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Virtues and benefits of Surah Al-’Alaq

Surah 96 19 verses Meccan

Surah Al-’Alaq is distinguished by the fact that its first five verses were the very first revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet ﷺ: the angel came to him in the cave of Hira and said “Read!”, according to the hadith of Aishah in Al-Bukhari and Muslim, and the meticulous scholars agree on this. It ends with a prostration that the Companions made with the Prophet ﷺ, and it belongs to the Mufassal.

by Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais Read Surah Al-’Alaq All recitations

Its virtues at a glance

  • The first revelation of the Qur’an

    Its first five verses are the first of the Qur’an revealed to the Prophet ﷺ: the angel came to him in the cave of Hira and said “Read!”, up to “He taught man what he did not know”. The meticulous scholars agree that this was the very first revelation.

    Authentic (sahih)Al-Bukhari and Muslim

  • It contains a prostration

    It ends with a prostration at the verse “Prostrate and draw near”, as shown by the hadith of Abu Hurayrah: “We prostrated with the Prophet ﷺ in ‘When the sky is split open’ and ‘Read in the name of your Lord’.”

  • A surah of the Mufassal

    It belongs to the Mufassal, the last part of the Qur’an by which the Prophet ﷺ was favoured over the other prophets, according to the hadith of Wathilah ibn al-Asqa’: “… and I was favoured with the Mufassal.”

Hadiths on its virtues

Arabic text, translation, reference and authenticity grade of each hadith.

كان أوَّلَ ما بُدِئَ به رسولُ اللهِ ﷺ الرُّؤْيَا الصَّادِقةُ في النَّومِ … حتَّى فَجِئَهُ الحَقُّ وهو في غارِ حِراءٍ، فجاءَه المَلَكُ، فقال: اقْرَأْ، فقال رسولُ اللهِ ﷺ: ما أنا بقارِئٍ … ثُمَّ أَرْسَلني، فقال: اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ …

The first thing with which [revelation] began for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was true dreams in sleep… until the truth came to him suddenly while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and said: “Read!” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “I am not a reader.”… Then he released him and said: “Read in the name of your Lord who created…”

Narrated by Aishah Al-Bukhari and Muslim Authentic (sahih) narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim

What the surah is about

  • Praise of reading, writing, knowledge and learning
  • A threat to anyone who stands against the call of Islam
  • Telling the Prophet ﷺ that Allah sees what his enemies plot, and that He will crush them and help him
  • The command to the Prophet ﷺ to continue on his way, to pray and draw near to his Lord

Main purpose: Man between guidance through Revelation and misguidance through arrogance and ignorance.

About Surah Al-’Alaq

This surah is called Al-’Alaq and also “Iqra’” (Read). It has nineteen verses in the Kufan count, eighteen in the Syrian count and twenty in the Hijazi count. Its opening, up to “what he did not know”, is the very first revelation of the Qur’an; the rest came later: its mention of the deniers shows it was revealed after news of the mission had spread and Quraysh had begun to harm the Prophet ﷺ.

Tafsir of Surah Al-’Alaq Listen to Al-’Alaq by other reciters

Detailed study in Arabic

The full Arabic text: introduction, virtues, themes, and a study of the chain and authenticity of each hadith.

  1. التعريف بسورة العلق
  2. فضائل سورة العلق
  3. موضوعات سورة العلق
  4. اغراض سورة العلق
  5. الأحاديث الواردة في الفضل ودرجتها

Virtues of other surahs

All 114 surahs
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