In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate "May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You" Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu If Surah Ikhlaas is 1/3 of Quraan Then Why Read The Whole Quraan ?
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 Quraan. Al-Bukhaari (6643) narrated from Abu Saeed that a man heard another man reciting Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad and repeating it. The next morning he came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and told him about that. The man thought that it was too little, but the Messenger of Allaah (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 Quraan.” Muslim (811) narrated from Abul-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 Quran in one night?” They said, “How could anyone read one-third of the Quraan?” He said, “Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad is equivalent to one-third of the Quraan.” 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 Quraan.” 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 has been 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 Quraan. Verily it is equivalent to one-third of the Quraan.” 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, instead of this motivating them to do more good, this makes them apathetic and lazy in doing 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 making the 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 Allaahu Ahad brings a reward equivalent to reciting one-third of the Quraan, but it does not take the place of reading one-third of the Quraan. If a person vows – for example – to read one-third of the Quraan, it is not sufficient for him to read Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad, because it is equivalent to one-third of the Quraan in reward, but not in terms of being sufficient or taking the place of reading one-third of the Quraan. 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 Quraan. 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 hundred thousand prayers? Rather this has to do with reward; as for what is sufficient, that is another matter altogether. Rewards are of different types, just as wealth is of different types, such as food, drink, clothing, houses, money and so on. If a man possesses one type of wealth, to the value of one thousand dinars, that does not mean that he can do without the other types. Rather if he has wealth in the form of food, he also needs clothing and a place to live, etc. Similarly if it is a type other than money, he still needs other things. If he has nothing but money, he will need all kinds of wealth that are usually needed. In al-Faatihah there are the benefits of praise and duaa which people need, and Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad cannot replace it in that sense. Although its reward is very great, he cannot benefit from it unless he also recites the Opening of the Book (al-Faatihah) in his prayer. Hence if a person recites only Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad in his prayer, without al-Faatihah, his prayer is not valid. Even if he recited the whole of the Quraan without al-Faatihah, his prayer would not be valid, because the al-Faatihah refers to the basic needs that people cannot do without. Majmoo al-Fataawa, 17/131. And he said: The knowledge that is to be gained by reading the rest of the Quraan cannot be gained by reciting this soorah only. So whoever reads the whole Quraan is better than one who simply recites this soorah three times in the sense that he earns different kinds of reward, even though the one who recites Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad earns a reward equivalent to that reward, but it is of one type and does not include all the types that a person needs. This is like a man who has three thousand dinars and another who has food, clothing, accommodation and money equivalent to three thousand dinars. The latter has that which will benefit him in all his affairs, whereas the former needs what the latter has, even though what he has is equivalent in value. Similarly, if he has the finest food, equivalent to three thousand dinars in value, he still needs clothing and accommodation, and weapons and tools that will ward off harm from him, and the like, which cannot be done with food alone. Majmoo al-Fataawa, 17/137-139 And Allaah knows best. http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/10022/ikhlas Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, to post on Internet sites and to publish in full text and subject title in not-for-profit publications. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveIslam_LiveIslam/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
