84.

٨٤. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:

«…وَمَا اجْتَمَعَ قَوْمٌ فِي بَيْتٍ مِنْ بُيُوتِ اللّٰهِ يَتْلُونَ كِتَابَ اللّٰهِ وَيَتَدَارَسُونَهُ بَيْنَهُمْ إلَّا نَزَلَتْ عَلَيهِمُ السَّكِينَةُ وَغَشِيَتْهُمُ الرَّحْمَةُ وَحَفَّتْهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَذَكَرَهُمُ اللّٰهُ فِيمَنْ عِنْدَهُ».

84. Abu Huraira (r.a) narrated: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“…If a group of people assemble in a house among the houses of Allah (mosques) and recite the Book of Allah and discuss the Qur’an (among themselves), then tranquility would descend upon them and mercy would cover them and angels would surround them and Allah the Almighty mentions them in the presence of those near Him.” (Muslim, Kitab Al-Dhikr, 38; Abu Dawud, Witr, 14/1455; Tirmidhi, Qiraah, 10/2945; Ibn Majah, Muqaddimah, 17)

Explanations:

Allah the Exalted revealed the Qur’an as a reference book and guide for His servants to enter into Paradise. Therefore, Qur’an guides humans to the most righteous way. (Al-Isra; 17:9-10)

The Noble Qur’an is sent to be understood and practiced. Allah the Almighty explained in the Qur’an all kinds of examples in various ways so that we can benefit from them. (Al-Isra; 17: 41, 89), Al-Zumar; 39:27) (Al-Kahf; 18:54) (Al-Rum; 30:58)

In order for us to understand it, take lessons from it, and put it into practice, He made the Qur’an easy to understand. (Maryam; 19:97) (Al-Duhan; 44:58) (Al-Qamar; 54:17, 22, 32, 40)

Therefore, a believer’s duty is to put effort to understand the word of Allah and study the Qur’an. For sure, before trying to understand it, one must learn how to read it correctly. That is because recitation of the Qur’an is necessary for a believer since he will need to recite it five times a day during his prayers. Therefore, knowledge of the recitation of the Qur’an, at least enough to perform five daily prayers, is a fard al-‘ayn.^[1]

Those who learn the Qur’an should strive to teach others. In the first hadith, we are informed that the best people are those who participate sincerely in the activities to learn and teach the Qur’an. That is because the book with which they are busying themselves is the word of Allah, the best of all the words.^[2]

The most important and major duty of the Messenger of Allah was to recite the Qur’an^[3] and teach it to others. As a matter of fact, one day when Abu Talha (r.a.) arrived where the Prophet (pbuh) was, he saw the Prophet standing up and teaching the Qur’an to the Ashab al-Suffa.^[4] And, the Prophet (pbuh), due to his hunger, had tied a stone to his belly in order to be able stand up. (Abu Nuaym, Hilya, I, 342)

Companions and righteous people of next generations followed the tradition of the Messenger of Allah on learning and teaching Qur’an.

Abdullah b. Mas’ud (r.a.) used to say when he let someone recite a verse from the Qur’an:

“This verse is better than anything that the sun rises upon or everything exists on this earth.”

He used to repeat this sentence for each verse of Qur’an. (Haythami, VII, 166)

Abu Abdurrahman al-Sulami started to teach how to recite the Qur’an at the time of Uthman’s Caliphate and continued doing this for a long time. He used to say about the praying room where he used to teach the Qur’an in the city of Kufe:

“The only reason that I am here is my wish to be among those about whom the Messenger of Allah gave the following good news:

“The best among you are those who learn and teach the Qur’an.” (Bukhari, Fadail al-Qur’an, 21; Tirmidhi, Fadail al-Qur’an, 15/2907)

However, these services should be done only for the content of Allah. Material benefits and simple calculations should not interfere with it.

Once, Imran b. Husayn (r.a.) came across a person who was reciting the Qur’an. When the man was finished his recitation, he asked for some things from the audience. When Imran (r.a.) saw this, as if he was faced with a disaster, he said:

                                      اِنَّا لِله وَاِنّاَۤ اِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ

“Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raaciun: To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return.”^[5]

Then he said:

“One day the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“Whoever recites the Qur’an, he should ask for it from Allah. That is because there will be a time that people will recite the Qur’an and ask for something from people.” (Tirmidhi, Fadail al-Qur’an, 20/2917)

Qur’an is so valuable that it is impossible to compensate the rewards of learning and teaching it. Only Allah the Almighty can give its rewards in the best manner. How terrific the following two stories about those who acknowledged the value of the Qur’an are:

Imam Abu Hanifa gave five hundred dirhams to the teacher of his son Hammad when he taught Hammad the chapter Al-Fatiha. At the time, one could buy a ram for a dirham. The teacher found this generosity too much, for he had only taught the chapter al-Fatiha. Upon that Abu Hanifa said:

“Don’t belittle what you have taught to my son!  If we had more money with us then this amount, in order to show our respect for the Qur’an, we would give it to you.”^[6]

While Salahaddin Ayyubi was taking a walk in military quarters, he saw a kid reciting the Qur’an in front of his father. He liked the recitation of the kid and shared his food with him. He also donated part of his field to the kid and his father.^[7]

While learning Qur’an and teaching it is so rewarding in the sight of Allah, forgetting it or preventing it from being taught is a major sin. In a hadith the miserable consequences of forgetting the Qur’an are mentioned as follows:

“…The sins of my followers are submitted to me. I did not see a worse sin than them forgetting a Chapter or a verse from the Qur’an that they were blessed with.” (Abu Dawud, Salah, 16/461; Tirmidhi, Fadail al-Qur’an, 19/2916)

“Those who recite (learn) the Qur’an but then forget it will come to the presence of Allah on the Day of Judgment with empty hands and as deprived of goodness.” (Abu Dawud, Witr, 21/1474)

The term “forgetting” here means both literally forgetting the memorized and learned Qur’an and also not reciting the Qur’an regularly, not putting it into practice, and not paying attention to what is permissible (halal) and forbidden (haram.)  As a matter of fact the following verses express the same issue:

“But whosoever turns away from My Message, verily for him is a life narrowed down, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Judgment.”

He will say: “O my Lord! Why have You raised me up blind, while I had sight (before)?” (Allah) will say:

“Thus did you, when Our Signs came unto you, disregard them: so will you, this day, be disregarded.” (Taha; 20:124-126)

“He who has nothing of the Holy Qur’an in his heart is like a ruined house.” (Tirmidhi, Fadail al-Qur’an, 18/2913; Darimi, Fadail al-Qur’an, 1)

The implied purpose in learning and teaching Qur’an is for sure to put it into practice in every aspect of life. In order to realize this, one must try to understand the content of Qur’an. Our second hadith shows how Allah is pleased with the works and efforts in this way. That is because Allah the Exalted descends tranquility upon those who assemble and recite, study, and try to understand the meaning of His Exalted Book and covers them with His mercy, and the angels surround them and Allah makes a mention of them in the presence of those near Him. Thus, those servants who study the Qur’an receive the prayers and love of select angels in the sight of Allah.

Allah’s mercy covers such assemblies. All sins and faults of people who are present in such assemblies are forgiven except the sins of violating others’ rights. Angels of mercy surround them and protect them from every kind of evil and danger by taking them into a ring that extends from the Earth up to the sky. Angels give acuteness to their intelligence and openness and comfort to their hearts, and they in a sense visit them and shake their hands.

The Companions of the Prophet used to assemble and discuss the Qur’an and the hadith. Abu Nadra narrates:

“When the Companions gathered, they used to study knowledge (noble hadith) and recite a chapter from the Qur’an.” (Khatib al-Baghdadi, al-Faqih wa al-mutafaqqih, II, 126)

In the same manner, Ashab al-Suffa used to be present at Prophet’s Mosque and recite the Qur’an and learn and discuss it among themselves during the night. (Bukhari, Jihad, 9; Muslim, Imarah, 147)

In our hadith, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) gratified places where the Qur’an is studied as “the House of Allah.”  Here, the intention from the term “the Houses of Allah” is first of all mosques and praying rooms, and then every appropriate and clean place where Qur’an is recited, even our houses.

Getting the “education” of the Qur’an means to study deeply by focusing the mind and comprehension on Its verses and chapters one by one and to put them into practice by analyzing the fundamentals of the faith, the rules, the moral principles, and the knowledge covered in them.

The “tranquility (sakinah)” that is received by the students of the Qur’an purifies the hearts and fills them with the divine light. It also leads hearts to be filled with confidence and inner peace. By acknowledging the power of Allah, the owner of this kind of heart obtains a dignity that fits a believer well. Moreover, the Arabic word “sakina” (tranquility) not only means the descent of angels but also the name of the descending angel and angels of mercy.

A concrete example of the descent of “Sakina” is as follows:

Once Usaid b. Hudair, who had a nice voice, was reciting the Qur’an at night next to piles of dates and his horse was tied beside him with two long strings. Then, the horse suddenly reared up. When Usaid stopped reciting, the horse calmed down, and the same thing happened two more times. His younger son, Yahya was sleeping close to the horse. Usaid feared that the horse might hurt his kid, and he pulled the boy next to where he is. Then, when he looked towards the sky, he saw something like a cloud containing things that looked like lamps. These things slowly rose in the sky and then disappeared. The next morning he informed the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) what had happened. Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) said:

“That was as-Sakina (tranquility) which descended because of (the recitation of) the Qur’an” (Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Fadail al-Qur’an 11; Muslim, Musafirin 240-241)

In another narration:

“Those were Angels who came near to you for your recitation and if you had kept on reciting till dawn, they would have remained there till the morning when people would have seen them as they would not hide from people.” (See Bukhari, Fadail al-Qur’an, 15; Muslim, Musafirin, 242)

The Noble Companions made great sacrifices in order to understand the Qur’an and practice it. For this reason, several companions chose to become a disciple of the Qur’an in Suffa and lead in poor conditions. Maybe they did not receive any material benefits for their sacrifice, but their names will be remembered until the Day of Judgment. Thousands of people who have benefited from the knowledge that they bequeathed pray for them. One of these students, Abdullah b. Mas’ud (r.a.) said:

“By Allah other than Whom none has the right to be worshipped! There is no chapter revealed in the book of Allah but I know at what place it was revealed; and there is no verse revealed in Allah’s Book but I know about whom it is. If I hear that someone knows Qur’an better than I do and I know I can go to him with a camel, for sure I would take off right away to reach him.” (Bukhari, Fadail al-Qur’an, 8)

 Umar (r.a.) recited Qur’an by concentrating on understanding the verses and by deeply thinking through them and putting them into practice. His saying that “I have completed the chapter al-Baqarah in twelve years and to thank Allah, I have sacrificed a camel” proves this fact. (Qur­tu­bi, I, 40)

Imam Malik also reported that Abdullah b. Umar (r.a.) studied the verses of the chapter al-Baqara for eight years in order to learn it. (Muwatta, Qur’an, 11)

Al-Baji said:

“This is not due to the weakness of his intelligence or memory, God forbid (we take refuge in Allah from thinking this way.)  On the contrary, he was learning the obligatory acts (fards), rules, and other subjects related to them that are mentioned in Qur’an.” (Kattani, Taratib, II, 191)

A man asked Zaid b. Thabit (r.a.) what he thinks about reciting the entire Noble Qur’an in one week. Zaid b. Thabit said “it would be nice” and continued:

“However, I like reciting the entire Qur’an in fifteen or twenty^[8] days better. If you ask why, in this way I can think about the verses and understand them better.” (Muwatta, Qur’an, 4)