The Sunni Association in Iraq / Meditate on the Qur’an

In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful

Meditating and benefiting from the Qur’an

Praise be to God who sent down the Criterion to His servant so that he might be a warner to the worlds. O God, bless him and grant him peace, with abundant peace. As for what follows:

The Qur’an is the revelation of guardianship. Whoever is given it is protected, and whoever is deprived of it is isolated. God raises people through it and places others through it. It is medicine and well-being for bodies, and the spring and light of hearts. Through it, ranks are attained, calamities are warded off, distresses are removed, calamities are made easy, and desires are achieved. God Almighty has commanded us to contemplate the Qur’an. And learn it and make it easy. The Almighty said: (A blessed Book We have sent down to you, that they may contemplate its verses, and that those of understanding may remember), and He said: (And We have certainly made the Qur’an easy for the remembrance, so is there any who will remember?) And He, Glory be to Him, told That whoever does not meditate on the Qur’an even if he is able to do so is because of a blockage in his heart. God Almighty said: (Do they not contemplate the Qur’an, or are there locks over its hearts?)

Wahib bin Al-Ward (whom people call the Doctor of Hearts) said: We have not found anything more tender to the hearts nor more arousing sadness than reading the Qur’an, understanding it, and contemplating it. Ibn Rajab said: The greatest thing that can be achieved through voluntary acts of love for God is through voluntary acts of worship. Recitation of the Qur’an, especially with meditation.

Scholars in particular, and Muslims in general, paid great attention to contemplating the Qur’an, adopting morals, understanding its meaning, adhering to its limits, and doing their best to benefit from the Qur’an to the best of their ability. Among them were distinguished scholars who began to meditate on the Qur’an, so they excelled and God benefited from them.

If you want to benefit from the Qur’an - my Muslim brother - gather your heart when reciting and hearing it, prepare your ears, and be present in the presence of the one whose Lord addresses him with it, for it is a speech from him to you, on the tongue of his Messenger, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him. Muhammad bin Ka’b Al-Qurazi said: Whoever reaches the Qur’an, it is as if God spoke to him. God Almighty said: (Indeed, in that is a reminder for whoever has a heart or listens while he is a witness.)

Knowing God Almighty has two ways: 1- Looking at His effects and creatures, 2- Contemplating and contemplating His signs, for these are His witnessed signs and these are His audible, intelligible signs. The highest aspirations in seeking knowledge are seeking knowledge of the Qur’an and Sunnah, understanding the meaning of God and His Messenger, and knowledge of the limits revealed. The honor of knowledge depends on the honor of its knowledge and the intensity of the need for it. This is nothing but knowledge of God and the consequences of that. And whoever is busy with God on behalf of himself, God will suffice him with sustenance for himself, and whoever is busy with God on behalf of the people, God will suffice him with sustenance for the people, and whoever is busy with himself on the behalf of God, God will entrust him to himself, and whoever is busy with the people on the behalf of God, God will entrust him to them. The place must accept what is put into it, and must be emptied of its opposite, otherwise it will harm it.

God Almighty has revealed himself in His Book to His servants with majesty, perfection, and beauty, the perfection of names, the beauty of attributes, and the beauty of actions that indicate the perfection of the Self, so that necks are subdued, souls are broken, voices are humbled, and pride dissolves as salt dissolves in water, so the servant loves his Lord and Master with a love that exhausts the power of love. All of them, according to what he knew of the attributes of the majesty of God Almighty, His beauty, and the attributes of His perfection, so the heart of His servant becomes empty except for His love, and when the servant’s love for His Lord is true, he feels lonely from those who do not remind him of Him and flees from him as he flees from a lion.

Al-Hasan Al-Basri said: Find sweetness in three things: in prayer, in remembrance, and in reading the Qur’an. If you find it, otherwise know that the door is closed. Some scholars said: The Qur’an is messages that came to us from our Lord Almighty with His covenants. We reflect on them in prayers, stop at them in private, and implement them in acts of obedience and Sunnahs that we follow. Sheikh Al-Islam said: I have not seen anything that nourishes the mind and spirit, preserves the body, and guarantees happiness more than constant consideration of the Book of God Almighty.

Contemplating the Qur’an is a special success and guidance, and it has requirements, the most important of which are: sincerity, seriousness, mastery of the instrumental sciences such as Arabic, grammar and purposes, a sufficient collection of the noble hadith, sufficient knowledge of the books of interpretation, some of the auxiliary sciences, and the avoidance of philosophy and controversy.