The Merits of Reciting the Glorious Qur'an

 

The merits of reciting the Glorious Qur'an are mentioned in both the Glorious Qur'an and the Purified Sunnah. In the Glorious Qur'an, Allah, Most High, says,

 

(those who rehearse the Book of Allah, establish regular Prayer, and spend (in charity) out of what We have provided for them, secretly and openly, hope for commerce that will never fail: For He will pay them their meed, nay, He will give them (even) more out of His Bounty: for He is Qft-Forgiving, Most Ready to appreciate (service).   

(Fatir: 29-30)

The Glorious Qur'an, moreover, praises a group of the People of the Book, saying,

 

Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (for the right); they rehearse the Signs (verses) of Allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. 

(Al `Imran: 113)

The Sunnah, likewise, highlights the merits of reciting the Glorious Qur'an in more than one hadith. Following are some examples:

 

`A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,

 

"Whoever recites the Qur'an and masters it by heart, will be with the noble righteous scribes (in Heaven). And, whoever exerts himself ‌to learn the Qur'an by heart, and recites it with great difficulty, will have a doable reward. "[1]

 

Apparently, the person who recites the Glorious Qur'an with great difficulty will be rewarded twice as much as the person who reads it with ease as the former bears the burdens of reading while he is not well-versed in reciting the Qur'an, which is a sign of his determination to read the Book of Allah, Most High.

 

Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say,

 

'Read the Qur'an, for it will intercede on behalf of its readers on the Day of Judgment. "'[2]

 

Ibn Mas`ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,

 

"Whoever reads a single letter of the Book of Allah, will be rewarded (as he has done a good deed) and his reward will be multiplied tenfold... "[3]

 

Abu Sa`id (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,

 

"Allah, Most High, says, 'Whoever concerns himself with reading the Qur'an more titan asking Me, will be responded to by Me better than those who continually ask Me. The superiority of the Words of Allah over other words is like the superiority of Allah over His creation. "[4]

 

`Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,

 

"On the Day of Judgment, both Fasting and the Qur'an will intercede on behalf of the servant (of Allah): Fasting will say, 'O Allah! I prevented him from. Food and drink, so let me intercede on behalf of him; while the Qur'an will say, I prevented him from sleep during the night, so let me intercede on behalf of him. "' He (the Prophet) added, "Their intercession will be accepted (by Allah). "[5]

 

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,

 

"There is no envy except in two: one who, having been given (knowledge of)? The Qur'an by Allah recites it during the night and day (and also acts upon it)... and a person, having been given wealth by Allah, spends it in the right way. "[6]

 

"Envy" in the hadith means wishing to have the like of what another has, without the desire of any evil to the one he envies. This kind of envy is passable, which .is contrary to the other abhorred kind, which includes the desire of evil to others.

 

Reciting the Glorious Qur'an, moreover, has an influence on the hypocrites. In this connection, Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari reported that Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said,

 

"The example of a believer, who recites the Qur'an, is that of a citron which smells good and tastes good; and the example of a believer who does not recite the Qur'an, is that of a date which has no smell but tastes sweet; and the example of a hypocrite who recites the Qur'an. is that of an aromatic plant which smells good but tastes bitter; and the example of a hypocrite who does not recite the Qur'an, is that of a colocynth plant which has no smell and is bitter in taste. "[7]

 

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "The house, in which the Qur'an is recited, will seem spacious, contain abundant provision, be visited by angels, and be abandoned by devils. In contrast, the house, in which the Qur'an is not recited, will seem limited, contain scant provision, be abandoned by angels, and be visited by devils."[8]

 

`Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,

 

"(On the Day of Judgment,) it will be said to the reciter of the Qur'an, 'Read (the Qur'an) and occupy higher degrees. Recite (the Qur'an) as you used to recite it in the world, for your position will be at the end of the last Qur'anic verse you read. [9]

 

The Book of Allah, the Glorious Qur'an, has a positive influence on the hearts of people; an influence which is admitted even by the unbelievers. The unbelievers used to command each Other not to listen to the Qur'an fearing that it might influence them to embrace Islam. The Glorious Qur'an refers to this fact, saying,

 

(The unbelievers say: Listen not to this Qur'an, but talk at random in the midst of its (reading), that ye may gain the upper hand.)

(Fussilat: 26)

ln the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him), some unbelievers used to hide and listen to the Prophet (peace be upon him) while he was reciting the Glorious Qur'an. Once, Al-Walid ibn Al-Mughirah listened to the Prophet (peace be upon him) while the latter was reciting the following Qur'anic verse:

 

(Allah. commands justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin, and He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, that ye may receive admonition. 

(An-Nah]: 90)

 

Thereupon, Al-Mughirah asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) to read the same Qur'anic verse once more. On hearing the recitation of that verse again, Al-Mughirah commented, "By Allah! This (speech) has sweetness, is covered with elegance". And it is not the saying of a human being."[10]

 

On hearing the Glorious Qur'an, the jinn[11] said, as the Qur'an states,

 

{We have really heard a wonderful Recital! It gives guidance to the Right, and we have believed therein: We shall not join (in worship) any (gods) with our Lord.   (Al-Jinn: 1-2)

 

Lately, Dr. Ahmad Al-Qadi and some Muslim physicians conducted some experiments 0n a number of patients, including Muslims, non-Muslims, Arab, and non-Arab, to monitor the Influence of the Glorious Qur'an on them. After listening to the Qur'an, the conclusions, however, proved to be amazing. The Glorious Qur'an had a positive influence on all of them irrespective Of their religion or language. Yet, degrees of influence have differed according to some criteria such as language and religion. No wonder, the Glorious Qur'an enjoys this influential characteristic for it is the Word of Allah, Most High.

 

 

[1] Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.

 

[2] Reported by Muslim.

 

[3] Reported by At-Tirmidhi.

 

[4] Reported by At-Tirmidhi.

 

[5] Reported by Ahmad.

 

[6] Reported by Al-Bukhari.

 

[7] Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.

 

[8] Al-Ghazali. ihya' `Uhon Ad-Din.

 

[9] Reported by Abu Dawud.

 

[10] Reported by Al-Bayhaqi in Ash-Shu`ab on the authority of ibn `Abbas.

 

[11] in Islam, This word (Jinn) means a spirit that is capable of assuming human or animal form and exercising supernatural influence over people.