٩١. عَنْ عَبْدِ اللّٰهِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:
«يُقَالُ لِصَاحِبِ الْقُرْآنِ: اقْرَأْ وَارْتَقِ وَرَتِّلْ كَمَا كُنْتَ تُرَتِّلُ فِي الدُّنْيَا فَإِنَّ مَنْزِلَكَ عِنْدَ آخِرِ آيَةٍ تَقْرَؤُهَا».
91. Narrated Abdullah b. Amr (r.a.) reported that the Apostle of Allah (pbuh) said:
“One who was devoted to the Qur’an will be told in the Hereafter:
“Recite and ascend, and recite carefully as you recited carefully when you were in the world, for the final abode you reach will be the height of the last verse you recite.” (Abu Dawud, Witr, 20/1464; Tirmidhi, Fadail al-Qur’an, 18/2914)
Explanations:
The Noble Qur’an was revealed to ensure the happiness of human beings both in this world and the Hereafter. Since the real purpose of being happy in this world is to reach the happiness in the Hereafter, the most important purpose of the Qur’an is to ensure the eternal salvation and happiness of the servants of Allah.
Believers who follow the commands and prohibitions in the Qur’an will reach salvation both in this world and in the Hereafter and their levels will also elevated by the intercession of the Qur’an. In the first hadith Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) gives the good tidings of this by saying:
“Recite the Qur’an! That is because, on the Day of Judgment, Qur’an will intercede for those who live by it.”
In another noble hadith:
“Whoever learns a verse from the Qur’an will happily be met by this verse on the Day of Judgment.” (Haythami, VII, 161)
Here the emphasis is that the Qur’an will intercede for those who learn the Qur’an and live in accordance with its rules. “People of the Qur’an” or “Companions of the Qur’an” are the ones who recite it, follow its instructions, and shape their actions and behaviors accordingly. Otherwise, they are not those who recite it without understanding and contemplating about its meaning and putting them into practice. Ali al-Qari tells that the Qur’an will not intercede for such people but on the contrary it will complain about them. That is because, the Qur’an is not revealed just to be read but also to be practiced in everyday life.
Those who learn, live, and teach the Noble Qur’an are the special servants of Allah. As a matter of fact, one day the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“For sure there are those who are closer to Allah among His servants!”
The Companions of the Prophet asked:
“O Messenger of Allah! Who are they?”
He (pbuh) said:
“They are the people of Allah, people of the Qur’an, and the exceptional servants of Allah!” (Ibn Majah, Muqaddimah, 16)
According to the good news informed in this hadith, Qur’an will testify on the Day of Judgment for those who recite it and practice its commands and it will intercede for their forgiveness. In turn, Allah the Almighty will treat such servants with His mercy.
Another noble hadith about this topic reads as follows:
“On the Day of Judgment, the Noble Qur’an comes to its reader like a pale man and says:
“I am the one that left you sleepless during the night and thirsty during the day!” (Ibn Majah, Adab, 52)
In other words, the Qur’an will help so much to those Muslims who tried hard and overcame difficulties in order to read and practice the Qur’an in this world that in a sense it will get tired and exhausted. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used this expression in order to explain that the Qur’an will help those who practice it on the frightful Day of Judgment, ease their questioning, and relieve the heat and hardship of the Day.
In turn, Allah the Almighty will not punish such servants. As a matter of fact, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Recite the Qur’an… That is because Allah does not punish the heart that has the Qur’an in it…” (Darimi, Fadail al-Qur’an, 1)
In the second hadith, after stating that the Qur’an will intercede for those who live in accordance with its rules, Allah’s Messenger also informs us that certain chapters of the Qur’an such as Al-Baqarah and Al-i Imran will come and intercede even more for the people of the Qur’an.
In the rest of the hadith, in order to express the importance and spiritual rewards of these specific chapters of the Qur’an, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) gave three examples for these chapters.
The superiority of a chapter of the Qur’an over another chapter is something related to their contents and the depth of their meaning. Chapters of al-Baqarah and Al-i Imran almost cover the entire issues of religion.
The following narration shows that the al-Baqara is so rich in terms of its content, and therefore this chapter of the Qur’an is considered more virtuous.
Once, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was going to send a military expedition. He made them read the Qur’an. Each of them recited from the verses of Allah as much as they knew. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) approached the youngest Companions and said:
“O so and so! What do you have in your memory?”
And he said:
“I have such and such chapters in my memory, and I also memorized chapter al-Baqarah!”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked:
“Do you have in your memory the chapter al-Baqarah?”
The young man said:
“Yes!” Upon this, our Master Pride of the Universe (pbuh) said:
“Now you can go and be the leader (commander) of them! That is because this chapter covers almost the entire religion.”
One of the leaders of the congregation said:
“O Messenger of Allah! The fear that I may not be able to practice the content of this chapter prevented me from memorizing it.”
Upon that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Know, recite, teach, and practice the Qur’an! That is because, those who learn, teach, and practice the Qur’an are like a leather bag filled with musk whose scent spreads to everywhere. Those who learn but do not practice it are like a tightly closed leather bag filled with perfume.” (Tirmidhi, Fadail al-Qur’an, 2/2876; Haythami, VII, 161)
In our third hadith, it is expressed how the state of those who recite the Qur’an by paying attention to its manners and put it into practice in every aspect of their lives will be advanced in Paradise. Their levels in paradise will be commensurate with their relationship with the Qur’an in this world.
In another hadith, in a way explaining our third hadith, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“The Qur’an comes on the Day of Judgment and says for the person who lived by it in the world:
“Dear Lord! Adorn him!”
Upon this, he gets crowned with the crown of honor and divine blessings.
The Qur’an says:
“O my Lord! Bless him with more!”
The person who reads and practices the Qur’an will be dressed with the garment of honor and divine blessings.
The Qur’an says:
“O my Lord! Be content with him!”
Allah becomes content with that person and says to him:
“Recite and ascend!”
So with each verse he recites, his spiritual rewards get increased.” (Tirmidhi, Fadail al-Qur’an, 18/2915)
Aisha (r.anha), the mother of believers, said:
“The degrees of Paradise are as many as the number of the verses of the Qur’an. There is no one in Paradise who is more virtuous than those who recite the Qur’an.” (Ibn Abi Shaiba, Musannaf, VI, 120/29952)
On that Day, whoever recites the whole Qur’an ascends to the highest level of Paradise. Everyone will ascend as much as they recite and will accordingly gain divine rewards.
The recitation of the Qur’an in Paradise of those who know and live the Qur’an will be like the angels’ remembrance of Allah so this won’t prevent them in any way from experiencing other blessings. In fact, reciting the Qur’an in the best fashion by paying attention to the rules of recitation will be their best pleasure.
The term “best fashion (tartil)” mentioned in the hadith essentially means harmony and order, in other words, reciting the Noble Qur’an with measured rhythmic tones and slowly by pronouncing the letters appropriately, namely by giving the Qur’an its due.
The recitation of the Prophet was clear and deliberate, by emphasizing the letters and watching for the measured rhythmic tones, and at the same time by paying attention to the rules of its recitation. (Tirmidhi, Fadail al-Qur’an, 23)
That is because Allah the Almighty commanded him:
وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْاٰنَ تَرْت۪يلًا
“… recite the Qur’an in slow, measured rhythmic tones.” (Al-Muzzammil; 73:4)
What is understood from the usage of Arabic imperative “rattil” which is strenghtened with the infinitive “tartilan” in this verse is that Allah the Almighty wants us to recite the Qur’an deliberately and in the best fashion. Reciting the Qur’an with measured rhythmic tones is not a matter of music performed with a nice voice and random singing. On the contrary, rhymes should be recited by paying attention to the fluency and rhetoric character of the verses and their relationship with the meaning and by feeling the meaning and making others feel it. So, in the recitation of the Qur’an paying attention to the measured rhythmic tones and the rules of recitation are very important. As a matter of fact, our hadith encourages us to memorize the Qur’an and to recite it in the best fashion and points out that the levels of those who practice the Qur’an will be elevated.
However, there is a benefit to remind the following:
Those who act according to the Book of Allah and contemplate about it are surely better than those who do not put it into practice but just memorizes and nicely recites it. As a matter of fact, among the Companions there were many others who memorized and recited the Qur’an better than Abu Bakr (r.a.). However, there is an agreement that Abu Bakr was the best of the Noble Companions. That is because he was the one who knew Allah and the spirit of the Qur’an best, and the one who shaped his life according to the contents of the Qur’an.
On the other hand, we benefit not only from the Qur’an that we personally recite but also from the Qur’an that we teach to others. So, we gain the honor of its intercession. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“The past and the future sins of those who teach their children how to read the Qur’an are forgiven. And whoever makes the child memorize the Qur’an, Allah resurrects him like a full moon on the Day of Judgment and the child will be told:
“Read!”
With each verse the child recites, Allah elevates the level of the father. This continues till the end of the verses that the child remembers.” (Haythami, VII, 165-166)
On the Day of Judgment, just as the Qur’an, those who knew the Qur’an will also intercede. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) informs us of that saying:
“Whoever recites the Qur’an and nicely memorizes it, and accepts its permissions as permissible (halal) and prohibitions as prohibited (haram), Allah places them into His Paradise and gives them permission to intercede for ten people from their family who deserved to be in Hell.” (Tirmidhi, Fadail al-Qur’an, 13/2905; Ibn Majah, Muqaddimah, 16; Ahmad, I, 148)
May Allah bless us with learning and reciting the Qur’an in the best fashion by understanding its contents and putting them into practice and benefiting from its intercession on the Day of Judgment! Our Almighty Lord, bless our lives with the services to the Qur’an!
Amin!…