Assalamualaikum :) How to really read and draw benefit from the Holy Quran It has been mentioned in the Hadith that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said: With me, the best form of worship is recitation of the Holy Quran. It has also been mentioned: On the Day of Judgment, there will be no intercessor greater than the Holy Quran before Almighty Allah. Neither any Prophet nor any angel nor anybody else. Hadhrat Imam Abu Hamid Ghazali (May Allah shower His mercy on him) says: The Holy Quran is not just for reciting but to act upon it. Recitation is only to remember it and remembering is to act upon it. If any person recites the Holy Quran but doesn’t act upon it, then it as if the Word of Allah Most High reached him, which has obligations and prohibitions and that person kissed it and recited it in a beautiful voice, but didn’t follow it. That person certainly deserves to be punished. For this reason, Muslims should make sure that along with reading it, they should act upon the commandments of the Holy Quran as well. The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said: The hypocrites of my Ummah will all be reciters of the Holy Quran. Hadhrat Sufyan Thauri (May Allah shower His mercy on him) said: The angels (in charge) of hell will make haste in catching the sinful reciters of the Holy Quran. Hadhrat Hasan Basri (May Allah shower His mercy on him) said: The earlier people understood that the Holy Quran is a letter from Almighty Allah. In the nights, they would contemplate over it and in the day, they would act upon it and now people have made it a custom that they take great pains to recite it properly, but are lazy in acting upon it. Hadhrat ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud (May Allah be well pleased with him) says: Recite the Holy Quran, as there are 10 virtues for every letter of the Holy Quran. I don’t say that “Alif Laam Meem” is 1 letter but that each of them is a separate letter. Thus, “Alif Laam Meem” is comprised of 3 letters. Better than all good deeds is recitation of the Holy Quran. The good deeds of Hadhrat Rab’ee bin Khushaim (May Allah shower His mercy on him) would be so secret that even his family members wouldn’t be aware of them. When he would be reciting the Holy Quran and someone would come to him, he would hide it with his sleeve and say: That act which is not performed with the intention of seeking Almighty Allah weakens one. Hadhrat ‘Ali (May Allah be well pleased with him) says: The person who recites the Holy Quran standing in Salaat will be given 100 virtues in lieu of every letter. The person who recites the Holy Quran sitting in Salaat will be given 50 virtues. The person who recites the Holy Quran with ablution outside of Salaat is granted 25 virtues. The person who recites the Holy Quran from memory without ablution is given 10 virtues. Hadhrat Ahmed bin Muhammad Hareeri (May Allah shower His mercy on him) says: The person who recites the Holy Quran out of desire of paradise is pleased with a lesser thing than the greater one. This is because paradise is creation and the Holy Quran is not a creation. The big benefit of reciting the Holy Quran is that the reciter realizes the relation of the Holy Quran with Allah Most High and he/she understands what Allah Most High is saying. Is there anything to say of that person who recites the Holy Quran for worldly gains? The person who recites the Holy Quran for worldly benefits, the blessings of the Holy Quran are taken away from that person. He also says: The whole of the Holy Quran is nothing but 2 things: (1) Etiquette of life. (2) Reverence of Almighty Allah. There are 6 outward and 6 inward proprieties of reading the Holy Quran. The 6 outward proprieties 1. To read the Holy Quran with utmost respect and reverence, which means that one should be properly clean, should be with ablution, should sit reverentially facing the Qibla and then read the Holy Quran. 2. To read slowly in a low voice and as far as possible to contemplate and reflect on the meanings. There should be no haste…….. 3. If the one reading the Holy Quran can’t actually cry, then at least they should make their hearts cry i.e. while reading the Holy Quran, one should keep in mind the greatness and majesty of Allah Most High. 4. Fulfill the right of each verse of the Holy Quran. When the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) would read a verse in which the punishment of the grave is mentioned, He would seek Allah’s protection. When He would read a verse in which the mercy of Allah is mentioned, He would make a supplication and so on. While starting to read the Holy Quran, “A’oodhubillahi……….” and “Bismillahir Rahmaan…..” should be recited and after finishing the recitation, “Allahumma Aanis …………..” which is there at the end of every copy of the Holy Quran. If one reaches a prostration verse (Aayaat-e-Sajdah), then with all the conditions and pre-requisites of Salaat, one should stand go into prostration with “Allahu Akbar” and then again stand back. This kind of prostration should be done at the time of recitation itself. This is like Salaat. If it is done later, it comes under making up lost Salaat (Qaza). 5. If one is alone, if there is no chance of disturbing anyone else engaged in remembrance of Allah, no chance of ostentation, then one may recite the Holy Quran in a loud voice as well. So that the strength of the reciter is increased, he/she feels the pleasure of recitation, sleep is driven away and the heedless are awakened. Otherwise, the Holy Quran should be recited in a soft voice. For those who are not reciting from memory, it is better to look into the Holy Quran as well. They should carefully see the letters of the Holy Quran so that their sight is illuminated. 6. As far as possible, one should recite the Holy Quran in a beautiful voice and the heart should remain in communion with the Lord Almighty. The more beautiful the recitation of the Holy Quran is, the more it will affect the heart. However, it shouldn’t be like singing, etc. Thus, when Hadhrat Dawood (May peace be upon him) would recite the Psalms in his beautiful voice, all genies, human beings, animals, birds, etc would come to him and listen with attention and even go into ecstasy. Hadith: The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) says: Read the Holy Quran. On the Day of Judgment, the Holy Quran will intercede for its readers. Hadhrat Imam Ahmed bin Hambal (May Allah shower His mercy on him) says: I have seen Almighty Allah in my dream 70 times and asked: O Lord of all worlds! With which deed does a slave become the most worthy of mercy? It was said: Read the Holy Quran. I said: If one doesn’t understand the meaning of it? It was ordered: Even if one doesn’t understand the meaning. Our pleasure lies in that Our Word should on the tongues of Our slaves. It is also said: Nothing clears the darkness of the hearts except the recitation of the Holy Quran and remembrance of death. When Hadhrat Yousuf bin Asbaat (May Allah shower His mercy on him) would finish the Holy Quran, he would repent 700 times and would supplicate 70 times thus: O Allah! Don’t punish me because of reading the Holy Quran without acting on it. He says: The person who doesn’t cry while reciting the Holy Quran is proud and arrogant as the real intent of reading the Holy Quran is to act on it. When he would finish the Holy Quran, he would cry so much that he wouldn’t be able to finish the Surah and would say: I wonder at that person who finishes the Holy Quran and feels happy on it and doesn’t examine his own Self (Nafs) with its instructions and warnings The inward proprieties are also 6. 1. To realize that the Holy Quran is the Word of Almighty Allah and is established along with the Being (Dhaat) of Almighty Allah. Whatever the reciter is uttering are letters with respect to this material world. The way saying “fire” is easy, but touching it is very difficult, the same is the case with the meanings of the letters. If the meanings are revealed then all the heavens and all the layers of the earth will not be able to bear it. But the beauty and the grandeur of the Holy Quran are hidden in its letters so that the tongue and heart can bear it. It was impossible to convey the Holy Quran to human beings without letters and words. For many people, the Holy Quran means only the letters and words! That’s why many people think that the letters and their intonation is the Holy Quran! This is a grave disease of the heart and they don’t realize that apart from them, there are such meanings as well that no one can reach their true reality. The way every body has a soul that remains with it, in the same way the soul of the letters is the meaning and the letters themselves are like the body and the grace of the body is the soul. 2. To keep in mind the greatness and grandeur of Almighty Allah and to realize that this Word is His and to be calm and collected. Before reciting the Holy Quran, one should realize what one is reading. Unless and until one is clean, one shouldn’t touch it as touching the Holy Quran when unclean is not allowed. In the same way, an unclean heart can’t gain the real meaning of the word of Almighty Allah. For this reason, one should clean the heart of the filth of blameworthy traits and adorn it with the radiance of respect and reverence and then recite the Holy Quran. Nobody can realize the greatness of the Holy Quran unless and until they realize the greatness of Almighty Allah and this greatness doesn’t enter one’s heart unless one contemplates the attributes and works of Almighty Allah; unless one realizes that this is the Word of the Lord Almighty under whose power this whole universe is. Then the greatness of Almighty Allah will enter the heart. 3. To keep the heart attentive while reciting the Holy Quran and shouldn’t be heedless while reciting the Holy Quran. Stop stray thoughts from coming. Whatever one reads in heedlessness, don’t consider it as read and read it again. This is as if someone goes to a garden and comes back without seeing the wonders therein. This Holy Quran is like a garden for the Muslims and in it the wonders of wisdom are concealed. The person who contemplates and reflects over them will not accept anything else again. Thus, if any person doesn’t understand the meanings of the Holy Quran, that person is really luckless. However, that person should still have the respect of the Holy Quran in his/her heart 4. One should reflect over every sentence so that one understands the meaning of it. If one doesn’t understand it, one should read it again. If one feels pleasure in that meaning, one should reread that sentence. A small amount of reading in this manner is better than reading a large amount of the Holy Quran without understanding it. If someone reads a verse of the Holy Quran and doesn’t understand the meaning, then the right of that verse will not be fulfilled. In every verse, one should think of nothing but Allah Most High. When one reads the verses in which the attributes of Almighty Allah are mentioned, one should contemplate over the attributes of Almighty Allah so that the sacred meanings of the attributes, ‘Azeez, Jabbar, Hakeem, etc. are understood clearly. When one reads the verses of the works of Almighty Allah, one should think about the greatness of Allah and His wonders and should think every kind of perfection and power is His so that whatever one sees, one sees the power of Allah Most High in it………… The meanings of the Holy Quran are not revealed to 4 kinds of people: 1. Those who don’t know Arabic and are unaware of exegesis of the Holy Quran (Tafseer). 2. Those who insist on major sins, i.e. don’t stop committing them. 3. Those who follow (reprehensible) innovations in religion in place of the Sunnah as their hearts are darkened. 4. Those who read with great conviction but don’t consider those meanings which come in their heart as correct against what they think is correct. 5. The mood of the reciter should change as per the different verses of the Holy Quran. When one reads a verse regarding the fear of Allah, one should feel despair. When one reads a verse of the mercy of Allah Most High, one should feel an uplift and gladness. When one reads a verse in which say the disbelievers say that Almighty Allah has children, etc., one should read it softly with embarrassment. One should read every verse of the Holy Quran as per its meaning so that the rights of that particular verse are fulfilled. 6. One should read the Holy Quran as if one is listening to it right from Allah Most High. [Excerpted from Mawaaiz-e-Hasana, Vol. 2]
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 10:04:12 +0000
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