Circumstances in which Surah Al-Ikhlas was Revealed

A little consideration of the traditions regarding the occasion of the revelation of this Surah, shows what were the religious concepts of the world at the time the Holy Prophet began to preach the message of Tawhid.

• The idolatrous polytheists were worshiping gods made of wood, stone, gold, silver and other substances. These gods had a form, shape and body. The gods and goddesses were descended from each other. No goddess was without a husband and no god without a wife. They stood in need of food and drink and their devotees arranged these for them. A large number of the polytheists believed that God assumed human form and there were some people who descended from Him.
• Although the Christians claimed to believe in One God, yet their God also had at least a son, and besides the Father and Son, the Holy Ghost also had the honor of being an associate in Godhead: so much so that God had a mother and a mother-in-law too.
• The Jews also claimed to believe in One God, but their God too was not without physical, material and other human qualities and characteristics. He went for a stroll, appeared in human form, wrestled with a servant of His, and was father of a son, Ezra.
• Besides these religious communities, the Zoroastrians were fire worshipers, and the Sabeans star worshipers.

Under such conditions when the people were invited to believe in Allah, the One Who has no associate, it was inevitable that questions arose in the minds as to what kind of a God it was, Who was one and Only Lord and invitation to believe in Whom was being given at the expense of all other gods and deities. This surah was revealed when the Quraysh asked the Prophet about his God’s ancestry. It is a miracle of the Qur’an that, in a few words, briefly it answered all the questions and presented such a clear concept of the Being of Allah as destroyed all polytheistic concepts, without leaving any room for the ascription of any of the human qualities to His Being.

The content of the surah clearly established God’s Oneness, and that He had no beginning or end, unlike the idols that were worshipped by the pagans at the time. It also negated the idea of the trinity which the Christians believed in, as well as negating that God had any physical or human characteristics. As the Prophet was preaching his message, many people would ask about his God, and this surah would be recited as an answer, giving a short and comprehensive insight into Islam’s belief in God.