How to recite Surah Al-Ikhlas

Surah Al-Ikhlas is the 112th chapter of the Quran, and one of the first that many Muslims learn by heart. It has only four short verses, it is easy to carry with you, and you can recite it in your prayers. In this lesson you will learn to say it, one small piece at a time.

A few words first. A surah is a chapter of the Quran, and an ayah is one of its verses. Allah is the Arabic word for God, the One God. Al-Ikhlas means sincerity, or pure devotion.

Before you start

The Quran is recited in Arabic. If you cannot read Arabic yet, that is completely normal. Under each verse below you will find a transliteration (the Arabic sounds written in English letters) and a translation of the meaning. The transliteration is a bridge: it lets you start today while your Arabic grows.

Listening helps more than anything else. Play a recording of this surah by any well-known reciter, for example the audio on the Quran.com page linked in the sources below. Listen to one verse, pause, say it yourself, and repeat.

If it feels slow or clumsy, you are in good company. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, reported that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said:

The proficient reciter of the Qur’an will be with the noble and obedient angel-scribes, and the one who recites the Qur’an stutteringly and finds it difficult will have two rewards.

Sahih al-Bukhari 4937 and Sahih Muslim 798

Your effort is rewarded, and when it is hard, it is rewarded twice.

How to read the transliteration

• Doubled vowels are long sounds: aa as in "father", ee as in "see", oo as in "moon". Hold them a little longer.

• q is like a k, said further back in the throat.

• The h in ahad is a breathy h from deep in the throat, like breathing on a window to fog it.

• The slash (/) marks a good place to take a small breath while you are learning.

• At the end of each verse, stop and let the last letter rest without a vowel: say ahad, not ahadun.

The opening: the basmala

In the written Quran, the basmala sits at the top of this surah, and reciters begin the surah with it.

The four verses

Here is the surah, verse by verse. The English under each verse is the Saheeh International translation of its meaning. The next lesson looks at what each verse means.

Two small notes. In huwal-laahu the words flow together, so you do not stop between huwa and Allaahu. In the last verse, yakun lahoo joins smoothly and sounds like yakul-lahoo.

It is fine if this takes a few days. Short, regular practice works better than one long session.

Reciting it in your prayer

Once you can say Al-Ikhlas, you can use it in your prayer (salah). Abu Qatada, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet used to recite Al-Fatiha followed by another surah in the first two rak'ahs (units) of the midday prayer (Zuhr), and Al-Fatiha alone in the last two, and that he did the same in the afternoon (Asr) and dawn (Fajr) prayers.

You can follow this practice with Al-Ikhlas: after you finish Al-Fatiha in the first or second rak'ah, recite Al-Ikhlas, then continue your prayer as usual. The Prophet himself recited it in prayer. Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that he recited it, together with Surah Al-Kafirun, in the two voluntary rak'ahs before the dawn prayer.

Next, you will learn what these four verses mean, and why the Prophet described this short surah as equal to a third of the Quran.