamualaikum wr. wb.
Syukran ya Ustaz for your explanations. I am curious as to the use of the word "Allah" by Nabi Ibrahim a.s. considering that I think that there is a challenge in the Qur'an about the race of Nabi Ibrahim due to the tendencies of the Jews to assert that Nabi Ibrahim is Jew. Thus Nabi Ibrahim's language would be speaking language which is not semitic but a precursor of Semitic language.
I take you point with thanks about the more accurate translation of "Surah al-Ikhlas" that you pointed out...
Wasalaam
Abdul Halim
Wa 'alaykum salaam wr wb.
There seems to be several confusion in your question.
The challenge in the Qur’an was not about the race, but the “millah” (creed or religion) of Ibrahim a.s.:
“O Followers of previous revelation! Why do you argue about Abraham, seeing that the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed till long after him? Will you not, then, use your reason? Lo you are the ones who would argue about that which is known to you; but why do you argue about something which is unknown to you? Yet God knows it, whereas you do not know- Abraham was neither a “Jew” nor a “Christian”, but was one who turned away from all that is false, having surrendered himself unto God; and he was not of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him.” (Q:3:65-67)
Yes, today a ‘Jew’ is generally understood as refering to a race as well as a religion, but the term “yahudiyan” in the above verse is also linked to “nasraaniyan” – ( يَہُودِيًّ۬ا وَلَا نَصۡرَانِيًّ۬ا ) so, in the Qur’anic context, it was not referring to the race but the creed. Also, in the Qur’an, when referring to the ‘Jewish’ people as a race, it always uses “Bani Israil", not “yahudiyan”. Also, the term “jew” or “yehudah” refers to the place “Judea” and only came into use after the time of Prophet Ya’kub (Jacob) a.s.
When you use the term “Semitic”, perhaps you were having the notion that this term came after Prophet Ibrahim a.s. Actually Prophet Ibrahim a.s. was a Semite. This term “Semite” was said to be derived from name “Sham” (Sem), one of the sons of Prophet Nuh a.s, the direct ancestor of Prophet Ibrahim a.s..
So your suggestion that perhaps he (Ibrahim a.s.)belonged to or spoke a precursor to Semitic language is rather misplaced. The other major groups (which later demarcates distinct linguistic groupings) are actually named after two other sons of Prophet Nuh a.s. i.e. Hamitic (from Ham) and Japhetic (from Yaphet).
Another common misconception today is that people think that only the Jews are the Semites, whereas this category covers a wide spectrum of sub-group and dialects, Ibrani (Hebrew), Aramaic (a dialect used during Jesus’ a.s. time), Syriac, etc. including the Arabic of the Arabs witrh its many 'lahja' dialects.
And by the way, any persecution and hatred towards the Arabs, technically can also be regarded as anti-Semitism too.
Wa-Allaahu a’lam
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