Surat al-Ikhlas

Question: What is the authenticity of this hadith: من قرأ: قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ألف مرة فقد اشترى نفسه من الله Whoever recites: "Say: He is Allah, the One" one thousand times has bought himself from Allah? What is its meaning? And how does a person buy himself from Allah?

Answer: As for the chapter , it is a great chapter. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us in authentic hadiths that it is equivalent to one-third of the Qur'an, due to what it contains of the attributes of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) and His descriptions of majesty. It is a chapter pure in tawhid (the oneness of Allah), which is why it was named Surat al-Ikhlas. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite it along with the two Mu'awwidhat (chapters of seeking refuge) when going to sleep, and he encouraged its recitation because of the great virtue in it and because it is equivalent to one-third of the Qur'an.

As for the hadith mentioned: ،
As for this, I have not found a source for it. Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir mentioned many hadiths regarding its virtue in his tafsir (exegesis), and he elaborated on them and was thorough, but he did not mention this hadith among them, so I do not know its status. However, the authentic hadiths regarding the virtue and greatness of this chapter are sufficient, praise be to Allah.
Likewise, regarding the virtue of reciting it and reading it frequently, because of the great good it contains. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite it and () in the two rak'ahs of tawaf (circumambulation) and in the sunnah (recommended practice) of Fajr (the dawn prayer), because of what these two chapters contain of the tawhid (the oneness of Allah) of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).

Tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship): In ().

And tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship) and tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat (oneness of the names and attributes): In ().