Hadhrat Uthman (Radhiyallaho anha] narrates that Ra-sulullah (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) said: "The best amongst you is he who learns the Qur'an and teaches it." In most of the books, this hadith is quoted with the word 'and* between 'learns' and 'teaches' as above. Thus the greatest reward would be for him who learns the Holy Qur'an and thereafter teaches it to others. But in some of the books this 'hadith's is narrated with the word 'or', in which case the meaning would be: "The best amongst you is he who learns the Qur'an or-teaches it."
According to this version, the reward is general, i.e., equally great whether one learns himself or teaches to others. Thus there would be equal virtue for both. The Qur'an is the basis of the religion of Islam, and on the preservation and propagation of the Qur'an depends the very existence of this faith. Hence the virtue of learning and teaching the Qur'an is self-evident and does not need further elucidation. There are, however, various degrees of excellence. The highest is to learn the Qur'an along with its meanings and purport, and the least is to learn its words only. The hadith mentioned above is supported also by another saying of Rasulullah (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) as reported by Hadhrat Sa'eed ibn Saleem (Radhiyallaho anho): "If a person who has acquired knowledge of the Holy Qur'an considers another person who has been gifted with something else to be more fortunate than himself, he has shown disrespect to the blessings of Allah bestowed on him on account of his learning the Qur'an." It is evident that since the Qur'an, being the Word of Allah, is superior to all other discourses as mentioned in some of the Ahadith quoted later, its reading and teaching must be superior to everything else. Mulla Alt Qari quotes from another hadith that whoever acquires the knowledge of Holy Qur'an stores the knowledge of Prophethood in his forehead. Sahl Tastari (Rahmatullah alaih) says that the proof of love for Allah is the existence of love for the Word of Allah in one's heart. In 'Sharhul Ihya, the list of people who will be given shelter in the shade of the Arsh (Throne of Allah) on the fearful Day of Judgment includes those persons who teach the Qur'an to the children of Muslims and also those who learn the Holy Qur'an in their childhood and are devoted to its recitation when grown up. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamcity/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
