Reminder: Where art thou, O People of Qur’aan?

Tuesday 2^nd February 2010

In the Name of Allaah, the Possessor of Mercy, the Disposer of Mercy.

All praise is due to Allaah, the most worthy of praise; a praise superior to all other praise, just like the superiority of Allaah over all of His creation. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allaah, He is one without partners. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger, without doubting his truthfulness; may Allaah bestow blessings upon him, his family and companions, as long as the clouds bring about rain, and the thunder comes after lighting.

As to what follows: Brothers and Sisters, I was listening to a lecture by one of the scholars from Kuwait, and he mentioned an incident; once he entered Masjid an-Nabwi in Madeenah, and he observed that there was a non-Arab man, who would cry and weep when the Qur’aan would be recited. The Shaykh said that he found this bizarre, and so he approached the man and asked, “Do you understand the meaning of what’s being said?” The man replied, “No.” The Shaykh then asked, “So why is it that you cry, if you don’t understand?” Take heed of the man’s response brothers and sisters; he said, “You’re right, I don’t understand what’s being recited, but what I do know is that these are the words of Allaah, my Lord, and this is why I cry!”[1]

SubhanAllaah, realise brothers and sisters, that no speech, no book has such an affect on a person and the heart, except the Speech of Allaah!!

It is sad and unfortunate that we as Muslims have abandoned the Qur’aan and distanced ourselves from it. People no longer recite it, read it, ponder over its meanings. You’ll find many people placing the Qur’aan on the top shelf, thinking they are respecting it by putting it on a high place, however, if they are to just leave it there, allowing dust to gather on top of it, then this can actually be considered a form of disrespect!

And all of this is surprising, considering the fact that the Messenger of Allaah has made mention of virtue after virtue of the people who attach themselves to the Qur’aan; of them is the narration:

اقرأوا القرآن فإنه يأتي يوم القيامة شفيعا لأصحابه

“Recite the Qur’aan, for indeed on the Day of Judgement it will come as an intercessors for its companion!”[2]

On that day, when the sun is just above our heads, everyone in panic, and none to help whether it is one’s mother, father, friends and so on; on this day, the Qur’aan will come and intercede on behalf of the one who would devote himself to it.

Brothers and Sisters, the question arises, how do we achieve closeness to the Qur’aan and ultimately Allaah? What are the practical steps we can take?

1) Set aside some time in your day to read the Qur’aan. This can be as little as 5 minutes; but one should try and ensure that he is consistent in this!

2) Change your mind set when reading the Qur’aan. Many of us see the Qur’aan as a mere book, like any other dry, academic textbook, when this is absolutely not the case. It was said:

إن من كان قبلكم رأوا القرآن رسائل من ربهم فكانوا يتدبرونه بالليل ويتفقدزنه بالنهار
“Indeed those who came before you used to see the Qur'an as personal letters from their Lord, so they would contemplate it by night and yearn for it by day.”[3]

So the next time you open the mushaf (copy of the Qur’aan) then remember, Allaah is speaking to YOU!!

May Allaah make us from the People of al-Qur’aan…Aameen!!!

Any mistakes, errors, are from myself and the Shaytaan, and anything good is from Allaah alone.

‘Abdun

(A Slave of the Oft-Forgiving)

www.abdun.wordpress.com

[1] – from a lecture by Shaykh Naasir al-Qaatimi, “For the Ones Who Love the Qur’aan”

[2] – Reported in Saheeh Muslim

[3] – Hasan ibn ‘Alee (radiyaAllaahu ‘anhu)