Narrations about the Virtues of Some Quranic Soorahs
Fatwa No: 387688

Question

ASSALAAMU ALAIKUM WA ROHMATULLOHI WABARAKAATUH Sheikh, may ALLAAH reward you. In facebook this post is circulating: Suratul Faatiha protects one from the anger of Allah. Surah Yaseen protects one from the thirst of the Day of Judgment. suratul Waaqi’ah protects one from poverty and starvation. Surah Mulk protects one from the punishment of the grave. Suratul Kauthar protects one from the enmity of the enemy. Suratul Kaafiroon protects one from kufr at the time of death. Suratul Ikhlaas protects one from hypocrisy. Is this true? Please take your time and provide me with authentic evidence. May ALLAAH reward you.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Some of the Soorahs (Chapters) you asked about have authentic Ahadeeth stating their virtue, other have inauthentic narrations, and some have absolutely no narrations stating the virtues you mentioned in the question. We will clarify this to you as follows:

1- Despite the abundant narrations about the virtues of Soorah Al-Faatihah, we have not come across an explicit Hadeeth that stating that by reciting it, one becomes safe from the Wrath of Allah. However, this meaning can be deduced from the following Qudsi Hadeeth (about the virtue of Soorah Al-Faatihah): the Prophet said: "Allah The Almighty said, ‘I have divided the prayer between Myself and My slave into two halves, and My slave shall have what he has asks for. When the slave says, 'Al-hamdu lillaahi rabbil ‘Aalameen (All the praise is to Allah, the Lord of The Worlds (mankind, jinn and all that exists),' Allah says, 'My slave has praised Me.' [……] And when he says, 'Ihdinas-siraatal-mustaqeem, siraat-allatheena an'amta 'alayhim ghayril-maghdhoobi 'alayhim wala-dhaalleen (Guide us to the Straight Path, the Path of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the path) of those who earned Your Anger, nor of those who went astray),' He (Allah) says, 'This is for My slave, and My slave shall have what he has asked for.'" [Muslim] Therefore, if Allah answers the supplication of the slave by guiding him to the Straight Path, and saving him from the path of those who have earned His Anger, then he is saved from the Punishment of Allah, because Allah said, "…and My slave shall have what he has asked for."

2- As for the virtues of Soorah Ya Seen which you mentioned, then there is a Hadeeth about it that reads: "Any sick person who recites Soorah (Ya Seen) when he is on his death bed, then the angel of death will not take his soul until Ridhwaan –the Guardian of Paradise – comes to him and brings him a drink from Paradise, and he drinks it while he is on his bed, so he dies while he has quenched his thirst. He will not need any of the ponds of the Prophets, and he will enter Paradise while he has fully quenched his thirst." This is a fabricated Hadeeth. For more benefit, please refer to As-Silsilah Adh-Dha’eefah authored by Al-Albaani (number 4636).

3- As for the Soorah Al-Waaqi’ah, and that it protects from poverty, then there is an inauthentic Hadeeth about this. Al-Bayhaqi reported in Shu’ab Al-Eemaan, from Ibn Mas'ood, that the Prophet said: "Whoever recites Soorah Al-Waaqi’ah [Quran 56] every night will never be afflicted with poverty.Ibn Mas’ood used to order his daughters to recite it every night.

4- As for Soorah Al-Mulk [Quran 67] and that it protects from the torture in the grave, then Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said: "There is a Chapter in the Quran that has thirty verses; it will intercede for the one who continuously recites it, until he is forgiven; (it is chapter) "Tabraaraka Al-lathi biyadihi Al-Mulk (Blessed is He in Whose Hand is the Dominion)." [Quran 67] [Abu Daawood; Al-Albaani classified it as Hasan]

Also, Al-Haakim reported a Hadeeth that he classified as Saheeh (authentic) in his book Al-Mustadrak, and Ath-Thahabi agreed with him (that it is authentic), on the authority of Ibn Mas’ood who said:

"(Angels of punishment) will come to a man in his grave; they will come to his feet and his feet will say: You have no power over us; he used to recite Soorat Al-Mulk. Then they will come to his chest or his stomach and it will say: You have no power over me; he used to recite Soorat Al-Mulk. Then they will come to his head and it will say: You have no power over me; he used to recite Soorat Al-Mulk. So it is the protector that protects against the punishment of the grave and it is referred to in the Torah as Soorat Al-Mulk, and whoever recites it in a night, then he has achieved a great deal of goodness." [End of quote]

5- As regards Soorah Al-Kawthar [Quran 108], then we have not come across any Islamic text indicating that reciting it will protect from the enmity of the people.

6- With regard to Soorah Al-Kaafiroon [Quran 109], then it was reported that the one who recites it becomes free from Shirk (polytheism). Farwah ibn Nawfal narrated that the Prophet said to (his father) Nawfal: "Recite (Soorah) 'Qul Ya Ayyuhal-Kaafiroon (Say, "O disbelievers”), and then go to sleep once you have finished it), for it is a declaration of innocence from Shirk." [Abu Daawood, At-Tirmithi and Al-Haakim; Al-Albaani classified it as Hasan]

7- We have not come across a specific Hadeeth stating that specifically reciting Soorah Al-Ikhlaas [Quran 112] makes one free from hypocrisy. Al-Qurtubi mentioned in his Tafseer from Al-Asma’i that people used to say that: "Qul Ya Ayyuhal-Kaafiroon [Quran 109], and Qul Huwwa Allahu Ahad [Quran 112] makes a person free from hypocrisy." [End of quote]

Allah knows best.

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