Volume Seventeen
The Book of Quranic Exegesis
Part Four
Commentary on Sūrat al-Ikhlās and the Two Surahs of Refuge

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. All praise belongs to Allah alone, and may blessings and peace be upon him after whom there is no prophet.

Sūrat al-Ikhlās

Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-‘Abbās Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah be pleased with him—was asked:

Concerning the report that the surah “Say, ‘He is Allah, the One’” is equivalent to one-third of the Quran, and similar reports concerning the surahs (The Earthquake), “Say, ‘O disbelievers’” and (The Opening): Are these reports of equivalence established for all these surahs or only some of them? Who narrated them, and which of them are authentic? What does this equivalence mean, given that Allah’s speech is one in relation to Him, Mighty and Majestic? And does this difference in merit—assuming