THE REWARDS OF ONE WHO BECOMES A HAFIZ

IN THE DUNYA

The Hafiz of the Quran has such a rank in this world that he is one of only two types of people considered worthy of envy.

Under the Chapter of the Blessedness of the Holy Quran's keeper in Sahih Bukhari is the following hadith:

"Abu Huraira t narrated that Rasulullah r said: There is no jealousy but of two men: A man whom Allah has taught the Quran and he recites is during the hours of the night and during the hours of the day, and his neighbor listens to him and says: "I wish I had been given what has been given to so-and-so, in order that I might do what he does; and a man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it on what is just and right, whereupon another man may say: "I wish I had been given what so-and-so has been given, for then I would do what he does" (Sahih Bukhari).

In a riwaayah from Tirmidhi listed in Muntakhab Ahadith is the following detail of the reward for reciting each letter of the Quran:

Abdullah ibn Masud t narrated that Rasulullah r said: He who reads one letter of the Quran it (becomes) for him a good deed, and a single good deed is rewarded (by Allah) by ten times the like thereof. I am not saying that Alif-Lam-Mim is (just) one word, but that Alif is a (separate) letter (word), Lam is a (separate) letter (word), and Mim is a (separate) letter (word). (Tirmidhi)

Mufti Ebrahim Desai (db) writes:

“For every alphabet of the Quran he had recited, he earned a minimum of ten rewards. The maximum reward is best known by Allah U. The Quran has 6666 verses. Every verse has many alphabets. Imagine the number of alphabets a Hafiz recites. On an average of 3 alphabets per verse a Hafiz will recite approximately, 20,000 (twenty thousand) alphabets in the entire Quran. That multiplied by ten rewards per alphabet is 200,000 (two hundred thousand). In the course of memorising the Quran, a Hafiz makes great sacrifices. He recites one verse many times. If he had recited one verse at least 10 times, the reward of completing the Quran only once will be two million. Imagine how many times thereafter, a Hafiz recites the Quran, how many Taraweehs he performs, the rewards of all that is far beyond our very limited comprehension. Probably, mathematical figures will be exhausted but not the infinite rewards of Allah U for a Hafiz-ul-Quran.”

In addition to the rewards one accrues for the hereafter there are also benefits which are become manifest in the dunya also:

“Hadrat Abu Hurairah t says: In the house where the Quran is read, the household members increase, virtues and blessings multiply, angels descend upon the house and Shaytaan quits the home.” (Fazail-e-Quran)

ON THE DAY OF QIYAMAH

Mufti Ebrahim Desai (db) has written:

“Mu'aadh al-Juhani narrates that Rasulullah r said, 'Whosoever recites the Quran and practices upon its injunctions, the reciter's parents will be given a crown on the day of Qiyaamat. The brightness of that crown will be more intense than the brightness of the sun in your actual house.'

Rasulullah r further said, 'What do you think will be given to the Hafiz (reciter) of the Quran himself?'” (Mishkaat Vol I.)

Shaykh ul Hadith writes in Fazail-e-Quran that Hadhrat Umar t reports that Rasulullah r “Three persons are such as will have no fear of the horrors on the Day of Judgement, nor will they be required to render any account. They will stroll merrily on mounds of musk until the people are relieved of rendering their account. One is a person who learnt the Quran, merely seeking Allah’s U pleasure and therewith leads people in salaat in a manner that they are pleased with him…”

He writes further: “The severity, the horror, the dread and the miseries of the Day of Judgement are so great that a true Muslim is neither mindful nor unaware of them. To be relieved of those worries in any way on the Day of Judgement is a favor that surpasses thousands of blessings and millions of pleasures. The narrator of this hadith, Hadrat Abdullah Ibn Umar t is quoted as saying: “If I had not heard this hadith from Rasulullah r once, once again, and once again (he repeated it seven times), I would never have reported it."

TOWARDS JANNAH

Maulana Ashiq Ilahi (rah) writes that Hadrat Ali t reports that Rasulullah r said:

“Anyone who knows the Quran by heart and follows the lawful and the prohibited according to it, he will be sent to Heaven by Allah U.” (Tirmidhi).

He continues: “One who knows the Holy Quran by heart will be allowed to intercede for ten persons with success. But one should mention that the intercessor must be practicing the laws mentioned in the Quran and fulfilling all the demands of the Book of Allah U. (What Happens After Death)

It is narrated from Hadhrat Abdullah ibn Amr t that Rasulullah r said: Allah U will say to a Hafiz (upon his death and on the day of Qiyaamat) 'Recite the Quran and (upon reciting each Verse) climb (a stage in Jannah) and continue reciting as you used to in the world as your abode in Jannah is upon the last verse you recite.' (Mishkaat vol.1 pg.186; Me'raaj)

Mufti Ebrahim Desai (db) commenting on this hadith states: “Obviously, the Hafiz will stop at the last verse of the Quran. The commentators of [this] Hadith have stated that the highest abode in Jannah is equivalent to the number of verses in the Qur'aan. Therefore, upon completing the recitation of the Quran, a Hafiz will be in highest abode of Jannah."