Firstly: there follow some of the ahaadeeth narrated from the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which state that Soorat
al-Ikhlaas (Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad) is equivalent to one-third of the
Qur'aan.
Al-Bukhaari (6643) narrated from Abu Sa'eed that a man heard another
man reciting Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad and repeating it. The next morning
he came to the Messenger of Allaah (peaceand blessings of Allaah be
upon him) and told him about that. The man thought that it was too
little, but the Messenger ofAllaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: "By the One in Whose hand is my soul, it is equivalent
to one-third of the Qur'aan."
Muslim (811) narrated from Abu'l-Dardaa' that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Is any one of you unable to
recite one-third of the Qur'aan in one night?" They said, "How could
anyone read one-third of the Qur'aan?" He said, "QulHuwa Allaahu Ahad
is equivalent to one-third of the Qur'aan."
Muslim (812) narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Gather together,
for I will recite to you one-third of the Qur'aan." So those who could
gather together gathered there, then the Prophet of Allaah(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) came out and recited Qul Huwa Allaahu
Ahad, then he went in. They said to one another, Perhaps there hasbeen
some news from heaven on account of which he has gone inside (the
house). Then the Prophet of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) came out and said, "I told you that I was going to recite to
you one-third of the Qur'aan. Verily it is equivalent to one-third of
the Qur'aan."
Secondly: The bounty of Allaah is immense, and Allaah has bestowed His
bounty upon this ummah and has made up for its short life span by
giving it more reward for simple deeds. It is strange that with some
people, insteadof this motivating them todo more good, this makes them
apathetic and lazy indoing acts of worship, or they feel that this
bounty and reward is strange and farfetched.
With regard to the meaning of the hadeeth:
There is a difference between jaza' (reward) and ijza' (what is
sufficient). What is makingthe brother confused is that he does not
see the difference between them.
Jaza' means the reward which Allaah gives for obeying Him.
Ijza' means what is sufficient and takes the place of something else.
Reciting Qul Huwa AllaahuAhad brings a reward equivalent to reciting
one-third of the Qur'aan, but it does not take the place of reading
one-third of the Qur'aan.
If a person vows – for example – to read one-third of the Qur'aan,
itis not sufficient for him to read Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad, because it
is equivalent to one-third of the Qur'aan in reward, but not in terms
of being sufficient or taking the place of reading one-third of the
Qur'aan.
The same may be said of reciting it three times. If a person recites
it three times in his prayer, that does not mean that he does not have
to recite al-Faatihah, even though he will be given the reward of
reciting the whole Qur'aan.
A similar example is the reward given by the Lawgiver to one who
offers a single prayer in the Sanctuary of Makkah, and that he will
have the reward of one hundred thousand prayers. Does anyone take this
divine bounty to means that he does not have to pray for decades
because he offered a single prayer in the Haram that is equivalent to
one hundredthousand prayers?
Rather this has to do withreward; as for what is sufficient, that is
another matter altogether.
Moreover, none of the scholars has ever said that there is no need
for us to read the Qur'aan or that Qul Huwa Allaah Ahad is sufficient
and takes the place of that. The correct scholarly view is that this
soorah has this great virtue because the Qur'aandeals with three
topics: one-third for rulings, one-third for promises andwarnings, and
one-third for the Divine names and attributes.
This soorah combines names and attributes.
This is the view of Abu'l-'Abbaas ibn Surayj, and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn
Taymiyah stated that it was good in Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 17/103.
The Muslim cannot do without the two other issues, which are the
rulings and the promises and warnings. His knowledge cannot be
complete unless he looks at the Book of Allaah as a whole. The one who
stops at Soorat al-Ikhlaas cannotknow the other two matters.
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