Virtues of the Quran's Chapters and Verses

Abū Saʿīd ibn al-Muʿallā (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I was praying when the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) passed by me and called me. I did not go to him until I had finished praying. Then I came to him, and he said, ‘What prevented you from coming? Did Allah not say, “O you who believe, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you”? Then I shall teach you the greatest sūrah in the Qur’an before I leave.’ The Messenger of Allah went to leave, so I reminded him of it. Muʿādh said: Shuʿbah narrated to us from Khubayb, who heard it from Ḥafṣ, who heard it from Abū Saʿīd, a man from among the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), with this report. He said: It is ‘Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds’—the seven oft-repeated verses.

The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) was on a journey. He stopped, and a man stopped beside him. The Prophet turned and said, ‘Shall I tell you about the best of the Qur’an?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ So he recited: ‘Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds.’

Ubayy ibn Kaʿb said: The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘Allah did not reveal in the Torah or the Gospel anything like the Mother of the Qur’an. It is the seven oft-repeated verses, and it is divided between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks for.’

Ibn ʿAbbās said: While Jibrīl was sitting with the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), he heard a sound above him. He raised his head and said, ‘This is a gate of heaven that has been opened today; it has never been opened before today.’ An angel descended through it, and he said, ‘This is an angel who has come down to earth; he has never come down before today.’ He greeted him and said, ‘Rejoice in two lights that you have been given, which no prophet before you was given: the Opening of the Book and the concluding verses of Sūrat al-Baqarah. You will not recite a letter from either of them without being given it.’

ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit reported from the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace): ‘There is no prayer for one who does not recite the Opening of the Book.’

Abū Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: ‘Whoever performs a prayer without reciting the Mother of the Qur’an in it, it is deficient’—he repeated this three times—‘and incomplete.’ Abū Hurayrah was asked, ‘We are behind the imam.’ He said, ‘Recite it to yourself, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) say: Allah, the Most High, said, “I have divided the prayer between Me and My servant into two halves, and My servant shall have what he asks for. When the servant says, ‘Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds,’ Allah, the Most High, says, ‘My servant has praised Me.’ When he says, ‘The Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful,’ Allah, the Most High, says, ‘My servant has extolled Me.’ When he says, ‘Master of the Day of Judgment,’ He says, ‘My servant has glorified Me’—and on one occasion He said, ‘My servant has entrusted his affair to Me.’ When he says, ‘You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help,’ He says, ‘This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks for.’ When he says, ‘Guide us along the straight path, the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not those who have incurred wrath, nor those who have gone astray,’ He says, ‘This is for My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks for.’”’

Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī said: We were on a journey of ours and stopped. A young woman came and said, ‘The chief of the clan is salīm, and our men are away. Is there anyone among you who can perform ruqya?’ A man went with her; we had not thought him to know ruqya. He performed ruqya over the chief, and he recovered. The chief ordered that he be given thirty sheep and gave us milk to drink. When the man returned, we said to him, ‘Did you know how to perform ruqya, or were you performing ruqya?’ He said, ‘No. I performed ruqya only with the Mother of the Book.’ We said, ‘Do not do anything until we come to—or ask—the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace).’ When we came to Medina, we mentioned it to the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), and he said, ‘How did he know that it was a ruqya? Divide them, and allot me a share.’

Zayd reported that he heard Abū Salām say: Abū Umāmah al-Bāhilī told me: I heard the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) say, ‘Recite the Qur’an, for it will come on the Day of Resurrection as an intercessor for its companions. Recite the two radiant ones, al-Baqarah and Sūrat Āl ʿImrān, for they will come on the Day of Resurrection like two clouds, or two canopies, or two flocks of birds in formation, pleading on behalf of their companions. Recite Sūrat al-Baqarah, for taking it up is a blessing and abandoning it is a regret, and the magicians cannot withstand it.’

Jubayr ibn Nufayr said: I heard al-Nawwās ibn Samʿān al-Kilābī say: I heard the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) say, ‘The Qur’an and its people who used to act upon it will be brought on the Day of Resurrection, with Sūrat al-Baqarah and Āl ʿImrān at their head.’ The Messenger of Allah gave them three comparisons which I have not forgotten since. He said, ‘They are like two clouds, or two black canopies with an opening between them, or two flocks of birds in formation, pleading on behalf of their companion.’

Abū Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘Do not turn your houses into graves. Satan flees from a house in which Sūrat al-Baqarah is recited.’

Ubayy ibn Kaʿb said: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘Abū al-Mundhir, do you know which verse of the Book of Allah that you have is the greatest?’ I said, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ He again said, ‘Abū al-Mundhir, do you know which verse of the Book of Allah that you have is the greatest?’ I said, ‘Allah—there is no god but Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer.’ He struck me on the chest and said, ‘By Allah, may knowledge bring you joy, Abū al-Mundhir!’

Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) entrusted me with guarding the zakāh of Ramaḍān. 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 related the incident, saying that the man had told him: ‘When you go to your bed, recite Āyat al-Kursī. A guardian from Allah will remain with you, and no Satan will come near you until morning.’ The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘He told you the truth, though he is a great liar. That was Satan.’

Abū Umāmah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: ‘Whoever recites Āyat al-Kursī after every prescribed prayer, nothing prevents him from entering Paradise except death.’

Abū Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘Whoever recites the two verses at the end of Sūrat al-Baqarah during a night, they will suffice him.’

Talḥah reported from Murrah, from ʿAbdullāh, who said: When the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) was taken on the Night Journey, he was brought to the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary, which is in the sixth heaven. To it comes whatever ascends from the earth, and it is taken from there; and to it comes whatever descends from above it, and it is taken from there. He said: ‘When the Lote Tree was covered by that which covered it.’ He said: ‘Golden moths.’ He said: The Messenger of Allah was given three things: the five prayers; the concluding verses of Sūrat al-Baqarah; and forgiveness of the overwhelming sins for whoever among his community associated nothing with Allah.

Al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: ‘Allah wrote a book two thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth. From it He sent down two verses with which He sealed Sūrat al-Baqarah. They are not recited in a house for three nights without a devil coming near it.’

Abū Isḥāq, from someone who heard ʿAlī, said: ‘I did not think that anyone of understanding would sleep without reciting these verses from the end of Sūrat al-Baqarah; they are indeed among the treasures beneath the Throne.’

Allah’s Greatest Name, by which, when He is invoked, He responds, is in three sūrahs of the Qur’an: al-Baqarah, Āl ʿImrān, and Ṭā Hā.

ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd said: ‘Everything has a summit, and the summit of the Qur’an is Sūrat al-Baqarah.’

ʿAlī ibn Ḥujr informed us: Ismāʿīl related to us, from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, from his father, from Jābir, that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) performed ṭawāf for seven circuits, walking briskly for three and walking at a normal pace for four. Then he recited, ‘Take the Station of Abraham as a place of prayer.’ He prayed two prostrations and placed the Station between himself and the Kaʿbah. Then he touched the Corner, went out, and said, ‘Indeed, al-Ṣafā and al-Marwah are among the rites of Allah, so begin with that with which Allah began.’