Gems Of Ramadan ✔

DAY 14 - BEFRIEND THE QUR'AN

There is a deep relationship and a strong one between the Qur'an and Ramadhaan.

The month of Ramadhaan in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and wrong).
(Surat al-Baqarah: 185)

That is pertaining to the month, and pertaining to the night:

We sent it (this Qur'an) down on a blessed night [(i.e. night of Qadar) in the month of Ramadhaan, the 9th month of the Islamic calendar].
(Surat ad-Dukhaan: 3)

Verily! We have sent it (this Qur'an) down in the night of Al-Qadar (Decree).
(Surat al-Qadar: 1)

So is there a discrepancy or a conflict? There are two verses saying it was revealed in the Night of Decree and another one saying it was revealed in the month of Ramadhaan. Orientalists claim that there is a discrepancy in this matter. If you go to Sunan an-Nasaa'ee and al-Haakim, Ibn Abbaas and Ibn Jareer in a different saying said the entire Qur'an was revealed in Laylat al-Qadar. Then it was taken down from the seventh heaven to the first heaven closest to us, and over the course of twenty three years it was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam.

The relationship between Ramadhaan and Qur'an is deeper than one thinks. You know the famous story we all know when Jibreel 'alayhis-salaam went to the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam. He grabbed him and he said:
اِقْرَأْ ، اِقْرَأْ
And he scared the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam. Ibn Ishaaq, Abu Sulaymaan ad-Dimashqi, Ibn al-Jawzi and others said that this occurred in Ramadhaan. It is even deeper than when you know the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam used to review the Qur'an with Jibreel every single Ramadhaan and twice the final time he was living sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam. Jibreel would read and the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam listened, or the opposite. Some scholars said this is the time when he would tell him the affirmed and abrogated verses, and it is possible that this is the time when he knew and learned the Tafseer. Allah sent the best revelation on the best Messenger in the best month in the best night (the Night of Decree). All that shows you how solid the bond between the Qur'an and the month of Ramadhaan is.

The month of Ramadhaan in which was revealed the Qur'an.
(Surat al-Baqarah: 185)

A verse like that and an expression like that only goes to show you how Qur'an in Ramadhaan has a virtue and an excellence unlike any other excellence. That is how our pious predecessors understood it and that is why in Ramadhaan they dropped everything for Qur'an. Most of them even passed their classes of Hadith to focus on reading the Qur'an. Before we mention a glimpse of those legendary men in Ramadhaan, let us look closely at how our pious predecessors were on a normal day and then we will give a quick glimpse as to how they were in Ramadhaan.
One time Abu Bakr Ibn Ayyaash Rahimahullah pointed to a room in his house and told his family I read the Qur'an every day in that room for sixty years. Every day he would finish the Qur'an in that room for sixty years. When he was on his deathbed, his sister began to cry and he said why are you crying? You see that corner of the house, he said I finished the Qur'an in that corner eighteen thousand times. When ath-Thahabi talks about him, he said he used to read the Qur'an every single day once (finish the Qur'an) for forty years (approximately fourteen thousand times). There are different narrations depending on the different circumstances, the settings he was in or talking about.

Ath-Thahabi continues on to say the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam is not to read the Qur'an in less than three nights and the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam is better to follow. It is really not time to go over the Fiqh issue of the permissibility of reading the Qur'an in less than three to seven days, but there are Ahaadith disliking and discouraging one to read the Qur'an in less than three days (in another one it is less than seven days). The reason is one will not be able to comprehend it but just as there were some of the Salaf who did not like to finish the Qur'an in less than three to seven days, there are those who did. It is a disputed issue and it is possible, for those who say it is impossible.