The Excellence of Reciting the Qur'an

halah

Junior Member
:salam2:
From the book Riyadh Us-Slaleheen by Imam An-Nawawi:
Abu Umamah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) saying, "Read the Qur'an, for it will come as an intercessor for its reciters on the Day of Resurrection.''
[Muslim].


Commentary: This Hadith tells the excellence of reciting the Qur'an and acting upon its injunctions. Intercession (in this Hadith) means that the Qur'an will be endowed with the power of speech by Allah and it will request Allah to forgive the sins of its reciters who acted upon its teachings. Allah will accept the request of the Qur'an, as signified in other Ahadith.

992. An-Nawwas bin Sam`an (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) saying, "The Qur'an and its people who applied it, will be brought on the Day of Resurrection preceded with Surat Al-Baqarah and Surat Al-`Imran arguing on behalf of those who applied them.''
[Muslim].


Commentary
: This Hadith means that on the Day of Requital, the Qur'an, with Surat Al-Baqarah and Al-`Imran in the forefront, will intercede before Allah for those who used to recite and act upon them in the life of the world.

993. `Uthman bin `Affan (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "The best amongst you is the one who learns the Qur'an and teaches it.''
[Al-Bukhari].


994. `Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "The one who is proficient in the recitation of the Qur'an will be with the honourable and obedient scribes (angels) and he who recites the Qur'an and finds it difficult to recite, doing his best to recite it in the best way possible, will have a double reward.''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].


Commentary: Proficient here means one who reads the Qur'an in accordance with the rules of "Ilm At-Tajwid'' (the science of the recitation of the Qur'an) .

This Hadith also highlights the merit of the reader of the Qur'an who does not know `Ilm At-Tajwid, and for that reason cannot read it fluently. But in spite of this, he reads it with great effort. He will be given double reward, one for the difficulty encountered in reciting it, and another for reading it. Safratun translated in the Hadith as scribes (angels) mean the angels that convey the Wahy (Revelation) to the Messenger of Allah.


995. Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "The believer who recites the Qur'an is like a citron whose fragrance is sweet and whose taste is delicious. A believer who does not recite the Qur'an is like a date-fruit which has no fragrance but has a sweet taste. The hypocrite who recites the Qur'an is like a colocynth whose fragrance is so sweet, but its taste is bitter. The hypocrite who does not recite the Qur'an is like basil which has no fragrance and its taste is bitter.''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].


Commentary: This Hadith tells us that a believer who recites the Qur'an and acts upon it, Allah will grant him a high rank. He is loved by Allah and also enjoys public esteem. The believer who does not recite it but acts upon its teachings is also loved by Allah and people. The hypocrite who recites the Qur'an to have a good show has an evil and dark mind. Last of all comes that hypocrite who does not recite the Qur'an and has a dark mind and appearance.
 
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