Virtues of the Qur'an

Khalid ibn Yazid related to us; Abu Bakr related to us, from Abu Hasin, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayra, who said: The Quran was presented to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) once every year, and it was presented to him twice in the year in which he died. He used to observe retreat in the mosque for ten days every year, and he observed it for twenty days in the year in which he died.

Hafs ibn Umar related to us; Shuba related to us, from Amr, from Ibrahim, from Masruq: Abdullah ibn Amr mentioned Abdullah ibn Masud and said, ‘I will always love him. I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say, “Take the Quran from four: Abdullah ibn Masud, Salim, Muadh, and Ubayy ibn Kab.”’

Umar ibn Hafs related to us; my father related to us; al-Amash related to us; Shaqiq ibn Salama related to us, saying: Abdullah addressed us and said, ‘By Allah, I learned more than seventy surahs directly from the mouth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). By Allah, the Companions of the Prophet know that I am among those most knowledgeable of the Book of Allah, though I am not the best of them.’ Shaqiq said: I sat in the study circles and listened to what they said, but I heard no one objecting to anything he had said.

Muhammad ibn Kathir informed me; Sufyan informed us, from al-Amash, from Ibrahim, from Alqama, who said: We were in Hims when Ibn Masud recited Surat Yusuf. A man said, ‘It was not revealed this way.’ He replied, ‘I recited it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said, “You did well.”’ Ibn Masud detected the smell of wine from the man and said, ‘Do you combine denying the Book of Allah with drinking wine?’ Then he administered the prescribed flogging to him.

Umar ibn Hafs related to us; my father related to us; al-Amash related to us; Muslim related to us, from Masruq, who said: Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: By Allah, besides whom there is no god, no surah from the Book of Allah was revealed without my knowing where it was revealed, and no verse from the Book of Allah was revealed without my knowing what it was revealed about. If I knew of anyone more knowledgeable than me about the Book of Allah, and the camels could carry me to him, I would ride to him.

Hafs ibn Umar related to us; Hammam related to us; Qatada related to us, saying: I asked Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), ‘Who gathered the Quran during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?’ He said, ‘Four, all of them from the Ansar: Ubayy ibn Kab, Muadh ibn Jabal, Zayd ibn Thabit, and Abu Zayd.’ Al-Fadl also transmitted it from Husayn ibn Waqid, from Thumama, from Anas.

Mualla ibn Asad related to us; Abdullah ibn al-Muthanna related to us, saying: Thabit al-Bunani and Thumama related to me, from Anas, who said: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) died, no one had gathered the Quran except four: Abu al-Darda, Muadh ibn Jabal, Zayd ibn Thabit, and Abu Zayd. He said: We inherited him.

Sadaqa ibn al-Fadl informed us; Yahya informed us, from Sufyan, from Habib ibn Abi Thabit, from Said ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas, who said: Umar said, ‘Ubayy is the best of us in recitation, yet we leave some of Ubayy’s recitation.’ Ubayy says, ‘I took it from the mouth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so I will not abandon it for anything.’ Allah Most High says: ‘Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it.’

Ali ibn Abdullah related to us; Yahya ibn Said related to us; Shuba related to us, saying: Khubayb ibn Abd al-Rahman related to me, from Hafs ibn Asim, from Abu Said ibn al-Mualla, who said: I was praying when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called me, but I did not respond. I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I was praying.’ He said, ‘Did Allah not say, “Respond to Allah and the Messenger when he calls you”?’ Then he said, ‘Shall I teach you the greatest surah in the Quran before you leave the mosque?’ He took my hand. When we wanted to leave, I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, you said you would teach me the greatest surah in the Quran.’ He said, ‘“Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds” is the seven oft-repeated verses and the magnificent Quran that I was given.’

Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna related to me; Wahb related to us; Hisham related to us, from Muhammad, from Mabad, from Abu Said al-Khudri, who said: We were traveling and stopped. A young woman came and said, ‘The chief of our people is ill, and our men are away. Is there anyone among you who can perform ruqya?’ A man went with her—though we did not think he knew ruqya—and performed it for him. The chief recovered, and he gave the man thirty sheep and gave us milk to drink. When he returned, we asked him, ‘Did you know how to perform ruqya?’ He said, ‘No. I performed it only with the Mother of the Book.’ We said, ‘Do not do anything until we come to—or ask—the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).’ When we came to Medina, we mentioned it to the Prophet, and he said, ‘How did he know that it is a ruqya? Divide them, and assign me a share.’ Abu Ma'mar also said: Abd al-Warith related to us; Hisham related to us; Muhammad ibn Sirin related to us; Mabad ibn Sirin related to me, from Abu Said al-Khudri, with this same report.

Muhammad ibn Kathir informed us; Shuba informed us, from Sulayman, from Ibrahim, from Abd al-Rahman, from Abu Masud, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: ‘Whoever recites the two verses…’

Abu Nuaym related to us; Sufyan related to us, from Mansur, from Ibrahim, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid, from Abu Masud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘Whoever recites the last two verses of Surat al-Baqara during a night, they will suffice him.’

Uthman ibn al-Haytham said: Awf related to us, from Muhammad ibn Sirin, from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entrusted me with guarding the Ramadan charity. Someone came to me and began scooping up food, so I seized him and said, ‘I will take you to the Messenger of Allah.’ He then told the rest of the report and said: The man said, ‘When you go to bed, recite Ayat al-Kursi. A guardian from Allah will remain with you, and no devil will approach you until morning.’ The Prophet said, ‘He told you the truth, though he is a liar. That was a devil.’

Amr ibn Khalid related to us; Zuhayr related to us; Abu Ishaq related to us, from al-Bara, who said: A man was reciting Surat al-Kahf, and beside him was a horse tethered by two ropes. A cloud covered him and kept drawing nearer and nearer, while his horse began to shy. When morning came, he went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and told him about it. He said, ‘That was tranquility descending with the Quran.’

Ismail related to us; he said: Malik related to me, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was traveling on one of his journeys, and Umar ibn al-Khattab was traveling with him at night. Umar asked him something, but the Messenger of Allah did not answer. He asked again, and he did not answer. He asked a third time, and he still did not answer. Umar said, ‘May your mother be bereaved of you! You have asked the Messenger of Allah three times and each time he has not answered.’ Umar said: I urged my camel on until I was ahead of the people, fearing that revelation about me might come down. Before long I heard someone calling out. I said, ‘I feared that revelation about me might have come down.’ I went to the Messenger of Allah and greeted him. He said, ‘A surah was revealed to me tonight that is dearer to me than all that the sun shines upon.’ Then he recited: ‘Indeed, We have granted you a clear victory.’

Abdullah ibn Yusuf informed us; Malik informed us, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Sa'sa'a, from his father, from Abu Said al-Khudri: A man heard another man reciting ‘Say: He is Allah, the One,’ repeating it. When morning came, he went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and told him about it, as though the man considered it too little. The Messenger of Allah said, ‘By Him in whose hand is my soul, it is equal to one-third of the Quran.’

Abu Ma'mar added: Ismail ibn Jafar related to us, from Malik ibn Anas, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Sa'sa'a, from his father, from Abu Said al-Khudri: My brother, Qatada ibn al-Numan, informed me that a man stood during the late night in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and recited ‘Say: He is Allah, the One,’ without adding anything to it. When morning came, a man went to the Prophet, with a report like that…

Umar ibn Hafs related to us; my father related to us; al-Amash related to us; Ibrahim and al-Dahhak al-Mashriqi related to us, from Abu Said al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to his Companions, ‘Would one of you be unable to recite one-third of the Quran in a night?’ This seemed difficult to them, and they said, ‘Which of us could manage that, Messenger of Allah?’ He said, ‘Allah, the One, the Self-Sufficient Master, is one-third of the Quran.’ Al-Firabri said: I heard Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Abi Hatim, the copyist for Abu Abdullah, say: Abu Abdullah said, ‘The report through Ibrahim is mursal, while the report through al-Dahhak al-Mashriqi is musnad.’

Abdullah ibn Yusuf informed us; Malik informed us, from Ibn Shihab, from Urwa, from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was ill, he would recite the chapters of seeking refuge over himself and blow. When his pain became severe, I would recite them over him and wipe him with his hand, seeking its blessing.

Qutayba ibn Said related to us; al-Mufaddal related to us, from Uqayl, from Ibn Shihab, from Urwa, from Aisha: Every night, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went to bed, he would cup his hands together, blow into them, and recite into them ‘Say: He is Allah, the One,’ ‘Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of daybreak,’ and ‘Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind.’ Then he would wipe as much of his body as he could with them, beginning with his head, face, and the front of his body. He did this three times.