surah has immense virtue. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him and his family—said: “It is equivalent to one-third of the Quran.” (1) Yet although it is equivalent to it, it does not take its place. It is equivalent to one-third of the Quran, but it does not take the place of one-third of the Quran. The proof is that if someone repeated it three times in an obligatory prayer, it would not suffice in place of al-Fātihah (the Opening Chapter), even though reciting it three times is as though he had recited the entire Quran. Nevertheless, it does not suffice in its place. Nor should you find it strange that one thing may be equivalent to another without serving in its stead. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him and his family—informed us that whoever says, “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, with no partner. To Him belongs all dominion and all praise, and He has power over all things,” is as though he had freed four persons from the Children of Ishmael—or from among Ishmael’s descendants. (2)

Even so, if he were required to free a slave as expiation and recited this remembrance, it would not discharge his obligation. Thus, one thing’s being equivalent to another does not necessarily mean that it can take its place in fulfilling an obligation.

The Messenger—peace and blessings be upon him and his family—used to recite this surah in the second rak‘ah of the Fajr Sunnah prayer (3), in the Maghrib Sunnah prayer (4), during the two rak‘ahs of tawāf (5), and also in Witr (6), because it is founded upon complete devotion to Allah. For this reason, it is called Sūrat al-Ikhlās (Sincerity).