When will a person be regarded as from the People of the Qur’aan, the People of Allaah, those who are closest to Him?!

بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله ، وبعد 

🚫 This has nothing to do with the Qur’aaniyoon (the Hadeeth rejectors), may Allaah save us from their Fitnah.

It was narrated that Anas bin Maalik رضي الله عنه said: The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ said: ❝Allaah has His own people among mankind.❞ They said: “O Messenger of Allaah, who are they?” He ﷺ said: ❝They are the people of the Qur’aan, Allaah’s own people and those who are closest to Him.❞

📚 [Musnad Ahmad (12279, 12292), Sunan Ibn Maajah (215) and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee]

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🔊 Shaikh `Abdul-Salaam al-Shuwai`ir said:

A person is considered to be from the people of the Qur’aan when he adheres to these five matters. And more than one scholar has spoken about these five matters.

These five matters, abandoning them leads to harshness (of the heart), and it leads to extremism when one overdoes it by exceeding the limits.

These five matters are:

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1. The first matter: The Recitation

The person should strive to read the Qur’aan and recite it a lot. It will be said to the person on the Day of Judgment, as the Prophet ﷺ had said: ❝The one who was devoted to the Qur’aan will be told: “Recite, ascend, and recite carefully (melodiously) as you used to recite carefully (with Tajweed) when you were in the world, for your rank shall be at the last Aayah you recited.❞

📚 [Sunan Abu Dawood (1464) and Sunan al-Tirmidhee (2914) and graded as “Hassan-Shaheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee]

And `Abdullaah Ibn Mas`ood رضي الله عنه said: The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ said: ❝Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allaah, he will be credited with a good deed, and a good deed gets a ten-fold reward. I do not say that Alif Laam Meem is a letter, but Alif is a letter, Laam is a letter and Meem is a letter.❞

📚 [Sunan al-Tirmidhee (2910) and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee]

And an in regards to the recitation of the Qur’aan, people have fallen into extremism and abandonment. As for extremism, then it is to complete the recitation of the whole Qur’aan in less than three days.

`Abdullaah Ibn `Amr رضي الله عنهما asked the Prophet ﷺ: “In how many days should I complete the recitation of the whole Qur’aan, O Messenger of Allaah?” He ﷺ replied: ❝In one month.❞ He said: “I am more energetic to complete it in a period less than this.” He ﷺ kept on repeating these words and lessening the period until he ﷺ said: ❝Complete its recitation in seven days.❞ He again said: “I am more energetic to complete it in a period less than this.” The Prophet ﷺ said: ❝He who finishes the recitation of the Qur’aan in less than three days does not understand it.❞

📚 [Sunan Abu Dawood (1390, 1394), Sunan al-Tirmidhee (2949) and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee. And a longer Hadeeth is found in the Saheehain with a different wording]

As for its abandonment, then the scholars have disliked – with a severe dislike – for the one who has the ability to recite the Qur’aan from memory or by looking at the Mus-haf, that forty days pass by and he does not finish the complete recitation of the Qur’aan.

[TN: `Amr Ibn al-`Aas said: the Prophet ﷺ said: ❝Recite the Qur’aan in forty days.❞

📚 [Sunan al-Tirmidhee (2947) and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee]

al-Tirmidhee also mentioned in his Sunan (2946), that Is-haaq Ibn Ibraaheem said: “Because of this Hadeeth, it is disliked that forty days pass by, and a person does not complete the recitation of the Qur’aan”]

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2. The second matter: The Memorization

A person should strive to memorize the Aayaat from the Book of Allaah and gather them in his heart. The more he memorizes, he will have more eagerness to recite the Book of Allaah, and this will in turn help in more memorization (and prevent him from forgetting them).

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3. The third matter: The Articulation

It is to recite the Qur’aan with the correct pronunciation and articulation. It is reported that Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq رضي الله عنه once gave a sermon, and he said: “O Muslims! Correct your recitation of the Qur’aan!”

[TN: al-Qurtobee reported from Mujaahid that `Abdullaah Ibn `Umar رضي الله عنهما said: “Articulate the Qur’aan (properly)!”

And Abu Bakr and `Umar رضي الله عنهما used to say: “In certain cases, that one articulates the Qur’aan (properly) is more beloved to us than the memorization of the words (incorrectly)!”

📚 [Tafseer al-Qurtobee (1/23)]]

And it is reported that Ibn `Umar رضي الله عنهما used to punish his sons for making mistakes in articulation, but he did not punish them for not memorizing.

[TN: al-Naafi` reported that Ibn `Umar رضي الله عنهما used to punish his son for making grammatical mistakes.

📚 [Musannaf Ibn Abee Shaibah (25650, 29919)]]

This points to the importance of controlling the tongue and maintaining the accuracy in the recitation of this magnificent Book, whether it is the Harakaat (vowels) or the Makhaarij (the place from which the letters are uttered), and the way it is recited.

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4. The fourth matter: The Understanding

The person should strive to understand the Book of Allaah.

The Companion Abu `Abdul Rahmaan al-Sulamee (who was the son of a Companion and who learned the Qur’aan from the senior Companions) said: “Those who taught us the recitation of the Qur’aan said: “They used to learn the Qur’aan from the Prophet ﷺ. So, when they learned the recitation of ten Aayaat, they would not leave these Ayaat till they understood what it Commanded them to do (i.e., what is Halaal and what is Haraam). So, they learned its recitation and its commandment together.””

📚 [Tafseer al-Tabaree (1/80)]

[TN: `Abdullaah ibn Mas`ood رضي الله عنه said: “Whenever we used to learn (memorize) ten Aayaat from the Prophet ﷺ, we did not pursue to learn the next ten Aayaat which were revealed after it, till we understood the meaning of what we had already learned.”

📚 [Tafseer al-Tabaree (1/80), al-Haakim in “al-Mustadrak” (1/743), al-Baihaqee (5072)]]

So, the only time a person can really be considered to be from the People of the Qur’aan is when he understands its Tafseer and understands its meaning.

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5. The fifth matter: The Action

A person can be from the People of the Qur’aan when he puts his knowledge into action.

`Abdullaah Ibn Mas`ood رضي الله عنه said: “The person who has memorized the Qur’aan should be known by the night when other people are sleeping while he is awake, and by the morning when people are not Fasting but he is, by his sadness when they are happy, by his crying when they are laughing, by his silence when they are engaged in idle talk, and by his piety and humility when they are arrogant…”

📚 [Musannaf of Ibn Abee Shaibah (35584), al-Zuhd of Abee Dawood (173) and the wording is his]

So, if the companion of the Qur’aan (the one who has memorized it) is not known for his silence, calm in his speech, and patience in his action, then he should inspect his heart, bring his self to accountability, and he should strive to be from the People of the Qur’aan in real sense. The memorizer of the Qur’aan should have lofty qualities which are might not be found in others.

One should be cautious because when the Prophet ﷺ mentioned the denizens of the Hellfire, he ﷺ began by mentioning the one who recited the Qur’aan for showoff and did not act upon its commandments. He ﷺ began with him before mentioning the other categories.

📚 [Saheeh Muslim]

A person should be careful, lest the Aayaat that he has memorized would become evidence against him on the Day of Judgment because his actions are contradictory to his knowledge.

On the Day of Judgment, there will be two categories of people: People for whom the Qur’aan will testify, and the people against whom the Qur’aan will testify.

So, a person should strive to the best of his ability, he should strive against himself, and he should overcome his self so that he becomes from the People of the Qur’aan, Allaah’s own people, and those who are closest to Him.

📚 [Translation of the clip: متى يكون المرء من أهل القرآن؟]