Etiquettes of The Quran: Who Are The Elite? Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Etiquettes of The Qur'an: Who Are The Elite?

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Firstly I would like to say Eid Mubarak to you all and I hope that insha'Allah all of you are able to enjoy the blessed day of Eid, the blessed occasion of Eid al-Adha with your family and friends. I understand that we're of course living in the given circumstances that we are in but despite that I'm sure that we're all able to in some way enjoy the blessed day of Eid.

Hopefully in the future we're able to celebrate this blessed occasion the way we normally would have if we weren't in these situations. Secondly we took a small break of about 15 days or 12 days because of the virtual journey of Hajj with Sheikh Abdullah, Mufti al-Rahman and Sheikh Muhammad al-Masmari. They were going through the entire journey of Hajj.

If you have not watched that series yet, I encourage every single person to watch that. I believe that series is a must watch for anyone that plans to go for Umrah and Hajj in the future, insha'Allah when things do open up again.

Now we're back insha'Allah till September. The summer series that we had set at Miftah will continue. On Monday we had the daily recital with myself and Sheikh Muhammad Ishtiaq. On Tuesday we had the etiquettes of the Qur'an. On Wednesday we had behind the scenes with Mufti al-Rahman and Sheikh Abdullah. On Thursday we had family matters with Mufti al-Rahman and on Friday we had Friday Night Live. And on Saturday we had our free class for the community. This will now continue insha'Allah on its normal course.

That being said, let us start with the discussion of today.

The Weight of the Qur'an

Allah says in the Qur'an:

That if we were to reveal this blessed book and these honorable words upon a mountain, you would see it tremble and quake and fall into dust and become dust.

Allah also says:

That we presented this amanah of the Qur'an to the skies, the earth, the mountains. And all of them said that we can't do this ya Allah, this is not for us, we're not built for such a responsibility. And then we allowed the human being to bear this responsibility. This Qur'an was given to the human being. This Qur'an was given to us because we are the greatest creation. We are the most honorable of creations of Allah.

In the tafsir of this ayah of وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ, Imam Qurtubi discusses 17 different reasons why we are better than other types of creation. It is not innate in many ways, it is actually earned. It's because of the things that we are able to do that makes us better than other creations of Allah. One of the things that he mentions, citing different ayahs of the Qur'an, is the fact that the human being was given this honor due to our ability of reading, reciting and understanding the book of Allah, the knowledge of Allah.

Allah says that the first thing Adam (AS) was given after his creation was knowledge. We taught him knowledge. And through this knowledge we made apparent his superiority over all the angels. When He asked the angels to tell Him — أَنبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَٰؤُلَاءِ — "Tell me the names of these certain things," and they said, "Oh Allah, we don't know it. You never taught it to us." And then Adam (AS) was presented and he went on and gave all the names that Allah was inquiring about.

Allah begins one of the most beautiful surahs of the Qur'an by saying Allah is the most merciful. Why is He the most merciful? And He starts counting off the blessings — therefore Surah Rahman is known as the surah of blessings. And the first blessing He counts off is عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ — We gave the human being the potential of understanding and memorizing the Holy Qur'an. What a great honor this is.

The greatest blessing that a human being possesses in his or her life, that which makes him great, that which makes him superior to all other creation is the fact that they can understand, memorize and learn the Qur'an. And عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ — this is what makes خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ a source of light and a source of blessing for the entire world. What purpose do we serve in this world if we don't even make an attempt or an effort to understand the Qur'an that Allah gave to us as an honor?

The Importance of Memorizing the Qur'an

Therefore in this reminder of the etiquettes of the Qur'an, I will be speaking about the importance of memorizing the Qur'an — just memorizing as much as we can. Not necessarily becoming a hafidh, because that is a virtue, that is the greatest virtue in this world.

Narrated by Uthman ibn Affan (RA): "The best amongst you are those who learn the Qur'an and teach it." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5027)

How Uthman ibn Affan narrates from the Prophet ﷺ that the best amongst you are the ones that learn the Qur'an or teach the Qur'an or do both. But even just memorizing as much as we possibly can — what a great virtue.

This is something that many times, as parents, we talk about the future of our children and we talk about their professions and we say this child of mine will become this and he or she will become that. And rarely does the first thing on that chart be that my child will become a hafidh or he will memorize the Qur'an or she will memorize the Qur'an. It will be the third or fourth or fifth thing. Or maybe that child of ours that doesn't succeed in becoming a doctor or an engineer or becoming an accountant, we throw them into a Qur'an school. That's not how it works. The greatest virtue that anyone can ever possess is by learning the words of Allah.

And us as parents, we have the responsibility of making sure that this seed is planted into our children at an early age so hopefully they can be encouraged to memorize the Qur'an. And as adults, it's never too late — we should also begin with as much as we can. A few ayats a day, a few verses a day, memorizing the Qur'an. And hopefully Allah will give us the reward of memorizing the entire Qur'an if we had that intention. Allah rewards us on our intentions and on our efforts.

In the next few minutes, I will go over ten tangible rewards that a person will get when they memorize the Qur'an. And I hope this serves as an encouragement and inspires all of us to — A, memorize it for ourselves and B, make sure that we push and we motivate our children to also memorize the Qur'an.

We are living in a time where everything is accessible. Memorizing the Qur'an is not as difficult as it was ten years ago or fifteen years ago where we had to travel to different states and different countries. We have hifz schools in our own communities and Qur'an schools in our own masajid. So it's possible for us to do it if it's given a priority. Of course, the next step is making sure that we implement it into our life and we act upon it. But we start off with memorization.

Ten Virtues of Memorizing the Qur'an

Virtue 1: The Certificate of Knowledge from Allah

The first dalil or proof that I will speak about are Qur'anic ayat, and then I will turn towards hadith. Allah says:

"But rather these are the greatest signs of Allah — آيَاتٌ بَيِّنَاتٌ — these are clear signs of Allah that are secured in the hearts of those that have knowledge." So Allah is telling us that people of knowledge are recognized by how much Qur'an they have secured and preserved in their hearts. Based on how much Qur'an they have preserved in their hearts, that's how knowledgeable they are in the eyes of Allah.

Allah says that the ones of knowledge have the highest ranking in the eyes of Allah. Ibn Abbas (RA) narrates and says that this ayah refers to those that memorize the Qur'an.

The certificate of becoming a physician is given by a university. The certificate of becoming an engineer or any profession is given by a body, a university, a college. But the certificate of being the most knowledgeable person in the eyes of Allah — of course there are people that are more knowledgeable than us even in our fields of ilm and knowledge and Qur'an — but within the eyes of Allah, that fraternity, that group which is the most knowledgeable are the people that dedicate themselves to memorize some portions of the Qur'an. They are a part of that fraternity. They are a part of that family and we want to be a part of that family.

So number one: the certificate from Allah to be a part of that elite club. Not the club of the Fortune 500 or the club of the 100 most elite people in the world, the 100 most influential people living on earth, the 100 most wealthy people living on this earth. No — we're a part of a club where Allah puts us with the prophets and with scholars of the past.

Virtue 2: Being Among the Chosen Ones

Allah tells us that the people who memorize the Qur'an are the chosen ones:

Allah says that we gave this book as an inheritance — to those whom we have chosen. اصْطَفَيْنَا. Now Qurtubi Rahimullah mentions something very interesting here. He says that the word اصْطَفَى, which means to choose, is generally only used for prophets in the Qur'an:

Allah chose these people as prophets — Ibrahim, Adam, Isa (AS), Zakariya (AS), Yahya (AS) as prophets. اصْطَفَى is used. But in this ayah, Allah is using that same word for those that intend and make an effort to memorize as much as they can from the Qur'an. That is the second virtue.

Virtue 3: Never Being Misguided or Humiliated

Where Allah says that whosoever follows my guidance — فَلَا يَضِلُّ — they will never be misguided — وَلَا يَشْقَى — and they will never be humiliated. They will never be disgraced. Ibn Abbas (RA) says that يَضِلُّ means that in this world they will never be misguided. They will never be humiliated. وَلَا يَشْقَى refers to the akhira — that on the Day of Judgment they will be honored in front of the billions and trillions of humans and jinns that are being resurrected and being put to reckoning. This person — وَلَا يَشْقَى — will never be brought down in the eyes of those individuals because they have the Qur'an. Huda here in this ayah refers to the fact that they follow the Qur'an. They choose to memorize the Qur'an. That's why the Prophet ﷺ would say that this book has the ability of raising people and it has the ability of giving people honor — not only in this world but also for the akhira.

These are the few verses that I wanted to discuss and now we move on towards some of the prophetic narrations where the Prophet ﷺ gives specific detailed rewards and virtues for those that choose to memorize the Qur'an.

Virtue 4: Being the Family of Allah (Ahlullah)

The Prophet ﷺ states in a beautiful narration:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 215; also narrated in Sunan al-Nasa'i)

That Allah has a family within the people — that these people are a part of Allah's family. Not literally, but giving them that special reward — that fraternity, that family, that community, that elite club. To get into an elite club in this world, in America, if you want to get into this golf club or into this specific club, you've got to pay money for it. It's big dollars, right? So the Prophet ﷺ says Allah also has an elite family within the people. The Sahabah asked:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 215)

"Who are these people?" And the Prophet ﷺ responded: "They are the people of the Qur'an. They are the people of Allah and they are the chosen ones from amongst the people that Allah has handpicked, for them to be a part of that fraternity, that family, where they are preserving the words of Allah."

Allah mentions that we have revealed this book and we will make sure that we protect it. Ibn Abbas (RA) says that within that protection of this Qur'an, one of the means that Allah has chosen is that Allah has allowed people to memorize this book.

"We have made it easy for people to memorize this book. Is there anyone that is prepared to memorize it? Is there anyone prepared to learn it?" Allah is asking us. The past scriptures — this ease or this virtue was not given to them, where they could memorize the book cover to cover. We have kids that are five years old, seven years old, nine years old memorizing this entire book cover to cover. Every letter is meticulously memorized with detail — with each makhraj and the tajweed — they can recite it. And we have elders at the age of 60 and 70 that are memorizing this book. This is Ahlullah. We are all a part of that special group. That's virtue number four.

Virtue 5: Protection from the Fire

The fire cannot touch the body of that individual who has memorized the Qur'an. (Referenced in Ahmad's Musnad and similar collections)

The fire cannot touch the body of that individual who has memorized the Qur'an. We are all afraid of the fire — that's not abnormal, that is normal. We should have some sense of fear from Jahannam. Allah is telling us through the Prophet ﷺ that a person that memorizes the book of Allah — like we tell our children to earn these degrees because no one can bully you, you'll be standing on your own feet, no one can bother you, no one can humiliate you, no one can harm you because you have a certain class within the community and within society — but imagine us telling our kids, or us recognizing for ourselves for a moment, that on the Day of Judgment we're a part of this class that is not afraid of the fire. فَلَا يَشْقَى — we cannot be humiliated. We cannot be touched by the fire because we have the Qur'an in our heart. And the Qur'an is living not only in our heart but it's living in every drop of blood in our body. Allah will not allow the fire to touch that body which has the Qur'an within it.

Virtue 6: The Qur'an Will Intercede for You

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 804)

"Recite the Qur'an, memorize the Qur'an, because on the Day of Judgment it will come as a source of intercession for you." شَفِيعًا مُشَفَّعًا — another hadith says the Prophet ﷺ said it will come as an interceder whose intercession is automatically accepted. And it will speak to Allah — "Oh Allah, help this person. Oh Allah, I prevented him from sleeping at night because he was standing in tahajjud or staying awake at night trying to memorize me. Oh Allah, do not allow this person to be humiliated on this day."

The Qur'an will have our back. It will intercede for us. It will take care of us. On that day where our parents, our siblings, our spouses, our closest friends will not blink twice at us or look towards us with any form of help and assistance — the Qur'an will be there to intercede for us if we give it some time.

And again, this is not only for those that memorize the entire thing but also for those that at least have some form of connection, that want to memorize ayat or surahs. If we think that it's too difficult to memorize the entire Qur'an, let's start with Surah Mulk. Let's start with Surah Rahman. Let's start with the last ten surahs of the Qur'an. Let's start with Surah Al-Kahf. Start from somewhere and hopefully Allah will give us the reward of memorizing the entire Qur'an.

Virtue 7: Preference Even at Burial

The seventh virtue — during the burial of the shuhada of Uhud, where there were many martyrs — seventy shuhada — and they were buried with multiple martyrs in one grave. When the Prophet ﷺ was performing the janazah on these shuhada, he would say:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1347)

He would have two in one grave, so he would say: "Which one amongst them has memorized more of the Qur'an?" And if it was said that this person has memorized more of the Qur'an, قَدَّمَهُ إِلَى اللَّحْدِ — the Prophet ﷺ would bring him first. Even when they had passed away, the Prophet ﷺ would give preference to those that had memorized more of the Qur'an.

When during the time of Uhud the flag was given to Mus'ab ibn 'Umair, and when the Sahabah inquired why this young man over Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali and these great Sahabah, he said: "He has memorized more of the Qur'an. He has taken more of the Qur'an." Honor was given to these companions in front of other elite companions based upon the fact that they had more of the Qur'an in their bosoms.

Virtue 8: Leadership Belongs to Those with the Most Qur'an

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 673)

The Prophet ﷺ says that in this world the leader of the people should be that individual who has memorized more of the Qur'an. So not only when we pass away does Allah show that people of the Qur'an have more virtue — even while we're in the world, give preference to those people who have memorized the Qur'an as leaders. Preference shouldn't only be based upon the amount of value the people of the world give that individual. The virtue should be given based upon how much value Allah gives to people.

That idea, that notion that only specific kids or specific children should become hafidh should be broken. Rather, everyone should be encouraged to become hafidh al-Qur'an just as everyone should be encouraged to have good professions in life. Everyone should have this goal for our children because they will be the source of the greatest reward for us in the Akhirah.

Virtue 9: Better Than the Greatest Wealth of This World

Number nine — the person that memorizes the Qur'an, at whatever extent and at whatever pace, Allah will give them the greatness of dunya and akhira. Uqba ibn Amr narrates that one day we were Ashab as-Suffah — the people of as-Suffah who were there to study ilm. Abu Hurairah was also amongst them. The Prophet ﷺ came to them and said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 803)

"Which one amongst you would like to go every morning to the valleys of Buthan and Aqiq outside of Madinah al-Munawwarah — the suburbs — and you go there every single morning and come back with two she-camels that are fleshy, full of meat, without any stealing or any sins or without breaking the ties of kinship? Would you want that?"

And the Sahabah replied: "Every one of us would want that, O Messenger of Allah. Why would we not want that?" To get two free Bugattis every time you go to the suburbs — to get two free iPhones every time, two free toys. Give them incentive. The Prophet ﷺ gave the Sahabah incentive. He gave them live, parallel examples where they could take from and hopefully get motivated. We know how to motivate our kids to learn other things — we need to learn how to motivate our kids to memorize the Qur'an the same way and with the same importance so that insha'Allah they can also feel inspired to do that.

The Prophet ﷺ then responded:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 803)

"If any of you wake up in the morning and go to the masjid, or go to a hifz school, or in your homes memorize two ayats — that is better for you than those two Bugattis, those two iPhones, those two she-camels. It's better for you than that. And three is better than three." And it continues to count. So Allah gives us the best of the akhira and also allows us to take care of ourselves in the dunya. Many people ask: what would you do if you become a scholar or a hafidh? Allah has a plan for those individuals.

Virtue 10: A Crown of Light for Your Parents on the Day of Judgment

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1453; also Mustadrak al-Hakim)

"Whoever recites the Qur'an and acts upon what is in it, his parents will be dressed with a crown on the Day of Judgment whose light is better than the light of the sun in the houses of this world, if it were among you." This is the reward for parents.

As parents, every single one of us wishes to see that day where our son or our daughter puts on their gown and they're graduating, or puts on their white coat when they graduate, or gets their certificate. We beam with honor and pride — "That is my son, that is my daughter." Everyone in the community knows what's happening. The Prophet ﷺ says that the true pride and true honor is found on the Day of Judgment — the day that Allah is the judge. And he tells us that on that day, these parents would be beaming with pride and honor because Allah will put a crown on their heads — وَيُلْبَسُ وَالِدَاهُ تَاجًا — a crown the light of which will be brighter than the sun if it was in our own homes. Such a bright crown. So everyone from miles away can recognize — "Oh, that is the mother of a hafidh. That is a father of a hafidh. Those right there, those are the parents of a hafidh."

You know how people in the army have different labels and different types of medals where you can recognize them from a distance, or someone that is wealthy — the car that they drive — you can recognize them from a distance. The Prophet ﷺ is telling us that the hafidh's parents, from miles away on the Day of Judgment, will be recognized by their crowns.

In one narration, the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1453)

Not only will they be given a crown, they will also be given two pieces of cloth that will be so shiny — made from silk and the design will be of gold, because gold from men will also be permissible to wear in the akhira — these clothes will shine so much that everyone walking around them will recognize them.

As parents, what else would we want? That honor on that day. That on the flat screen of a stadium our daughter is walking to pick up the certificate and we feel that honor — imagine on the Day of Judgment where the entire world is watching and we are being called and everyone is watching that a crown is being put on our head and we're given the cloth and the clothes of honor as parents of a hafidh. That honor and that joy can only be understood on that day by those parents who are given that virtue and that reward.

As children, do we not want to give our parents honor? As parents, do we not want our children to be a source of honor for us?

Conclusion

In this lecture, in this reminder, I really wanted to focus on just the prophetic narrations and the ayat of the Qur'an. There are many stories that talk about the virtue but I wanted to go to the meat of it — where the Qur'an tells us the honor and the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ tell us the honor of these individuals. We do not need to dive into other stories — of course they are beneficial, there is so much virtue in them — but because of the lack of time, I think just understanding the virtue of these people through Qur'an and through hadith can be sufficient and it should be enough of a form of inspiration for us and our children to take on this journey of memorizing the Qur'an at whatever capacity we can.

May Allah make us amongst Ahlullah — the family, the fraternity of Allah, the fraternity of scholars and the fraternity of those that Allah has chosen to be a part of the preservation of the Qur'an. May Allah bless us all with the ability of bringing this into our life, myself included, and allow us to be amongst those great people who are wearing those crowns on the Day of Judgment.

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ. السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته.