As for the Quran, there are some portions of it is obligatory upon every Muslim to memorize. There comes in
Sahih Bukhari as well as Muslim on the authority of Ubadah bin As-Samit, conveying it from the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him), he said,
“There is no prayer for one who does not recite ‘Fatihatil-Kitab’ or more than that.”
As well as the hadith
in Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him) entered the mosque and a man came in and prayed, then he came and greeted the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) returned the greeting and said: “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.” The man went back and prayed as he had prayed before, then he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and greeted him, and the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Wa ‘alayk al-salaam.” Then he said: “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.” When he had done that three times, the man said: By the One Who sent you with the truth, I cannot do more than that. Teach me. He said: “When you go to pray, say takbeer, then recite whatever you can of the Qur’aan. …”
As well as the hadith
of Abu Sae’ed Al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said:
“When there are three people, let one of them lead the prayer, and the one who is most entitled to lead the prayer is the one who has most knowledge of the Quran.” [Authentic]
It was narrated that Abu Mas’ood al-Ansaari said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘The people should be led in prayer by the one among them who has the most knowledge of the Book of Allaah; if they are equal in knowledge of the Qur’aan, then by the one who has most knowledge of the Sunnah; if they are equal in knowledge of the Sunnah, then by the one who migrated (made hijrah) first; if they are equal in terms of hijrah, then by the one who became Muslim first. No man should lead another in prayer in his domain of authority, or sit in his place in his house, except with his permission.”
[Narrated by Muslim, 673]
The Sheikh went on to mention more hadiths about the virtues of the one who memorizes the Quran and says:
“Oh slave of Allah, know that memorizing the Quran is from the means in where Allah raises the status of the one who memorizes it. Therefore, it is upon the Muslims, especially the students of knowledge to be those who have memorized the Quran and if he is not from those who have memorized it, then he should be from amongst those who strive hard in memorizing it even if it is something small for verily after days, by the permission and will of Allah, you will be amongst those who have memorized the Quran”
The above advice is from our noble Sheikh Abu Amr Al-Hajooree (may Allaah preserve him ) from a small treatise he complied from a khutbah he gave in Dammaj called “Hijra of the Quran”
Translated by
Yassin as-Somalee
Abu Aisha
