Virtues of the Qur'an

Ṣadaqah narrated to us: Yaḥyā informed us, from Sufyān, from Sulaymān, from Ibrāhīm, from ʿAbīdah, from ʿAbd Allāh. Yaḥyā said: Part of this report is from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, who said: The Prophet said to me. Musaddad narrated to us, from Yaḥyā, from Sufyān, from al-Aʿmash, from Ibrāhīm, from ʿAbīdah, from ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Aʿmash said: Part of the report was narrated to me by ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from Ibrāhīm, and from his father, from Abū al-Ḍuḥā, from ʿAbd Allāh, who said: The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Recite to me.’ I said, ‘Should I recite to you when it was revealed to you?’ He said, ‘I would like to hear it from someone else.’ I recited Sūrat al-Nisāʾ until I reached, ‘How will it be when We bring a witness from every community, and bring you as a witness against these people?’ He said to me, ‘Stop’—or, ‘Hold on.’ I saw his eyes shedding tears.

Qays ibn Ḥafṣ narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid narrated to us: al-Aʿmash narrated to us, from Ibrāhīm, from ʿAbīdah al-Salmānī, from ʿAbd Allāh (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Prophet said to me, ‘Recite to me.’ I said, ‘Should I recite to you when it was revealed to you?’ He said, ‘I love to hear it from someone else.’

Muḥammad ibn Kathīr narrated to us: Sufyān informed us: al-Aʿmash narrated to us, from Khaythamah, from Suwayd ibn Ghafalah, who said: ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Prophet say, ‘At the end of time, people will come who are young in age and immature in judgment. They will speak some of the best words of creation, yet leave Islam as an arrow passes through its prey. Their faith will not go beyond their throats. Wherever you encounter them, kill them, for whoever kills them will have a reward on the Day of Resurrection.’

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf narrated to us: Mālik informed us, from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taymī, from Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say, ‘A people will emerge among you whose prayers will make you think little of your own prayers, whose fasting will make you think little of your own fasting, and whose deeds will make you think little of your own deeds. They will recite the Qur’an, but it will not pass beyond their throats. They will leave the religion as an arrow passes through its prey. One looks at its arrowhead and sees nothing; one looks at its shaft and sees nothing; one looks at its feathers and sees nothing; then one doubts about its notch.’

Musaddad narrated to us: Yaḥyā narrated to us, from Shuʿbah, from Qatādah, from Anas ibn Mālik, from Abū Mūsā, from the Prophet, who said: ‘The likeness of a believer who recites the Qur’an and acts upon it is that of a citron: its taste is good and its fragrance is good. The likeness of a believer who does not recite the Qur’an but acts upon it is that of a date: its taste is good, but it has no fragrance. The likeness of a hypocrite who recites the Qur’an is that of sweet basil: its fragrance is good, but its taste is bitter. And the likeness of a hypocrite who does not recite the Qur’an is that of a colocynth: its taste is bitter—or foul—and its fragrance is bitter.’

Abū al-Nuʿmān narrated to us: Ḥammād narrated to us, from Abū ʿImrān al-Jawnī, from Jundub ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from the Prophet, who said: ‘Recite the Qur’an as long as your hearts are in accord over it. When you disagree, then leave it.’

ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī narrated to us: Sallām ibn Abī Muṭīʿ narrated to us, from Abū ʿImrān al-Jawnī, from Jundub, who said: The Prophet said, ‘Recite the Qur’an as long as your hearts are in accord over it. When you disagree, then leave it.’ al-Ḥārith ibn ʿUbayd and Saʿīd ibn Zayd also related it from Abū ʿImrān, but Ḥammād ibn Salamah and Abān did not attribute it to the Prophet. Ghundar related it from Shuʿbah, from Abū ʿImrān, saying: I heard Jundub state it. Ibn ʿAwn related it from Abū ʿImrān, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ṣāmit, from ʿUmar, as his statement. The version from Jundub is more sound and more widely transmitted.’

Sulaymān ibn Ḥarb narrated to us: Shuʿbah narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Maysarah, from al-Nazzāl ibn Sabrah, from ʿAbd Allāh, who said: He heard a man reciting a verse differently from the way he had heard the Prophet recite it. I took the man by the hand and brought him to the Prophet. He said, ‘Both of you have recited well, so recite’—as far as I recall, he said—‘for those who came before you disagreed, and that destroyed them.’