Tafseer of Sincerity · Al-Ikhlaas · 112:1
Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One,
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
It has been related that the polytheists (mushrikīn) interrogated the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about the lineage of the Lord of Loftiness, whereupon Allah sent down this surah as a reply to them. And some among them said: No, it was sent down because the Jews interrogated him, for they said to him: This Allah created the creation — who then created Allah? Whereupon it was sent down as a reply to them.
Mention of those who said: It was sent down as a reply to the polytheists (mushrikīn) who asked him to describe for them the Lord — blessed and exalted is He — as to His lineage.
Aḥmad ibn Manīʿ al-Marwazī and Maḥmūd ibn Khidāsh al-Ṭālaqānī related to us; they both said: Abū Saʿīd al-Ṣanʿānī related to us, he said: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, who said: The polytheists (mushrikīn) said to the Prophet ﷺ: Describe for us the lineage of your Lord. Whereupon Allah sent down: قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ * اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ (Say: He is Allah, the One * Allah, the Eternal Refuge to whom one turns for all things).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: Indeed, the polytheists (mushrikīn) said: O Messenger of Allah, inform us about your Lord, describe for us your Lord: what is He, and out of what thing is He? Whereupon Allah sent down: قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ (Say: He is Allah, the One), to the end of the surah.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, concerning قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ * اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ (Say: He is Allah, the One * Allah, the Eternal Refuge to whom one turns for all things), who said: That was what the confederates (al-aḥzāb) said: Describe for us the lineage of your Lord. Whereupon Jibrīl came to him with this [surah].
Muḥammad ibn ʿAwf related to me, he said: Shurayḥ related to us, he said: Ismāʿīl ibn Mujālid related to us, on the authority of Mujālid, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Jābir, who said: The polytheists (mushrikīn) said: Describe for us the lineage of your Lord. Whereupon Allah sent down: قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ (Say: He is Allah, the One).
* Mention of those who said: This was sent down because of the question of the Jews:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, he said: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of Muḥammad, on the authority of Saʿīd, who said: A group of Jews came to the Prophet ﷺ and they said: O Muḥammad, this Allah created the creation — who then created Him? Whereupon the Prophet ﷺ became so wrathful that the color of his face changed; then in wrath he lunged at them on behalf of his Lord. Then Jibrīl, peace be upon him, came to him and calmed him, and said: Lower your wing for yourself, O Muḥammad. And from Allah there came to him the answer to that which they had asked about. He said: "Allah says: قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ * اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ * لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ * وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ (Say: He is Allah, the One * Allah, the Eternal Refuge to whom one turns for all things * He did not beget and was not begotten * and there is none equal to Him)." When the Prophet ﷺ had recited this to them, they said: Describe for us your Lord: what is His form, and what is His upper arm, and what is His forearm? Whereupon the Prophet ﷺ became even more wrathful than at his first wrath, and in wrath he lunged at them. Then Jibrīl came to him and spoke to him as he had spoken before, and brought him the answer to that which they had asked about: وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ وَالأَرْضُ جَمِيعًا قَبْضَتُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَالسَّماوَاتُ مَطْوِيَّاتٌ بِيَمِينِهِ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ (And they have not appraised Allah with true appraisal, while the entire earth will be within His grip on the Day of Resurrection and the heavens folded up in His right hand. Exalted and high is He above that which they associate with Him).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: People of the Jews came to the Prophet ﷺ and they said: Describe for us the lineage of your Lord. Whereupon there was sent down: قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ (Say: He is Allah, the One), until the surah was concluded.
The explanation of the words, when the matter is as we have described, is then: Say, O Muḥammad, to these who interrogate you about the lineage of your Lord and His nature, and who created Him: The Lord about whom you have asked me, He is Allah, to whom the worship of all things is due; worship belongs to none but Him, and it is fitting for nothing other than Him.
The grammarians of Arabic (ahl al-ʿarabiyya) differed over that which confers the nominative case upon ( أَحَدٌ / aḥad ). Some of them said: That which confers the nominative upon it is "Allah," and the [word هو / huwa] is a supporting word (ʿimād), after the manner of the [connected] hāʾ in His word: إِنَّهُ أَنَا اللَّهُ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ (Indeed, it is I, Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise). And another among them said: No, the [word aḥad] stands in the nominative — even though it is indefinite — by means of resumption (istiʾnāf), as in the expression: "This is my husband, an old man"; and he said: "He is Allah" is an answer to the words of a people who said to him: What is that which you worship? Whereupon he said: "He is Allah." Then it was said to him: And what is He? Whereupon he said: He is One.
And others said: ( أَحَدٌ / aḥad ) has the meaning of: "one" (wāḥid); and he rejected that the supporting word (ʿimād) should be made into a new beginning of the sentence, unless one of the particles of doubt precedes it, such as ẓanna and her sister-words, and kāna and her kindred, or inna and what resembles it. And this second judgment accords more with the methods of Arabic.
The reciters (qurrāʾ) differed over the reading of it. The generality of the reciters of the cities (qurrāʾ al-amṣār) read it as ( أَحَدٌ * اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ / aḥadun Allāhu al-ṣamad ) with tanwīn on "aḥadun," with the exception of Naṣr ibn ʿĀṣim and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Isḥāq, for it is related from both of them that they dropped the tanwīn: "aḥadu Allāhu." And it is as though the one who read it thus said: The nūn of inflection (iʿrāb), when the alif-lām or a quiescent [consonant] follows upon it, is sometimes dropped, as the poet said:
How could I sleep upon the bed, while there has not yet come a devastating raid over al-Shām,
which leads the old man astray from his sons, and bares the [anklet] bands of the noble maiden?
He means: "ʿan khidāmi al-ʿaqīla" [with the dropping of the tanwīn].
And the correct view concerning that is, in our opinion: the tanwīn, for two reasons. The first: it is the most eloquent of the two linguistic forms, and the most well-known of the two manners of speech, and the most excellent of them among the Arabs. And the second: the consensus of the authoritative proof among the reciters of the cities (qurrāʾ al-amṣār) upon the preference for the tanwīn therein; in that there is sufficient ground, without one needing to corroborate its correctness with anything else. And we have already previously expounded the meaning of His word "aḥad," in a manner that makes it superfluous to repeat it in this place.
