Qur'an 112 (al-Ikhlas): 'He begets not, nor is He begotten'
c. c. 610 – c. 632
Place: mecca
21.422, 39.826 · On the map
The text is attested. Its date (Meccan or Medinan) is disputed. The reading as an anti-Nicene counter-creed is a hypothesis.
This short sura declares God One, Eternal (al-samad), neither begetting nor begotten, with none equal to Him. Neuwirth reads it as a deliberate counter-creed to the Nicene language of the Son 'begotten of the Father' and 'of one substance'. In 691 it is inscribed in the Dome of the Rock.
Where scholars disagree
For
- Angelika Neuwirth — The Qur'an and Late Antiquity (2019): Sura 112 as a counter-text to the Nicene Creed
Against
No names on this side.
Links
Text and wording
Out
Dome of the Rock inscriptions (691/2)
The Dome inscription uses Sura 112.
quoted_in
attestedIn
Himyar's official monotheism (Rahmanan)
'Rahmanan' (al-Rahman) as a monotheist divine name, later central in the Qur'an.
vocabulary
scholarly hypothesis
Conflict and authority
In
Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381): the Trinity defined
'He begets not, nor is He begotten' read as a counter to Nicaea's 'begotten, not made'.
opposed
scholarly hypothesis
Sources
- Qur'an, Surat al-Ikhlas (112)
Quran.com. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Angelika Neuwirth, The Qur'an and Late Antiquity: A Shared Heritage (trans. 2019)
Oxford University Press. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Wikipedia: Al-Ikhlas
Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-11-11.