Virtues of Sura al-Mulk
Question: What are the virtues that have been reported concerning Sura al-Mulk?
Answer: Sura al-Mulk is a magnificent chapter. A number of ḥadiths speak of its merit, among them the report preserved by the compilers of the four Sunan: that a man recited a sura of thirty verses which then interceded on his behalf. It is also reported that reciting Sura al-Mulk protects a person from the punishment of the grave, or words to that effect. In short, it possesses great merit and an immense reward, for it contains the profound meanings that Allah, exalted is He, revealed therein. It is therefore a noble sura, and the Prophet ﷺ mentioned the virtue attendant upon its recitation.
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Sura al-Ikhlāṣ
Question: How sound is the ḥadith that says, “Whoever recites ‘Qul Huwa Allāhu Aḥad’ one thousand times has purchased his soul from Allah”? What does it mean, and how does a person purchase his own soul from Allah?
Answer: As for the sura that begins with “Qul Huwa Allāhu Aḥad,” it is a tremendous chapter. In authentic ḥadiths the Prophet ﷺ informed us that it is equivalent to one-third of the Qur’an because it encompasses Allah’s attributes and descriptions of His majesty. It is a sura devoted entirely to tawḥīd, which is why it is called Sura al-Ikhlāṣ. The Prophet ﷺ used to recite it together with the two protective suras (al-Falaq and an-Nās) when retiring for the night, and he urged the believers to recite it because of its tremendous virtue and because it equals one-third of the Qur’an.
As for the ḥadith that states, “Whoever recites it one thousand times has purchased his soul from Allah,”