Asking from Allah in the month of Ramadan-2

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Young woman wearing traditional religious clothing praying

So let’s mention some other effects of Doa.

-Being rescued from the difficulties and problems.

We read in chapter AnBiya verses 87-88:

وَذَا النُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ فَنَادَى فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ أَن لَّا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْغَمِّ وَكَذَلِكَ نُنجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

“And Thulnun (Prophet Jonah), he went away in anger thinking we had no power over him. But in the darkness he cried: ‘there is no god except you. Exaltations to you! I was among the harmdoers. ‘

We heard his prayer and saved him from grief. As such we shall save the believers.”

The end part of the above verse is so hope giving. It says that just like when Prophet Jonah (Yunos) asked Allah we rescued him from his difficulty, we rescue the believers.

-Gaining high position before Allah.

Allah said in chapter Forqan verse 77:

قُلْ مَا يَعْبَأُ بِكُمْ رَبِّي لَوْلَا دُعَاؤُكُمْ

“Say: ‘my lord cares little for you if it was not for your supplication.”

Imam Sadiq peace be upon him said:

There is a position before Allah that no one can reach to that except trough Doa and asking form Allah.

-Being cured from the diseases

We have seen and heard in our lives many times to the extent that there is not any doubt about it that a lot of ill people when they get disappointed by their doctors and they are told that there is not any useful medical treatment and the only and the last hope is Doa and asking from Allah, the relatives of that ill person at the time of being disappointed from any other means, they refuge to Allah and ask Him out of sincerity. In many cases the ill person gets cured and after that the doctor gets shocked and says confusingly that a miracle has happened because according to the science of medicine your illness was incurable.

– Dispelling the difficulties before happening.

This concept is so mentioned in the Narrations like the Narration that we mentioned at the beginning of the discussion.

Imam sajjad peace be upon him said:

“Doa and difficulties are with each other till the Day of Judgment, Doa dispels the difficulties (before happening) even though it was written to be happened.”

This narration means even in the situations that the decree of Allah was to let a difficulty to happen, Doa can prevent it.

So the month of Ramadan is a good opportunity for asking Allah especially in the time of Sahar(after midnight and before morning Azan or call to prayer) because this extraordinary time is a time in which doing Doa and Istighfar is so recommended.

Asking from Allah in the month of Ramadan-1

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muslim-children-prayingImam Ali peace be upon him advised us to do two things in the month of Ramadan, the first is Istighfar which means to ask Allah to forgive us and the second is Doa. Then he pointed that Doa, prevents difficulty from happening and Istighfar wipes out the sins.

One of the meanings of the word Doa in Arabic is described in this way: When a person who is in a lower level asks from a person who is upper than him, so it means to ask from a great being. When we do Doa and ask Allah that shows that we are in need to Him. We do Doa and ask Allah in order to fulfill our material or spiritual needs. There are many verses in the Quran that are related to the concept of Doa and some of these verse themselves are Doa that we can recite the exact words of these verses in every situation especially in the prayer. The concept of Doa is very important to the extent that different rituals for Doa like the time or place or the conditions etc. are mentioned in the Islamic sources. Doa not only has material or spiritual benefits, but also has educational effects, like removing the sense of negative pride, being away from the disobedience of Allah, a factor for bravery, etc.

Imam Ali peace be upon him said to his son Imam Hassan peace be upon him:

Be aware that the one, who has the sources of the treasures of this world and the hereafter, has allowed you to call Him and has guaranteed the fulfillment of that and has ordered you to ask Him in order to give you and He is merciful…

Now let me mention some of the benefits of Doa in brief.

-Being familiar with the divine knowledge.

When we ask Allah through the supplications that are in the holy Quran or are narrated from the infallibles we see that they are full of the teachings.

-Inner tranquility

Everyone in his/her life has some difficulties or stresses or anxieties, the best way for gaining tranquility is Doa and asking form Allah which is the real Owner of everything in this world and is the All-Mighty that no one or nothing can overcome Him, so connecting with such a being gives us so much peace and tranquility.

So by Doa we can be away from getting disappointed and hopeless and this hope can help us to be firmer in our way of different matters.

To be continued

Pondering upon the Quran-3

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2In the previous posts we talked about pondering upon the holy Quran, a deed which is so recommended by Islamic teachings. We mentioned some points which can help us to have this pondering, so let’s continue.

The other point in this regard is to be familiar to the meaning of the verses. The simplest way of that is to read the meanings of the verses through a reliable translation.

The other point here is that to know that the words of the holy Quran is like a bridge to the meaning and reality beyond them, so it is not true to spend all of our attempts and times on the superficial way of the recitation and being ignorant of the reality of the Quran.

The other point that maybe is the most important one is to have a heart which is purified and is free from every spiritual disease, because when the heart is dead (out of committing many sins) such a heart cannot be connected with the reality of the holy Quran. There is a meaningful story which is related to our topic. There was a great and wise scholar and he had some students, his students asked him: Why our hearts are not full of the divine knowledge? He gave them a dish that was not clean, and said to them: Go to the store in which the milk is sold and buy some milk for me. The students went there, but the shopkeeper did not give them any milk and said to them: This dish is dirty, go back and take another dish which is clean. The students came back to their wise teacher and described the story. He said: Notice to this story. This was a likening for you. The divine knowledge is definitely more precious than the milk, and our impure hearts is dirtier than that dish and Allah is wiser than that shopkeeper, so how can you expect Allah to give you that divine knowledge? The students got shocked by this very meaningful happening.

So we must try to purify our hearts and make it clean and free from ignorance, pretense etc. and this purification can be obtained through obeying Allah in His obligations and prohibitions.

Another point in this regard is that it is appropriate to take lessons from the verses of the Quran, for example when the holy Quran talks about the previous people and mentions their punishments we should ponder upon these verses and see what was the fault of them? How did they reach to their position of denial of Allah? What were the good characteristics of the real believers that have made them honorable and benefited from the bounties of Allah?

There is an interesting saying that says:

The stories that are described by the parents to their children at the time of sleep are told in order to make the children sleep, but the stories of the Quran are told to awaken the people from the sleep of ignorance. The logic of the people of the previous nations as the holy Quran says was that they were considering the stories of the previous nations as legends, but if we believe that the stories of the Quran are not legends we must consider them as very meaningful lessons.

At the end we ask Allah to help us to be among the real believers who ponder upon the holy Quran and take heeds from it and implement it in their lives.

Source: iec-md.org

Pondering upon the Quran-1

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Quran-readThe month of Ramadan is a month in which the recitation of the holy Quran is recommended so much. There are some rituals for this recommended act. Among them is pondering upon the verses of the holy Quran. What does this pondering mean and how can we do it?

The holy Quran is the manifestation of the knowledge of Allah on the earth. This divine book contains many different subjects, like the oneness of Allah, theological discussions, morality, human creation, hereafter, rewards and punishments of there, the ways to be successful in this world and in the hereafter, the barriers of the human in the way toward perfection etc.

The concept of Tadabbor or deep pondering is mentioned in the holy Quran and in the Narrations of the infallibles. It means not to stop at the words of the holy Quran. It means to pass and move from the words to the reality behind them. It means to understand lessons from them. Imam Ali peace be upon him said:

“Ponder upon the verses of the Quran and take heed from it, indeed the Quran is the most expressive heeds.”

There are some differences between pondering upon the verses of the Quran and the exegesis of that. Pondering can be done by every individual, and even the simplest people can take lessons from this precious book. Of course there are different levels of understanding the holy Quran, but the Quran is the table of Allah that everyone due to his/her capacity can be benefited from it, but the exegesis only belongs to those who are deeply expert in the field of religious studies.

The exegesis of the holy Quran includes different aspects of this book like the meaning of the words, the situations in which the verses were descended, the grammatical points of the verses etc. But the pondering is almost done in order to take lessons and heeds from the verses.

Another difference is that the main element of pondering is attending by heart while reciting the verses, but the exegesis mostly is a theoretical discussion.

According to the Narrations, while pondering upon the Quran, the aim is not to just complete the chapter and reach to the end of that, but rather according to a Narration from Imam Sadiq peace be upon him it is not appropriate to recite the Quran quickly but it is recommended to recite it slowly and it is appropriate to stop at the verse in which the Paradise is mentioned and ask Allah for it and stop at the verse in which the Hell is mentioned and refuge to Allah from that.

So when we see that the Narrations define the Quran as the spring of the hearts and the fountain of the knowledge of the knowledgeable or the cause which makes the hearts of the people of insight to be alive etc. this shows that the perfect effects of the Quran are achieved when it is recited with pondering.

To be continued

Source: iec-md.org

Pondering upon the Quran-2

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slide2In the previous post, we mentioned that according to the Islamic sources the perfect effects of reciting the holy Quran are achieved through recitation with pondering and we talked about this concept, so let’s continue that.

The concept of Tadabbor or pondering upon the verses of the holy Quran is obviously visible in the life of the infallibles. Imam Sadiq peace be upon him when he wanted to start the recitation of the Quran he was asking Allah by some Doa, among them he was saying:

“Put me among those who take heeds from your advices in the Quran and avoid from your disobedience. Don’t seal on my ear (out of ignorance) and don’t hang the veil (of ignorance) on my eye while reciting the Quran and don’t put my recitation as a recitation in which there is not any pondering.”

It is narrated in the history that when Imam Sajjad peace be upon him was reaching to this verse:

مالک یوم الدین

“The Owner of the Day of judgment”

He was repeating it so much to the extent that he was about to die, because of his very deep attention while reciting. And his state was in the way that he is about to meet the Owner of the Day of Judgment.

So the question here is that how can we have pondering upon the verses of the holy Quran? Here we want to mention some ways for that.

The first important way is to be among those who recite the Quran so much, so this is the introduction and preliminary step to pondering.

The second point is to repeat some verses by which we are attracted.

Sometimes while reciting of the holy Quran or different Doa and supplications especially when they are recited with noticing to their meanings, we get attracted by some parts of them, in such cases according to the scholars in the field of morality it is so helpful and efficient to repeat those parts as much as we are in mood for. So through repeating those parts we can be spiritually effected deeper and deeper.

The third point here is that we must believe deeply that this book is a means for guidance, because this belief makes us to be more eager to ponder upon the verses of the holy Quran. So it is the reason that the infallibles were describing and praising the very high position of the Quran and mentioning the effects and the results of the recitation of this divine book.

To be continued.

Source: iec-md.org

The month of Ramadan is the month of asking forgivnesss from Allah

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ForgivingWe are the creatures of Allah, and He is our Master. There are some responsibilities that we have toward Him i.e. the obligations and the prohibitions. When the Satan was stoned and taken away from the Paradise, he made an oath and said: I will deviate all mankind except the sincere servants. In chapter Saad from verse 71, Allah described this story. So the Satan and his army want to deceive us and make us away from the straight path. Sometimes we get deceived by them. In this time another trick of the devils is that they make us hopeless and say that you are a wretched and miserable person and you cannot be a real believer anymore, but we must repent to Allah and must know that the greatest sin or one of the greatest sins is getting hopeless from the ocean of Allah’s mercy and forgiveness. So we must turn to Allah and have Istighfar which literally means to ask for forgiveness. Here is a discussion, is there any difference between Tahbah(returning to Allah) and Istighfar? Now we do not enter in this discussion.

The concept of Istighfar is mentioned in the holy Quran many times.

Among the features of the pious people, this great deed has been mentioned. There are different levels for Istighfar, for example some people ask Allah for their sins, but there is mentioned that even the infallibles and sinless people were doing that and that has a different meaning from the Istighfar of the ordinary people.

There are many benefits for having Istighfar, some effects appear in this world and some after death. We mention some of them:

-Being away from the punishment of Allah in this world.

Allah said in chapter Anfal verse 33:

وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنتَ فِيهِمْ وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ

“But Allah was not to punish them whilst you were living in their midst, nor would Allah punish them if they repeatedly ask forgiveness of him.”

Imam Ali peace be upon him said:

There were two things that were keeping safe from the punishment of Allah, the one was the existence of the Prophet of Islam that was taken by his departure, but there is the second thing that is Istighfar that always is available for the people, so grasp it.

-Forgiveness of the sins.

Allah said in chapter Noah verse 10 quoting fromt Prophet Noah:

فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا

“Ask for forgiveness of your lord,” I said. “Surely, he is the forgiver”.

Another benefit of Istighfar is that it increases the sustenance.

In chapter Noah verse we read:

يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاء عَلَيْكُم مِّدْرَارًا

“(If you do Istighfar) He will let loose the sky upon you in abundance”

Another effect of Istighfar is that it increases the children.

When some people that they cannot have any child, come to the great scholars in the field of morality, they prescribe them to have many Istighfar, and that is because of the verse 12 in chapter Noah which we read:

وَيُمْدِدْكُمْ بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ

“(if you do Istighfar…) and (Allah) gives to you wealth and sons”

Another effect of Istighfar is that it causes the welfare and good life. Allah said in chapter Hud verse 3:

وَأَنِ اسْتَغْفِرُواْ رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُواْ إِلَيْهِ يُمَتِّعْكُم مَّتَاعًا حَسَنًا إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى

“And ask forgiveness of your lord and then repent to him. He will give you enjoyment till a stated term.”

We can have Istighfar in anytime but there are some times in which is recommended to have this great deed, like in the time of Sahar(meaning after midnight till the time of morning Azan(call to prayer).

Allah explicitly mentioned the name of Sahar in the holy Quran like chapter Ale Imaran verse 17 when He said:

الصَّابِرِينَ وَالصَّادِقِينَ وَالْقَانِتِينَ وَالْمُنفِقِينَ وَالْمُسْتَغْفِرِينَ بِالأَسْحَارِ

“Who are patient, truthful, obedient, and charitable, and who ask forgiveness at Sahar.”

When the brothers of Prophet Josef came to their father and asked him to ask forgiveness for them from Allah, Prophet Jacob (the father of Prophet Josef) said: I will do Istighfar for you.

According to a lot of the exegesis books of the holy Quran, he delayed Istighfar until the time of Sahar.

Imam Ali peace be upon him said:

“I advise you in the month of Ramadan to do Istighfar and Doa so much, the benefit of Doa is that is keeps you safe from the problems and difficulties, and Istighfar wipes out your sins.”

The month of Ramadan is a good opportunity to do Istighfar especially in the time of Sahar, because in both cases i.e. this holy month and the time of Sahar, Istighfar is prescribed and this is a month in which Muslim get up before morning Azan to eat the meal, so they can plan and adjust their time to be awake a little bit sooner in order to remember Allah especially by Istighfar.

The rituals of the recitation of the Quran

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IMG_8783-copiaIJABOne of the most recommended acts in the holy month of Ramadan is the recitation the holy Quran. The holy Quran was descended in two ways, the first it was descended little by little throughout 23 years at the time of the prophecy of the Prophet of Islam. In different situations different verses were revealed. The story and description of the descending of the verses are mentioned in the books of the exegesis of the holy Quran, and the second kind of descending was that the whole reality of the holy Quran was revealed in the night of Qadr which is in the month of Ramadan, so this month is the spring of the Quran. There are so much emphasis on the recitation of the holy Quran especially with pondering upon its verses. There are some rituals for recitation of this divine book that we mention some of them according to the holy Quran itself and different Narrations of the infallibles.

These rituals are divided into two branches, the superficial rituals and the inward ones.

The superficial rituals are like followings:

-Being on the state of Taharah or purity (having Wudu)

-Reciting out of respect.

-Observing the rights of recitation.

In the holy Quran there are different kinds of verses, some are related to the gifts of Allah, in such cases it is appropriate to ask Allah for those gifts, or some talk about the punishments of bad doers in Hell, so it is recommended to refuge to Allah from them, or the verses that are kinds of Doa and wishes, and we are told to ask Allah by them etc.

-Refuging to Allah before starting the recitation and saying:

اعوذ باللّه من الشیطان الرجیم

Which means: I refuge to Allah from the repulsed Satan.

The second kind of the rituals of the recitation of the holy Quran is the inward ones, like:

-Knowing the greatness of the Quran.

It means that we must know that this book is the words of Allah that were descended for the guidance of the humankinds till the Day of Judgment.

-Noticing to the greatness of the creator of this book.

It means that we must notice to the One that has descended this book, the One that is the creator of the worlds and everything in them and the One that is perfect in every aspect and is away from every imperfection and need.

-Knowing that just like that the verses of the holy Quran must not be touched without having superficial purity, the reality of the this holy and divine book cannot be achieved without being pure from the sins and having the pure heart, and without that the sweetness of the recitation of the Quran cannot be tasted.

-Reciting out of the humbleness of the heart and fearing from Allah.

Imam Sadiq peace be upon him said:

The one that recites the Quran but his/her heart does not get humble and the fear from Allah is not found in his/her inside, in deed he/she has insulted the great affair of Allah and has suffered a clear loss.

-Attending just to the holy Quran and being away from any distracting thought.

-Pondering upon the verses of the holy Quran.

Allah said in chapter Mohammad verse 23:

أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَى قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا

“Will they not then contemplate on the Quran? or are there locks upon their hearts!”

-Considering him/herself as the addressee of Allah and being in the presence of the holy Prophet of Islam.

-Being effected by heart from the advices and recommendations of the holy Quran, obeying the commands and prohibitions of these verses and trying to implement them in our lives.

 

Source: tebyan.net

 

The month of Mercy

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Ramadan_Allah has many attributes. His attributes are mentioned in Doa of Joashan Al-kabir which is in the book Mafatih Al-jinan. One of  His attributes is the attribute of mercifulness. He is merciful. Almost all chapters of the holy Quran starts with this phrase:

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

Two attributes of Allah are mentioned in it,

Al-Rahman and Al-Rahim. Both are derived from the root of mercy. But what is the difference between them? According to the Narrations the first attribute which is Al-Rahman means the merciful that has the general mercy. His general mercy includes all beings and even the tiniest beings are benefited from His mercy or even those who are infidels and do not believe in Him as God, are included. But the second attribute which is

Al-Rahim means that He is merciful specifically and this mercy includes some cases. It is narrated from Imam Sadiq peace be upon him that he said:

“Allah is the Lord of everything; He is Rahman to all of His creations and Rahim to the believers specifically.”

The month of Ramadan is an opportunity that Allah has put as His specific mercy, the month that due to the mercy of Allah the Thawab and rewards of worships are doubled many times and the breathings and sleeping are counted as glorification of Allah and worship.

There is a very hopeful Narration that shows the vastness of the mercy of Allah in this month, the Narration states:

In every night of the month of Ramadan at the time of Iftar(the time of breaking the fast) Allah forgives seventy thousands of thousands(millions) persons and makes them free from the fire of hell, the individuals who were deserved to be entered in it, and when the last night of the month of Ramadan comes Allah forgives the sinful persons as much as He has made free throughout this month.

Allah described the Prophet of Islam in chapter Anbiya verse 107:

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ

“We have not sent you (prophet Muhammad) except as a mercy to all the worlds.”

There is a Narration from this very merciful Prophet of Islam about the month of Ramadan in which he said:

“May Allah discard and reject the one who passes the month of Ramadan and is not forgiven by Allah”

The great Islamic scholar Mirza Javad Maleki Tabrizi said about this Narration:

This (superficial) curse due to the Prophet’s position as the mercy to all the worlds is a great good tiding that shows the vastness and generality of the mercy of Allah in this month.

Another sigh for the mercy of Allah in this holy month is that the devils are chained in this month.

But here is an important question. The question is that according to this feature of the month of Ramadan the devils cannot deviate mankind but still we see that the sins are committed in this month, so what does that chaining mean?

Here are some answers and possibilities about the meaning of the Narration. The first is that the reason of this chaining is fasting, and the devils are chained as much as our fasting is complete. The second answer is that all of the devils are not chained in this month because according to some Narrations such devils are described of “Marid” which literally means “turbulent” but the ordinary devils are still working and deviating mankind, but there is a third answer that is so important. This answer reminds us that the only thing that can deviate us is not devil, but also Al-Nafs Al-Ammarah or the selfish desires are still there and they has their own temptations.

Another sight of the mercy of Allah is that in this month the doors of the heaven are opened and the doors of the fire of the Hell are closed.

But here is a very important point and that is mentioned by the holy Prophet of Islam, he said:

O people, the doors of the heaven are opened, ask Allah not to close them. The doors of the fire (of the hell) are closed, ask Allah not to open it, and the devils are tied, request Allah not to assign them on you.so another answer for the above question is that the devils are chained, but sometimes our own deeds make them released, even our deeds in the previous months can release them, because it is an undeniable fact that our good and bad deeds have effects, some effects are material and appear in this material world, some effects will appear after our death, and some effects are spiritual and appear in this world, for instance we might have a good deed that its effect is that we have the Tawfiq and opportunity to be benefited from a divine teacher and conversely we might commit a sin and as the result and effect of that, we are deprived from some blessings of Allah, like having the eagerness of reciting supplications and being reluctant to spiritual matters or little by little reach to a state that God-forbid even might sneer at the spiritual matters and deny Allah, as the holy Quran explicitly declared in chapter Rum verse 10:

ثُمَّ كَانَ عَاقِبَةَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاؤُوا السُّوأَى أَن كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَكَانُوا بِهَا يَسْتَهْزِئُون

“Evil was the end of the harmdoers, because they belied the verses of Allah and mocked at them.”

The meaning of being the guest of Allah

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Ramadan-Fasting_0The month of Ramadan as the holy Prophet of Islam said, is the moth in which we are invited into the feast of Allah.

There is a Narration in which the holy Prophet of Islam said:

There are some breezes from Allah throughout your lifetime. Be aware, make yourselves exposed to them.

It means that throughout our lifetime there are some opportunities given by Allah, if we do not use them properly in fact we have deprived ourselves from the bounties of those opportunities. Among these breezes is the month of Ramadan. There is a likening that can help us so much to be prepared for the feast of Allah i.e. the month of Ramadan. Let’s Imagine that a messenger from one of the greatest kings of the world has come to us and says: The king has invited you to his feast and he has so much attention to you, he wants to give you very precious gifts and governorship of some regions and above all of these honorable gifts the king is so satisfied with you and so eager to see you and get near to you and even wants to assign you as one of his nearest ones, so in this situation what will be our reaction? How can we make ourselves ready for this very important meeting?

Then we must compare the greatness of this king to the King of the kings, the Lord of the lords, the creator of the worlds and everything in them, the one that is the real Owner of everything that is known as a being. Now we refer to the starting part of this essay. We are invited to the feast of Allah. If we really and honestly believe that there is a God and if we believe that the messenger of Allah does not tell any lie, so what is our reaction to the call of the Prophet of Islam on this invitation?

There is an important point here, when we refer to some Narrations that describe the great rewards of some deeds like the rewards of different deeds of the month of Ramadan it might seem unbelievable for some of us or hard to be believed due to the very vast mentioned rewards of them. For example the Narration that says:

Solving a problem of a believer is better (and has more rewards) than releasing one thousand slaves. Another example is the Narration that states:

The rewards of a man that helps his wife in the house, are as this: he will be rewarded per every hair that is in his body, the rewards of one year of worship in which he has fasted all of its days and has worshiped Allah through all of its nights.

There is a story that is so much meaningful and is the answer to this doubt. Because you know that a lot of times just one likening or story can be very helpful. The story is as following:

Once upon a time a king wanted to go to a land in order to conquer that land, in the way he encountered a little boy. The king asked the son: O little son, what is your name? The son replied: My name is Nasr Allah (meaning: the help of Allah). The king got happy and regarded this name as a good omen, and said that we God-willing will be the winner of the war. The king asked the son: Where are you going? The son replied: To the school for learning the Quran. The king asked the son: Which chapter are you learning? The son replied: The chapter of Fath(meaning: victory). The king regarded it as a good omen too and got so happy and gave a small bag of coin to that son as a gift. The son started to cry. The king asked him: Why are you crying? The little son answered: Because when I go back to the home my mother will beat me and will say: You have stolen these coins. The king said: So, say to her that the king has given me these coins. The son replied: She won’t believe my words and will say that if a king wants to give a gift, due to his great position of kingdom he does not present a little thing but rather he gives something that deserves his great position of being a king. So the king got interested by the answer of this little boy and gave him many coins.

Someone might say that this is just a story that it might not be true, but we say that the trueness or falsehood of this story does not harm our intention from narrating this story, because it is a true fact that the gifts of the very generous people are due to their level of generosity.

Now let’s notice to the All-Mighty Allah, the Owner of the worlds, the being that is not in need of anyone or anything, the One that gives sustenance to all beings, the King of the kings, the most generous of all the generous, so it is very natural and usual that such a generous has so much giving, and as much as our Tawhid or believing in the oneness and unity of Allah gets stronger and deeper, the above mentioned doubt gets solved more easily.

 

The effects of reciting the Quran-2

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8426_bIn the previous post we mentioned some of the effects of reciting the holy Quran. Now we want to continue that.

The holy Quran is a very good companion. Imam Sajjad peace be upon him said:

If all the people between east and west ( meaning: all the people of the world) die, and just the holy Quran is with me, I do not feel frightened.

If we do not consider the Quran as a companion and leave it alone, as the holy Quran said, the holy Prophet of Islam will complain from us on the day of Judgment.

It is interesting that even looking at the verses of the Quran or listening to the recitation of the Quran without reciting it, is considered as a worship and has rewards.

Imam Sadiq peace be upon him said: Reciting the holy Quran with looking at the verses, enlightens the eyes and decreases the punishment of the reciter’s parents even though they both were infidels.

Nowadays a good custom is prevalent especially in the Islamic countries and that is the memorization of the holy Quran. The holy Prophet of Islam is narrated to have said:

Allah does not punish the heart that includes the Quran.

Imam Sadiq peace be upon him said: When a young believer recites the holy Quran, the Quran gets mixed with the meat and blood of him/her and Allah will make him/her to be accompanied by the great honorable angels who are the writers and carriers of the Quran and the Quran will be his/her guardian on the Day of Judgment.

The holy Quran is a book which enlightens us. According to Imam Ali peace be upon him, the companion of the Quran when he/she wants to go away(after reciting it) is effected by the Quran increasingly or decreasingly, the guidance got increased or the blindness (of the heart) got decreased.

According to the Narrations, one of the responsibilities of the father for his child is to teach him/her the holy Quran.

 Sometime our hearts get rusted, the holy Prophet of Islam said: The hearts get rusted just like the iron gets rusted, the thing that polishes them is the recitation of the Quran.

There are some recommendations from the infallibles which show that every individual chapter of the holy Quran has specific results and effects. For more information refer to the books of the exegesis of the holy Quran in the beginning part of every chapter’s description.

But it is important to be noted that it is true that reciting the holy Quran it so good even when it is done without pondering, but definitely the complete effects of them are achieved when it is done with pondering upon its verses and at the same time being away from committing the sins which is a great barrier for the complete Quranic effects.

There is a Narration from Imam Sadiq peace be upon him in this regard, he said: There are many reciters of the Quran that they are cursed by it. When he was asked about these people, the Imam replied:

Those who recite the Quran but they do not act according to that. (They do not implement the Quran in their lives).

It is like some of the companions of the Prophet of Islam that they were with him for some years but they did not act according to what they have learned from him.

The holy Quran is a cure for our spiritual diseases. The holy Quran said in chapter yunos verse 57:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءتْكُم مَّوْعِظَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَشِفَاء لِّمَا فِي الصُّدُورِ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

“People, an admonition has now come to you from your lord, and a healing for what is in the chests, a guide and a mercy to believers.”

Imam Ali peace be upon him in one of his sermons in the book of Nahj-Albalaghah, called Khutbah Al-Hammah, sermon number 184 or 192 (due to difference in the version of the narrations of this book) mentioned the features of the pious and it is so interesting and I recommend our dear brothers and sisters to read this very beautiful sermon and try to implement these features little by little in their lives. One of the features of the pious is that in night they recite the verses of the holy Quran and they try to cure their (spiritual) diseases according to the Quran. When they reach to the hopeful verses, they become hopeful in a way that it is as they are seeing by their eyes the blessings mentioned in the verse and when they reach to the verses in which there is fear, they listen to it carefully in a way as the whimper of the Hell is heard by them.

The recitation of holy Quran enlightens the house. The holy Prophet of Islam said:

Enlighten your house with the recitation of the Quran and do not make your houses as cemeteries just like the people of Christianity and Judaism did so, they pray in the churches and synagogues and they make their houses off from it. The blessings get increased in the house in which the Quran is recited so much and the inhabitants of that house get in the vastness (of sustenance).

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Source: howzah.net