Quran Talks (5 of 9): Surah Al Ikhlas

Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

In a famous Prophetic tradition. The Prophet Muhammad indicates that Al Ikhlas ‘ The Unity’ is a third of the Qur’an. In this talk, Shaykh Fadhlallah demonstrates the endless layers of nourishment this quintessential declaration of unity provides for those who go into it truly bereft. While we cannot encompass that which causes our existence, if we follow the command and confess that Allah is One - Ahad - we can come to understand the purpose of each life: to see Allah’s attributes in everything. Everywhere we turn is the manifestation of God: the incomparable; the unique. Being this, Allah is beyond need, self-sustaining, constant and unchanging: Samad. Our needs therefore maintain us in humility and allow us to realize in our hearts that which is beyond lack or fulfillment.

Creation is love and generosity, not need. Allah is beyond time, was not born, nor gave birth to any person. Allah is the root and essence of all being, which is what the original Arameic said about Jesus. “Son” meant “from”, and we are all from Allah, by Allah, and returning to Allah. Once you have begun to realize these attributes in your heart - the One and the many, the self-sustaining and a generosity which gives what it needs - you begin to see the same potential in every human being. You see how each self is a way to the soul and how any difficulty it causes, any creational challenge, is simply a means to turn you back to the Creator.

Read the signs of this life: there never was and never will be anything other than Allah. Read it as though it is the first time you are seeing it. Claim ignorance and Allah will bestow His knowledge upon us.

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