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Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr The Complete Qurʾān Commentary · Juzʾ Tabārak and Juzʾ ʿAmma Surahs 67–114

Lesson 112

Sūrah Al-Ikhlāṣ Sincerity / Pure Monotheism

سورة الإخلاص

A Makkan sūrah of 4 verses the most concentrated statement of tawḥīd in the Quran. It is equivalent to one-third of the Quran in reward and meaning. Four divine attributes answer the question "What is your Lord?" Aḥad, Ṣamad, unborn and unbegotten, and without equal.

Surah Overview

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahالإخلاصMakkī 4 versesEquivalent to 1/3 of the Quran in reward (Bukhārī and Muslim)

Core MessageAllah is One, Self-Sufficient, unborn, unbegotten, without equalTheological pure tawḥīdNegates all forms of shirk in four comprehensive verses

Ibn Kathīr FocusOccasion of revelation (description of Allah) and al-ṢamadExegeticalRevealed in response to polytheists asking the Prophet to describe his Lord's lineage

Key TermالصَّمَدAṣ-ṢamadThe Self-Sufficient Master all creation depends on Him; He depends on none

Key Themes from Ibn Kathīr

Ibn Kathīr records the occasion: the polytheists asked the Prophet ﷺ, "Describe your Lord to us is He from gold, silver, iron? What is His lineage?" This sūrah was revealed in response. The four verses systematically demolish every anthropomorphic and polytheistic conception of the divine. "Qul Huwa Allāhu Aḥad" Aḥad (One in absolute uniqueness) differs from Wāḥid (one in number); Aḥad means there is nothing whatsoever like Him in any attribute.

Ibn Kathīr gives extensive treatment to "Aṣ-Ṣamad": from Ibn ʿAbbās the Sayyid (Master) who is complete in lordship, the Noble who is complete in nobility, the Most Forbearing who is complete in forbearance. More precisely: the one upon whom all creation depends for all their needs (ṣamada ilayhi l-khalqu fī ḥawāʾijihim) while He is in need of none. The negations "lam yalid wa-lam yūlad, wa-lam yakun lahu kufuwan aḥad" specifically refute Christian claims about Jesus, Jewish claims about Uzayr, Arab claims about angels as daughters, and any other partnership claim against divine singularity.

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ۝ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ Qul Huwa Allāhu Aḥad Allāhu ṣ-Ṣamad "Say: He is Allah, the One Allah, the Eternal Self-Sufficient" (112:1–2) Ibn Kathīr: Aḥad = unique in a way that admits no comparison; Ṣamad = the one all creation turns to for needs while He has no need.

لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ ۝ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ Lam yalid wa-lam yūlad wa-lam yakun lahu kufuwan aḥad "He neither begets nor is born nor is there to Him any equivalent" (112:3–4) Ibn Kathīr: refutation of every claim of divine offspring (Jesus, Uzayr, angels) and every claim of divine partnership; kufuwan = equivalent in any attribute.

One-third of the Quran: Authentic ḥadīth (Bukhārī, Muslim) states this sūrah equals one-third of the Quran because the Quran is: tawḥīd, sharīʿah, and news this sūrah is the entirety of tawḥīd in four verses.
Aḥad vs. Wāḥid: Wāḥid = numerically one; Aḥad = absolutely unique with no peer, no like, no comparable the Quran uses Aḥad only for Allah in this verse.
Aṣ-Ṣamad: The Master upon whom all creation is utterly dependent, who Himself has no dependence the most complete description of divine self-sufficiency.
No offspring, no origin: "Lam yalid wa-lam yūlad" refutes all doctrines of divine begetting explicitly negating both direction (begetting and being begotten).
No kufuʾ: No equivalent in any attribute not in power, not in knowledge, not in existence, not in description; a total and absolute singularity.

Surah Overview

Key Themes from Ibn Kathīr

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