Copyright 2014 Al-Binaa Publishing All Rights Reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced in any language, printed in any form or any electronic or mechanical means including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without specific verbal or written consent from Al-Binaa Publishing. This may be freely distributed as an eBook for the purpose of dawah. Translator: Abu Ilyas Abdulali Jourari Al-Maghrebi Publisher: Al-Binaa Publishing Email: [email protected] [email protected] Cover Design: Al-Binaa By Design www.albinaapublishing.com All praise is due to Allāh, and peace and blessings be upon Allāh’s Messenger, his household, his companions, and whoever followed his guidance. To proceed, we do advise those concerned and occupied with memorizing the Qur’ān to fear Allāh  and to be dutiful to Him, for He it is Who has guided them towards that goodly and blessed direction, namely memorizing the Book of Allāh. This is a tremendous affair as it is the religion of Allāh which He sent down as guidance to people. So memorize the Qur’ān so proficiently that it is not forgotten, for this requires patience and perseverance. It takes some people only two or three readings of a Qur’ānic text to memorize it, yet this is not sufficient to firmly commit the Qur’ān to one’s memory. As a matter of fact, it demands great deal of repetition and long practice and perseverance, for the Qur’ān is more liable to escape 1 (from one’s memory) than a camel from its tying rope. If a person does not strongly and meticulously commit it to his memory and on top of that neglects to study it and to read it regularly, it will certainly escape from his memory faster than a camel escapes from its tying rope. So long as Allāh has guided you to study and memorize the Qur’ān, it behooves you to perfect that memorization. 1 Reported by Al-Bukhāri (5033) and Muslim (791) from the narration of Abū Mūsa . 4 A WORD OF ADVICE FOR THOSE MEMORIZING THE BOOK OF ALLĀH Having done with its memorization, you should then embark on learning the Sunnah of Allāh’s Messenger . Memorize as much as you can from it, such as ‘Umdatul- Ahkām and Bulūgh Al-Marām. Memorize Imām Muhammad Ibn Adbulwahhāb’s Book of Tawhīd, whose subject matter is the tawhīd of worship; and Imām Ibn Taymia’s “Al- Aqīdatul-Wāsitiyah”, on the topic of tawhīd pertaining to the Names and Attributes and on the topic of ‘aqīdah and manhaj. These are the foundations of Islām. If you learn them strongly and accurately, all of your ‘aqīdah and manhaj related matters will be rectified. Likewise, I advise you to be sincere towards Allāh, the Lord of the Universe, for all these matters that I have mentioned to you, i.e. memorizing the Qur’ān and memorizing these texts and books, are amongst the greatest acts of worship whereby we seek nearness to Allāh. We are in need of sincerity towards Allāh  with regards to these acts. So cultivate yourselves upon sincerity towards Allāh, the Lord of the Universe, and study the texts that encourage towards sincerity from Riyādus-Sālihīn and from other than it, from the Qur’ān itself. Allāh, the Exalted, says: ﱪﮟﮞﮝﮜﮛﮚﮙﮘ ﱫ 5 A WORD OF ADVICE FOR THOSE MEMORIZING THE BOOK OF ALLĀH And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allāh, and worship none but Him Alone 1 (abstaining from ascribing partners to Him). ﱪﭚﭙﭘﭗﭖﭕﭔﭓﭒﭑ ﱫ Say (O Muhammad ): "Verily, I am commanded to worship Allāh (Alone) by obeying Him and doing religious deeds sincerely for Allāh's sake only and not to show off, 2 and not to set up rivals with Him in worship. Allāh commands the Messenger  to single Him out for worship and orders him to be sincere. Similarly, He commands the Ummah and those who follow him to be sincere. No act of worship is accepted unless it is carried out with sincerity, for sincerity is a great condition from the conditions for accepting acts of worship. Any act of worship that is performed seeking nearness to Allāh  must fulfill two conditions: sincerity towards Allāh and following the Messenger ; that is to say, your deed should emanate from the Book and the Sunnah and be established upon them. ﱪﰝﰜﰛﰚﰙﰘﰗﰖﰕﰔﰓﰒﰑﰐ ﱫ 1 Qur’ān, 98:5 2 Qur’ān, 39:11 6 A WORD OF ADVICE FOR THOSE MEMORIZING THE BOOK OF ALLĀH So whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness, i.e. by following the Messenger , and associate none as a partner in the worship of his 1 Lord. That is to say, neither type of shirk should enter into this worship, be it major or minor shirk such as showing off. Therefore, sincerity is an affair that is of considerable importance, and without it acts of worship are null and void, and are of no benefit in this life as well as in the hereafter. Worse still, they should bring destruction upon the one who performs them. For the one who shows off, Allāh shall make a display of him; and the one who seeks to be heard, Allāh shall expose him and disgrace him on the Day of Resurrection before those who will be witnessing. So do not recite the Qur’ān in order to be said about you that so-and-so is a reciter. Indeed, one of the first three people upon whom hellfire will be enflamed is such a reciter. As the noble Messenger  said: Indeed the first people who will be judged on the Day of Resurrection are: a man who died as a martyr. He will be brought forth, and He (Allāh) will make His favors known to him and he will acknowledge them. Allāh will say: What did you do with them? He will say: I fought in Your cause until I died as a martyr. Allāh will say: You have lied. Rather, you fought in order to be said that you are brave, and that was said. Then a command will be passed 1 Qur’ān, 18:110 7 A WORD OF ADVICE FOR THOSE MEMORIZING THE BOOK OF ALLĀH regarding him and he will be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hellfire. And a man who acquired knowledge and taught it (to others), and learned the Qur’ān and taught it (to others). He will be brought forth, and He (Allāh) will make His favors known to him and he will acknowledge them. Allāh will say: What did you do with them? He will say: I obtained knowledge and taught it and recited the Qur’ān for Your sake. Allāh will say: you have lied. Rather, you acquired knowledge so as to be said that you are a knowledgeable man and recited the Qur’ān so as to be said that you are a reciter, and that was said. Then a command will be passed regarding him and he will be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hellfire. And a man whom Allāh increased his provision and granted every type of wealth. He will be brought forth, and He (Allāh) will make His favors known to him and he will acknowledge them. Allāh will say: What did you do with them? He will say: I left no way in which You like money to be spent without spending in it for Your sake. Allāh will say: you have lied. Rather, you did that in order to be said that you are a generous man, and that was said. Then a command will be passed regarding him and he will 1 be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hellfire. 1 Reported by Muslim (1905) from the narration of Abū Hurairah  8 A WORD OF ADVICE FOR THOSE MEMORIZING THE BOOK OF ALLĀH This hadīth causes fear in every Muslim and makes him think seriously about every action he performs, every word he utters, and every movement he makes. It makes him observe Allāh in everything he does. It behooves every believer to try to be from the people of uprightness and people of sincerity and to achieve the level of Ihsān in his worship, and that is to worship Allāh as if you see Him, and since you do not see Him then He sees you. Therefore, it is binding upon man to cultivate himself upon these affairs, not to be cultivated upon the love of showing off and fame or any insignificant worldly pursuits and interests that do not weigh with Allāh the wing of a mosquito. So you recite the Qur’ān and memorize it so as to act upon it. Hence, the Prophet  and the senior companions used to read ten verses to the other companions in order to memorize them and never moved on to other verses until they had memorized them and acted upon them, so they used to acquire knowledge and action simultaneously. This is a great manner of cultivation that Muslims have become totally oblivious to. As for the Messenger , then Allāh revealed the Qur’ān to him gradually in sequential parts in proportion to the events and occasions over a period of twenty-three years. All this was done in order to raise the Ummah upon understanding this Qur’ān, acting upon it, and implementing it. 9 A WORD OF ADVICE FOR THOSE MEMORIZING THE BOOK OF ALLĀH The Messenger  used to teach them the Qur’ān part by part, ten verses in each, and explain to them its meaning so that they would learn it and implement it. They would not proceed to the next text until they have grasped its meaning and put it into action. If it were a text pertaining to ‘aqīdah, they would hold as a belief what is contained therein; if it were an exhortation to fight in the cause of Allāh, they would hope in fighting in the cause of Allāh or would actually set off for the battleground; and if it were an exhortation to charity and a righteous act or a promise of reward or a warning, they would never surpass it until they have fully comprehended all its content. This is a great cultivation indeed, yet people now are not capable of it. O young people! Bear this in your minds, for the Ummah is in need of sincere scholars who are free from whims and desires and purely devoted to Allāh. O brothers, nowadays desires are blowing the youth of the Ummah away (from the right salafi path) --- desires pertaining to partisanship and other than it. A student of knowledge would devote himself sincerely to teaching the Qur’ān, yet would be umbilically attached to parties that do not act upon that Qur’ān but rather follow their own desires. So beware of this type of people, and upon you is sincerity towards Allāh , seeking knowledge and acting upon the Book of Allāh and the Sunnah of Allāh’s Messenger. And I hope that you continue to pursue that 10 A WORD OF ADVICE FOR THOSE MEMORIZING THE BOOK OF ALLĀH blessed course which started with memorizing the Qur’ān until you become from the firmly established scholars whom Allāh has praised and in whose favor He has said: ﱪﯣﯢﯡﯠﯟﯞ ﱫ It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves 1 that fear Allāh. So much so, that some people of knowledge have stated that knowledge is fear of Allāh, and this is not attainable except for scholars, scholars who have true knowledge of Allāh, uphold His Names and Attributes and worship Allāh therewith, and believe in Paradise as if they see it with their very eyes and believe in Hell as if they see it with their very eyes. In line with this, Handhalah  said: Abū Bakr met me and said: How are you, Handhalah? I replied: Handhalah has become a munāfiq (i.e. hypocrite). He said: Glorified is Allāh! What are you saying? I said: When we are in the company of Allāh’s Messenger  and he reminds us of Hell and Paradise, it is as if we can see them with our very eyes. But when we leave the company of Allāh’s Messenger , we turn to our wives, 1 Qur’ān, 35:28