Class 2
BEST OF YOU
PEOPLE OF QURAN
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“The best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari.
He ﷺ also said, Do not wish to be like anyone, except in two cases: (1) A man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it righteously.
(2) A man whom Allah has given wisdom (knowledge of the Qur’an and the Hadith) and he acts according to it and teaches it to others.
[Sahih Al Bukhari]
The Qur’an is the Word of Allah; a guidance for humankind in everything from Aqeedah to afterlife from morals to way of life., a book that gives glad tidings to those who believe and warnings against disbelief; reminders for the heart and the mind.
The Quran is the Speech of Allah, and Allah’s Speech has superiority over the speech of humans just as the Creator has superiority and excellence over His creation; it teaches Aqeedah, reminds us the main purpose of life, commands us to follow the Prophet ﷺ and gives guidelines for our daily life. Therefore learning and teaching is better and more virtuous than all other good and virtuous deeds.
The seeker of knowledge should begin by attaining knowledge of the Quran since it is the greatest of the branches of knowledge.
The Sunnah for the one reciting the Quran is to utter the words and reflect, as Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“[This is] a blessed Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that they might reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded” [Saad 38:29]
“Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an, or are there locks upon [their] hearts?” [Muhammad 47:24].
It was narrated that Ibn Mas‘ood said: If one of us learned ten verses, he would not go beyond them until he learned their meanings and put them into practice.
It was narrated that Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan as-Sulami said: Those of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ who taught us the Qur’an told us that they used to learn ten verses from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and they would not learn the next ten until they had learned what those ten verses contained of knowledge and dictated of actions. They said: So we learned knowledge along with how to act upon it.
Prophet ﷺ - The Walking Quran
‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) was asked: O Mother of the believers, tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. She said: Do you not read the Quran? I said: Of course. She said: The character of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was the Quran….” (Sahih Muslim).
According to another report: “O Mother of the believers, tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. She said: O my son, do you not read the Quran? Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And verily, you (O Muhammad ) are on an exalted (standard of) character” [al-Qalam 68:4]. The character of Muhammad was the Quran. (Narrated by Abu Ya’la (8/275) with a saheeh isnaad).
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Sharh Muslim (3/268): What this means is that he acted in accordance with it, adhering to its limits, following its etiquette, paying heed to its lessons and parables, pondering its meanings and reciting it properly. End quote.
PEOPLE OF ALLAH
Ibn Maajah (215) and Ahmad (11870) narrated that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Verily Allah has His own people among mankind.” They said: O Messenger of Allah, who are they? He ﷺ said: “They are the people of the Qur’an, Allah’s own people and those who are closest to Him.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah.
Al-Minnaawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “That is, those who memorise the Qur’an and act in accordance with it are the people of Allah, who are as close to Allah as a person’s family is to him. They are called thus by way of honouring them, just as (the Ka‘bah) is called the House of Allah”.
It is not sufficient for a person just to recite Qur’an in order to be one of the people of the Qur’an, unless he also acts in accordance with it, adheres to its limits and follows its teachings.
The one who wants to be included in the words of the Prophet ﷺ about the people of the Qur’an being Allah’s own people and those who are closest to Him should not complete the Qur’an in more than a month.
Al-Bukhaari (1978) narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Read the Qur’an (once) every month….”
No day should pass without us looking in our Mus-haf and reciting the words of our Lord. So, we should have a daily portion that we always read, and the minimum of that should be approximately one juz’ of the Qur’an, although the more we do the better. In addition to that, we should reflect and act upon what those verses contain of morals and manners.
Imam Ahmad narrated in az-Zuhd (p. 128) that ‘Uthmaan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I do not like any day or night to pass me by without me looking in the Book of Allah – referring to reading from the Mus-haf”.
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The scholars disliked a day to pass without the individual looking in his Mus-haf.”
Shaykh Ibn Jibreen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Those who read the Qur’an throughout the year are the people of the Qur’an, who are Allah’s own people and the closest to Him.”
The Muslim should be concerned with the Qur’an, and be among those who recite it as it should be recited, regarding as permissible what it permits and as forbidden what it forbids, acting in accordance with the verses that are clear in meaning, believing in the verses that are ambiguous in meaning, pausing and wondering at what it tells of wondrous things, contemplating the likenesses it gives, learning lessons from its stories and what it contains, and putting into practice its teachings, because the Qur’an was revealed to be acted upon and put into practice, even though recitation in itself is a righteous deed that brings reward.
It is better for the individual to have a daily portion that he recites after ‘Isha’, or after Fajr, or after ‘Asr, and so on. If you do that, you will find that the Qur’an will have an impact on you, and you will start to love the words of Allah and find pleasure, sweetness and joy in the Qur’an; at that point you will never become bored of listening to it or of reciting it.
These are the attributes and characteristics of the believer who should be one of the people of the Qur’an, who are Allah’s own people and those who are closest to Him. End quote.
QURAN IS THE BEST DHIKR
The best form of Dhikr (Remembrance of Allah) is reciting the Qur'an, because it is the words of Allaah. Allah (Exalted be He) orders us to recite it, contemplate it, and act according to it.
Whoever would like to be among those who remember Allah, should be among those who recite the Book of Allah as it should be recited, reciting it in the mosque, reciting it in his house, reciting it in his workplace, never neglecting the Qur’an; he should not recite it only in the month of Ramadan.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The believer who recites the Qur’an is like a citron whose fragrance is sweet and whose taste is delicious. A believer who does not recite the Qur’an is like a date-fruit which has no fragrance but has a sweet taste. The hypocrite who recites the Qur’an is like a colocynth whose fragrance is so sweet, but its taste is bitter. The hypocrite who does not recite the Qur’an is like basil which has no fragrance and its taste is bitter.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
VIRTUES OF RECITING THE QURAN
There are many vitrues and rewards but we enlist some here that are concerning just reciting the Quran.
The Prophet ﷺ said,
Intercession. “Read the Qur’an, for it will come as an intercessor for its reciters on the Day of Resurrection.” [Muslim].
Great Rewards for reciting. “Whoever recites a harf of the Book of Allah will have one hasanah for it, and each hasanah brings a tenfold reward. I do not say that Alif-Laam-Meem is a harf; rather alif is a harf, laam is a harf and meem is a harf.” (At-Tirmidhi, classed as saheeh by Sheikh al-Albaani). Approximately 321,180 letters x10 rewards = 3,211,800 (or more, as Allah wills)
Double reward for Trying. “The one who is proficient in the recitation of the Qur’an will be with the honourable and obedient scribes (angels) and he who recites the Qur’an and finds it difficult to recite, doing his best to recite it in the best way possible, will have a double reward.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Also, Al Baraa reported that a man was reciting Sooratul-Kahf and there was a horse tied with two ropes at his side, when a cloud overshadowed him. As it began to come nearer and nearer his horse began to take fright from it. He went and mentioned that to the Prophet ﷺ in the morning, who said: “It was tranquility [as-Sakeenah] which came down at the recitation of the Qur’aan.” (Sahih Bukhari)
Tips to maintain relation with Quran
Here are 10 tips to help you start, develop and maintain a strong relationship with the book of Allah, no matter how busy you are in sha Allah:
Set your goals
Set a target for yourself. Do you want to complete the entire Qur’an or focus on particular surahs? Is there a portion you want to successfully memorize? Whatever the case may be, setting yourself realistic and measurable goals will help keep you focused to achieve it insha’Allah.
Write it down in your diary, phone or wall – keep it around you before your eyes so you always remember what the goal is. Make it a tangible goal where you can see real progress.
Your goals don’t have to be massive, they can be small. They just need to be consistent.
Set a time for Qur’an
We can set as many goals as we like, but without being prepared or planning the journey to that destination, it can be extremely difficult. Easy and common way is to do it after any of the 5 daily prayers or with night prayer (Tahajjud). The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever prays Fajr in congregation, then sits remembering Allah until the sun rises, then prays two rak‘ahs, will have a reward like that of Hajj and ‘Umrah, complete, complete, complete.” [Narrated by at-Tirmidhi, classed as Hasan by Albaani].
Or maybe during your commute? Or perhaps before you sleep? It is great if you can but if not, do not panic. Use whatever time you have to do as much as you can. Some days may be busier than others and you may not be able to read whatever portion you had planned for. Hold yourself accountable for this and ensure to catch up with what you have missed on top of the planned activities for the next day.
This is important in ensuring you have a regular habit in place that you try to maintain to attain the goals you have made for that month. Even better, create a Qur’an group with your friends to help you stay motivated and connected to the Qur’an even when you feel your enthusiasm dipping.
Turn to it when in stress
"Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest." 13:28
Adjust your mindset to see the Qur’an as something that you need, that will undoubtedly bring you peace and contentment.
Trick of shaitaan - Procrastinate
We procrastinate with excuses as to why we cannot regularly recite and ponder over the Qur’an.
You might “lack time” – but you are reading this which means you have time to surf the net! Cut out idle activities or wake up 15 minutes earlier.
You feel bad because “you don’t understand” what you read – find a Qur’an teacher, read translations and tafsir or start learning Arabic.
You may think “you’ll do it on the weekend” – give yourself the reality check of life. You may not have tomorrow so do what you need to today!
Remember that Shaytan comes for you when you take a step towards Allah. He’ll use all sorts of mental games to stop you from becoming a better version of yourself, and make you come up with a million excuses to delay spending time with the Qur’an. Catch him whenever he gives you an excuse.
Give yourself a reward
As mentioned above Allah has given us innumerable rewards for reading His book, but with any habit in life, rewards make them easier to keep. Think of bad habits for example. The reason they’re so addictive is that they have a short-term immediate reward. It’s what keeps us drawn to them. However, good habits can be as addictive as bad habits. Think about what reward will you give yourself for time spent with the Qur’an. Maybe it’ll be your milestone before you make that new purchase. Maybe your reward will be your favorite meal. It doesn’t matter what it is, but you’ll savor that reward knowing the hard work that you put in for it.
Take time to understand the Qur’an
Implement what you learn
Make Dua
Lastly, but by no means least – always ask Allah to help you in your quest to understand His words. We are unable to achieve anything without Allah granting us the ability to do so. The beauty of this is that Allah can help us achieve that which everyone else thinks we are unable to do.
To conclude
Qur’an is one of the few things that never decreases or takes away from your time. It has so much power to bring you contentment and ease in every part of your life if you welcome it. So let’s make a goal from now to build and strengthen our relationship with His book.
The truth is, any day could be our last and it’s what we invest into the next life that is worth more than anything this life can give.
Whatever is worth having, will not come easy. So especially in the beginning, invest in the Qur’an and stay committed, and after that beginning hurdle of difficulty, the Qur’an will become something that you cannot go without.
May Allah give us the hidayah to be amongst the amongst the people of the Quran hence becoming the people of Allah. May Allah give us the hidayah to recite, memorise, understand and implement the Quran.
Please join our free online certificate course MOST REPEATED AYAAT, to learn to learn about the topics that have been repeated the most in the Quran.
“MOST REPEATED AYAAT” : https://learn-islam.org/most-repeated-ayaat
Note these are not part of the ongoing course, it is an independent course that can be done at your own pace and at your own convenience.
May Allah give us the hidayah to be amongst the amongst the people of the Quran hence becoming the people of Allah. May Allah give us the hidayah to recite, memorise, understand, implement and preach the Quran.
TIPS FOR THE TEST
Do not have to memorise the ayahs or hadeeths word for word and their references, but remember their meanings and the msg being given.
Remember the Virtues
ASSIGNMENT
There will be an Assignment Question asked in the Test. Marks will be given based on the following: -
Invite atleast 15 people to the course (can invite via WhatsApp, Facebook, Email, telegram or word of mouth) 3 Marks. (check the note below for exceptions)
Note:
Those who have already invited whether on Whatsapp, Email or FB, do not need to invite again.
It does not matter, whether people join or not, our job is to invite.
Implement any 3 of the deeds covered from week 1. (5 Marks)
Talk about any 3 topics covered in this week’s classes with atleast 3 people. 5 Marks.
Pray for the Ummah, pray for the ease of all the poor & oppressed Muslims and pray that Allah make us all strong in imaan and give us the hidayah to work for the aakhirah and to help each other. Pray for this applying any three Sunnahs from class 4. - 2 Marks
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