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A Clear Proof By Shaykhul-Hadīth, Hadrat Mawlānā Muhammad Saleem Dhorat hafizahullāh In this verse, Allāh ta‘ālā proclaims that it is He and He alone who has revealed the Glorious Qur’ān to mankind, which means it is His Word. This claim is followed by a proof to validate it, that Allāh ta‘ālā Himself is its Guardian and Protector. When Allāh ta‘ālā protects something, nothing and no one can ever interfere with it, so the continual preservation of the Qur’ān is a proof that it is the Word of Allāh ta‘ālā. There are many other proofs of the divine origin of the Qur’ān, including its i‘jāz (inimitability) which makes it impossible for mankind to invent even a single verse to match the Qur’ān in its perfection. However, the preservation of the Qur’ān is a proof that even a child can understand. 1,430 years have gone by and it is still plain for everyone to see that not a single change has occurred in the Qur’ān. To fulfil the promise of protecting the Qur’ān, Allāh ta‘ālā has created a comprehensive system consisting of scribes who accurately copy the text; Huffāz who accurately memorise its words; Qurrā who preserve its correct pronunciation and mode of recitation; and Mufassirīn, Muhaddithīn, Fuqahā and ‘Ulamā who protect its meaning and message. Non-Muslim experts also acknowledge that despite the passage of fourteen centuries, it has not undergone even the slightest alteration, not of a single letter or harkat (diacritical mark). It is obvious that a very powerful being must be safeguarding the Qur’ān for it to have been preserved over so many centuries. The Protected Book ‘Allāmah Qurtubī rahimahullāh narrates an interesting story about the preservation of the Qur’ān. Once a stranger attended one of the debates that the ‘Abbāsī Khalīfah, Ma’mūn Rashīd, used to hold at his court. The man spoke eloquently during the debate, and afterwards Ma’mūn summoned him. Sensing that he was not a Muslim he asked him whether he was a Jew. The man replied that he was. Ma’mūn then invited him to embrace Islām and, as a test, offered him incentives for doing so. However, the man preferred to keep his religion, the religion of his forefathers. A year later, the same man attended the court of Ma’mūn as a Muslim and spoke learnedly on Islamic jurisprudence. Afterwards, Ma’mūn called him and asked him if he was the same man who had come the year before. He replied that he was, and upon being asked how he had become a Muslim he told his story: ‘After I had left the debate the previous year, I decided to examine the different religions. Being a good calligrapher I made three copies of the Tawrāt, making some additions and omissions in the process. I took the copies to the Jews and they bought them from me. I then made three copies of the Injīl, again making some additions and omissions, and took them to the Christians, who bought them. Then I did exactly the same with the Qur’ān and took the copies to the Muslims. They checked them and when they noticed the additions and omissions, they discarded the copies and refused to buy them. I realised then that this was a protected book, and that was how I came to embrace Islām.’ Enthusiasm for Memorising the Qur’ān The preservation of the Qur’ān is a great miracle and the means Allāh ta‘ālā employs are also amazing. Parents who encourage their children to memorise the whole Qur’ān are aware of the rewards they and their children will receive for doing so, but the children themselves are not. If you were to ask the students of a typical hifz class what the rewards for memorising the Qur’ān are, the majority would not be able to reply. Despite this, the desire Allāh ta‘ālā places in their hearts to memorise the Qur’ān is such that very few, if any, would dream of giving it up. Wherever you go, you will see that there are never enough ḥifẓ classes and that they are always oversubscribed. Just think: what power is there that is keeping our children committed to memorising the Qur’ān? There are countless other well-known good deeds that promise great rewards, yet people do not adhere to them with such commitment and dedication as to memorising the Qur’ān. Allāh ta‘ālā Himself puts the love of memorising His Word into the hearts of young people. Nowhere in the whole world will you see classes full of children memorising a book that they do not understand. It is a miracle of the Qur’ān that people are able to learn a whole foreign alphabet and how to read in a foreign language without also learning to understand the language, and then to memorise a whole book in that language, and then to keep it in their memories for the rest of their lives. Remarkable Huffāz Throughout history there are examples of people who memorised the Qur’ān at a very young age and also in a very short time. Ibn Labbān rahimahullāh memorised the whole Qur’ān in just one year, remarkable in itself, but even more amazing is that he completed his memorisation at the age of five! Hāfiz Ibn Hajar Al-‘Asqalānī rahimahullāh became a Hāfiz by the age of nine and at the age of twelve led the tarāwīh salāh in Al-Masjidul-Harām. Ibn Shihāb Az-Zuhrī rahimahullāh memorised the whole Qur’ān in eighty days. When Imām Muhammad rahimahullāh went to study under Imām Abū Hanīfah rahimahullāh, he was asked whether he had memorised the whole Qur’ān or not, for admission to his classes was conditional on being a Hāfiz. He replied that he had not, but his desire to acquire knowledge was so great that he returned after just one week and told Imām Abū Hanīfah rahimahullāh that he was now a Hāfiz! Connect Yourself to the Qur’ān After learning something of the miraculous nature of the Glorious Qur’ān, we need to take some practical steps to connect ourselves with it: 1. Connect yourself to the Qur’ān by reciting it regularly. Recite one juz daily, or if that is not possible then half a juz or a quarter, but recite daily. If the remembrance of Allāh ta‘ālā in its various forms such as tasbīh, tahmīd, salāt ‘alan-Nabī, du‘ā etc. are compared to individual ‘vitamins’ that are beneficial to a person’s spiritual health, the Qur’ān can be likened to a multivitamin, for it contains them all. 2. Attend tajwīd classes in your locality in order to learn how to recite the Qur’ān properly, as it is one of the rights of the Qur’ān. 3. Attend the durūs (lessons) of the Qur’ān delivered by the ‘Ulamā in your locality in order to understand the message of the Qur’ān. 4. Practise upon the teachings of the Qur’ān. 5. Spread the beautiful message of the Qur’ān. 6. Respect the people of the Qur’ān, i.e. the Huffāz, Qurrā and ‘Ulamā. Refrain from disrespecting them and talking ill of them at all costs. Sayyidunā Abū Dardā radhiyallāhu ‘anhu has said: May Allāh ta‘ālā grant us love for the Qur’ān, an affinity with it and the ability to memorise it, recite it in the proper manner, understand it and act according to it. Āmīn. Extracted from 'Inspirations' (Part 1) © Islāmic Da'wah Academy