Have You Parted Company With the Qur’an?
The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘The best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it to others.’1 And then there is this hadith: ‘Verily God elevates a people by this Book and debases others by it.’2
These hadiths probably go some way in explaining why Muslims – and what some still call the Muslim world – are in the plight and predicament they are in. In his work on miscellaneous spiritual benefits entitled, al-Fawa’id, Ibn al-Qayyim describes five ways in which the Qur’an can be ignored, neglected or even deserted! It is only by being aware of these ways can we offer a candid response to: Have we parted company with the Qur’an? So if not the fear of God, then curiosity alone should make this essential reading.
♦
هَجَرُ الْقُرْآنُ أَنْوَاعٌ:
أَحَدُهَا هَجْرُ سَمَاعُهُ وَالْإِيمَانُ بِهِ وَالْإِصْغَاءُ إِلَيْهِ.
وَالثَّانِي هَجْرُ الْعَمَلُ بِهِ وَالْوُقُوفُ عِنْدَ حَلَالِهِ وَحَرَامِهِ وَإِنْ قَرَأَهُ وَآمَنَ بِهِ.
وَالثَّالِثُ هَجَرَ تَحْكِيمَهُ وَالتَّحَاكُمُ إِلَيْهِ فِي أُصُولِ الدّينِ وَفُرُوعِهِ وَاعْتِقَادُ أَنَّهُ لَا يُفِيدُ الْيَقِينَ وَأَنَّ أَدِلَّتَهُ لَفْظِيَّةٌ لَا تَحْصّلُ الْعِلْمَ.
وَالرَّابِعُ هَجْرُ تَدَبّرْهُ وَتَفَهّمُهُ وَمَعْرِفَةُ مَا أَرَادَ الْمُتَكَلّمُ بِهِ مِنْهُ.
وَالْخَامِسُ هَجْرُ الِاسْتِشْفَاءَ وَالتَّدَاوِي بِهِ فِي جَمِيعِ أَمْرَاضِ الْقَلْبِ وَأَدْوَائِهَا فَيُطْلَبُ شِفَاءُ دَائِهِ مِنْ غَيْرِهِ وَيَهْجُرُ التَّدَاوِي بِهِ.
وَكُلُّ هَذَا دَاخِلٌ فِي قَوْلِهِ {وَقَالَ الرَّسُولُ يَا رَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِي اتَّخَذُوا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ مَهْجُورًاً } وَإِنْ كَانَ بَعْضُ الْهَجْرِ أَهْوَنَ مِنْ بَعْضٍ.
‘Parting company with the Qur’an is of various types:
‘Firstly, refusing to listen to it and believe in it or to pay any heed to it.
‘Secondly, ceasing to act on it or abide by what it declares as lawful or unlawful, even if one reads it and believes in it.
‘Thirdly, to abandon judging by it or being judged by it, be it in the foundations of the faith or its branches; and to believe that it does not beget certainty or that its textual wordings do not beget sure knowledge.
‘Fourthly, neglecting to ponder over it or comprehend it; not seeking to uncover what the Speaker intended by it.
‘Fifthly, to abandon seeking cure or healing through it in respect to the diseases of the heart and its maladies, but rather to seek healing for such illnesses from other than it.
‘All this is included in God’s words: And the Messenger will say: “O my Lord! My people have abandoned this Qur’an!” [Q.25:30] This being the case, even though certain forms of abandonment are more detestable than others.’3
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1. Al-Bukhari, no.5027.
2. Muslim, no.817.
3. Al-Fawa’id (Makkah: Dar ‘Alam al-Fawa’id, 2008), 118.
