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WELCOME TO |
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MADRASA AL-HIDAYA |
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MUSLIM SCHOOL OF RIGHT GUIDANCE |
Bismillāh ar-Rahmān ar-Rahīm
MANBA‘ AL-IMDĀD: A FOUNTAIN OF HELP
A Compendium of the talks of:
AL-HABĪB AHMAD MASH-HŪR BIN TĀHĀ AL-HADDĀD
Rady Allāhu ‘Anhu
Compiled by his grandson:
As-Sayyid Muhammad bin Mustafā Bū Numay
Rahmatullāhi ‘alayh
DARS 61: RECITATION OF THE QUR’AN
IS A MERITORIOUS GOOD DEED
Then he said, may Allah be pleased with him.
Know that the recitation of the Tremendous Qur’an is among the most meritorious acts of worship. Do you know the meaning of (the word) “recitation”? Is it mumbling, like some people do who recite while they themselves cannot hear (their own recitation)? No! “Recitation” is to recite the Qur’an so that you and the one beside you hear the letters clearly. Other than that, it is not called “recitation”.
About the Qur’an, Allah the Exalted has said in it:
Surely, those who recite the Book of Allah, (35:29),
(that is) fulfilling the Command of Allah and tasting the Word of Allah and pondering over what is in it,
and establish Prayer, (35:29),
(that is) after reciting His Word, contemplate, and establish Prayer,
and spend (in charity) out of what We have provided them, secretly and openly, hope for a trade in which there is never a loss. (35:29)And what is the meaning of “a trade in which there is never a loss”? It is the good deeds and permanent Paradise. Work and receive the glad tidings of Paradise. Recite and receive the glad tidings of the gain in the trade. The recitation of the Qur’an is gainful trade.
(Allah says):
In order that He may give them their reward in full and give them more out of His bounty. Surely, He is Forgiving, Appreciative. (35:30)
These are the results and these are the benefits.
In order that He may give them their reward in full…(35:30), here.
Reward of the good deeds, and a good deed is rewarded ten to seven hundred times as much,
…and give them more out of His bounty. (35:30),
“that no eye has seen, no ear has heard about, nor has it occurred to the heart of a human being”. (Hadith)The Prophet, may Allah bless him and his Family and grant him peace, said: “The best act of worship for my community of followers is the recitation of the Qur’an”.
So it is necessary to recite the Qur’an, the Book of Allah, and to increase its recitation during the night and the day; (to recite it) slowly with contemplation, keeping to proper manners and
respect.A faithfully believing person should beware not to abandon the Qur’an, and not to abandon the recitation or to forget after memorizing something from it.
And in a Hadith from the Prophet, may blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, he said: “The one who forgets the Qur’an after he has memorized something from it, will meet Allah on the Day of Judgement mutilated (or leprous)” (may Allah protect us from that, Amin).
The pious predecessors, may Allah be pleased with them, took care about Qur’an recitation. Our predecessors from the first to the last whom we know in Hadramawt and in the two Noble Sanctuaries (in Makkah and Madina) and even here in Africa, whom we met fifty or sixty years ago, were mindful about Qur’an recitation. And it was the habit of some of them to complete its recitation every month. And some of them completed its recitation every ten days, and some every eight nights, or every week, and some every three days and some completed it in a day and night while some of them completed its recitation eight times in a day and night (may Allah be pleased with them). This is the most that progressively reaches to his tongue and his soul completes its recitation eight times. This is rare but a majority of them whom we met recited ten juz in a day and night (that is, completed the recitation of the Qur’an in three days). And they said: “One who does not complete its recitation in three days is being lazy”. See how the predecessors were concerned about Qur’an recitation.
Why is it that Allah Willing, each one of us recites the Qur’an in Ramadan but after Ramadan, a month passes without a person reciting even a paragraph from the Qur’an. The truth of this is in the Words of (Allah) The Exalted:
And the Prophetic Messenger (of Allah) said: “My Lord! My people took the Qur’an as something to be abandoned”. (25:30)
We have abandoned the Qur’an while there are only advantages in it. There is a merit in each letter. In each letter there is light that fills your heart with light and brings for you merits and is for you the Seeing and the Hearing from Allah, the Glorified and the Exalted, who Hears you. So how can man leave the recitation of the Qur’an especially in the month of Ramadan? So it befits us O brethren that we exert. Each one of us should take himself to account and recite something from the Qur’an, especially in the morning or at night or at any time.
Our pious predecessors, may Allah be pleased with them, achieved the completion of the Qur’an every week or in a month. Twenty or twenty-five Hafiz ul-Qur’an would gather and recite the Qur’an. In this connection, I will mention an incident in Hadramawt. There was severe fever and many people died with it. And a group of Hafiz ul-Qur’an would gather in a madrasa and recite the Qur’an and they all passed ahead as well, except for one who survived. So he came out of the madrasa and recited the Qur’an alone and when he remembered his brothers (the huffaz), he wept. Night after night he came and recited the Qur’an until once when he finished one paragraph, he heard someone else recite. He heard his voice but he did not see the person. Every time he completed a paragraph, that person recited that paragraph. This happened for three days so on the third day, he stopped and said: “O brother, who are you? I hear your voice but I do not see you”. So he said to him: “I am one of the believing jinn. I used to be present in your study sessions forty years ago and when I saw you alone weeping, I came to recite with you.”
O brethren, we should seek to draw near to the recitation of the Qur’an. Each one should reflect and take for himself recitation from the Qur’an. The Qur’an is a Message from Allah and each one has a share in it for himself. (Allah says):
This is a Book that We sent to you (O Prophet, Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam) so that you may bring the people from the darkness (of disbelief) to the light (of Faith). (14:1)
Recitation and action and intention and creed. Take your share from it even if it is a juz a day or half a juz or even two pages. What is the harm to you of reciting the Qur’an? Many people read a newspaper or a book or (write-up about) a useless talk. So man should wish to recite part of the Qur’an every day. He takes for himself a beautiful copy of the Qur’an and befriends it in his house and recites it until the Qur’an becomes a witness for him, not a witness against him. (Otherwise) the Qur’an bears witness against you and says he abandoned me. It is the duty of a believer to recite the Qur’an. This is your place to plow. So plow for your Hereafter and abandon your sleep for its sake. For a small part of every day, address yourself with the recitation.