Hadith Research Libraryمكتبة الحديث والرجال
Sahih Muslim, 811 a
sahih

Chain of narration · Isnād

Each narrator name opens their biography and classical source evidence.

9 transmitters

Narrated by Zuhayr bin HarbfromMuhammad bin Bashar BindarfromZuhayr bin Mua'wiya bin HudayjfromYahya bin Sa'id al-AnsarifromShu'bah bin al-HajjajfromQatadafromSalm bin Abi al-Ja'dfromMa'dan bin Abi TalhafromAbu al-Darda

Hadith text · Matn

وَحَدَّثَنِي زُهَيْرُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ، وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، قَالَ زُهَيْرٌ حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ شُعْبَةَ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، عَنْ سَالِمِ بْنِ أَبِي الْجَعْدِ، عَنْ مَعْدَانَ بْنِ أَبِي طَلْحَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي الدَّرْدَاءِ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏"‏ أَيَعْجِزُ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يَقْرَأَ فِي لَيْلَةٍ ثُلُثَ الْقُرْآنِ ‏" قَالُوا : وَكَيْفَ يَقْرَأْ ثُلُثَ الْقُرْآنِ ؟ قَالَ : " قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ تَعْدِلُ ثُلُثَ الْقُرْآنِ " ‏.‏

English translation

Abu Darda' reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

Is any one of you incapable of reciting a third of the Qur'an in a night? They (the Companions) asked: How could one recite a third of the Qur'an (in a night)? Upon this he (the Prophet) said: "'Say: He is Allah, One' (Qur'an. cxii) is equivalent to a third of the Qur'an."

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 6, Hadith 314
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Book 4, Hadith 1769 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The glorious Qur'an is the strong rope of Allah and His straight path. Its recitation brings goodness and blessing and affords tranquility of the soul and abundance of reward. Allah endowed some of its Surahs and verses with a special merit. In this Hadīth, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informs that Allah Almighty divided the Qur'an into three parts, i.e., sections: One section comprises the stories of the past people, another section contains the Shar‘i (legal) rulings, and the third section includes the belief in Allah's oneness and mention of His attributes. "and He made Surat {Say: 'He is Allah, the One'} as one of the parts of the Qur'an", which are three. This is the section of Tawhīd and the mention of Allah's attributes. It is because this Surah includes two of the names of Allah Almighty which comprise all the traits of perfection, and they do not occur in any other Surah of the Qur'an. They are: Al-Ahad (the One) and As-Samad (the Eternal Refuge). They point to the Essence of Allah which possesses all the attributes of perfection. This is clarified by the fact that "the One" gives a feeling about His particular existence, which no one else shares with Him; and "the Eternal Refuge" gives a feeling about all the attributes of perfection. This is because He is the One Whose sovereignty reached the pinnacle of sublimity and perfection, and the One before Whom all creatures stand in need and Who does not need anyone, Exalted be He. Since this Surah comprises knowledge of the attributes of perfection, it came to be regarded as one-third compared to the complete knowledge of the attributes of Allah's Essence and the attributes of His actions. It is said: It means that the reward for reciting Surat al-Ikhlās gets multiplied until it becomes tantamount to the reward for reciting one-third of the noble Qur'an. The Hadīth points out the merit of Surat al-Ikhlās..
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