His other question states that Surat al-Ikhlas is said to represent or equal one-third of the Qur'an, and asks whether this is true, and whether one who reads it three times is as if he has read the Qur'an.
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The questioner : His other question states that Surat al-Ikhlas is said to represent or equal one-third of the Qur'an, and asks whether this is true, and whether one who reads it three times is as if he has read the entire Qur'an?
The Shaykh : It is true that[Al-Ikhlas 112:1] equals one-third of the Qur'an; this is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in "Sahih al-Bukhari" and others. However, the meaning of the equivalence is not that it suffices in place of the Qur'an, for an equivalence may not be sufficient. Look at what is established in the hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the saying: Riyad as-Salihin 1411 And yet, if a person were to say this dhikr a hundred times or more, it would not suffice for him in place of freeing a slave as an expiation. Thus, the equivalence of one thing with another does not imply that one thing suffices in place of the other. So we say, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, that "Say: He is Allah, the One" equals one-third of the Qur'an, but we also say that reading it does not suffice in place of reading the Qur'an; rather, both are necessary. Therefore, if a person were to read it three times in his prayer and not read al-Fatihah, his prayer would not be valid. If it were sufficient in place of the Qur'an, we would say that if you read it three times in prayer, it would suffice for you in place of al-Fatihah, but no scholar has said that.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : It is true that
Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One,
قل هو الله أحد'La ilaha illallahu, wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahulmulku wa lahulhamdu, wa Huwa 'ala kulli sha'in Qadir (there is no true god except Allah. He is One and He has no partner with Him. His is the sovereignty and His is the praise, and He is Omnipotent),' he will have a reward equal to that for freeing four slaves from the progeny of Prophet Isma'il.
لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له له الملك وله الحمد وهو على كل شيء قدير عشر مرات، يعدل عِتق أربعة أنفس من ولد إسماعيلThe questioner : May Allah reward you.