Surah Al-Ikhlas equals a third of the Qur’an: the Prophet ﷺ affirmed it under oath, and the hadiths on this reach the level of mass transmission. Whoever loves it, Allah loves him and admits him to Paradise; it contains the name by which Allah answers. The Prophet ﷺ recited it in the Fajr sunnah and the witr, advised it morning and evening with the two protective surahs, and recited it with them at bedtime.
The Prophet ﷺ swore that it equals a third of the Qur’an, and said: “Allah divided the Qur’an into three parts and made ‘Say: He is Allah, One’ one of its parts.” The hadiths on this merit reach the level of mass transmission (tawatur). Some scholars said the Qur’an consists of rulings, promises and warnings, and divine names and attributes: this surah gathers the names and attributes.
Authentic (sahih)Al-Bukhari (5013), Abu Dawud (1461) and An-Nasa’i Authentic (sahih)Muslim (811)
Of a man who ended his recitation with it because it describes the Most Merciful, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Tell him that Allah loves him”; and to another who recited it in every rak’ah: “Your love for it has made you enter Paradise.”
Authentic (sahih)Al-Bukhari (7375) and Muslim (813) Authentic (sahih)Al-Bukhari, with a suspended chain (774), and At-Tirmidhi (2901)
Hearing a man recite it, the Prophet ﷺ said: “It is due”, meaning Paradise; and he said that whoever recites it to the end ten times, Allah builds for him a palace in Paradise.
Authentic (sahih)Malik (Al-Muwatta’), At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa’i Good (hasan)Ahmad (3/437), Ibn as-Sunni (’Amal al-Yawm wa-l-Laylah, 693) and At-Tabarani (Al-Mu’jam al-Kabir, 397)
The Prophet ﷺ heard a man calling on Allah by the names it contains — the One, the Self-Sufficient, who neither begets nor was begotten, to whom none is equal — and said: “You have asked Allah by the name by which, when He is asked, He gives, and when He is called upon, He answers.”
Authentic (sahih)Abu Dawud (1493), At-Tirmidhi (3475) and Ibn Majah (3857)
The Prophet ﷺ recited Al-Kafirun and Al-Ikhlas in the two rak’ahs before Fajr, and ended his three-rak’ah witr with “Say: He is Allah, One”, according to the hadith of Ibn Abbas.
Authentic (sahih)Muslim (726), Abu Dawud (1256) and Ibn Majah (1148)
The Prophet ﷺ told Abdullah ibn Khubayb: “Recite ‘Say: He is Allah, One’ and the two protective surahs in the evening and the morning three times: they will suffice you against everything”; and Aishah reported that every night, when going to bed, he blew into his cupped hands, recited these three surahs into them, then wiped over as much of his body as he could.
Arabic text, translation, reference and authenticity grade of each hadith.
أن رجلًا سمع رجلًا يقرأ: ﴿قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ﴾ يرددها، فلما أصبح جاء إلى النبي ﷺ فذكر له ذلك - فكأن الرجل يتقالها - فقال رسول الله ﷺ: «والذي نفسي بيده إنها لتعدل ثلث القرآن»
A man heard another reciting “Say: He is Allah, One”, repeating it over and over. In the morning he came and told the Prophet ﷺ, as though he thought it little. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “By the One in whose hand is my soul, it is equal to a third of the Qur’an!”
أيعجز أحدكم أن يقرأ في ليلة ثلث القرآن؟ قالوا: وكيف يقرأ ثلث القرآن؟ قال: ﴿قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ﴾ تعدل ثلث القرآن. وفي رواية: إن الله جزأ القرآن ثلاثة أجزاء فجعل ﴿قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ﴾ جزءًا من أجزاء القرآن
“Is any of you unable to recite a third of the Qur’an in a night?” They said: “How could one recite a third of the Qur’an?” He said: “‘Say: He is Allah, One’ is equal to a third of the Qur’an.” In another version: “Allah divided the Qur’an into three parts and made ‘Say: He is Allah, One’ one of its parts.”
أن النبي ﷺ بعث رجلًا على سرية، وكان يقرأ لأصحابه في صلاته فيختم بـ ﴿قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ﴾ فلما رجعوا ذكروا ذلك للنبي ﷺ فقال: سلوه: لأي شيء يصنع ذلك؟ فسألوه، فقال: لأنها صفة الرحمن، وأنا أحب أن أقرأ بها، فقال النبي ﷺ: أخبروه أن الله يحبه
The Prophet ﷺ put a man in charge of an expedition; when leading his companions in prayer, he would end his recitation with “Say: He is Allah, One”. When they returned, they mentioned this to the Prophet ﷺ, who said: “Ask him why he does that.” He said: “Because it is the description of the Most Merciful, and I love to recite it.” The Prophet ﷺ said: “Tell him that Allah loves him.”
… فلما أتاهم النبي ﷺ أخبروه الخبر، فقال: يا فلان! ما يمنعك أن تفعل ما يأمرك به أصحابك؟، وما حملك على لزوم هذه السورة في كل ركعة؟ قال: إني أحبها، قال: حبك إياها أدخلك الجنة
A man of the Ansar who led prayer at the Quba mosque began every rak’ah with “Say: He is Allah, One” before another surah. When the Prophet ﷺ came, they told him, and he asked: “O so-and-so, what prevents you from doing as your companions ask, and what makes you keep to this surah in every rak’ah?” He said: “I love it.” He said: “Your love for it has made you enter Paradise.”
أقبلت مع رسول الله ﷺ فسمع رجلًا يقرأ ﴿قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ﴾ فقال رسول الله ﷺ: «وجبت» فسألته: ماذا يا رسول الله؟ فقال: «الجنة»
“I was coming along with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he heard a man reciting ‘Say: He is Allah, One’. He said: ‘It is due.’ I asked: ‘What is due, O Messenger of Allah?’ He said: ‘Paradise.’”
أن رسول الله ﷺ سمع رجلًا يقول: اللّهم إني أسألك أنني أشهد أنك أنت الله لا إله إلا أنت، الأحد الصمد، الذي لم يلد ولم يولد ولم يكن له كفوًا أحد. فقال: «لقد سألت الله بالاسم الذي إذا سئل به أعطى، وإذا دعي به أجاب»
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ heard a man supplicating: “O Allah, I ask You, bearing witness that You are Allah, there is no god but You, the One, the Self-Sufficient (As-Samad), who neither begets nor was begotten, and to whom none is equal.” He said: “You have asked Allah by the name by which, when He is asked, He gives, and when He is called upon, He answers.”
من قرأ ﴿قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ﴾ حتى يختمها عشر مرات، بنى الله له قصرًا في الجنة
“Whoever recites ‘Say: He is Allah, One’ to the end ten times, Allah builds for him a palace in Paradise.”
أن رسول الله ﷺ قرأ في ركعتي الفجر ﴿قُلْ يَاأَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ﴾ و ﴿قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ﴾
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited in the two rak’ahs before the Fajr prayer “Say: O disbelievers” and “Say: He is Allah, One”.
Main purpose: To affirm that Allah alone is worthy of worship and alone is perfect, free of child, parent or equal.
Al-Ikhlas is Meccan according to the stronger view (some say Medinan), since it gathers the foundation of divine oneness, the dominant theme of the Meccan surahs. It is the 112th surah in the order of the Qur’an, the 22nd in the order of revelation according to most scholars, and has four verses. Al-Jamal lists twenty names for it, including “Oneness” (At-Tawhid), “Salvation” (An-Najat), “As-Samad” and “the Protector” (Al-Mani’ah). It was revealed when the idolaters said: “O Muhammad, describe your Lord’s lineage to us.”
Tafsir of Surah Al-Ikhlas Listen to Al-Ikhlas by other reciters
The full Arabic text: introduction, virtues, themes, and a study of the chain and authenticity of each hadith.
