surah ikhlaas 1/3 of quran

[umar-s]

alto of people tell me that reciting this surah 3 times it as if he has read the whole quran is this correct?

i once heard from mufti aburahman ibn yusuf mangera that every ayaat of the quran is on 1 of 3 themes.
1. the oneness of allah
2. a story
3. commandments, what we can and cant do

so surah ikhlaas is based on the first theme, which doesnt mean u get the reqard of reciting 1/3 of the quran.

can some one clarify

[verdana]

Bediuzzaman explains it with a beautiful example:

Question:
And, for example, others which the unfair atheists supposed to be exaggeration and even impossible overstatement are narrations about the rewards for actions and merits of some of the Qur’an’s Suras. For example, there are narrations that, “The merit of Sura al-Fatiha is equal to that of the Qur’an.”(1) And, “Sura al-Ikhlas equals a third of the Qur’an,”(2) “Sura al-Zilzal, a quarter,”(3) “Sura al-Kafirun, a quarter,”(4) “Sura Ya. Sin., ten times the Qur’an.”(5) Unjust and unthinking people have said that these are impossible because Sura Ya. Sin. and the other meritorious Suras are within the Qur’an, which makes it meaningless.

The Answer:
The reality is this: for each of the All-Wise Qur’an’s letters is a merit. Each is a good deed. Out of Divine grace the merits of those letters sprout and yield sometimes ten, sometimes seventy, and sometimes seven hundred, merits, like the letters of Ayat al-Kursi. Sometimes they yield one thousand five hundred, like the letters of Sura al-Ikhlas, and sometimes ten thousand, like verses recited on Layla al-Bara’a and those that coincide with other acceptable times. And sometimes they yield thirty thousand, like verses recited on the Night of Power, which are like poppy seeds in their multiplicity. The indication that that night is the equivalent to a thousand months makes it understood that on that night one letter has thirty thousand merits. For example, let us suppose there is a field planted with maize, one thousand plants of it. If some seeds produce seven shoots, and from each shoot a hundred grains, then a single seed becomes the equivalent of two thirds of the whole field. For example, if one seed produces ten shoots, and each yields two hundred grains, then a single seed is the equivalent of twice the original field. You can make further analogies in the same way.

Now, let us imagine the All-Wise Qur’an to be a luminous, sacred, heavenly field. Each of its letters together with its original merit is like a seed. Their shoots will not be taken into consideration. They may be compared with the Suras and verses about which are narrations concerning their merits, like Ya. Sin., Ikhlas, Fatiha, Kafirun, Zilzal. For example, the Qur’an has three hundred thousand six hundred and twenty letters, and Sura al-Ikhlas together with Bismillah, sixty-nine. Three times sixty nine is two hundred and seven letters. Thus, if Sura Ya. Sin.’s letters are reckoned and compared with all the letters of the All-Wise Qur’an, and then multiplied ten times, it produces the following result: each letter of Sura Ya. Sin. has close on five hundred merits. That is, that many good deeds may be reckoned. And so, if you apply the others to this, you will understand what a subtle, fine, true, and unexaggerated truth it is.

Footnotes:
2-Tirmidhi, Thawab al-Qur’an, 10, 11; Ibn Maja, Adab, 52.
3-Tirmidhi, Thawab al-Qur’an, 9; Musnad, iii, 147, 221.
4-Tirmidhi, Thawab al-Qur’an, 9; Musnad, iii, 147, 221.
5-Tirmidhi, Thawab al-Qur’an, 7; Darimi, Fada’il al-Qur’an, 21.


This passage is also important to consider:

"Worship and servitude of Allah look to the divine command and divine pleasure. The reason for worship is the divine command and its result is divine pleasure. Its fruits and benefits look to the hereafter. But so long as they are not the ultimate reason and not intentionally sought, benefits looking to this world and fruits which come about themselves and are given are not contrary to worship. They are rather to encourage the weak and make them incline to worship. If those fruits and benefits are made the reason for the invocation or recitation, or a part of the reason, it in part invalidates the worship. Indeed, it renders the meritorious invocation fruitless, and produces no results.

Thus, those who do not understand this mystery, recite for example the Awrad Qudsiya Shah Naqshband, which yields a hundred benefits and merits, or Jawshan al-Kabir, which yields a thousand, making some of those benefits their prime intention. Then they do not receive the benefits, and shall not receive them, and do not deserve to receive them. For the benefits may not be the reason for the invocation and may not themselves be intended and sought. For they are obtained when unsought, in consequence of the sincere invocation, as a favour. If they are intended, it damages the sincerity to an extent. Indeed, it ceases being worship and loses all value. But there is one matter, which is that weak people need something to encourage them to recite meritorious invocations. If they think of the benefits and eagerly recite them purely for God’s sake and for the hereafter, it causes no harm and is acceptable even. But because this instance of wisdom has not been understood, many of them come to doubt or even to deny the benefits narrated from the spiritual poles and righteous ones of former generations when they do not receive them.like Ya. Sin., Ikhlas, Fatiha, Kafirun, Zilzal. For example, the Qur’an has three hundred thousand six hundred and twenty letters, and Sura al-Ikhlas together with Bismillah, sixty-nine. Three times sixty nine is two hundred and seven letters. Thus, if Sura Ya. Sin.’s letters are reckoned and compared with all the letters of the All-Wise Qur’an, and then multiplied ten times, it produces the following result: each letter of Sura Ya. Sin. has close on five hundred merits. That is, that many good deeds may be reckoned. And so, if you apply the others to this, you will understand what a subtle, fine, true, and unexaggerated truth it is."

From "The Words" of Bediuzzaman.

[selsebil]

Assalaam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,

Masaallah! How did you learn about Bediuzzaman?

Bediuzzaman explains it with a beautiful example:

Question:
And, for example, others which the unfair atheists supposed to be exaggeration and even impossible overstatement are narrations about the rewards for actions and merits of some of the Qur’an’s Suras. For example, there are narrations that, “The merit of Sura al-Fatiha is equal to that of the Qur’an.”(1) And, “Sura al-Ikhlas equals a third of the Qur’an,”(2) “Sura al-Zilzal, a quarter,”(3) “Sura al-Kafirun, a quarter,”(4) “Sura Ya. Sin., ten times the Qur’an.”(5) Unjust and unthinking people have said that these are impossible because Sura Ya. Sin. and the other meritorious Suras are within the Qur’an, which makes it meaningless.

The Answer:
The reality is this: for each of the All-Wise Qur’an’s letters is a merit. Each is a good deed. Out of Divine grace the merits of those letters sprout and yield sometimes ten, sometimes seventy, and sometimes seven hundred, merits, like the letters of Ayat al-Kursi. Sometimes they yield one thousand five hundred, like the letters of Sura al-Ikhlas, and sometimes ten thousand, like verses recited on Layla al-Bara’a and those that coincide with other acceptable times. And sometimes they yield thirty thousand, like verses recited on the Night of Power, which are like poppy seeds in their multiplicity. The indication that that night is the equivalent to a thousand months makes it understood that on that night one letter has thirty thousand merits. For example, let us suppose there is a field planted with maize, one thousand plants of it. If some seeds produce seven shoots, and from each shoot a hundred grains, then a single seed becomes the equivalent of two thirds of the whole field. For example, if one seed produces ten shoots, and each yields two hundred grains, then a single seed is the equivalent of twice the original field. You can make further analogies in the same way.

Now, let us imagine the All-Wise Qur’an to be a luminous, sacred, heavenly field. Each of its letters together with its original merit is like a seed. Their shoots will not be taken into consideration. They may be compared with the Suras and verses about which are narrations concerning their merits, like Ya. Sin., Ikhlas, Fatiha, Kafirun, Zilzal. For example, the Qur’an has three hundred thousand six hundred and twenty letters, and Sura al-Ikhlas together with Bismillah, sixty-nine. Three times sixty nine is two hundred and seven letters. Thus, if Sura Ya. Sin.’s letters are reckoned and compared with all the letters of the All-Wise Qur’an, and then multiplied ten times, it produces the following result: each letter of Sura Ya. Sin. has close on five hundred merits. That is, that many good deeds may be reckoned. And so, if you apply the others to this, you will understand what a subtle, fine, true, and unexaggerated truth it is.

Footnotes:
2-Tirmidhi, Thawab al-Qur’an, 10, 11; Ibn Maja, Adab, 52.
3-Tirmidhi, Thawab al-Qur’an, 9; Musnad, iii, 147, 221.
4-Tirmidhi, Thawab al-Qur’an, 9; Musnad, iii, 147, 221.
5-Tirmidhi, Thawab al-Qur’an, 7; Darimi, Fada’il al-Qur’an, 21.


This passage is also important to consider:

"Worship and servitude of Allah look to the divine command and divine pleasure. The reason for worship is the divine command and its result is divine pleasure. Its fruits and benefits look to the hereafter. But so long as they are not the ultimate reason and not intentionally sought, benefits looking to this world and fruits which come about themselves and are given are not contrary to worship. They are rather to encourage the weak and make them incline to worship. If those fruits and benefits are made the reason for the invocation or recitation, or a part of the reason, it in part invalidates the worship. Indeed, it renders the meritorious invocation fruitless, and produces no results.

Thus, those who do not understand this mystery, recite for example the Awrad Qudsiya Shah Naqshband, which yields a hundred benefits and merits, or Jawshan al-Kabir, which yields a thousand, making some of those benefits their prime intention. Then they do not receive the benefits, and shall not receive them, and do not deserve to receive them. For the benefits may not be the reason for the invocation and may not themselves be intended and sought. For they are obtained when unsought, in consequence of the sincere invocation, as a favour. If they are intended, it damages the sincerity to an extent. Indeed, it ceases being worship and loses all value. But there is one matter, which is that weak people need something to encourage them to recite meritorious invocations. If they think of the benefits and eagerly recite them purely for God’s sake and for the hereafter, it causes no harm and is acceptable even. But because this instance of wisdom has not been understood, many of them come to doubt or even to deny the benefits narrated from the spiritual poles and righteous ones of former generations when they do not receive them.like Ya. Sin., Ikhlas, Fatiha, Kafirun, Zilzal. For example, the Qur’an has three hundred thousand six hundred and twenty letters, and Sura al-Ikhlas together with Bismillah, sixty-nine. Three times sixty nine is two hundred and seven letters. Thus, if Sura Ya. Sin.’s letters are reckoned and compared with all the letters of the All-Wise Qur’an, and then multiplied ten times, it produces the following result: each letter of Sura Ya. Sin. has close on five hundred merits. That is, that many good deeds may be reckoned. And so, if you apply the others to this, you will understand what a subtle, fine, true, and unexaggerated truth it is."

From "The Words" of Bediuzzaman.