Qiyam Night 04 | Dr. Abdul Razzaq Junaid

Introduction

First, this is the historic night that we are passing through now in the final morning - this is the last historic night in Ramadan. I want you to remember that first. The most that we can do in this night, the most that we can do for this reason - let us preserve this night that we have, this last night that we have in Ramadan. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us all success.

The second thing that I want to mention is that I want to marvel and to acknowledge more than anything else the youth here, the young people here. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect them and bless them. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless their lives. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make them future leaders for the community and may He protect them, Ameen ya Rabb al-Alameen.

Finally, many of the scholars who have come to ABC, alhamdulillah, many of you I know, and they have come to ABC. But we have the honored participation of Shaykh Abdul Razzaq Junaid for the first time - honestly, in the ability to speak at ABC, alhamdulillah. Shaykh Abdul Razzaq Junaid, for the second time? Well, for the second time. So he was here in the international area then moved then returned to the international area and he is currently helping the Imam at the Islamic Center in the city. Masha'Allah, his place is full and to say this shows how much he is doing in the city.

Shaykh Abdul Razzaq studied in Madinah and completed his studies in Madinah and nevertheless he does great work and we are proud that he is here with us today. He will speak for about 25-30 minutes. Today's unique topic is that he will lead qiyam. We will stop then we will do qiyam and then du'a.

Shaykh Abdul Razzaq's Address

I would like to thank Masjid ABC and Shaykh Nadeem for introducing me. As he mentioned, I was in the area in Dallas and when I left I realized that I made a mistake and I returned. So you should be grateful that you are here in Dallas in Ramadan. One of the best communities in Ramadan is Dallas. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bless them and protect them and protect your masjid and Shaykh Bajouri and Shaykh Yasser and Shaykh Nadeem.

The Ten Qira'at of the Quran

Ahbab al-kiram (beloved brothers), today I want to speak to you about the ten qira'at of the Quran. Many times we know stories of Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Malik and Imam Ash-Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and we know stories of the muhadditheen. Can you name them? Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Ahmad, Ibn Kathir. I will speak about the first reciters, those who preserved the recitation of hadith - you can call it hadith or tafsir. But few of them know the qira'at of the Quran. I will speak about them quickly.

I want you to say them with me. When you speak about righteous people, the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala descends upon the community:

Imam Nafi'
Imam Abdullah ibn Kathir
Imam Abu Amr al-Basri
Ibn Amir ad-Dimashqi
Asim al-Kufi
Hamza al-Kufi - not Kufi from here, Kufi from Kufa
Imam Kisa'i from Kufa
Abu Ja'far al-Madani
Ya'qub
And the tenth: Khalaf

So these are the ten. Why is it important to speak about their lives? Many times when we speak about the qira'at as a science we speak about differences - مالك يوم الدين, صراط المستقيم - why this and why that, why all these qira'at are accepted. I could give a lecture on that, but today I want to do something different. I want us to take lessons from their lives.

As you know, Imam Abu Hanifa rahimahullah said: "The stories of the scholars are more beloved to me than much of fiqh." Listening about the qira'at and listening about their stories - Imam Abu Hanifa says this: "I love to hear the stories of the scholars more than much of fiqh." Why? Because in that you can see how they were living, in that you can see how they were moving in their relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

There are different ways in Arabic that you can refer to a path. You have صراط, سراط - each one has a story related to ar-raqa'iq (stories that soften the heart) and looking at the siyar as-saliheen (biographies of the righteous) to look at the lives of those righteous brothers before us. Why? The scholars of the past used to send their children to sit in the gatherings of scholars not only to learn from their knowledge but to watch them in their character - how they dressed, how they spoke, how they were, how they moved. Why? Because they, of course you can imagine, they drank from the ocean of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, they drank from the ocean of the Quran.

So when you watch these living examples and you follow them and you hear their stories, this helps you greatly more than much of fiqh, more than hearing various different things.

Three Aspects of the Ten Imams

So in our verse, I shared three hours on the qira'at. I will give you a glimpse of what we discussed in those lectures and I will give you a glimpse in three dimensions of those ten imams of the Quran: how they were as students, how they were as teachers, and how they were as worshippers of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

How They Were as Students

Imam Nafi' al-Madani - Imam Nafi' of Madinah al-Munawwarah - was a student of Imam Abu Ja'far the reciter, the third imam. Imam Nafi' - I want to ask you, brothers, let me ask you: you were a student before, how many teachers did you have in your life? Maybe how many - three or four? You need to reach six more, insha'Allah, or six and one, insha'Allah, six and one, until you reach the number seventy.

So look - Imam Nafi' had seventy tabi'een to reach this level. So when we think about our Quran itself, brothers, don't stop at one tabi'i, don't stop at three. Learn and pay attention and pay attention and pay attention, and then you can make the difference, then you can see someone who makes it.

So Imam Nafi' - see how much more, seventy tabi'een in knowledge. He had two students, two famous narrators. Who knows them? They were two Quran students: Qalun and Warsh.

Qalun - this is the nickname in the gathering. Qalun was called by his father Imam Qalun. He read the Quran to him, he completed it, he got ijazah - Shaykh Sajjad gave him ijazah after finishing the Quran with him. He continued reading to him for 20 years more. Look at the dedication, brothers, look at the dedication to the Quran and to their teachers.

Many times when we get ijazah from our teachers: "Assalamu alaykum, shaykh, we'll see you insha'Allah in Jannah." Sometimes we don't speak with our teachers after many years. For 20 years he continued reading to Imam Nafi'.

What about the other one? Warsh - he is from Egypt. Imam Nafi' was from Persian background, Persian background. Imam Qalun was from Roman background, from Roman background. Imam Warsh was from Egyptian background. The Arabic language - shaykh, we struggle to learn the Arabic language. "Who does not have a shining beginning will not have a shining end." This is the way to get this shining beginning. I ask Allah: Allahumma irfa' qadrana ya Rabb al-alameen (O Allah, raise our status, O Lord of the worlds). Allahumma ij'alna min as-sabiqeen ya Rabb al-alameen (O Allah, make us among the foremost, O Lord of the worlds).

Imam Kisa'i rahimahullah - the same thing I mentioned. When he returned, he was shaykh of Quran and shaykh of language who was - may Allah be pleased with him - Harun ar-Rashid, Amir al-Mu'mineen, the president, the khalifah of the believers, appointed him to be teacher to his sons al-Amin and al-Ma'mun.

Masha'Allah, Harun ar-Rashid came as teacher to his sons. He would notice all the time that his sons when Imam Kisa'i would come, would meet their sons and would hold his feet and take him to the gathering. And one time Imam Harun ar-Rashid, Amir al-Mu'mineen, asked Imam Kisa'i: "Who are the most honored people? Who is the most honored person? Who is the most honored person among people?"

Imagine that he asked Imam Kisa'i - what would be the response from the imam? Amir al-Mu'mineen, the president of the faith! Imam Harun ar-Rashid answers him and says: "No, rather the most honored person is the one who takes his sons to the gathering, takes his sons and they learn from him. This is the most honored person."

Now when we ask ourselves: do we honor our children like this? The best teacher is the one who helps the children of the children. Now he says: Jazakallahu khayran for watching. Allah yu'fu anna ya Rabb al-alameen (Allah forgives us, O Lord of the worlds). Allahumma ighfir lana taqseerana fi haqq mashayikhina (O Allah, forgive us our shortcomings in the rights of our teachers).

How They Were as Teachers

The teachers, the imams of Quran and their qira'at were people of mercy. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said: الرحمن علم القرآن - not al-Jabbar taught the Quran, not al-Muntaqim taught the Quran. What did He say? Ar-Rahman taught the Quran. Who taught the Quran? Ar-Rahman. So the scholars of Quran - what should they try to represent? At-takhalluq bi akhlaqillah (adorning oneself with the characteristics of Allah). What should they represent when they teach the Quran? Mercy.

Do you know how many people left Islam? Because the teachers who taught them taught them with harshness and not with love. I know personally people who left Islam - Allah yu'fu ala ha'ula'i an-nas ya Rabb al-alameen (Allah forgives these people, O Lord of the worlds) who did that, and Allah protects them, ya Rabb. So the scholars of Quran should teach with mercy, and when we look at the lives of the imams, they taught with mercy, they taught with mercy.

Imam Nafi' had these children Qalun and Warsh. What does Qalun mean? Is this his name? His name was... No, his name is not Qalun. It's not Mustafa either. Everyone puts their name as Qalun. Qalun in the Roman language means "well done" - it was "well done," ahsant. You say ya'qid lahu ath-thalatheen in Arabic. When they say ya'qid lahu ath-thalatheen, thalatheen means "good," like English "good," "you did good work" - Qalun! Qalun! He called his child.

And Warsh - his name is not Warsh, his name is Uthman. Why did he call him Warsh? Again, his name - he loved to call his child Imam Warsh, he loved to call him Warsh. Why? Because his teacher gave him this name.

Imam Kisa'i was also playful with his child. Again he was asked to read الذيب in Surah Yusuf: أكله الذ... What did his brothers say about Yusuf alayhis salam to their father? What ate him? Adh-dhi'b (the wolf) - أكله الذئب. But he reads it adh-dhiyb - الذيب. They are facilitating - instead of ذئب it's ذيب. He asked: "Why don't you put hamza on adh-dhi'b? Why don't you put hamza on ذئب? Why don't you do hamz? You can understand it in two ways. Why don't you put hamza on adh-dhi'b in the wolf? And why don't you put the equivalent of az-zunzul? Al-hamz and al-mazz - there is one who jokes."

So when he asked him: "Why don't you do hamz for dhiyb?" He said: "I'm really afraid that hamz will eat me, so I'm afraid that it will eat me!" So you see that they were playful with their children and they taught with mercy.

And that's when we teach Quran with our children - don't do it with harshness, do it with mercy, do it from a place of love. Because when they love the Quran, even after you finish, your children will continue in their relationship with the Quran. But if you teach it with harshness, with speed, they develop this: "I don't want anything to do with this religion." A'udhu billah (Allah forbid). May Allah forgive us, ya Rabb al-alameen. May Allah make our children connected to the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allahumma aslih shabab al-muslimeen (O Allah, reform the youth of the Muslims).

How They Were as Worshippers of Allah

Imam Hamza - Imam Hamza would read the Quran 25 times a month. Do any of you know Shaykh Abdul Rasheed As-Sufi? Raise your hands. Shaykh Abdul Rasheed As-Sufi is like the famous reciters before them. In Ramadan he completes a khatmah in tarawih and he completes a khatmah in every ten nights in tahajjud by himself, and he completes a khatmah by himself, and he completes a khatmah and he does it clearly and he does it beautifully as a famous example of how these people should be.

Imam Hamza would finish the Quran 25 times in a month. Can you imagine that? How many of us have finished the Quran once in three days? Have you ever done that? Do you know how difficult that is? You have to put a lot of focus. 25 times in a month?

Imam Shu'bah, student of Asim - for years and years he would finish the Quran every day. In his final stage, his sister was crying and he said to her: "Why are you crying?" And he said to her: "Do you know that room in my room there? I completed the Quran 18,000 times there." 18,000 times! Can you imagine that?

When we talk about people who memorize the Quran for us, we're talking about beasts! Then you have children - I say children metaphorically - who think they can complete the Quran in qira'at. Who are you to complete the Quran in qira'at? Our nation united and the amount of struggle that they put to preserve the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Allah preserved the book of Allah through them, as He preserved the sunnah through Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Ash-Shafi'i, Imam Ahmad, Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim. These devoted ones - Allah preserved the Quran through the characters of these people who finished the Quran day and day and day. Their lives were only for Allah - they lived and lived and died for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Imam Asim, whom we all read in his method - he would read the Quran with ease. He would read: ثم ردوا إلى الله مولاهم الحق. He would read the Quran with ease. Why? When you read the Quran and it seems difficult to you, but for the person who reads it day and day, it appears like water.

One of the characterizations of the reading of Imam Ibn Kathir is that his reading was like honey. Why was his reading called like honey? Because it's very sweet and very easy in his reading.

Conclusion: A Beautiful Story from Imam Kisa'i

Brothers, I have shared stories with you all - stories from their lives as students, as teachers, and as worshippers of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I will leave you all with a story from the story of Imam Kisa'i. Imam Kisa'i - and perhaps this is beautiful advice for all of us.

There was a person who used to criticize him frequently. Be careful because the controller - what the word means is when you are careless, it's as if you are consuming another word...