Etiquettes of the Quran: Mindful Transformation | Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Etiquettes of the Qur'an: Mindful Transformation

نَحْمَدُهُ وَنُصَلِّي عَلَى رَسُولِهِ الْكَرِيمِ، أَمَّا بَعْد

In the past two sessions of our series on the etiquettes of the Qur'an, we've spoken about how we should be listening to the Qur'an and the etiquettes that are attached with that. And then we spoke about the etiquettes that are attached to how we should be reciting the Qur'an. In today's session I hope to shed some light upon the concept of what our mentality should be like whilst reciting or listening to the Qur'an. So we know how we should listen, we know how we should read, we've taken tangible lessons hopefully from the past two episodes and implemented them in the way that we listen and recite the Qur'an.

Now the question becomes, what should our mentality be like? What do we want to take from the Qur'an? Everything in life that is worth living for has an objective, that is worth working for has an objective, that is worth giving time to has an objective. The Qur'an is within the same framework of that.

The Qur'an is Like Water

The Qur'an is like water. Water comes from the skies and it gives life to land that is dead.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala uses the verb أَنْزَلَ with two nouns in the Qur'an. One is water — أَنْزَلَ, which means to descend or to be revealed — and one is وَحْي in the Qur'an. Why did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala use the same verb for these two distinctively different nouns per se? When you look at it from a distance they're very different. One is water, one is Qur'an. But they play very similar roles.

The water brings life to land that is dead and allows that land to come back to life and give crops and vegetation and greenery.

Many gardens are brought back to life because of the water that comes from above. The Qur'an is also very similar. The Qur'an is able to bring a dead heart back to life. And that is one of the objectives of the Qur'an — that it is able to be the source of life for your heart. They both come from above. They both bring something back to life. Without water the earth is dead.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says from water everything comes to life. Without Qur'an our hearts are dead.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about the concept of people's hearts becoming so hard due to the lack of conviction that they have in reciting the Qur'an, or due to the incorrect mentality that they should have while engaging with the Qur'an.

The Mentality We Should Possess

What mentality should we possess when reciting the Qur'an, when listening to the Qur'an? And this is also part of the etiquettes of the Qur'an. The mentality that we should possess is regardless if we understand the Qur'an or not, if we're able to translate the Qur'an or not. The objective from the Qur'an is that we can take lessons from it. We can bring our heart back to life. We can reflect upon the verses despite not being able to even understand them.

It is not a condition that you must understand the Qur'an or I must understand the Qur'an for it to affect me. But rather the condition is I have that mentality. I am present-minded with that characteristic that when I sit in front of the Qur'an or when I listen to the Qur'an, I want to take an effect. I want to be affected.

There are people that are blind. One of our dear friends and fellow scholar, Qari Nu'man from Milwaukee — his father passed away recently. And he was a man that when reciting the Qur'an he was unable to see. So when he would recite the Qur'an he would simply put his fingers on the lines of the Qur'an. And from that he would just enjoy having his fingers run over the ayat of the Qur'an. And that would make him weep. It's not about having to understand it. It's about wanting to be affected by it.

Our salafus salihin, our prized predecessors, were individuals that wished to live by this concept of taking effect from the Qur'an.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about the idea that these people who recite the Qur'an, that listen to the Qur'an — do they not have the objective or the goal to take benefit from it? Do they not want to take reflections from the Qur'an? Do they not want to be affected by the Qur'an? Or is it that their hearts have locks upon them?

How the Qur'an Affected Our Pious Predecessors

I'll share a few quick incidents where our pious predecessors displayed this quality and how the Qur'an affected them. It's not even about people that perhaps were even Muslims. Even non-Muslims. Ibn Hajar mentions more than 30–40 people who accepted Islam — non-Muslims — just by hearing the Qur'an from a distance.

From amongst them is Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) hearing the verses of Surah Taha:

All the way to the ayah of:

This just opened up his heart.

Mus'ab ibn Umayr (may Allah be pleased with him) was secretly listening to the Qur'an in Dar al-Arqam, and he heard the verses of Surah al-Haqqah. And it opened up his heart. This was the Qur'an — the effect of the Qur'an upon these individuals before they became Muslims.

Umar and Surah Yusuf

After they became Muslims, it was said about Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that one day, during Fajr Salat, as he was leading Salatul Fajr, he was unable to complete his prayer. Why? Because as he was reciting — in one narration — Surah Yusuf, he continued to repeat the verses of:

"That I complain only to Allah." فَسَالَتْ دُمُوعُهُ — and his tears overwhelmed him, and they continued to stroll down his cheeks until they filled up his beard.

Abdullah ibn Rawaha and the Bridge of Sirat

There was a man by the name of Abdullah ibn Rawaha, a companion of the Prophet ﷺ. One day he comes to his home and puts his head on the lap of his wife. As he is laying there, he begins to weep. The wife inquires: "Oh my husband, why is it that you are weeping? What saddens you? What grieves you?" And he did not respond, but rather continued to cry. The wife, seeing this, begins to cry herself. And the husband says, "What makes you cry now?" And she says, "Whatever made you cry, made me cry."

And then Abdullah ibn Rawaha recites the ayah:

The ayah which speaks about that every single one of you will have to cross past the bridge of Sirat in order to get to Jannah. You will have to cross this bridge. This has been decided. He says that Allah speaks about having to come to this bridge, but how do I know that I will not fall inside? Or if I will make it across? I don't know that. Even though they were companions. They were given the glad tidings of Jannah. The Qur'an had this effect in their lives.

The Highway Robber and Surah al-Hadid

One of the individuals known as Qati' al-Tariq — a highway robber and a looter within the Hijaz, known as a very low person with a very low type of occupation. One day he was going about his business, entered into a house from the back window, and as he is preparing to rob that house — take the jewelry, take the wealth — he hears a person reciting one verse of Surah al-Hadid:

"Has the time not come that people actually have some form of reverence, humility in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and about that which has been revealed, which is the truth?" He just hears this one ayah. And this man is known to be a highway robber. He drops everything. Leaves the house. Continues to walk around the city, the entire time responding to this ayah by saying:

"Yes, O Allah, you are right. The time has finally come." That I should take an effect from the Qur'an. That I should take the next step.

Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz and Surah al-Shura

Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (rahimahullah)'s wife, Fatima (rahimahullah), would say that when my husband would pray tahajjud, I would pray to Allah that he does not read this, or that he avoids this verse. Because whenever he would recite it, it would really affect him. And it would make him cry at times in ways that were uncontrollable.

And the ayah was:

"There will be a group of you that will be granted the bliss of Jannah. And there will be a group of you that will be doomed for the punishment of Hellfire." And this would shake him to his core, thinking: I don't know which side I'm on.

Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) — when a tribe from Yemen came to Madinatul Munawwara and they started reciting the Qur'an in front of Amirul Mu'mineen and they started to cry — he looked at his companions and said: that this was us a few years back.

"But then our hearts became hard." Of course, he had the most purest of hearts — his heart could never go hard. But he was showing an example of: this is how we should take an effect from the Qur'an. These people just came to Medina, and this is what's happening to their heart. They just became Muslims.

How many people — Allah had opened up the doors of guidance for them — because they opened up an English translation of the Qur'an. And how many just read a few ayat from the Qur'an? That's all they read.

The Prophet ﷺ and His Engagement with the Qur'an

That's what the Prophet ﷺ would do — when he would recite the Qur'an and if he would cross by an ayah of Jahannam, he would seek protection from Jahannam. When he would cross by an ayah of Jannah, he would ask Allah for Jannah. He would ask Allah for ease. And the Prophet ﷺ himself would say: "I have become old from surahs like Surah Hud and its sisters" — Hud wa akhwatuha, Surah Hud and the surahs similar to it. They've made me old, because whenever I read them, it hits me and it gets to me.

Practical Guidance: Engaging the Qur'an with Purpose

For us — number one — we are already reciting the Qur'an, but let's not do it mechanically. Rather let's do it with the idea, the hope, the objective that whatever I'm reciting, Ya Allah, make it affect me. Ya Allah, make me amongst those people that the Qur'an allows my heart to continuously — like how water continuously brings life to the earth — let the Qur'an bring life to my heart.

If we're feeling down and we're stuck, or we're depressed, or if we feel alone — recite the ayah that you understand. For example, if I committed a sin and I feel bad, recite:

"O those individuals who have transgressed themselves beyond all boundaries — أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ — do not allow yourself to lose hope in the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, because He will forgive all of your sins."

When we are feeling alone, recite the verses of:

"When they ask you, where is your Lord? Tell them — my Lord is very close."

When we finish an act of goodness and want it to be accepted, recite the du'a of Ibrahim (peace be upon him):

"Oh Allah, we built this house of yours, please accept it from us." (Quran 2:127)

If we feel like we are being affected through hasad or magic, recite the verses of Surah al-Falaq and Surah an-Nas. This is taking effect from the Qur'an. Knowing that these ayat can actually affect me beyond the surface level. This is more true than any pill that we take. If a tablet can take my headache away, then reciting this can also take away something negative from my life.

And that is a part and parcel of the etiquettes of reciting, listening, and engaging at whatever level with the Qur'an — that we wish, we hope to take an effect from it. It doesn't matter if we understand it or we don't understand it.

Understanding Is Not a Prerequisite for Being Affected

There are many sahabah that did not understand the Qur'an. Yes, it should be said that we should at least aim to want to understand it. We should open up translations. We should try to take classes about learning Arabic, and so on and so forth. But it's not an excuse for us if we don't understand it to say that I'm not affected by it.

I don't think at a personal level that I've seen anyone weep while reciting the Qur'an as much as an elderly man from the subcontinent region who did not understand the words he was reading. He did not know the meaning of a single word. But every single time he would recite Surah Yasin, he would cry. Every single time he would begin:

He didn't know Arabic. I know a man like that. So it is no excuse to say that because I don't understand it, I can't take that effect. Rather, hope to understand it. Make plans to understand it. But from now, have the intention — احْتِسَابًا — have the cognitive goal that every single time that I engage with the Qur'an, I want to take an effect from it, whether or not I can see it right away, or perhaps I may not be able to see it. That's my objective from the Qur'an.

And it will bring back life to my heart. It will bring back life to my house. It will bring back the flame within my marriage. It will bring back the flame within me and my children. It will bring back love within me and my parents. This water that gives life to everything around us — we can't live without it. Similarly, this Qur'an brings life to us like how water brings life to the earth.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to engage with the Qur'an with this objective, with this goal, with this etiquette — that I'm not just passively reading, just reading through verses and quickly reading without stopping, without reflecting — but rather I'm reading because I know it will affect me, and I hope that the Qur'an can change me in ways that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is pleased with.

JazakAllah Khair. Wa akhiru da'wana anil hamdu lillahi rabbil 'alamin. Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.