Significance of The Obligations Muslims Owe to the Qur’an

A Direct Word with the Reader

In this booklet, I have given you an idea of the duties which we as Muslims owe to the Qur’an. In the end, I must urge you with all the emphasis at my command to make an earnest effort to discharge these duties with utmost care. We are the most fortunate people in the world in the sense that we possess the Book of Allah (SWT) perfectly intact in its original form.

Whereas it is a cause of great honor for us, it also lays upon us a heavy responsibility. Prior to the advent of Islam, the Israelites were the custodians of Allah’s Book, but when they did not discharge  their  responsibilities  and  proved  unworthy  of  the honor conferred upon them, Almighty Allah (SWT) raised a new Ummah (i.e., the Muslims) and vouchsafed His Book to them in the  form  of  the  Qur’an.  In  Surah  Al-Jumu‘ah  we  have  a similitude of the people who did not fulfill the duties that devolved upon them as custodians of Allah’s Book.

This similitude of those who were charged with the (obligation of) Torah, but who subsequently failed in this (obligation) is that of a donkey which carries huge volumes... (Al-Jumu‘ah 62:5)

In the subsequent part of the ayah, it has been plainly stated that their failure to discharge their obligations towards their Holy Book is tantamount to their denying its truth:

…How bad is the similitude of people who deny the ayaat of Allah…. 

(Al-Jumu ‘ah 62:5)

The ayah ends in the categorical declaration that it is not in Allah’s nature to grant guidance to such people:

…and Allah guides not the people who are wrongdoers. (Al- Jumu‘ah 62:5)

God forbid that you or I be included among the people who are guilty of denying and rejecting the Book of Allah (SWT) by their negligence in the discharge of their obligations towards it and thus incur Allah’s wrath. 

I most earnestly pray that Allah (SWT) may make us custodians of the Qur’an in the real sense of the term, and enable us to fulfill our duties towards it in the best way, which may enable us to win His good pleasure.

We should remember the time when Allah’s Messenger (SAW) will appear as a prosecution witness in the Court of the Almighty and charge his people with forsaking the Qur’an:

And the Messenger will say: “O my Lord! Verily my people deserted this Qur’an. 

(Al-Furqan 25:30)

Although in this ayah the words “my people” refer to the unbelievers who turned a deaf ear to the Qur’an and treated it with disdain, nevertheless it applies with equal cogency to people like us who believe in the Qur’an but have practically rejected it as a thing of least moment or consequence.

Let me quote for your what Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani has to say on this point.

Although the ayah really refers to the conduct of the unbelievers, yet (it has a wider application, and) all those who do not confirm the truth of the Qur’an (by actually following its teachings in their life), do not ponder over its meanings, do not recite it properly, do not try to learn its correct reading; but indulge in all sorts of vain and frivolous pursuits turning their back upon it (also come under its purview and) would be considered guilty of abandonment of the Qur’an.18

Note-18:  By a strange coincidence that indicates the Maulana’s spiritual and intellectual kinship with the Holy Prophet (SAW), we have a similar wording in a tradition which runs as follow:

“O people of the Qur’an! Do not make the Qur’an a pillow (that you may sleep over it and put it behind your back). You should rather recite it day and night; propagate it (all over the world), read it in a pleasing voice; ponder over its meaning so that you may prosper.”

What  a  noble  title  has  been  conferred upon us!  How succinct the tradition that so beautifully sums up the duties that devolve upon us as “People of  the  Qur’an”! In fact, this masterpiece of conciseness is hundred times more expressive than any number of our long, pompous speeches on the subject. True was the claim of the Holy Prophet (SAW) that he was gifted with the power of laconic speech.

Let me once again seek Almighty’s protection against our being included among such people, and conclude my discourse with the following prayer which is generally offered on completing the recitation of the whole Qur’an but which, I believe, should frequently be offered so that Allah (SWT) may grant us strength to fulfill the duties we owe to His Book.

O my Lord! Be merciful to us because of (our link) with the Qur’an; 

make it for us a leader, (and a source of) light, guidance, and mercy, 

cause us to recall from it what we have failed to understand; 

give us strength to recite it day and night; 

and make it a plea for our salvation, 

O Lord of the worlds. 

Ameen!

Let me in the end present you the gift of a prayer which appears in a tradition narrated by Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud (RAA). It is actually a prayer which the Holy Prophet (SAW) prescribed for his Companions (RAA) as a remedy for cares and worries. But it is a splendid supplication that shows the attitude of an ideal bondsman towards his Master and describes the curative effect of the Qur’an on the human soul. It also indicates how deep a devotion the Holy Prophet (SAW) had for the Qur’an and in how high an esteem he held it. The prayer runs as follows:

O Allah! Verily I am Your bondsman, 

the son of Your bondsman, and the son of Your bondsmaid. 

I am under Your Control. My fore-lock is in Your Hand. 

Your decision is to be executed about me, 

and just shall be Your judgment in my case. 

I beg You — 

addressing You with all those names that You have named Yourself with, 

or that You have taught any of Your creatures, 

or that You have revealed in Your Book, 

or that You have preferred to keep secret in the realm of the Unseen — 

to make the Qur’an a source of delight for my heart 

and of light for my breast, 

and an instrument of dispelling my grief, 

and driving away my cares and worries. 

Accept this prayer of mine, 

O Lord of the Words!

Ameen!

Source: The Obligations Muslims Owe to the Qur’an by Dr Israr Ahmad