السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
الحمد لله و الصلاة و السلام على رسول الله و على آله و صحبه أجمعين أما بعد
All praises and thanks are for Allah who granted me an opportunity to speak to all of you, may Allah make this beneficial for all of us. Aameen.
In sha Allah I will be speaking on the topic of ‘Virtues of Memorizing The Quran’.
Seeking Islamic Knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim male and female.
Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.”
(Ibn Mājah 224,Sahih)
The knowledge referred to here is the obligatory knowledge of The Deen (Islam:way of Life) and not the worldy sciences as mentioned by some people.
Qaadhi ‘Iyaadh [D.554H](Rahimahullah) said that a Muslim must know the basics of Islam, that is, believing in the Oneness of Allaah The Almighty and in the prophethood of Muhammad,and knowing how to perform Salah (prayer), etc.
That is every Muslim must learn the knowledge which is obligatory upon him,like Tawheed,Risalah and the rest of The Wajibaat(Obligations)of the Deen.
For example,if a Muslim is a Businessman,he is obligated to learn the Islamic Fiqh of Business,but other Muslims need not learn it as it is immediately not necessary for them.
Seeking Islamic Knowledge has great virtues and our Ulama have written beneficial books on them,and sometimes they’ve added introductions to their books on *The Virtues of Talab-ul-Ilm* .
Allah mentions in The Quran that those of The Muslims who learn and accquire Islamic Knowledge are degrees higher that those without knowledge.
Allaah says:
“Allâh will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge”
[al-Mujaadilah 58:11]
And only those amongst the Muslims who have the knowledge of Allah and His religion and are sincere in seeking Islamic knowledge fear Allah as He is to be feared the true sense.
Allaah praises them by saying:
“It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allâh”
[Faatir 35:28]
Besides this, there are many virtues of Talab ul Ilm (seeking Islamic Knowledge) mentioned in the Ahadith.Like,the fishes and creatures of the oceans and the land supplicate for the student of knowledge.Angels gather around the sittings of Ilm and spreading beneficial knowledge is one of the best ways of ensuring Sadaqatul-Jaariyah (Ongoing charity(after one’s death)).
(Arabic and Translation) Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Allah makes the way to Jannah easy for him who treads the path in search of knowledge.”[Saheeh Muslim]
Apart from the above, memorizing The Quran, which in itself is The First Step of seeking Islamic knowledge,has it’s own great virtues.
Al-Tirmidhi (2914) and Abu Dawood (1464) narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: (Arabic and Translation) “It will be said to the companion of the Qur’aan: Recite and rise in status, recite as you used to recite in the world, for your status will be at the last verse that you recite.”(Saheeh,Al-Albani)
The Hafidh , or the one who memorized much from The Quran,will be asked to recite in The Akhirah and his level (in The Jannah) will be at the last Ayah he read.
Shaikh Mohammed Saalih Al-Munajjid mentions: “Concerning the virtue of the hafiz who memorizes the Qur’aan, al-Bukhaari (4937) narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The likeness of the one who reads Qur’aan and memorizes it is that he is with the righteous honourable scribes. The likeness of the one who reads it and tries hard to memorize it even though it is difficult for him, he will have two rewards.””
The memorizer and his parents will get what is mentioned in the saying of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ : “Whoever reads the Quran, memorizes it, and acts upon it, on the Day of Judgment he will be clad (by angels) with a crown of light, its light is like the sunlight and his parents will be clad with two garments better than the whole world and whatever it contains.” So they would amazingly ask: “What action did we do to deserve this?” They will be told: “Because your son memorized the Quran”. [Al-Haakim,Authentic]
Added to the above,the Hafidh is preferred for leadership in Islam,in the Masjid and outside it.He is preferred when being buried,and is buried before those who memorized less as Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did during his campaigns and military expeditions.
Besides that,The Quran,acts as a witness for us (or against us) on The Day of Judgment.Every letter we read is rewarded 10 fold and the one who reads with difficulty is rewarded double than the one who reads with ease(as mentioned in the Hadith above).
I ask Allah to guide all of us to memorize, study and act upon the Quran. May Allah make all of us from the Ahlul Quran. Aameen.
(Arabic and Translation) “Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us. Verily! You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.”(Sura Al-Baqarah, Ayah 127)
و آخر دعوانا عن الحمد لله رب العالمين.
-Abu Muaaz Mohammed Manna.
Saheehus-Seerah 