Why the Prophet ﷺ Called Ayatul Kursi the Greatest Verse – 3 Classical Scholars’ Views
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ personally identified Ayatul Kursi as the greatest verse of the Qur’an. But why? Three classical mufassirun – Ibn Kathir, al-Sa’di, and Ibn Ashur – each answer the question differently. Together, their answers reveal what “greatest” actually means in the Islamic tradition.
Every Muslim who studies Ayatul Kursi eventually runs into the same phrase: “the greatest verse in the Qur’an”. It appears in almost every khutbah, every children’s Islamic textbook, every WhatsApp forward about the Throne Verse. What most people never ask is: greatest by what measure? The Qur’an has over 6,200 verses, many of which describe the essential attributes of Allah. Why is this one – Surah al-Baqarah, verse 255 – singled out above all the others?
The answer starts with a moment recorded in Sahih Muslim, and continues through fourteen centuries of scholarly commentary. In this article I want to walk through the original hadith, then look at how three classical scholars – Imam Ibn Kathir, Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Sa’di, and Shaykh Muhammad al-Tahir Ibn Ashur – each explain the verse’s supremacy. Their answers are related, but they attack the question from three different angles. Together they give a fuller picture than any single answer alone.
The Foundational Hadith – Sahih Muslim 810
The entire scholarly tradition around this verse begins with one narration. The Prophet ﷺ asked his companion Ubayy ibn Ka’b – one of the most senior reciters of the Qur’an among the Sahabah – a direct question:
“O Abu al-Mundhir, do you know which verse of the Book of Allah that you have is the greatest?” I said: “Allah – there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence.” Then he struck me on the chest and said: “By Allah, may knowledge be pleasant for you, O Abu al-Mundhir.”
Two things about this hadith deserve attention before we move to the scholars. First, the Prophet ﷺ did not just accept the answer – he affirmed it with unusual warmth, striking Ubayy’s chest and making dua for him. That physical gesture of affection tells us the Prophet ﷺ was pleased that Ubayy had recognised what he recognised. Second, the answer Ubayy gave was the opening of Ayatul Kursi itself. He did not need to quote the whole verse – the first phrase was enough to identify it, because the whole verse was already understood as a unit among the Companions.
With that hadith as our anchor, let’s turn to how three scholars have unpacked what makes this verse “greatest.”
1. Imam Ibn Kathir – Greatest by Content Density
Imam Isma’il ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir’s answer to why Ayatul Kursi is the greatest verse comes down to one word: content. He observed that this single verse packs more foundational Islamic theology into fifty Arabic words than any other verse in the Qur’an. In his commentary he lists what the verse establishes:
Allah’s absolute oneness (tawhid). Allah as the Ever-Living (al-Hayy). Allah as the Self-Sustaining (al-Qayyum). Allah’s transcendence above sleep and drowsiness. Allah’s absolute ownership of the heavens and earth. The theology of intercession – which never happens without His permission. Allah’s infinite knowledge across past and future. The limits of created knowledge. The vastness of Allah’s Kursi. Allah’s exhaustion-free preservation of creation. And His concluding names, al-Aliyy (the Most High) and al-Azim (the Most Great).
Ibn Kathir’s frame is essentially: the verse is the greatest because you cannot say more true things about Allah in fewer words. No other single verse of the Qur’an is this concentrated.
2. Shaykh al-Sa’di – Greatest by Spiritual Effect
Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Sa’di
Al-Sa’di’s answer comes from a different angle. He accepts Ibn Kathir’s content-density argument, but he pushes further: why does content-density matter? His answer is that the verse produces a specific spiritual effect in the heart of anyone who recites it with reflection. It corrects theological errors, calms anxiety, and builds tawhid – all at once.
In his commentary, al-Sa’di explains that each name of Allah in the verse is not just a fact – it is a call. Al-Hayy (the Ever-Living) calls the believer to trust in the only One who never dies. Al-Qayyum (the Self-Sustaining) calls the believer to depend on the only One who needs nothing. The denial of drowsiness and sleep calls the believer to recognise that Allah is aware of them at every moment, even the moments they think no one is watching. And the vast Kursi calls the believer to place their own problems in scale – however large your problem feels, it is tiny before the One whose Kursi encompasses the heavens and the earth.
Al-Sa’di’s frame is essentially: the verse is the greatest because it changes the reciter more than any other single verse changes them. Content is what makes the change possible, but the change itself is where greatness lives.
3. Shaykh Ibn Ashur – Greatest by Structural Placement
Shaykh Muhammad al-Tahir Ibn Ashur
Ibn Ashur’s answer takes the most sophisticated approach. He treats the verse not as an isolated ayah but as a structural hinge within Surah al-Baqarah. His argument is that if you read Surah al-Baqarah from the beginning, everything before verse 255 leads up to it, and everything after branches from it. The entire longest surah of the Qur’an is organised around this single verse.
Why? Because Surah al-Baqarah’s core purpose is to argue for tawhid against every rival theology of Madinah at the time – the polytheists of Makkah who denied Allah’s oneness, the People of the Book who complicated it, and the hypocrites who paid lip service to it. Ayatul Kursi is the moment in that long argument where the surah stops arguing and simply declares. It is the ceiling of the surah, the culmination of everything the surah has been building toward.
Ibn Ashur’s frame is essentially: the verse is the greatest because of where it sits in the Qur’an’s architecture. Content and effect matter – but so does placement. This verse is not just one great verse among many; it is the theological centre of the longest surah in the Book.
Three Answers, One Verse
Notice how the three answers layer on top of each other rather than contradict. Ibn Kathir tells us what the verse contains. Al-Sa’di tells us what the content does to the heart. Ibn Ashur tells us where the verse sits in the larger structure of revelation. All three are asking “why greatest?” and all three are right – because “greatest” in the Islamic tradition is measured across multiple dimensions simultaneously.
Why this matters for a new Muslim
When I first embraced Islam in India, I heard the phrase “greatest verse” so often that it started to lose meaning – it felt like a stock adjective. Reading these three scholars back-to-back is what changed that for me. Ibn Kathir gave me the content to memorise. Al-Sa’di showed me what to feel while reciting. Ibn Ashur showed me where to fit the verse in my larger reading of Surah al-Baqarah. If you are new to Islam and only have time for one thing today: memorise the ten statements Ibn Kathir lists, and recite the verse tonight with those ten statements in mind. The verse will never sound the same again.
Where to Read Each Scholar’s Full Commentary
All three commentaries on Ayatul Kursi are summarised on our dedicated tafsir page, along with five more classical mufassirun (al-Tabari, al-Qurtubi, al-Baghawi, Ibn al-Jawzi, and al-Razi). If you want the full comparative view, that is the place to start.
For the underlying Arabic, English translation, and audio recitation of the verse itself, see our main Ayatul Kursi page.