Al-Salam ‘Alaykum, this is Syed Ali Imran – and you are listening to the Forties podcast, brought to you by Mizan Institute.
This is episode 52 – The Reward for Looking at the Qurān
عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ عَمَّارٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) قَالَ قُلْتُ لَهُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ إِنِّي أَحْفَظُ الْقُرْآنَ عَلَى ظَهْرِ قَلْبِي فَأَقْرَؤُهُ عَلَى ظَهْرِ قَلْبِي أَفْضَلُ أَوْ أَنْظُرُ فِي الْمُصْحَفِ قَالَ فَقَالَ لِي بَلِ اقْرَأْهُ وَانْظُرْ فِي الْمُصْحَفِ فَهُوَ أَفْضَلُ أَ مَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ النَّظَرَ فِي الْمُصْحَفِ عِبَادَةٌ
In Hadith #11 we read Ishaq ibn ‘ Ammar who has said the following: “Once I said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, I memorize the Holy Quran by heart and read from my memory, is that more virtuous or looking at the copy of the Holy Quran?’ The Imam said to him, ‘It is better to look at the copy. Have you not heard that looking at a copy of the Holy Quran is an act of worship?”’
This narration tells us that even merely looking at the lines and words and text of the Qurān is a type of worship and that Allah rewards us for that. So if a person reads the Qurān from a physical copy, with the sincere intention that they are doing so because Allah has recommended this, then they receive double the reward, one for reading the Qurān, and one for reading from the physical copy of the Qurān.
Don’t forget though, we mentioned in the previous episode that if one is unable to read from the physical copy, they still receive a reward for reading the Qurān to whatever capacity they can, and they are also included in this narration amongst those who simply look at the Qurān as an act of worship – they will still be rewarded for it.
In these last 3 narrations, we’ve briefly realized how immense the reward is for the recitation of the Qurān, be it on our own, or be it in our homes, be it in the presence of someone or not. We should make it a habit and a part of our schedule to dedicate even just a little time to the recitation of the Qurān, if not daily, then at least on a regular and consistent basis. This can even be done a few minutes before one goes to sleep, or early in the morning after or before Fajr, or while driving to work or school, a few minutes before you start your work, on your lunch break – I mean if you really think about it you’ll realize you can definitely fit the recitation of the Qurān in your schedule on a consistent basis and that there is no excuse not to do so. Why not take advantage of both the recitation of the Qurān and also attain the rewards Allah has promised us, why not brighten our homes and neighbour with its recitation?
We ask Allah (swt) to grant us the opportunity and capacity to do justice to this Holy Book. In the next narration, we’ll move on to another theme and that is regarding the reward for someone who establishes a good practice in the community.
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Sayyid Ali studied in the seminary of Qom from 2012 to 2021, while also concurrently obtaining a M.A in Islamic Studies from the Islamic College of London in 2018. In the seminary he engaged in the study of legal theory, jurisprudence and philosophy, eventually attending the advanced kharij of Usul and Fiqh in 2018. He is currently completing his Masters of Education at the University of Toronto and is the head of a private faith-based school in Toronto, as well as an instructor at the Mizan Institute and Mufid Seminary.
