Session 2 | November 18, 2014 | Al-Minhaal Academy

Topic:  Introduction to the World of Quran  |  Session 2
Speaker:  Sheikh Okasha Kameny
Date: November 18, 2014

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There are 4 broad categories of Quran reciters/learners (characteristics of each category will be described in future classes):

1. Al-Mahir  الماهر
2. Al-Qari   القاري
3. Al-Muqri  المقرئ
4. Al-Wahya'en  الوحيين

Person to know:  
Abu Mizahim Musa Bin Alkhaqany  ابو مزاحم موسى بن الخاقاني

Died in 325 after hijrah.  He was the first imam to write a book on Tajweed.

Uthman Ibn Affaan & the Quran 

It was narrated from Uthman Ibn Affaan (may Allah be pleased with him), that Muhammad (peace and blessings upon him) said:

خيركم من تعلم القران وعلمه

The best of you is he who learns the Quran and teaches it.

The day Uthman (ra) was killed, he died while reciting the following verses from Surat Al-Baqarah, verses 135-137:

They say, "Be Jews or Christians [so] you will be guided." Say, "Rather, [we follow] the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth, and he was not of the polytheists."Say, [O believers], "We have believed in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."So if they believe in the same as you believe in, then they have been [rightly] guided; but if they turn away, they are only in dissension, and Allah will be sufficient for you against them. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing. 

He was killed while reciting the last of the aforementioned verses:

Allah will be sufficient for you against them. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing. 

فسيكفيكهم الله وهو السميع العليم 

Out of the four rightly guided khalifahs, Uthman was the one who served the Quran the most.  

Abdullah Bin Umar narrated the following hadith:  

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "لا حسد إلا على اثنتين: رجل آتاه الله هذا الكتاب. فقام به آناء الليل وآناء النهار. ورجل آتاه الله مالا. فتصدق به آناء الليل وآناء النهار". 

 “There is no envy except in two cases: a man whom Allah has given this Book so he stands to recite it during the day and night, and a man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it during the day and night.”

Famous sayings on the Quran:
Al-Nu'man Bin Albasheer said, "The best act of worship is to recite the Quran."
Al-Imam Al-Baihaqi said,  القران أصول العلم The Quran is the foundation of knowledge.

Dignity that knowledge of the Quran brings
During times of war when martyrs were many and there would be a mass burial, the Prophet (pbuh) used to bury the ones with more knowledge of the Quran first, asking "Bring forth those with the most Quran?"   قدموا أكثرهم قرآناً
They would then bury those with the most knowledge of the Quran first, thereby giving that person more respect and dignity even in death.

Al-Khaniqi poetry on the Importance of Tajweed
وإن لنا أخذ القراءة سنة * عن الأولين المقرئين ذوي الستر

Arabic to know:

Each bayt sha'ar (poetry) consists of 2 masraa'  (مصرع).  

The above bayt has two masraa' separated with a *.  

Two ways of writing:  1.  Regular prose is called Al-nathr  النثر  and 2. Poetic way of writing is called الشعر

In Arabic poetry (الشعر) there are 16 bahr (oceans), or different types.  

In the past, poetry was called اغاني, which is commonly understood today as song/singing.  Nowadays Arabs use the word شعر to describe poetry and not اغاني

أَيَا قَارِئَ القُرْآنِ أحسِنْ أداءَه * يُضاعِفْ لك اللهُ الجزيلَ مِنَ الأَجْرِ

Fact to Know:

اركان القران

There are 3 pillars or conditions of Quran - اركان القران 

If one condition is missing, then the Quran is not valid.  Conditions will be mentioned in a later class.