Surah Al-Ikhlas 112 Detailed Explanation (Introduction)
Say:EN112-1 "He is AllahEN112-2, the One
and OnlyE112-3.
Al-Ikhlas 112-1,
112-2
EN112-1 - The
first address of this Command is the Hoy Prophet (pbuh) himself for it was he
who was asked: "Who is your Lord and what is He like?" Again it was he who was commanded to
answer the question in the following words. But after him every believer is its addresses. He too should say what the Holy Prophet
has been commanded to say.
EN112-2 - That
is, "My Lord to whom you want to be introduced is none but
Allah." This is the first
answer to the questions, and it means: "I have not introduced a new lord
who I want you to worship beside all other gods but it is the same Being you
know by the name of Allah."
"Allah" was not an unfamiliar word for the Arabs. They have been using this very word for
the Creator of the universe since the earliest times, and they did not apply
this word to any of their other gods.
For the other gods they used the word ilah. Then their beliefs about Allah had
become fully manifest at the time Abrahah invaded Makkah. At that time their existed 360 idols of
gods (ilahs) in and around the Ka'bah, but the polytheists forsaking all
of them had invoked only Allah for protection. In other words, they knew in their heart that no ilah
could help them on that critical occasion except Allah. The Ka'bah also was called Bait-Allah
by them and not Bait-ilahs after their self-made gods. At many places in the Qur'an the
polytheistic Arabian belief about Allah has been expressed, thus:
In Surah Az-Zukhruf, it is said that "If you ask
them who created them, they will surely say, "Allah." (43-87)"
In Surah Al-Ankabut, it is said
that “If you ask them, "Who has created the earth and the heavens and
Who has subjected the moon and the sun" they will surely say: “Allah …” (29-61).
And if you ask them, "Who sent down rainwater from the sky and
thereby raised the dead earth back to life?" they will surely say: Allah …”
(29-63).
In Surah Al-Muminun, it is said that "Say to them,
"Tell me, if you know, whose is the earth and all who dwell in
it?" They will say,
"Allah's… (23-84,
23-85). "Say to them, "To
Whom do the seven heavens and the Glorious Throne belong?" They will say, "To Allah" …” (23-86,
23-87). "Say to them, "Tell me , if you know, Whose is the sovereignty over
everything? And Who is that Being
Who gives protection while none else can give protection against
Him?" They will surely reply,
"This power belongs to Allah"…" (23-88,
23-89).
In Surah Yunus, it is said that: "Ask them, Who
provides for you from the heavens and the earth? Who has power over the faculties of hearing and sight? Who brings forth the living from the
dead and the dead from the living?
Who directs the system of the universe? They will surely reply, "Allah"…" (10-31) "When you set sails in ships,
rejoicing over a fair breeze, then all of a sudden a strong wind begins to rage
against the passengers and waves begin to surge upon them from every side and
they realize that they have been encircled by the tempest. At that time they pray to Allah with
sincere faith, saying: "if you deliverest us from the peril, we will
become Thy grateful servants."
(10-22). "But when He delivers
them, the same people begin to rebel on the earth against the Truth…." , (10-23)
The same thing has been reiterated in Surah Bani Israil,
thus: "When a misfortune befalls you on the sea, all of those who you
invoke for help fail you but He (is there to help you), yet when He brings you
safe to land, you turn away from him." (17:v.67)
Keeping these verses in view, let us consider that when the
people asked:" Who is your Lord and what is He like to Whose service
and worship you call us?" the answer given was "Huwa'l Allah:
He is Allah." This answer
by itself gives the meaning:
"My Lord is He Whom you yourself acknowledge as your own as well as
the whole world's Creator, its Master, Sustainer and Administrator, and He Whom
you invoke for help at critical times besides all other deities, and I invite
you to His service alone."
This answer comprehends all the perfect and excellent attributes of
Allah. Therefore, it is not at all
conceivable that the Creator of the universe, its Administrator and Disposer of
its affairs, Sustainer of all the creatures living in it, and the Helper of the
servants in times of hardship, would not be living, hearing, seeing, that He
would not be an All-Powerful, All-Knowing; All-Wise, All-Merciful and All-Kind
Sovereign.
He (about Whom you are questioning me) is Allah, is One and
Only."
Thus, keeping in view the questions that the polytheists and
the followers of earlier scriptures asked the Holy Prophet (pbuh) about his
Lord, let us see how they were answered with ahad-un after Huwa-Allah.
First, it means:
He alone is the Sustainer; no one else has any or part in
providence. And since He alone can
be the Ilah (Deity) Who is Master and Sustainer, therefore, no one else
is His associate in Divinity either."
Secondly, it also means: "He alone is the Creator of the universe; no one else
is His associate in his work of creation.
He alone is the Master of the universe, the Disposer and Administrator
of its system, the Sustainer of His creatures, Helper and Rescuer in times of
hardship; no one else has any share or part whatever in the works of Godhead,
which as you yourselves acknowledge, are works of Allah."
Thirdly, since they had also asked the questions: Of what is your Lord made of? What is His ancestry? What is His sex? From whom has He inherited the world
and who will inherit it after Him?
-- all these questions have been answered with one word ahad for
Allah. It means: (1) He alone has
been, and will be, God for ever; neither was there a God before Him, nor will
there be any after Him; (2) there is no race of gods to which He may belong as
a member: He is God, one and
single, and none is homogeneous with Him; (3) His being is not merely One (wahid)
but ahad, in which there is no tinge of plurality in any way: He is not
a compound being, which may be analyzable or divisible, which may have a form
and shape, which may be residing somewhere, or may contain or include
something, which may have a color, which may have some limbs, which may have a
directions, and which may be variable or changeable in any way. Free from every kind of plurality He
alone is a Being Who is Ahad in every aspect. (Here, one should fully understand that the word wahid
is used in Arabic just like the word "one" in English. A collection consisting of great
pluralities is collectively called wahid or one, as one man, one nation,
one country, one world, even one universe; and every separate part of
collection is also called one. But
the word Ahad is not used for anyone except Allah. That is why wherever in the Quran the
word wahid has been used for Allah, He is has been called Ilah wahid
(one Deity), or Allah-ul-Wahid-al-Qahhar (One Allah Who is Omnipotent),
and nowhere just wahid, for this word is also used for the things which
contain pluralities f different kinds in their being. On the contrary, for Allah and only for Allah the word Ahad
has been used absolutely, for He alone is the Being Who exists withour any
plurality in any way, Whose Oneness is perfect in every way).
Allah is independent of all and all are dependent on HimEN112-4 (112-2).
EN112-4 Allah
is perfect in His attributes of Samad in every aspect; the whole world
is dependent upon Him in its needs, but He is dependent upon none; everything
in the world turns to Him, consciously or subconsciously, for its survival and
for fulfillment of the needs of everyone; He is immortal and Ever-living; He
sustains others and is not sustained by anyone; He is single and Unique, not
compounds so as to be analyzable and divisible; His sovereignty prevails over
entire universe and He is Supreme in every sense. Therefore, He is not only Samad but As-Saamad,
i.e., the Only and One Being Who is wholly and perfectly qualified with the
attributes of samad in the true sense.
Then, since He is As-Samad, it is necessary that He
should be Unique, One and Only, for such a Being can only be One, which is not
dependent upon anyone and upon Whom everyone else may be dependent; two or more
beings cannot be self-sufficient and fulfillers of the needs at all. Furthermore, His being As-Samad
also requires that He alone should be the Deity, none else, for no sensible
person would worship and serve the one who had no power and authority to
fulfill the needs of others.
Neither has He an offspring nor is He the Offspring on
anyone;EN112-5 (112-3).
EN112-5 The
polytheists in every age have adopted the concept that like men, gods also
belong to a species, which has many members and they also get married, beget
and are begotten. They did not
even regard Allah, Lord of the Universe, as supreme and above this concept of
ignorance, and even proposed children for Him. Thus, the Arabian belief as stated in the Quran was that
they regarded the angels as daughters of Allah. The prophetic communities too could not remain immune from
this creed of paganism. They too
adopted the creed of holding one saintly person or another as a son of
God. Two kinds of concepts have
always been mixed up in these debasing superstitions. Some people thought that those whom they regarded as Allah's
children, were descended from Him in the natural way and some others claimed
that the one whom they called son of God, had been adopted by Allah Himself as
a son. Although they could not
dare call anyone as, God forbid, father of God, obviously human mind cannot
remain immune against such a concept that God too should be regarded as a son
of somebody when it is conceived that He is not free from sex and procreation
and that He too, like man, is the kind of being which begets children and needs
to adopt a son in case it is childless.
That is why one of the questions asked of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) was:
what is the ancestry of Allah? And another was: from whom He inherited the
world and who will inherit it after Him?
If these assumptions of ignorance are analyzed, it becomes
obvious that they logically necessitate the assumption of some other things as
well.
First, the God should not be One, but there should be a
species of God, and its members should be associates in the attributes, acts
and powers of Divinity. This not
only follows from assuming God begetting children but also from assuming that
He has adopted someone as a son, for the adopted son of somebody can inevitably
be of his own kind. And when, God
forbid, he is of the same kind as God, it cannot be denied that he too
possesses attributes of Godhead.
Second, that children cannot be conceived unless the male
and the female combine and some substance from the father and the mother unites
to take the shape of child.
Therefore, the assumption that God begets children necessitates that He
should, God forbid, be a material and physical entity, should have a wife of
His own species, and some substance also should issue from His body.
Third, that wherever there is sex and procreation, it is
there because individuals are mortal and for the survival of their species it
is inevitable that they should beget children to perpetuate the race. Thus, the assumption that God begets
children also necessitates that He should, God forbid, Himself be mortal, and
immortality should belong to the species of Gods, not to God Himself. Furthermore, it also necessitates that
like all mortal individuals, God also, God forbid, should have a beginning and
an end. For the individuals of the
species whose survival depends upon sex and procreation neither exist since
eternity nor will exist till eternity.
Fourth, that the object of adopting some one as a son is
that a childless person needs a helper in his lifetime and an heir after his
death. Therefore, the supposition
that Allah has adopted a son inevitably amounts to ascribing all the weaknesses
to His sublime Being which characterize mortal man.
Although all these assumptions are destroyed as soon as
Allah is called and described as Ahad and As-Samad, yet when it
is said: "Neither has He an off-spring nor is He the offspring of
another", there remains no room for any ambiguity in this regard. Then, since these concepts are the most
potent factors of polytheism with regard to Divine Being, Allah has refuted
them clearly and absolutely not only in Surah Al-Ikhlas but has also reiterated
this theme at different places in different ways so that people may understand
the truth fully. For example let
us consider the following verses:
"Allah I sonly One Deity: He is too exalted that He should he a son: whatever is in
the heavens and whatever is in the earth belongs to Him." (An-Nisa
4-071)
"Note it well: they, in fact, invent a falsehood when
they say, "Allah has children".
They are utter liars." (As-Saaffat 037-v151-152)
"They have invented a blood-relationship between Allah
and the angels, whereas the angels know full well that these people will be
brought up (as culprits)." (As-Saaffat-37-158)
"These people have made some of His servants to be part
of Him. The fact is that man is
manifestly ungrateful." (Az-Zukhruf 43.v15)
"Yet the people have set up the Jinn as partners with
Allah, whereas He is the Creator; they have also invented for Him sons and
daughters without having any knowledge, whereas He is absolutely free and exalted
far above the things they say. He
is the Originator of the heavens and the earth; how should He have a son, when
He has no consort? He has created each and every thing." (Al-An'am:006 v.100-101).
"They say: the Merciful has offspring, Glory be to
Allah! They (whom they describe as His offspring) are His mere servants who
have been honored." (Al-Anbiya:021 v.026)
"They remarked:
Allah has taken a son to Himself.
Allah is All-pure: He is
Self-Sufficient: He is the Owner of everything that is in the heaven and the
earth. Have you any authority for
what you say? What, do you ascribe
to Allah that of which you have no knowledge". (Yunus:10 v.68)
"And (O Prophet) say: praise is for Allah Who has
begotten no son nor has any partner in His Kingdom nor is helpless to need any
supporter." (17:111)
"Allah has not offspring, and there is no other deity
as a partner with Him." (Al-Muminun:23 v91)
In these verses the belief of the people who ascribe real or
adopted children to Allah, has been refuted from every aspect, and its being a
false belief has also been proved by argument. These and many other Quranic verses on the same theme
explain Surah Ikhlas fully well.
And None is equal with Him in rank."EN112-6 (112-4).
EN112-6 The word kufu'
is used in the original means
an example, a similar thing, the one equal in rank and position. In the matter of marriage, kufu'
means that the boy and the girl should match each other socially. Thus, the verse means that there is no
one in the entire universe, nor ever was, nor ever can be, who is similar to
Allah, or equal in rank with Him, or resembling Him in His attributes, works, and
powers in any degree whatever.