THE HOLY PROPHET AND THE AHL AL-BAYTS CONCERNMENT FOR THE HOLY QUR'AN

The Ahl al-Bayt took such a great interest in the Holy Qur'an that Imam al-Sajjad has been reported as saying, "Even if all those who live between the east and the west of the earth will pass away, I will not feel lonely so long as I have the Qur'an with me." ^[1]

Almighty Allah has ordered the Holy Prophet to recite the Holy Qur'an and to ready himself to undertake it through practicing the supererogatory Prayer of Night, "And recite the Qur'an in slow, measured rhythmic tones. Soon shall We send down to thee a weighty Message. Truly the rising by night is most potent for governing (the soul), and most suitable for (framing) the Word (of Prayer and Praise). 73/4-6"

Having been not content with reciting the Holy Qur'an, the Holy Prophet used to ask 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud to recite the Holy Qur'an before him. When 'Abdullah was astonished from this request since the asker was the very one to whom the Holy Qur'an was revealed, the Holy Prophet answered, "I like hearing the Qur'an from you." As 'Abdullah was reading, the Holy Prophet's eyes were shedding tears. In plain words, the Holy Prophet wanted to take full pleasure in the Words of Almighty Allah since he knew that each organ has its own way of acquiring knowledge; therefore, he, having been the most perfect human being, wanted to have all the reasons of pleasure perfected for him. With relation

to this_; a Hadith reads that one who wastes one of his senses has in fact wasted an item of knowledge. The Holy Prophet thus wanted to obtain all the knowledges of the Holy Qur'an through all of his senses. From this cause, it is recommended to recite the Holy Qur'an with an audible voice. Likewise, many narrations have reported the merits and advantages of paying heed to the Holy Qur'an when it is recited as well as looking in it while reciting even if the recited chapters are memorized and even if it is recited in the prayers. Later on, a collection of traditions in this regard will be cited.

The Holy Prophet's interaction with the Holy Qur'an was at the highest level; it has been narrated that when he, once, recited the Surah (chapter) of al-Rahman (the All-beneficent; No. 55) to the Muslims who were paying heed to him, the Holy Prophet said, "When I recited this Surah to the Jinn, they listened to it better than you did!" The attendants asked, "How was that, Allah's Messenger?" The Holy Prophet explained, "Whenever I recited the Ayah (verse), 'Then which of the favors of your Lord will ye deny? 55/13'  [2] they said, 'Our Lord! None of the favors of You will we ever deny.'"

Again, whenever he recited Almighty Allah's saying, "Is not He (Who doeth so) Able to bring the dead to life? 75/40" The Holy Prophet used to say, "Of course, my Lord, You are Able! Glory be to You!" This is because he listened to Almighty Allah directly. Imam al-Kazim, as will be later on cited, used to recite the Holy Qur'an as if he was speaking directly to a man.

It has been also narrated that when the Holy Prophet recited the last verses of the Sarah of al-Zumar (the Groups; No. 39) ^[3]  before a pure-hearted young man, the young man sniffled so highly that he passed away. On a similar occasion, the Holy Prophet recited the Sarah of al-Insan (Man; No. 76) to a black man and when he reached the verses that describe Paradise, the black man sniffled so highly that he passed away. Such persons have been described in the Holy Qur'an as, "Those unto whom We have given the Scripture, who read it with the right reading, those believe in it; and whoso disbelieveth in it, those are they who are the losers. 2/121"