Turunnya Ayat al-Kursi

Ayat al-Kursi — verse 255 of Surah al-Baqarah — is identified by the Prophet ﷺ himself as the greatest verse in the Quran. When asked directly which verse in the Book of Allah was greatest, he said: 'Ayat al-Kursi' — and struck Abd ibn Ka'b on the chest saying: 'May knowledge gladden you, O Abu al-Mundhir.' The verse is 50 Arabic words that establish, in sequence, twelve divine attributes: absolute oneness, al-Hayy (the Ever-Living), al-Qayyum (the Self-Subsisting Sustainer), freedom from drowsiness or sleep, absolute ownership of all that exists in the heavens and earth, the conditionality of intercession upon His permission, comprehensive knowledge of past and future, the boundedness of created knowledge, the expanse of His kursi (throne) over all the heavens and earth, the effortlessness of their preservation, al-'Aliyy (the Most High), and al-'Adhim (the Most Great). The Prophet ﷺ specified its protective power in practice. In the hadith of Abu Hurayrah and the jinn who came to steal from the zakat food — preserved in Sahih al-Bukhari — the jinn said: 'Recite Ayat al-Kursi when you go to your bed and a protector from Allah will remain with you and no shaytan will come near you until morning.' The Prophet ﷺ confirmed: 'He told you the truth, though he is a liar.' The Prophet ﷺ also said: 'Whoever recites Ayat al-Kursi after every obligatory prayer, nothing stands between him and Paradise except death.' This statement has made Ayat al-Kursi perhaps the most widely recited Quranic verse in the daily practice of Muslims across all traditions — recited after every prayer, at bedtime, as protection before leaving the home, over the sick, and as among the first memorization tasks for Muslim children after al-Fatiha. No verse in the Quran is more present in the daily lives of observant Muslims across fourteen centuries The verse the Prophet ﷺ named the greatest has become, through the prophetic instructions about its recitation, the most practically present piece of Quranic text in the daily life of Muslims — recited at prayer, at bedtime, at departure from the home, over the sick, in moments of fear. Its 50 words describe the deity who is being submitted to every time a Muslim performs any act of worship.