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Al Minah Al `Aliyyah (43)

‘Abdullah bin Hamoud al-Furaih

Published On: 13/6/2015 A.D. - 25/8/1436 H. Visited: 5594 times

How was the relationship between the Companions and Al-Qur ’an ?

In the previous Sunnan we referred to the hadith of Hudhaifa t mentioned that the Prophet r read Surat ul-Baqarah in one raka’ah then Surat ul-Nisa’ in the second and Surat ul-‘Imran in the final. Abu Wa’il narrated through ‘Abdullah t who said, “I was praying with the Prophet r and he stood for a long time. I thought about doing something evil.” We said, “What was it?” He said, “I thought about sitting down and letting the Prophet r continue his standing in prayer.”^{^[1]}

In the two Sahih ahadith, Abdullah Ibn ‘Amr  said that the Prophet r told him to read the entire Qur’an at least once a month. It was reported from Abu Salamah t, from ‘Abdullah bin Amr t that the Prophet r said, “Recite the Qur’an in one month.” He responded, “I find myself (more) energetic.” The Prophet r said, “Recite it in twenty (days).” He responded, “I find myself (more) energetic.” The Prophet r said, “Recite it in fifteen.” He responded, “I find myself (more) energetic.” The Prophet r said, “Recite it in ten.” He responded, “I find myself (more) energetic.” So he (the Prophet, r said, “Recite it in seven and do not do more than that.”^{^[2]} The Prophet r gave the companions a chance to regain the reward if they slept before reading their wird (i.e. a specific portion of the Qur’an that should be read on a daily basis) of the Qur’an. He said, “Whoever misses reading his hizb (portion) at night and reads it from when the sun has passed the meridian until the dhuhr prayer has not missed it, or it is as if he has caught it.”^{^[3]}

Aus Ibn Hudhaifa t said, “I asked the companions of the Messenger r: ‘How do you divide the Qur’an?’ They said: ‘3 Surahs, and 5 Surahs, and 7 Surahs, and 9 Surahs, and 11 Surahs, and the section of the “Mufassal” from Surah Qaaf until the end.”^{^[4]} They mean the first three Surat on the first day, then the coming five Surat… until they completed the Qur’an in a week. Our ancestors were the same as the companions that were taught in their school. History tells us that they recited the Qur’an very frequently and completed it every few days or over a short period of time like a week.

Hamad Ibn Zaid said that Ataa’ Ibn El-Sai’b (may Allah be pleased with him) said that Aba Abd-El-Rahman said: “We took the Qur’an from some people who said: ‘When we would learn 10 verses of the Qur’an, we should not jump to learn new ones until we applied these 10 into our lives. Thus, we used to learn the Qur’an and act accordingly. Yet, some people might come after us who would not apply the Qur’an to their lives.”^{^[5]}

Dhikr revives the heart:

In this day and age, many people complain of the hardness of their hearts due to their preoccupancy with this worldly life, thus their heart forgets the remembrance of Allah. In a hadith collected in Sahih Al-Bukhari, Abu Mousa Al-Ash’ri t said that the Prophet r said:

“The example of the one who remembers his Lord (God) in comparison with the one who does not remember his Lord is that of the living and the dead.”

In Muslim’s narration,

“The example of the house in which Allah’s name is remembered and the house in which Allah’s name is not remembered is that of the living and the dead.”^{^[6]}

In Madarij as-Salikeen, in the chapter of

“The value of the Dhikr,”

Imam Ibn Al-Qayyem said,

“Al-Dhikr is from the greatest stages of the pious. ‘You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything),’ from which people increase their strength on their path to Allah. They always go to this stage which makes the connection. It is the light of life which if they forget, their bodies become like empty vessels. Ad-Dhikr is a kind of treatment for the heart. When man increases his/her remembrance of Allah, his/her love and longing for Allah increases too. It is the greatest means for the slave to connect with Allah which is never closed except by the slave who forgets Allah.”^{^[7]}

Ibn Al-Qayyem mentioned in Al-Wabil as-Saiib more than 100 benefits of doing Al-Dhikr. It is better to read the Qur’an to increase your will to maintain this great worship. He gave examples for those who remembered Allah often, like his beloved teacher, Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah.