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The Effects of the Qur'aan upon the Hearts of the People
The Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] said:
“Allaah did not send any Messenger to a people except that He sent him with something through which people would believe in him.”
When Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] sends a Messenger, He sends him with a miracle or something that is amazing that people cannot reproduce and that is suitable for that time. If we look at the example of Moosaa [‘alayhi-sallam], we find that he was sent with a staff that was used for and turned into a snake, since in that time magic was wide spread. If we look to ‘Isa [‘alayhi-sallam], his time was famous for practicing medicine and finding cures for different diseases, so Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] sent him with that ability [by His will] to cure the lepers, the blind and the deaf. One of the greatest miracles that the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] was sent with is the Qur’aan. It is the miracle that will remain until nobody believes in Allaah and it is the miracle with which Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] challenged the Jinn and Mankind to produce the like thereof. Allaah described it as:
“[This is] a Book [the Qur’aan] which We have sent down to you, full of blessings that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember.” [Sad 38:29]
Before the Qur’aan was sent, at that time the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] lived in a time in which the Arabs used to pride themselves on their eloquence and they used to gather in their seasonal markets and recite poems to each other. A poet would come and recite a poem consisting of 100 or 200 lines and people would go home having memorised the entire poem, and they used to take pride in that. Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala], challenged the Jinn and Mankind, after revealing it, to reproduce anything that is similar or the like of the Qur’aan and He challenged them by saying:
“Say: ‘If the Mankind and the Jinn’s were together to produce the like of this Qur’aan, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another’.” [Al-Isra 17:88]
In order for us to appreciate and truly understand the greatness of the Qur’aan, we need to ponder and reflect over those verses in which Allaah challenged the Jinn and Mankind to bring the following:
We have different degrees of that challenge, starting with the verses we just mentioned [above], Allaah said that they are not able to bring a whole book that resembles the Qur’aan, since they were not able to do it to that degree, Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] lessened the challenge and He [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] said:
“Say: ‘Bring you then ten forged Surah [chapters] like unto it’.” [Hud 11:13]
The challenge was reduced from the whole book to ten chapters like that of the Qur’aan. Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] then challenged anyone to bring just one chapter like a chapter in the Qur’aan, and that the word chapter here is indefinite which from Arabic Grammar implies any chapter, short or long. And then lastly Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] said:
“...then produce a Surah [chapter] of the like thereof...”
Meaning that since you have not been able to bring anything like that of the above then something close to any chapter, but nobody from mankind or from the Jinn was or has been able to achieve this. Does that not prove beyond any doubt that this Book is indeed very great because nobody has been able to meet the challenge? This also proves to us that this Book, as Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] said, is from the Revelation of the One Who is Wise and the One who is All-Aware of everything.
The greatness of the Qur’aan is shown by the fact that even Non-Muslims may [come to] realise its greatness, even though they may not understand the meaning of the Qur’aan they may still find its greatness. Unfortunately, as Muslims, sometimes we may not appreciate the greatness of the Qur’aan.
When the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] was in Makkah, the people gave him an offer, they said: “Oh Muhammad, if you want wealth or money we will give it to you, if you want women we will marry you to the most beautiful women of the Arabs, and if you want to rule us, we will give you the kingdom, just leave what you are doing and stop calling the people to Allaah [to tawheed].” After which the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] said: “Have you finished?” And this shows the manners of the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] to a Non-Muslim who is calling him to disbelief, he did not interrupt him until he finished and asked him: “Have you finished”, and the man stated that he had. Then the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam], started reciting Surah Fussilat in reply to his offer, and he kept reciting until he reached the saying of Allaah:
“But if they turn away, then say [O Muhammad]: ‘I have warned you of a Saa’iqah [a destructive awful cry, torment, hit, a thunderbolt] like the Saa’iqah which overtook 'Ad and Thamood [people]’.” [Fussilat 41:13]
When he [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] reached the above verse, the man who had come to negotiate and make an offer, he said: “Enough O Muhammad, enough O Muhammad.” He could understand the meaning [of what was being recited] and he became affected by it.
Another example is the story of Jibrayah Muta’im. Before [his reversion to] Islam the disbelievers of Makkah waged a public relations war on the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam]. They used to tell everyone not to listen to him and spread propaganda claiming that he [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] was magician, a poet etc., despite this, Jibrayah Muta’im went to see the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] and he saw him praying near the Ka’bah. The Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] [after Maghrib] was reciting Surah at-Tur, and he said:
“When he reached:
‘Were they created by nothing, or were they themselves the creators?’ [At-Tur 52:35]
I thought my heart was going to fly out of my body.”
One of my friends was studying in America. He was travelling on a bus and he was reciting Surah ad-Dhua. An American woman heard him, approached him and asked: “What are you reciting?” He said: “This is the Book of Allaah, I am reciting the Qur’aan.” She said: “This attracted me can you recite it again?” So the brother started to recite Surah Zalzalah, the women said: “This is not what you recited before but it is still nice, could you give me something that I can benefit from, like a tape or something I can listen to?” The brother went and he forgot, but when she saw him again [on the bus] she reminded him: “Remember you promised to give me a tape.” He said: “I searched through my sound library but I only found a tape by Shaykh Ali ‘Abdullaah Jaabir, which was recorded in a studio as opposed to the Masjid in Makkah. There is a difference because the recitation in the Masjid in Makkah is generally more beautiful, but inshaa’Allaah she will be affected by it!” He gave her the tape. After three months they met again and she said: “There has not been a single night from that time until now except that every single night I listened to this tape, and when I tried to go to bed without this tape I couldn’t do it.” This woman didn’t even know the difference between Alif, Baa and Taa, so how comes it affects the Non-Muslims and many times it does not affect us, the Muslims?
Imaam al-Qurtubi [rahimahullaah] related a story in which he said: In that time it was the custom of the rulers to gather yearly and to have meetings. They would invite the scholars and the people of knowledge so that the meetings would be full of knowledge. There was a man in that gathering who could speak Arabic well and it was said to the ruler that this individual is not actually a Muslim, he is a Jew. He [the ruler] was surprised and so he said to him: “Why don’t you become a Muslim and I will give you something to strengthen you in Islam, like some money or something material?” But he [the Jewish man] said: “This is the religion of my forefathers and so I will stay on it.” When the next years gathering was taking place, the same man was in the gathering and so the ruler looked at him and said: “Are you the same man I saw last year?” It appeared that the man had embraced Islam, and so he asked him: “Have you embraced Islam?” He said: “Yes!” The ruler asked him: “What made you embrace Islam?” He replied: “I am a man with very good handwriting so I decided to try the three books, the Torah, the Bible and the Qur’aan, to see which one of them is the truth. I copied three copies of the Torah with my nice handwriting and I added things to it from myself and I took some things out of it myself, and I took it to the market and decided to sell it, and the people bought all of them from me, so I knew that the religion [of Judaism] is false.” He did the same with the Bible and the same happened, he did the same with the Qur’aan and nobody bought a single copy from him because they realised that this was not the true Qur’aan, he said: “Then I knew that this is the true religion and I embraced Islam.”
A great scholar was at that gathering by the name and when he heard the story [of the man’s reversion]; he addressed the ruler and informed him that there is what confirms to what he has just said in the Qur’aan, in Surah al-Ma’idah. Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] says:
“And the rabbis and the priests [too judged the Jews by the Tauraat [Torah] after those Prophets] for to them was entrusted the protection of Allaah’s Book, and they were witnesses thereto. Therefore fear not men but fear Me [O Jews] and sell not My Verses for a miserable price.”
And:
“It is We Who have sent down the Dhikr [i.e. the Qur’aan] and surely, We will guard it [from corruption].” [Al-Hijr 15:9]
So Allaah took it upon himself to protect the Qur’aan and with everything that has been mentioned, unfortunately, many of us have abandoned the Qur’aan and we do not treat it seriously, nor do not study it. The Messenger [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] said:
“Indeed my people have abandoned this Qur’aan.”
Abandoning the Qur’aan can take different shapes and forms:
First of all, not reciting it regularly, maybe we do not recite the Qur’aan for a few days in a row; perhaps we do not even recite the Qur’aan for several weeks.
Secondly, we may recite it but we may not reflect on what we recite.
Thirdly, we may leave acting upon the Qur’aan, what it makes Halaal and what it makes Haraam.
Fourthly, we may abandon treating one another with the Qur’aan.
Finally, we may even abandon taking the Qur’aan as our judge between us.
So if you have abandoned the Qur’aan, then which type of abandonment have you fallen into? We must be very careful not to fall into that du’aa in which the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] said to Allaah that his people have abandoned the Qur’aan.
There is a great hadeeth in the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad [rahimahullaah] stating that the Qur’aan is the accepted intercessor, meaning that when it defends someone and intercedes for that person, Allaah accepts its intercession, and a defender who is believed, when the Qur’aan defends someone Allaah believes and accepts their defence. Whoever puts the Qur’aan in front of him, the Qur’aan will take him to Paradise, and whoever puts the Qur’aan behind him, the Qur’aan will take him to the Fire.
Imaam Muslim [rahimahullaah] narrated in his book as part of a long hadeeth a saying of the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] in which he said:
“The Qur’aan is either a proof for you or against you.”
There is no third choice, the Qur’aan will either testify for you and will be proof for you or it will be against you, you have to think which way it is going to testify, you have to look at yourself and decide in all honesty, are you really in the group that will be protected and defended by the Qur’aan. That is why we must pay attention to the Qur’aan by studying it, memorising it and understanding its meanings, because the Qur’aan is a treasure that we must learn and discover its knowledge.
‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab [radee Allaahu ‘anhu] appointed as a governor of an area, a person who was set free at that very moment, who used to be a slave and he was set free, and he appointed him as a governor straight after that, some people said to him: “Why are you appointing this man to be a governor when we have other Companions?” ‘Umar replied to them and said: “Keep quiet because I heard the Messenger of Allaah [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] say: ‘Indeed Allaah raises the status of some people through this Book and lowers the status of some other people through this Book’.” This man [the freed slave] has memorised the Qur’aan and this is what made ‘Umar respect him and raise his status; and that is why a person who memorises the Qur’aan, his status will be raised in this world and he will be mentioned with good things in this world and in the Hereafter.
And finally, I want to advise all of my brothers and sisters to be keen and eager and to put effort into memorising the Qur’aan, they should not be prevented by age or things that may occupy them because learning and memorising the Qur’aan little by little all the time is better than something you do a lot but doesn’t last, you must have that intention in your heart that you want to memorise the Qur’aan, and I indeed hope for every single person who truly intends to memorise the Qur’aan and does what he or she can to do so. Even if they die and they have not memorised the Qur’aan, I hope sincerely that Allaah will treat them on the Day of Judgement as if they have memorised the Qur’aan and that is why we must expend extra effort to try and memorise, learn and understand this Qur’aan, because one day the Qur’aan will be taken away from the earth to the extent that not a single verse will remain. [Al-Baqarah 2:23] [Al-Ma’idah 5:44]
By Shaykh Khaalid al-Jaasim
“Allaah did not send any Messenger to a people except that He sent him with something through which people would believe in him.”
When Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] sends a Messenger, He sends him with a miracle or something that is amazing that people cannot reproduce and that is suitable for that time. If we look at the example of Moosaa [‘alayhi-sallam], we find that he was sent with a staff that was used for and turned into a snake, since in that time magic was wide spread. If we look to ‘Isa [‘alayhi-sallam], his time was famous for practicing medicine and finding cures for different diseases, so Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] sent him with that ability [by His will] to cure the lepers, the blind and the deaf. One of the greatest miracles that the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] was sent with is the Qur’aan. It is the miracle that will remain until nobody believes in Allaah and it is the miracle with which Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] challenged the Jinn and Mankind to produce the like thereof. Allaah described it as:
“[This is] a Book [the Qur’aan] which We have sent down to you, full of blessings that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember.” [Sad 38:29]
Before the Qur’aan was sent, at that time the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] lived in a time in which the Arabs used to pride themselves on their eloquence and they used to gather in their seasonal markets and recite poems to each other. A poet would come and recite a poem consisting of 100 or 200 lines and people would go home having memorised the entire poem, and they used to take pride in that. Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala], challenged the Jinn and Mankind, after revealing it, to reproduce anything that is similar or the like of the Qur’aan and He challenged them by saying:
“Say: ‘If the Mankind and the Jinn’s were together to produce the like of this Qur’aan, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another’.” [Al-Isra 17:88]
In order for us to appreciate and truly understand the greatness of the Qur’aan, we need to ponder and reflect over those verses in which Allaah challenged the Jinn and Mankind to bring the following:
We have different degrees of that challenge, starting with the verses we just mentioned [above], Allaah said that they are not able to bring a whole book that resembles the Qur’aan, since they were not able to do it to that degree, Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] lessened the challenge and He [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] said:
“Say: ‘Bring you then ten forged Surah [chapters] like unto it’.” [Hud 11:13]
The challenge was reduced from the whole book to ten chapters like that of the Qur’aan. Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] then challenged anyone to bring just one chapter like a chapter in the Qur’aan, and that the word chapter here is indefinite which from Arabic Grammar implies any chapter, short or long. And then lastly Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] said:
“...then produce a Surah [chapter] of the like thereof...”
Meaning that since you have not been able to bring anything like that of the above then something close to any chapter, but nobody from mankind or from the Jinn was or has been able to achieve this. Does that not prove beyond any doubt that this Book is indeed very great because nobody has been able to meet the challenge? This also proves to us that this Book, as Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] said, is from the Revelation of the One Who is Wise and the One who is All-Aware of everything.
The greatness of the Qur’aan is shown by the fact that even Non-Muslims may [come to] realise its greatness, even though they may not understand the meaning of the Qur’aan they may still find its greatness. Unfortunately, as Muslims, sometimes we may not appreciate the greatness of the Qur’aan.
When the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] was in Makkah, the people gave him an offer, they said: “Oh Muhammad, if you want wealth or money we will give it to you, if you want women we will marry you to the most beautiful women of the Arabs, and if you want to rule us, we will give you the kingdom, just leave what you are doing and stop calling the people to Allaah [to tawheed].” After which the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] said: “Have you finished?” And this shows the manners of the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] to a Non-Muslim who is calling him to disbelief, he did not interrupt him until he finished and asked him: “Have you finished”, and the man stated that he had. Then the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam], started reciting Surah Fussilat in reply to his offer, and he kept reciting until he reached the saying of Allaah:
“But if they turn away, then say [O Muhammad]: ‘I have warned you of a Saa’iqah [a destructive awful cry, torment, hit, a thunderbolt] like the Saa’iqah which overtook 'Ad and Thamood [people]’.” [Fussilat 41:13]
When he [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] reached the above verse, the man who had come to negotiate and make an offer, he said: “Enough O Muhammad, enough O Muhammad.” He could understand the meaning [of what was being recited] and he became affected by it.
Another example is the story of Jibrayah Muta’im. Before [his reversion to] Islam the disbelievers of Makkah waged a public relations war on the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam]. They used to tell everyone not to listen to him and spread propaganda claiming that he [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] was magician, a poet etc., despite this, Jibrayah Muta’im went to see the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] and he saw him praying near the Ka’bah. The Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] [after Maghrib] was reciting Surah at-Tur, and he said:
“When he reached:
‘Were they created by nothing, or were they themselves the creators?’ [At-Tur 52:35]
I thought my heart was going to fly out of my body.”
One of my friends was studying in America. He was travelling on a bus and he was reciting Surah ad-Dhua. An American woman heard him, approached him and asked: “What are you reciting?” He said: “This is the Book of Allaah, I am reciting the Qur’aan.” She said: “This attracted me can you recite it again?” So the brother started to recite Surah Zalzalah, the women said: “This is not what you recited before but it is still nice, could you give me something that I can benefit from, like a tape or something I can listen to?” The brother went and he forgot, but when she saw him again [on the bus] she reminded him: “Remember you promised to give me a tape.” He said: “I searched through my sound library but I only found a tape by Shaykh Ali ‘Abdullaah Jaabir, which was recorded in a studio as opposed to the Masjid in Makkah. There is a difference because the recitation in the Masjid in Makkah is generally more beautiful, but inshaa’Allaah she will be affected by it!” He gave her the tape. After three months they met again and she said: “There has not been a single night from that time until now except that every single night I listened to this tape, and when I tried to go to bed without this tape I couldn’t do it.” This woman didn’t even know the difference between Alif, Baa and Taa, so how comes it affects the Non-Muslims and many times it does not affect us, the Muslims?
Imaam al-Qurtubi [rahimahullaah] related a story in which he said: In that time it was the custom of the rulers to gather yearly and to have meetings. They would invite the scholars and the people of knowledge so that the meetings would be full of knowledge. There was a man in that gathering who could speak Arabic well and it was said to the ruler that this individual is not actually a Muslim, he is a Jew. He [the ruler] was surprised and so he said to him: “Why don’t you become a Muslim and I will give you something to strengthen you in Islam, like some money or something material?” But he [the Jewish man] said: “This is the religion of my forefathers and so I will stay on it.” When the next years gathering was taking place, the same man was in the gathering and so the ruler looked at him and said: “Are you the same man I saw last year?” It appeared that the man had embraced Islam, and so he asked him: “Have you embraced Islam?” He said: “Yes!” The ruler asked him: “What made you embrace Islam?” He replied: “I am a man with very good handwriting so I decided to try the three books, the Torah, the Bible and the Qur’aan, to see which one of them is the truth. I copied three copies of the Torah with my nice handwriting and I added things to it from myself and I took some things out of it myself, and I took it to the market and decided to sell it, and the people bought all of them from me, so I knew that the religion [of Judaism] is false.” He did the same with the Bible and the same happened, he did the same with the Qur’aan and nobody bought a single copy from him because they realised that this was not the true Qur’aan, he said: “Then I knew that this is the true religion and I embraced Islam.”
A great scholar was at that gathering by the name and when he heard the story [of the man’s reversion]; he addressed the ruler and informed him that there is what confirms to what he has just said in the Qur’aan, in Surah al-Ma’idah. Allaah [subhaanahu wa ta’aala] says:
“And the rabbis and the priests [too judged the Jews by the Tauraat [Torah] after those Prophets] for to them was entrusted the protection of Allaah’s Book, and they were witnesses thereto. Therefore fear not men but fear Me [O Jews] and sell not My Verses for a miserable price.”
And:
“It is We Who have sent down the Dhikr [i.e. the Qur’aan] and surely, We will guard it [from corruption].” [Al-Hijr 15:9]
So Allaah took it upon himself to protect the Qur’aan and with everything that has been mentioned, unfortunately, many of us have abandoned the Qur’aan and we do not treat it seriously, nor do not study it. The Messenger [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] said:
“Indeed my people have abandoned this Qur’aan.”
Abandoning the Qur’aan can take different shapes and forms:
First of all, not reciting it regularly, maybe we do not recite the Qur’aan for a few days in a row; perhaps we do not even recite the Qur’aan for several weeks.
Secondly, we may recite it but we may not reflect on what we recite.
Thirdly, we may leave acting upon the Qur’aan, what it makes Halaal and what it makes Haraam.
Fourthly, we may abandon treating one another with the Qur’aan.
Finally, we may even abandon taking the Qur’aan as our judge between us.
So if you have abandoned the Qur’aan, then which type of abandonment have you fallen into? We must be very careful not to fall into that du’aa in which the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] said to Allaah that his people have abandoned the Qur’aan.
There is a great hadeeth in the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad [rahimahullaah] stating that the Qur’aan is the accepted intercessor, meaning that when it defends someone and intercedes for that person, Allaah accepts its intercession, and a defender who is believed, when the Qur’aan defends someone Allaah believes and accepts their defence. Whoever puts the Qur’aan in front of him, the Qur’aan will take him to Paradise, and whoever puts the Qur’aan behind him, the Qur’aan will take him to the Fire.
Imaam Muslim [rahimahullaah] narrated in his book as part of a long hadeeth a saying of the Prophet [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] in which he said:
“The Qur’aan is either a proof for you or against you.”
There is no third choice, the Qur’aan will either testify for you and will be proof for you or it will be against you, you have to think which way it is going to testify, you have to look at yourself and decide in all honesty, are you really in the group that will be protected and defended by the Qur’aan. That is why we must pay attention to the Qur’aan by studying it, memorising it and understanding its meanings, because the Qur’aan is a treasure that we must learn and discover its knowledge.
‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab [radee Allaahu ‘anhu] appointed as a governor of an area, a person who was set free at that very moment, who used to be a slave and he was set free, and he appointed him as a governor straight after that, some people said to him: “Why are you appointing this man to be a governor when we have other Companions?” ‘Umar replied to them and said: “Keep quiet because I heard the Messenger of Allaah [sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] say: ‘Indeed Allaah raises the status of some people through this Book and lowers the status of some other people through this Book’.” This man [the freed slave] has memorised the Qur’aan and this is what made ‘Umar respect him and raise his status; and that is why a person who memorises the Qur’aan, his status will be raised in this world and he will be mentioned with good things in this world and in the Hereafter.
And finally, I want to advise all of my brothers and sisters to be keen and eager and to put effort into memorising the Qur’aan, they should not be prevented by age or things that may occupy them because learning and memorising the Qur’aan little by little all the time is better than something you do a lot but doesn’t last, you must have that intention in your heart that you want to memorise the Qur’aan, and I indeed hope for every single person who truly intends to memorise the Qur’aan and does what he or she can to do so. Even if they die and they have not memorised the Qur’aan, I hope sincerely that Allaah will treat them on the Day of Judgement as if they have memorised the Qur’aan and that is why we must expend extra effort to try and memorise, learn and understand this Qur’aan, because one day the Qur’aan will be taken away from the earth to the extent that not a single verse will remain. [Al-Baqarah 2:23] [Al-Ma’idah 5:44]
By Shaykh Khaalid al-Jaasim
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