Sura Ekhlas is enough for any individual to understand the concept of 'God'. Its core content is Tawheed (oneness of God) and it also rejects many of the claims of the disbelievers and those who associate partners with Allah. The characteristics of 'God' has been made crystal clear in this Sura and this Sura only consists of 4 verses.
Cause of Revelation:
Imam Ahmed recorded in his Musnad, narrated on the authority of Ubayy bin Ka'b that the idolators said to the Prophet (ﷺ), "o Muhammad! Tell us the lineage of your Lord." So Allah revealed Sura Ekhlas as an answer declaring the oneness of His (may He be glorified) being.
The Sura and its translation :
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
قُلۡ هُوَ اللّٰهُ اَحَدٌۚ﴿۱﴾ اللّٰهُ الصَّمَدُۚ﴿۲﴾ لَمۡ يَلِدۡ وَلَمۡ يُوۡلَدۡۙ﴿۳﴾ وَلَمۡ يَكُنۡ لَّهٗ كُفُوًا اَحَدٌ﴿۴﴾
"In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
﴾1﴿ Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One,
﴾2﴿ Allah, the Eternal Refuge.
﴾3﴿ He neither begets nor is born,
﴾4﴿ Nor is there to Him any equivalent."
Short commentary:
The main lesson in Sura Ekhlas is the unity of Allah.
Verse 1:
Allah is One, which means that He is unique in His being and attributes. Allah as an entity is unique in His being, the One and Only. There is no being like Him. On the other hand, Allah is unique in His attributes as well. That is to say, no one and nothing shares His qualities. His qualities belong only to Him. He is absolutely beyond all resemblance. Shortly, in terms of uniqueness, Allah is the One and Only.
Verse 2:
He does not depend on anyone. For only those who have needs depend on others. But Allah is free from all needs and wants. He does not depend on anyone for absolutely anything at all. This verse is the proof of self-sufficiency. In fact, His creation is full of needs and wants and everyone and everything depends on Him for one thing or another.
Verse 3:
He does not have an offspring, nor is He an offspring. He does not have any parents, siblings, spouse, children or anything of the sort.
Verse 4:
There is no being equal to Him. Be that in terms of His position as the Lord, or in terms of His right to be worshipped, or in His names and attributes, there is nobody equal to Him. His position only belongs to Him alone. Nobody has a part in it. Everyone is below Him.
Claims that Allah rejects in this Surah:
1. In the first verse, Allah rejects the claims of those who say-
*Allah does not exist.
*Allah is not eternal.
*Allah is not unique in his attributes.
*There are more beings worthy of worship.
2. In the second verse, Allah rejects the claims of those who say Allah, the Lord of all worlds, is in need of Angels to maintain the order of existence/universe.
3. In the third verse, Allah rejects the acts of - "Associating Prophets with Allah, claiming that Allah has begotten a son, worshipping the creation such as Jinn or Human."
4. In the fourth verse, Allah rejects the idea of comparing any creation with Him. He rejects any comparison in-
*His ownership
*His right to be worshipped
*His names and attributes.
In short, Sura Ekhlas declares the truth of Tawheed and rejects all sort of Shirk.
One may wonder what is 'Shirk'? That is a discussion for our next chapter if Allah wills.
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Beginners guide to Islam (Vol-01)
Non-fictieIn Volume-01 of "Beginners guide to Islam", very important religious matters such as "What is Islam?", "Declaration of Faith", "Basis of Faith and its articles", "Belief in Allah" which includes "Tawheed" and "Shirk" were discussed in details and th...
