Islam Fundamental Principles and Teachings

The Qur’an, the Prophet’s Eternal Miracle

Bearers of the Qur’an and its Traits Imam S{a>diq (A) said the Prophet, (S), said, “The first people who should be submissive to Allah in private and in public are the bearers and upholders54 of the Qur’an, and the first people who should observe prayer and fasting in public and in private are the

51 ibid, p178 52 ibid, p179 53 ibid, p180 54 i.e. uphold and adhere to the teachings of the Qur’an in all aspects of his life, personal, social, etc.

bearers and upholders of the Qur’an. Then the Prophet said in his loudest voice, “O upholders of the Qur’an, be humble by virtue of the Qur’an, Allah will uplift you and do not boast by it for Allah will bring you low. O upholders of the Qur’an adorn yourself by it for Allah’s sake and Allah will adorn you by it. And adorn not for the people for Allah would disgrace you by it.

He who completes reading the whole Qur’an [learning and implementing its teachings] he would subsequently [be such that] insults not those who insult him, angers not those who annoy him, saddens not those who sadden him.

Instead he forgives, ignores, pardons and forebears in concordance with the Qur’an and honouring its teachings. If one has some knowledge of the Qur’an but thinks someone else has some thing better than what he has, he certainly has revered what Allah has belittled, and belittled what Allah has revered.”55

Imam Baqir (A) has said, “The readers of the holy Qur’an are three: one who considers the reading of the Qur’an as a commodity to go round to the kings and seeks to dominate people.

And there is one who learns and memorizes the letters of Qur’an but looses its laws and teachings and treats it like the treatment of water cup56. May Allah let not the number of such carriers of the Qur’an increase. And there is one who reads the Qur’an and holds it to be the medicine for the ills of his heart. He keeps awake reading it at night, and endures thirst in the heat of the midday, and he stands up with it in his mosques, and leaves his bed empty at night for prayer with the holy Qur’an.

It is through these people that Allah repels misfortunes, and defeats the enemies, and through these people Allah sends down the rain from the skies. I swear by Allah that amongst the readers of Qur’an they are more precious than red sulphur.”57

55 ibid, p181 56 i.e. just as traveller who leaves the cup behind him when he finishes with it. 57 ibid, p182

Allah’s Messenger (S) said, “If two categories of people in my Ommah were virtuous the whole of my Ommah will be righteous, and if these two were corrupt, it will be corrupt; the leaders and readers58.”59

The learned of the Qur’an who does not practice it Allah’s Messenger (S) said, “If one reads the Qur’an and then drinks something unlawful or gets indulged in love of the worldly things, he becomes subject to the wrath of Allah unless he repents, and if he dies without repenting, He would refute and rebut him on the Day of Judgement, and He would not leave him until He has proven as false all his arguments and excuses60.”61

Allah’s Messenger (S) said, “One who learns the Qur’an and does not follow its guidance and instead prefers to love the worldly things and its adornment, he becomes subject to the wrath of Allah and he would be of the same rank as the Jews and Christians who threw the Book of Allah behind their backs. One who reads the Qur’an seeking reputation and worldly gains, he will meet Allah on the day of judgement with his face is only bone with no flesh on, and the Qur’an will push him at his back until he is thrown into Hell wherein he will fall with all those who will fall therein.

He who reads the Qur’an and does not act upon it, he will be resurrected blind on the day of judgement, and he will say, .My Lord, why have you raised me blind while in the world I was a seeing one? [Allah] will say, “so did you when Our signs came to you but you neglected them and so today you will be neglected.62 and he will be ordered to Hell. One who reads the Qur’an in order to please Allah and to understand religion, his reward will be like the rewards of all the angels, the prophets, and the messengers. 58 By ‘readers’ it is meant ‘scholars’, and ‘Ommah’ means ‘nation’.

59 ibid, p183 60 . . . and thus he would not be allowed to paradise. 61 ibid, p182 62 The Qur’an, [20:125-126]

One who reads the Qur’an seeking boast and fame in order to argue with the unlearned and boast before the scholars and make worldly gains, Allah will scatter his bones on the day of judgement and no one in the fire will have more severe sufferings than him, and there will be no punishment which he will not suffer given the severity of Allah’s wrath against him.

And he who learns the Qur’an and is humble in knowledge and teaches the servants of Allah seeking Allah’s rewards, no one in Paradise will be of greater rewards than him, nor of higher ranks then him, and there shall be no position or prominent degree in Paradise except that he will have the greatest share in and most honourable position of.”63

Allah’s Messenger (S) said, “In Hell there is a valley that the people of Hell seek protection from seventy thousand times every day.” The Prophet was asked who this punishment is for. The prophet replied, “For the wine drinker and he who gives up his prayers from amongst the people of the Qur’an.”64

Husayn ibn Zayd has narrated from Imam S{a>diq, (A), who has narrated from the holy Prophet, (S), who said, “Whoever learns the holy Qur’an and then forgets it, he will meet Allah on the day of judgement tied up in chains and for each verse that he has forgotten Allah will send to him a snake that will stay with him in Hell until Allah forgives him.”65 What is meant by “forgetting” in the hadith is to ignore and abandon the laws and guidance of the holy Qur’an.

63 ibid, p183-184 64 ibid, p184 65 ibid, p196

The Qur’an in all circumstances

Mo’a>wiyah ibn Amma>r narrates from Imam S{a>diq, (A), who said about the Prophet’s guidance to Imam Ali, (A), “You must read the holy Qur’an in all circumstances.”66 Al-Zuhri has said, I asked Imam Zayn al-Abidin (A), “Which deed is more virtuous?” He said, “Opening the Qur’an and reading to the end and whenever coming to the beginning of the Qur’an read it to the end.”67

Imam Mossa> al-Ka>dim (A), said, “The degrees of ranks in Paradise are equal to the number of the verses of holy Qur’an. One is told to read a verse and ascend and so one would read and ascend.”68

Imam Ba>qir, (A) said, “Whoever reads the Qur’an in his prayer standing up Allah will write for him for each letter one hundred virtues, and for one who reads from the holy Qur’an in the sitting position Allah will write fifty virtues for each letter read. One who reads the holy Qur’an in a state other then during one’s prayer, Allah will write for him ten virtues for each letter

.”69 Bashir ibn Gha>lib al-Asadi narrates from Imam Husayn (A) who said, “Whoever reads from the holy Qur’an in his prayer in a standing position, Allah will write for him one hundred virtues for each letter, and if one reads from the holy Qur’an in the conditions other than during prayer, Allah will write for him ten virtues for each letter, and if one listens to when the holy Qur’an is read, Allah will reward him for each letter one virtue. If one completes reading the holy Qur’an at night, the angles will pray for him until morning, and if he completes during the day the angles will pray for him until evening and his prayers will be accepted, and this

66 ibid, p186 67 ibid, p186 68 ibid, p187 69 ibid, p187

will be better for him than all that is between the heavens and earth.” I said, “This is for the reader of the holy Qur’an, how about one who does not read the holy Qur’an?” He said, “Allah is generous and glorious and kind, whatever one would read from the holy Qur’an from memory Allah will reward him accordingly.”70 Listening to the Qur’an

Muhammad ibn Bashir narrates from Imam Zayn ul-Abidin, (A), and this Hadith is also narrated from Imam S{a>diq, (A), who said, “One who just listens to the holy Qur’an being recited, for every letter Allah will register for him one good deed, deletes one of his bad deeds and raises him one degree higher.

One who reads the holy Qur’an by looking at it but not in the state of prayer, Allah will write for him one good deed for each letter, deletes one of his bad deeds, and raises him one degree higher. One who learns one visible letter from the holy Qur’an, Allah will write for him the ten good deeds, delete ten of his bad deeds and raise him ten degrees higher.

” The Imam said, “I do not say for each verse, but I say for each letter, like Alif, or Ba>’, or Ta>’, or suchlike.” The Imam then said, “One who reads from the holy Qur’an in his prayers in the sitting position, Allah will register for him fifty good deeds for each letter, delete fifty of his bad deeds, and raise him fifty degrees higher.

One who reads from the holy Qur’an in his prayer while standing, Allah will register for him one hundred good deeds, delete one hundred of his bad deeds, and raise him one hundred degrees higher. One who reads the holy Qur’an completely, his prayers will be answered sooner or later.” I asked the Imam, “Sir, all of the Qur’an?” He said, “yes, all of the Qur’an.”71

Ishaq ibn Ammar has narrated from Imam S{a>diq (A) who said, “One who reads one hundred verses of the holy Qur’an in his

70 ibid, p187 71 ibid, p188

prayer during the night, Allah will write for him the reward for worshipping for the whole night. One who reads two hundred verses of the holy Qur’an in a condition other than the state of night prayer, Allah will write for him on the protected tablet a Quintal of good deeds, and a Quintal is equal to one thousand two hundred measures each of which is bigger than Mount Oh}od.

”72 Anas narrates from the holy Prophet (S) who said, “One who reads one hundred verses of the Qur’an his name will not be written among the names of the gha>fileen (the people who are heedless) and one who reads two hundred verses from the holy Qur’an, his name will be written among the names of qa>niteen (the obedient) and one who reads three hundred verses, the holy Qur’an will not argue against him.”73

The Opening Surah of the Qur’an and its Merits

Imam Hasan al-Askary (A) narrates from his forefathers who said, “The Opening Surah of the Book is the most honourable of all the treasures of the throne . . . Whoever reads with faith in the love of the Prophet and his family, Allah will give him for each letter one good deed, each of which is better for him than the whole world and all that it contains of the various kinds of wealth and good things, and one who listens to this Surah being recited he will have the same amount of reward as that of the reader, thus you should read it as much as you can.”74

Allah’s messenger said, “The best act of worship is reading the Qur’an”75

It is narrated from the holy Prophet, (S), who said, “This Qur’an is the rope of Allah and it is the elucidating light, and the beneficial cure . . . so read it for Allah will give you the reward of ten good

72 ibid, p190 73 ibid, p190 74 ibid, p190 75 ibid, p191

deeds for each letter that you read. I do not say that for ‘ALM’ is ten, but in fact, for ‘A’ is ten and for ‘L’ is ten and for ‘M’ is ten.”76

It is narrated from the holy Prophet, (S), who said, “The companion of the holy Qur’an will be told, “read and ascend, and recite the way you use to recite in the world before this; your final destination will be the last verse that you recite.”77 The holy Prophet (S) has said, “One who reads the Qur’an is as if prophethood is incorporated within him except that divine revelation does not come to him.”78

The prophet said, “Almighty Allah said, ‘He who got carried away with reading the Qur’an and did not perform supplication to me, I shall give him the best reward of the thankful.”79

On Forgetting the Holy Qur’an

Abu Bas}ir has narrated from Imam S{a>diq, (A), who said, “If one forgets a surah of the holy Qur’an that he had memorized, on the day of judgement that surah will come to him in a beautiful form and with a high rank in Paradise, and when one sees it, asks, “what are you? how beautiful you are! I wish you belonged to me.” The surah will say, “Do you not know me? I am surah so and so of the Qur’an, had you not forgotten me; I could have taken you to this high position.”80

Ya’qub al-Ah}mar said, “I said to Imam S{a>diq, (A), “I have a lot of debt and the consequences from this is affecting me such that I am about to forget some of the holy Qur’an.” The Imam, (A), said, “The Qur’an! The Qur’an! On the day of judgement the verses and the surah of the holy Qur’an will ascend one thousand degrees

76 ibid, p191 77 ibid, p191 78 ibid, p191 79 ibid, p192 80 ibid, p193

in Paradise and say, “If you had not forgotten me I would have taken you here.”81

Ya’qub al-Ah}mar has said, “I said to Imam S{a>diq, (A), “Master, I am facing such problems, and difficulties that there remains none of the mustah}ab [i.e. desirable and recommended] acts save that some of it has escaped me, to the extent that even some of the Qur’an has escaped me.

” The Imam was shocked and said, “If a man forgets a surah of the Qur’an on the day of judgement that surah will come to him with a certain rank and greets him and the man asks, “Who are you? The Surah of the holy Qur’an will say, “I am Surah so and so of the holy Qur’an which you forgot, and I wish you had not have forgotten me, so that today I could have taken you to such and such high ranks and it will point to a certain rank.” The Imam then said, “You must be very careful about the holy Qur’an. Some people learn the holy Qur’an so that others would call him a very good reciter of the holy Qur’an.

Some people learn the holy Qur’an so that others would praise him for very good tune of reciting the holy Qur’an and there is nothing good in all of this. Some people learn the holy Qur’an and all night reading and contemplating the holy Qur’an, and during the day too, and they do not care whether others know his learning the holy Qur’an or not.”82

Saed ibn Abdullah al-A’raj has said, “I asked Imam S{a>diq about a person who reads the Qur’an and then forgets it, reads it and then forgets it again, will there be any blame against him?” The Imam said, “No.”83

Etiquettes of Reading the Qur’an

Muhammad ibn Fod}ayl has said that I said to Imam S{a>diq, (A), “On occasions when I am reading the Holy Qur’an, I need to use

81 ibid, p194 82 ibid, p194 83 ibid, p195

the lavatory. I return once I have washed myself and my hands and continue reading the Holy Qur’an, [is this ok]?” The Imam responded, “not until you have performed the wud}u [the ritual wash] for prayers.”84

The author of al-Khis}a>l narrates from Imam Ali, (A), who said, “One must not read the holy Qur’an without wud}u.”85

Ahmad ibn Fahd has said in ‘Oddat-ul-Da>’i that Imam Ali, (A), has said, “For every letter that one reads of the holy Qur’an in his prayer in a standing position Allah will give the reward for one hundred good deeds, fifty for each letter if one reads them in his prayers sitting and the reward of twenty good deeds if one reads them with wud}u but not in the state of prayer and the reward of ten good deeds if one reads them without wud}u. I do not say that ‘ALMR’ as one, but in fact, for each letters (A) (L) (M) (R) there will be ten rewards.”86

It is narrated from Imam Hasan al-Askari, (A), who has said in his commentary of the holy Qur’an, “as for His word that Allah has called upon you and commanded you to it when reciting the Qur’an: “I seek refuge in Allah, the Listening and the Omniscient, from the Satan, the condemned”, Amir-ul-Mu’minin has said, His word “I seek refuge in Allah”, means I protect myself through Allah.” Seeking refuge is what Allah has commanded His servants to when they read the Qur’an, in His word .

So when you read the Qur’an, seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.. And when one disciplines himself with Allah’s discipline it will lead him to eternal prosperity. Then he mentioned the long Hadith from the holy Prophet, (S), in which he said, “If you want to be not harmed by the evils of Satan, you should say every morning,

84 ibid, p196 85 ibid, p 196 86 ibid, p197

“I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, for Allah will give you protection against their evils.”87 The Qur’an is Allah’s Covenant, so Adhere to it Imam S{a>diq (A) said, “The Qur’an is the covenant between Allah and His creatures. A Muslim must look into his covenant and read at least fifty verses from it every day.”88 Imam Sajja>d (A) said, “Verses of the Qur’an are treasures, and whenever a treasure is opened one should look into it to find what there is in it.”89

Imam Rid}a>, (A), said, “it is imperative for one read (at least) fifty verses of the Qur’an after the ta’qeeba>t [the follow on supplications and acts of worship of the Morning Prayer].

”90 Imam S{a>diq, (A), said, “The house in which a Muslim recites the holy Qur’an in is seen by the people of the heavens just as the people of the Earth see the star in the heavens.91 Imam S{a>diq quotes Amir-ul-Mu’minin, Ali, (A), who said, “A house in which the holy Qur’an is read and Allah is mentioned often, its blessings increase, the angels come to it, the devils move out of it, and it shines to the people in heavens just as stars shine to the people of the earth. And the house in which the holy Qur’an is not read and Allah is not mentioned, its blessings decrease, the angels move out of it and devils move in.”92

Imam S{a>diq said, “My father would assemble us together and would order us to say dhikr until sunrise; he would order those of us who could read to read [the Qur’an] and to those who could not

87 ibid, p197 88 ibid, p198 89 ibid, p198 90 ibid, p198 91 ibid, p199 92 ibid, p199

read, he would order them to say dhikr. The house in which the Qur’an is read and Allah is mentioned has its blessings increase.”93

The Prophet (S) said, “Light up your houses by reciting the Qur’an and do not turn them into graves as the Jews and Christians had done; they would pray in their Synagogue and Churches and abandoned their houses. For the house in which Qur’an is often recited would have its blessings increase, its people prosper and it would shine to the people of the heavens just as stars of the heavens shine to the people of the earth.”94

Imam Ali al-Rida (A) has narrated from the holy Prophet (S) who said, “Set for your house a share from the holy Qur’an; for the house in which the Qur’an is recited brings ease and comfort for its people, its blessings increase, and its dwellers will be plenty, and if the Qur’an is not recited in it then it will become difficult for the household, its blessings diminish, and its inhabitants will be in need.”95