Name and Background
Like Al-Faatiĥah, the first Soorah of the Qur-aan, the name of this Soorah is not
any word from its contents but, instead, the topic of the Soorah has been used as
its name.
Ikhlaaŝ means purity and exclusivity. This Soorah describes the pure concept of
Towĥeed [1] so that
a person can save himself from any notions of equating anything or anyone with Allaah
Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala in any respect. It corrects a believer’s views about Allaah
and negates all forms of Shirk (idolatry or polytheism – misconceived beliefs that
people may harbour in terms of assuming partners in Allaah’s person or in His attributes).
It does so in such a concise, simple and effective manner that a listener can easily
learn, understand and remember it.
When the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was commanded to undertake the Islamic
mission, people of the world had adopted a variety of illogical, irrational, erroneous
and corrupt views about God. Many Arabs believed in Allaah as the Supreme God, but
also worshipped different wooden, stone, golden and silver idols. They also believed
that the angels were Allaah’s daughters and that all those idols and daughters were
helpers and favourites of Allaah and His partners in divinity. Christians claimed
to believe in one God but considered Jesus ‘alayhissalaam as His son. They ascribed
divinity to Jesus ‘alayhissalaam as well as the Holy Ghost and regarded them as
partners with Allaah. For this reason, some of them considered Mary (Maryam) as
the “ Mother of God ”. Both idolaters and Christians believed that a human being
can be God-incarnate. The Jews also claimed to believe in one God but their concept
of God was also totally defective. Like Idolaters and Christians, the Jewish concept
of God visualized Him in the finite shape of human being and He was described like
a finite entity who walked and talked like a human being, who had to go into the
garden to find Adam ‘alayhissalaam and to call him in order to locate him, who would
wrestle with Jacob ‘alayhissalaam, etc. There were also those who thought that He
Himself is everything – everything in the universe being part of God’s own being.
None of these people had a clear concept of Allaah being one, unique and infinite
in His person, in His attributes and in His ways to make things happen. This Soorah
was revealed to correct all those corrupted notions about Allaah. Hence, whenever,
any of these groups were encountered and they argued about the attributes of Allaah
or wanted to know about Him, this Soorah was recited to them to present the Islamic
concept of Towĥeed.
As this Soorah was recited by the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam to different
groups of people at different times explaining to them about the Islamic concept
of God and Towĥeed, some listeners reported as if it was revealed at that time.
For this reason, there have been different reports about the timing of the revelation
of this Soorah.
This Soorah has been placed at this spot after the announcement of the success of
the prophetic Islamic mission and the failure of the opponents to pronounce clearly
once and for all the message of Towĥeed – the objective of the Islamic mission.
The Qur-aan opened with Soorah Faatiĥah acknowledging the Towĥeed of Allaah Subhaanahu
wa Ta’aala and seeking the right path based on it. Then, after dealing with the
different stages of the Islamic mission, the Qur-aan concluded with the declaration
of victory and reiteration of the concise message of Towĥeed. The two Soorahs after
this describe the best way to protect oneself from deviating from the straight path
of Towĥeed. In other words, they describe Allaah’s refuge as the necessary means
of persevering on this path.
Foot notes
[1] The concept of Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aal’s Oneness and Uniqueness in His person as well as in all of His Attributes
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