The Three Quls: Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq and An-Nas, the Last Three Surahs

The three Quls are Surah Al-Ikhlas, Surah Al-Falaq and Surah An-Nas, the last three chapters of the Quran. The nickname comes from the first word of each, qul, meaning ‘say’: Allah instructs the Prophet, and through him every believer, to declare His oneness and to seek refuge in Him. Al-Falaq and An-Nas are also called the mu‘awwidhatayn, the name Sahih Muslim uses in its chapter heading on their virtue.

Together they contain fifteen verses. The Quran.com introductions, adapted from Ibn Ashur, describe Al-Ikhlas as Makkan according to the majority and Al-Falaq as Makkan on the stronger view, noting that a report about sorcery led some to consider it Madinan. Because they are short, they are often among the first passages Muslims learn, and they recur throughout the Prophet’s reported daily practice.

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [14] [5] [6]

Each surah has a distinct focus. Al-Ikhlas describes who Allah is; Al-Falaq seeks refuge in Him from harms that come from outside; An-Nas seeks refuge from the whispering that works inside the heart. Reading them in order moves from knowing Allah to relying on Him.

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [10] [11] [15]

Al-Ikhlas declares that Allah is One, that He is as-Samad, that He neither begets nor was begotten, and that none is comparable to Him. Pickthall renders as-Samad as ‘the eternally Besought of all’. Ibn Kathir reports Ibn Abbas explaining it as the One on whom all creation depends for their needs, and also as the Master perfect in sovereignty, knowledge, wisdom and every attribute of nobility.

Ibn Kathir records that the idolaters asked the Prophet to describe the lineage of his Lord and that the surah was revealed in reply. He explains the last two verses as denying that Allah has any child, parent, spouse or equal. The name Al-Ikhlas, sincerity or purity of faith, reflects that theme, and the Quran.com introduction lists other names, including Surat al-Tawhid.

Sources: [1] [7] [5]

In Sahih al-Bukhari 5013, a man heard another repeating Al-Ikhlas and told the Prophet about it the next morning, as if he thought it too little. The Prophet swore that it is equal to a third of the Quran. The hadith states the equivalence without explaining how it is measured, and it does not present the surah as a replacement for reading the rest of the Quran.

Love of the surah is also praised. In Sahih al-Bukhari 7375, a commander ended his recitation in prayer with Al-Ikhlas because it describes the Most Merciful and he loved to recite it; the Prophet said, ‘Tell him that Allah loves him.’ Ibn Kathir also cites a report, recorded by al-Bukhari without a connected chain, in which the Prophet told a man that his love of the surah would admit him to Paradise.

Sources: [10] [13] [7]

Al-Falaq teaches the believer to say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the Daybreak from the evil of what He created, from the evil of darkness when it is intense, from the evil of sorcery, and from the evil of the envier when he envies. Ibn Kathir reports from Jabir, Ibn Abbas and many early scholars that al-falaq is the morning, so refuge is sought in the Lord who brings the dawn.

For the third verse, Ibn Kathir cites Mujahid, Ibn Abbas and others explaining it as the night when its darkness advances, and records other explanations, including the moon. Pickthall’s ‘malignant witchcraft’ translates a phrase about those who blow on knots, which Mujahid and others explained as sorcerers performing their spells.

Sources: [2] [8]

An-Nas seeks refuge in Allah by three descriptions: Lord of mankind, King of mankind and God of mankind. Ibn Kathir explains these as lordship, sovereignty and divinity: all things are created by Him, owned by Him and subservient to Him. Refuge is sought from the evil of the sneaking whisperer who whispers in the hearts of mankind, of the jinn and of mankind.

Ibn Abbas, as cited by Ibn Kathir, described the whisperer as a devil perched on the heart that whispers when a person is heedless and withdraws when Allah is remembered. Ibn Kathir records two views on the final verse: whether it explains whose hearts are whispered into, or who does the whispering, meaning that whisperers exist among both jinn and humans.

Sources: [3] [9]

Several reports connect these surahs with daily practice. The table ties each occasion to its source and to the grading displayed on the linked page; Sunnah.com shows no separate grade for the Bukhari reports, which come from a collection compiled as sahih.

One detail deserves precision. The word in Abu Dawud 1523 is the plural mu‘awwidhat; the translation on that page glosses it as the last three surahs, while the translation on the Bukhari 5016 page glosses the same word as Al-Falaq and An-Nas. Reciting all three after prayer covers both readings.

Sources: [12] [16] [17] [11] [15]

Ruqyah is seeking healing or protection through Quran recitation and supplication. Sahih al-Bukhari 5016 reports that when the Prophet was ill he recited the mu‘awwidhat over himself and blew, and when his illness grew severe Aishah recited them and wiped his own hand over him, hoping for its blessing. Ibn Kathir cites a report, which Tirmidhi called hasan sahih, that after these two surahs were revealed the Prophet used them for protection and left other formulas.

In Sahih Muslim 814a the Prophet described them as newly revealed verses the like of which had never been seen, and in Sunan Abi Dawud 1463 he told Uqbah ibn Amir that no one seeks refuge with anything comparable. These reports encourage recitation with trust in Allah. They do not replace medical treatment or ordinary precautions, and they require no added objects, fees or unsupported rituals.

Sources: [11] [8] [14] [15]

Some Muslims speak of four Quls, adding Surah Al-Kafirun (109), which also begins with ‘Say’. The grouping is a popular teaching convention rather than a term used in the reports cited here. Al-Kafirun has its own evidence: Sunan Abi Dawud 5055, graded sahih by al-Albani on the linked page, advises reciting it before sleep as a declaration of freedom from associating partners with Allah.

Sahih Muslim 726 reports that the Prophet recited Al-Kafirun and Al-Ikhlas in the two voluntary rak‘ahs before the dawn prayer. Whether you learn three Quls or four, keep each surah’s own evidence in view rather than transferring the virtues of one surah to another.

Sources: [4] [18] [19]

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