Surah Ikhlaas

Surah Ikhlaas has similar syllables as Surah Lahab e.g. lahab,tabs,had, yoolad.  Abu Lahb was one of the biggest troublemakers and enemies of Islam. Allah himself dealt with Abu Lahb by directly addressing him in the previous Surah so now Prophet SAWW is told to focus on his goal of towheed and not worry about Abu Lahb. Sarah Lahb and the previous 6 Surahs were about the Prophet SAWW in one way or the other. So now after Allah granted the Prophet SAWW victory, the focus shifted back to the real mission so that nobody forgets the real goal.
Prophet SAWW often used to combine Surah Kafiroon and Surah Ikhlaas in prayer although they are not next to each other in the Quran so that means there must be some unique connection between them. In Surah Kafiroon, Allah tells the Quraiysh that their deen is totally different from Islam.But in Surah Kafiroon, Allah's name is not mentioned.  So the question is created, who do we worship? The answer is in Surah Ikhlaas. QUL also connects both Surahs as both begin with QUL.
Surah Ikhlaas and Surah Kafiroon were called Mukashkish(the one which removes diseases) as both remove the disease of shirk.

Names given to this Surah:
Surah Tafreed(One)
Surah Tajreed(the one which removes all misconceptions and purges imaan)
Sarah Towheeed
Surah Marifa(to be acquainted with someone)
Surah Samad
Surah Asaas(the essence of something, the Prophet SAWW said that the heavens and the earth are qaiym because of Qul huwallahu Ahad, and one of the signs of Qiyamah is the absence of towheeed)
Surah Mukashkisha(which purges diseases)
Surah Noor(The light as Towheeed gives light to the heart and to the heavens and the earth and it is also the light of the Quran)
It is also called 1/3rd of the Quran. (A third of the Quran deals with attributes of Allah and imaaniyat and Surah Ikhlaas is the summary of it)
Surah Nijaat because it rescues us of sadness and gives us hope that we can always turn to Allah and always get something in return, and it is also Nijaat minannaar

This Surah is called Makki because mushrikeen also used to call gods Allah so Allah refuted their ideas using the same name and told them the attributes of Allah. The makkans used to ask how Allah looks and what he is made of and what is his lineage etc. So Allah described himself to them. They asked Allah created everything so who created Allah? This made the messenger SAWW furious and Hazrat Jibreel brought this Surah to calm him down. Some narrations also say this Surah is madni and this incident happened in Madinah and a jew said it. We can reconcile these by saying that it was revealed in Makkah but not all people in Madinah were aware of it so when it was recited to them, it was as if they had heard it for the first time.

Love for Allah is in Surah Ikhlaas and love for the Prophet SAWW is in Surah Kawthar. A Sahabi used to recite it in every rakah out of love of Prophet SAWW.  One sahib used to recite it at the end and one sahib used to recite it at the beginning. The sahaba spoke to him and asked him why he did this. He said I am not going to leave it and if I lead salaah, I will recite it. Prophet SAWW asked him why he read it? He said because I love Allah. So Prophet SAWW said your love for this Surah will cause you to enter Jannah.

Some Ism are Jaamid(without building blocks), and Ism Mushtiq(which is derived from something and made of parts).There is a disagreement about Allah, is it mushtiq or jaamid?
The group that says it is mushtiq say that the root word is ILAAH, when we add Al it becomes ALLAH. alaha yalahu and aliha yalahu (root word hamza lama haa).  Alaha means worship and aliha means the one to whom people turn out of desperation.

Some people say Ism is jamid and it is in every language. It was revealed to all messengers in every language. In Arabic, we use the word YAA for calling someone. When we call Allah, we say Ya Allah. We cannot say Ya Al salad/Ya Al raheem for calling someone. Al cannot come after Ya. So that refutes that Allah is composed of Al and ilaah. Allah is always used as a proper name in the Quran e.g. even in Bismillah and Alhamdulillah. It is never used as ilaah. When the mushrikeen asked who is he? Allah starts the surah with Allahu sammad so Allah is a proper name and samad is the description. Allah is pronounced as Allawh so that also defies rules.

QUL means here that SAY Allah is one, so Towheed is combined with dawah here. Huwa is a pronoun and pronouns are used when someone is already known. Pronoun is mentioned because Allah's greatness is so universally acknowledged that there is no need to name him. Huwa also because it is the answer to the mushrikeens question

What is the difference between Wahid and ahad?
Lays wahidun fil masjid means there is not one in the masjid but there could be more
Laysa ahadun fil masjid means there is not even one person in the masjid
Both have entirely different connotations. Ahad is used for absolute negation. But here, it is used positively as it is used for Allah who is ONE. Normally, it can only be used positively is when it is part of a murakkab izaafi. There is no other example in Arabic where ahad is used alone without any izaafat in the positive sense.

Wahd means someone who is individual  by themselves,  who's origin is not known. Ahad is the enhanced form of the word wahd and is exclusively used for Allah in this context. There is no comparison, no synonym,no antonym possible for this word and it is the one who has no second.

This word has a major impact in Arab society as they have multiple gods. The meaning of ahad is lost if we associate anyone with Allah. Allah is unique in every way. We share many of Allah's names e.g. Aleem,hakeem,raheem. We even have such names or people with such characteristics. Allah is a very unique name which is only and only exclusively for Allah. This is not shared by anyone.

How are Allah's attributes different from ours?
Allah's attributes are timeless/infinite/beyond time and space.
Allah knows EVERYTHING and his attributes are encompassing and without limits.
Every attribute we have is not something we own but it was given by Allah, but Allah OWNS every attribute and it HIS OWN.

Why is ahad a nakirah? because it puts an exclamation mark which can be done with a tanwen. Tanween is also used for a khabar. It is a khabar because it was a response to their question who is Allah.

Towheed has a dramatic effect on life. Everything we do becomes for the sake of Allah exclusively. Everything has a purpose. Those who do not have Allah in their life fill their lives with other short term goals which have no long term value. Their own desires become their ilaah. They become entirely dependent on the world.

AL SAMAD is the one who is enough, the one they turn to in need, the one who is enough for them, the one who fulfils all needs and answers all questions.
SAMAD as a verb means to turn to someone for attention and demand fulfilling of a need.
SAMAD also means when you make someone your goal and aspire to reach them. It also means the one who is not in need of anyone and also the one who has no blemishes.
In literature, it is also used for a person who cannot be overpowered in any way. It also means that he is incredible and great. It also means something that is pure through and through.
It has AL so it means it is an absolute quality.
It is the one who everyone needs and who does not need anyone.

Abu Lahb was self absorbed and he worshipped his own self. So Surah Ikhlaas is in contrast to Surah Lahb as it shows Allah is the only one who deserves to be worshipped.

He did not father, nor was he fathered. This ayah is in past sense. Birth happened in the past so that makes sense. But why did Allah not use future tense? Because Allah did not want to leave any room for shirk in the past.
 Mushrikeen wanted to have waseela between them and Allah who could act as intercessors for them and plea on their behalf. That was the psychology of shirk. But since Allah has declared himself al samad, that means people cannot turn to ANYONE except him.

Kufw is someone who is equally good/comparable/parallel/on par/ toe to toe with you. It is also used in marriage because we marry someone who is parallel with us. But Allah has no counterpart and no one who can compare with him in anyway.

Ahad is the one who has no second and who is always the first. Allah has no counterpart and kufw. Lahu comes earlier in the sentence and is muqaddam which means that ONLY HE has no counterpart.