The manners of the people of the Qur’an
by Imam Al – Ajurri
Introduction
To proceed, I truly say, and in Allah I trust, seeking correctness in speech and action:
That by which speech most deserves to be begun is the Praise of Our Generous Master, and the Best Praise is that by which the Generous has praised Himself, so we also praise Him by it. “Praise be to Allah, who revealed to His Slave the Book, and placed therein no crookedness: (making it) straight, to warn of a severe punishment from His presence, and to give glad tidings to the Believers who work righteous deeds that truly for them is an excellent reward. They will remain therein for ever!”
“Praise be to Allah, to Whom belongs whatever is in the Heavens and whatever is in the Earth, and to Whom belongs Praise in the Hereafter. He is the Wise, Aware. He knows whatever enters the Earth and whatever springs forth from it, and whatever descends from the Sky and whatever ascends to it. He is the Ever-Merciful, Oft-Forgiving.”
I praise Him for His pre-existent Kindness and His overwhelming Favours, the praise of one who knows that his Generous Master taught him that which he would not have known, and that His Bounty upon him is Great. I ask Him for His increased Bounty, and to grant me gratitude for the favours that He has bestowed, for truly He is the Possessor of Magnificent Bounty.
May Allah bless our master Muhammad, His Slave, His Messenger, His Prophet, His Trustee over His Revelation and His Slaves, with a blessing that will please Him and be a source of forgiveness for us, and may He bless all his family, and grant them great, pure peace. There is no Power except by Allah, Most High, Magnificent.
Chapter One (1): Virtues of the Qur’an
Abu Bakr Muhammad b. al-Husayn al-Ajurri said:
Allah – Mighty and Majestic – revealed the Qur’an upon His Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and informed him of the virtue of that which He sent down to him. He also informed His creation, in His Book and upon the tongue of His Messenger, that the Qur’an is a protection for whoever holds fast to it, a guidance for whoever seeks guidance through it, richness for whoever avoids wordly riches through it, a shield from the Fire for whoever follows it, a light for whoever seeks illumination by it, a cure for what is in the chests, and a guidance and mercy for the Believers.
Moreover, Allah – Mighty and Majestic is His Name – commanded His creation to have faith in it and act by its command, so they must treat what it permits as permissible and what it prohibits as prohibited, they must have faith in its allegories, and they must take lessons from its similitudes, saying, “We have faith in it. It is all from our Lord.” Further, He promised salvation from the Fire and entrance into the Garden for reciting it and acting by it. Further, He encouraged His creation, when reciting His Book, to ponder in it deeply and reflect upon it with their hearts; and when they hear it from others, to listen to it in the most excellent manner; further, He promised them an unstinting reward for that, so to Him belongs all Praise. Furthermore, He informed His creation that whoever recites the Qur’an, intending to trade with his Generous Master, He recompenses him with a profit after which there is no profit, and He allows him to recognise the blessing of the trade in this world and the Hereafter.
Abu Bakr Muhammad b. al-Husayn said: All that I have mentioned and will mention, if Allah wills, is explained in the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and in the Way of His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and from the statements of his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them and all people of knowledge. So I shall mention from this that which occurs to me to mention, if Allah Exalted wills, and Allah is the granter of capability for that.
Allah Exalted said, “Those who recite the Book of Allah, establish the Prayer and spend from the sustenance that We have granted them, secretly and openly, hope for a trade that will never fail: so that He may reward them fully, and increase them from His Bounty – truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Thankful.”
Chapter One (2): Virtues of the Qur’an
He, Mighty and Majestic, also said, “Truly, this Qur’an guides to that which is most upright, and gives glad tidings to the Believers who work righteous deeds that truly for them is a great reward, and that truly, those who do not have faith in the Hereafter, We have prepared for them a painful punishment.”
He, Mighty and Majestic, also said, “We reveal from the Qur’an that which is a Cure and Mercy for the Believers, and which does not increase the wrongdoers, except in loss.”
He, Mighty and Majestic, also said, “O mankind! There has come to you an Admonition from your Lord, a Cure for that which is in the chests, a Guidance and Mercy for the Believers.”
He, Mighty and Majestic, also said, “O mankind! There has come to you a Proof from your Lord, and We have revealed to you a Clear Light. So as for those who have faith in Allah and hold fast to Him, He will admit them to Mercy and Grace from Himself, and He will guide them to Himself by a Straight Path.”
He, Mighty and Majestic, also said, “Hold fast to the Rope of Allah, all together, and do not be divided. And remember the Favour of Allah upon you, when you were enemies: He brought your hearts together, so you became, by His Favour, brothers. And you were upon the brink of a Pit of Fire, so He rescued you from it. Thus does Allah explain to you His Signs, that you may attain Guidance.” The Rope of Allah is the Qur’an.
He, Mighty and Majestic, also said, “Allah has sent down the Best of Speech, a Book, Self-Consistent, Oft-Repeated. Creep from it do the skins of those who fear their Lord: then do their skins and their hearts soften towards the Remembrance of Allah. That is the Guidance of Allah – He guides by it whomsoever He wishes; and whomsoever Allah misguides, he has no guide!”
He, Mighty and Majestic, also said, “A Book, We have sent it down to you, Blessed, that they may ponder its Signs deeply, and that People of Understanding may reflect.”
He, Mighty and Majestic, also said, “Thus have We sent it down, an Arabic Recitation, and We have explained in it such Warnings that they may have piety, or that it may serve as a Reminder for them.”
Chapter One (3): Virtues of the Qur’an
Moreover, Allah – Mighty and Majestic – promised whoever listened to His Speech and excelled in etiquette when listening to it, with beautiful reflection and with adhering to the obligation of following it and acting upon it, that Allah has given glad tidings to him of every goodness from Him, and has promised him the most excellent reward for that. Thus He, Mighty and Majestic, said, “So give glad tidings to the slaves! Those who listen to the Word and follow its best meaning – it is they whom Allah has guided, and it is they who are People of Understanding!”
He, Mighty and Majestic, also said, “And turn to your Lord, and submit to Him, before the Punishment comes to you, when you will not be helped. And follow the most excellent of that which has been sent down to you from your Lord, before the Punishment comes to you suddenly while you do not realize.”
Muhammad b. al-Husayn said: All of the Speech of our Lord is excellent for whoever recites it and whoever listens to it. This is only, and Allah knows better, the description of a people who, when they hear the Qur’an, search in the Qur’an for the most excellent way in which they may draw near to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, from all that their Generous Master has signified to them. By this, they seek His Pleasure and hope for His Mercy. They heard Allah saying, “When the Qur’an is recited, listen to it and be silent, that you may be shown Mercy.” Thus, their excellent listening causes them to reflect upon what is for them and against them. They heard Allah say, “So remind, with the Qur’an, those who fear My Warning!”
Further, Allah – Mighty and Majestic – has informed us about the Jinn regarding their excellent listening to the Qur’an and their responding to that which it encouraged them to do; then they returned to their people and admonished them with what they had heard of the Qur’an, with the most excellent admonishment possible. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said, “Say: It has been inspired to me that a group of the Jinn listened, then they said, ‘We have heard an Amazing Recitation! It guides to rightful conduct, so we have believed in it, and we shall never associate with our Lord anyone as a partner’.”
He, Mighty and Majestic, also said, “And when we directed to you a group of the Jinn, listening to the Qur’an: so when they attended it, they said, ‘Be silent!’; when it was completed, they turned to their people, warning them. They said, ‘O our people! Truly, we have heard a book sent down after Musa, confirming that which came before it; it guides to the Truth and to a Straight Way. O our people! Respond to the caller of Allah and have faith in him, He will forgive you your sins and give you refuge from a Painful Punishment’.”
Muhammad b. al-Husayn said: Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has already said in the Surah “Qaf. By the Magnificent Qur’an!” that which signifies to us the great matters that He has created of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, and the amazing matters of His Wisdom in His Creation. He then mentioned Death, and the greatness of its matter; He mentioned the Fire, and the greatness of its matter; He mentioned the Garden, and what He has prepared therein for His Friends. Thus Allah said, “For them, there will be whatever they wish therein, and with Us there is More.” Then, He said after all of that, “Truly, in that is a Reminder for whoever has a heart, or lends the hearing whilst witnessing.” Thus He, of Majestic Remembrance, informed that the listener with his ears should be witnessing with his heart what he recites or listens to, so that he may benefit from his recitation of the Qur’an and from his listening to one reciting it.
Moreover, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has truly urged His creation to ponder the Qur’an deeply; thus He, Mighty and Majestic, says, “Do they not then ponder the Qur’an deeply? Or do hearts have locks over them?”
He, Mighty and Majestic, also said, “Do they not then ponder the Qur’an deeply? Were it from other than Allah, they would surely have found in it much contradiction!”
Muhammad b. al-Husayn said: Do you not see — may Allah have mercy upon you! – your Generous Master, how He encourages His creation to ponder His Speech deeply? Whoever ponders His Speech deeply, recognizes the Lord, Mighty and Majestic; recognizes the Magnificence of His Authority and Power; recognizes the Magnificence of His Grace upon the Believers; and recognizes what is due upon him of the obligation of worshipping Him. Thus, he imposes upon himself to adhere to the duty, is wary of that which his Generous Master has warned him against, and desires that which He has encouraged.
So whoever has these qualities when reciting the Qur’an and listening to it from others, the Qur’an is for him a Cure: thus he becomes rich without wealth, becomes honored without relatives, and finds solace where others have anxiety. His concern when he begins reciting a surah is, “When will I be admonished by what I recite?” His objective is not, “When will I complete the surah?” Rather, his objective is, “When will I understand from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, His address? When will I restrain myself? When will I learn a lesson?” This is because the recitation of the Qur’an is an act of worship, and thus cannot be done with heedlessness, and Allah is the One who grants Capability for that.
Chapter One (4): Virtues of the Qur’an
1 – Muhammad b. al-Husayn informed us; he said: Abu Bakr ‘Abdullah b. Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Wasiti narrated to us, he said: Zayd b. Ahzam narrated to us, he said: Muhammad b. al-Fadl narrated to us, he said: Sa’id b. Zayd narrated to us, from Abu Hamzah, from Ibrahim, from ‘Alqamah, from ‘Abdullah i.e. Ibn Mas’ud, who said, “Do not scatter it like inferior dates and do not chant it quickly as with poetry. Stop at its wonders, move the hearts with it, and let not your concern be the end of the surah.”
2 – Muhammad b. al-Husayn informed us; he said: Abu Bakr also narrated to; he said: al- Hasan b. Muhammad b. al-Sabbah al-Za’farani narrated to us; he said, ‘Abd al-Wahhab b. ‘Ata’ narrated to us, he said: I heard Abu ‘Ubaydah al-Naji say that he heard al-Hasan [al-Basri] saying, “Adhere to the Book of Allah. Pursue whatever is therein of similitudes. Be people of Perception regarding it.” He then said, “May Allah have mercy upon a slave who presents himself and his actions to the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic; if these conform to the Book of Allah, he praises Allah and asks Him for more; but if these oppose the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, he scolds himself and returns (to goodness) quickly.”
3 – Muhammad informed us; he said: Abu ‘Abdullah Ahmad b. al-Hasan b. ‘Abd al- Jabbar al-Sufi narrated to us, he said: Shuja’ b. Makhlad narrated to us: Ibn ‘Ulayyah narrated to us: Ziyad b. Mikhraq narrated to us: from Mu’awiyah b. Qurrah, from Abu Kinanah, that Abu Musa al-Ash’ari gathered those who had recited [i.e. memorised] the Qur’an, and they were close to three hundred in number. He emphasised the magnificence of the Qur’an, and then said, “Truly, this Qur’an can be an asset for you, or it can be a burden upon you. So follow the Qur’an, and let it not follow you: for he who follows the Qur’an, it lands him in the Gardens of Paradise; and he whom the Qur’an follows, it smites him in the back of his head and hurls him into the Fire.”
4 – Muhammad informed us; he said: Abu Muhammad Yahya b. Muhammad Ibn Sa’id narrated to us: al-Husayn b. al-Hasan al-Marwazi narrated to us: Ibn al-Mubarak informed us: Salim al-Makki informed us: from al-Hasan [al-Basri], who said, “Whoever wishes to know who he is, let him present himself to the Qur’an.”
5 – Muhammad informed us; he said: Abu Muhammad also narrated to us, he said: al- Husayn narrated to us, he said: ‘Abdullah informed us; he said: ‘Abd al-Malik b. Abi Sulayman informed us, from ‘Ata’ and Qays b. Sa’d, from Mujahid, regarding the saying of Allah Exalted, “They recite it as it should truly be recited”; he said, “They practise it as it should truly be practised.”
6 – Muhammad informed us; he said: Abu ‘Abdullah Ahmad b. al-Hasan b. ‘Abd al- Jabbar al-Sufi narrated to us, he said: Shuja’ b. Makhlad narrated to us, he said: Abu Mu’awiyah al-Darir [the Blind] narrated to us, he said: ‘Abd Rabbih Ibn Ayman narrated to us, from ‘Ata’, who said, “The Qur’an consists only of admonitions.”
Muhammad b. al-Husayn said: Before I mention the character of the People of the Qur’an and the manners that befit them, I shall mention the virtues of the Bearers of the Qur’an, so that they may be eager to recite it, act by it and to be humble before those from whom they learn it or those to whom they teach it.