My (earnest, irate) thoughts

Al-Ikhlas means The Purity. Of 114 chapters in the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book, Al-Ikhlas is number 112. With only four verses, it is one of the shortest. But for Muslims and their uncompromising belief in Divine Unity, it is one of the most significant — some say it alone is one-third of the Qur’an. It was reported from Ubayy ibn Ka’b, one of the Prophet’s companions, that this verse was revealed after polytheists said, “O Muhammad! Tell us the lineage of your Lord.”

Bismillah.hirrahman.nirrahim
(In remembrance of God, the universally Merciful, the singularly Compassionate)
Kul.huwallahu.ehad
(Say: He is God, the One and Only)
Allahus.samed
(God, the Eternal, the Absolute; — meaning, the Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, He neither eats nor drinks)
Lem.yellid.wellem.yulled
(He begets not, nor was He begotten)
Wallem.yakullehu.kufuwen.ehad
(And there is none like Him; — meaning, there is none co-equal or comparable to Him)

Al-Ikhlas was one of the first suras (chapters) that I memorized for daily prayers. At first, it seemed harsh, like a frontal assault against the Trinity doctrine of the Christian church. Though I no longer believed that God had literally sired a child, I didn’t want to necessarily get into that with Christians — better to focus on the areas where we agree, because there’s plenty of them. For instance, my grandmother was worried about offending me by saying, “in Jesus’ name we pray” at the end of grace. But I told her that as a Muslim, I continue to adore and respect Jesus, may God bless him always.

But as time goes on, I see the wisdom and beauty of this chapter, which is now one of my favorites. It’s an admonishment against trinitarian belief, yes, but it is so much more than that. The nature of Islamic monotheism, like orthodox Jewish monotheism, is a wondrous thing in a world that sometimes seems chaotic and cruel. To look beyond the chaos to see the underlying order — like looking beyond the atom to the quark — is a leap of faith that only a theist (or a scientist) could take.

Turn the volume up and listen to it in Arabic, accompanied by its meaning in English.