He Granteth wisdom to whom He pleaseth; and he to whom wisdom is granted receiveth indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the Message but men of understanding - Al-Quran Al-Kareem (2:269)

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Gracious

Notes for the Online Halaqa, Ramadân 1429 (part two)Topics covered in the first session:
• The meaning of ‘nasîhah’ in the hadith ‘religion is nasîhah’, especially as related to the Qurân.
• The ‘excellence of the Qurân and its people’ taken from Ihya and from Forty Hadith on the Excellence of the All-Clarifying Illuminating Qurân by Mulla ‘Ali al-Qari.
• The first five of the ‘outward etiquettes of reading the Qurân with reference to Etiquette with The Qurân by Imam al-Nawawi.
• Today, we will complete the reading of the Hadith on the Excellence of the All-Clarifying Illuminating Qurân; continue with the outward actions and look at the inward actions of reading the Qurân.
• The remaining outward actions are:
 Weeping
 Giving each verse its due
 Making ‘istiâdha’ (seeking of refuge) at the beginning of the recitation
 Reading aloud
 Beautifying of ones’ recitation

Weeping
Imam al-Nawawi says:
It is an attribute of those with profound knowledge of God (‘ârifîn) and a distinguishing feature of God’s devotees. God Most High said, They fall down upon their faces weeping, and it increases them in humility (17:109).

Many hadiths and accounts from the Righteous Forebears have been related concerning this. Among them is from the Prophet himself, upon him be peace: ‘Read the Quran and weep. If you do not weep, cause yourself to weep.’

‘Umar ibn al-Khattâb, may Allah be pleased with him, prayed the Morning Prayer in congregation and read Surat Yusuf (12). He wept until his tears flowed over his collarbone. In another version (of the report), it was in the Nightfall Prayer, affirming that this happened repeatedly, and in one version he wept until people in the rows behind him heard his weeping.

Abû Rajâ said, ‘I saw Ibn ‘Abbas and below his eyes were tracks wet from tears.’ Abû Sâlih said, ‘A group of people from Yemen came to Abû Bakr al-Siddîq, may Allah be pleased with him, and began reciting the Quran and they wept. Abû Bakr al-Siddîq, may Allah be pleased with him, said ‘This is how we were. Hishâm said, ‘I sometimes heart Muhammad ibn Sirîn’s crying at night while I was praying.
The accounts concerning this are innumerable. What we have just alluded to suffices. And God knows best.

Imâm Abû Hâmid al-Ghazâli said, ‘Weeping is recommended while reciting (the Quran) or witnessing (its recitation). He said, ‘The way to achieve this is by bringing sadness to mind by pondering the threats and warnings, the covenants and agreements that it contains, and then contemplating one’s shortcomings with their regard. If this does not bring to mind sadness and weeping, as it does with elite worshippers, then one should weep from the lack of it, since it is among the greatest calamities’
[Etiquette with The Qurân by Imam al-Nawawi p45]

Fulfilling the rights of specific verses of the Qurân
These include prostrating when you read or hear a verse of prostration. The rules of this type of prostration are found in the books of jurisprudence. They are also detailed in Etiquette with The Qurân along with a list of all the verses requiring prostration.
Other rights of the Qurân are to supplicate for the Heaven when it is mentioned, to seek protection from the Fire when it is mentioned, to make istighfâr (seek forgiveness) when told to in any particular verse and to say ‘subhanallah’ (transcendent is He) when verses describing the marvels of creation are read.

Al-Istiâdha
Among the specific rights of the Qurân is to seek protection before reciting it and to supplicate after it.

Reading aloud
There are several evidences stressing the merit of reading the Qurân silently and others of reading it aloud. These apparent contradictions are reconciled by al-Ghazâli when he points out that ‘silent recitation is furthest from ostentation and humility and is most appropriate for one who fears them in himself. However, if he does not fear them and he is not likely to disturb someone else who might be praying then reciting aloud is better as it requires more actions, its benefit is connected to others and the good is therefore compounded and preferred to that which is confined (to oneself), it wakens the heart of the reciter and concentrates his aspiration on contemplation and focuses his hearing on it; it repels sleep and energizes him towards (more) recitation and reduces his laziness and because he should hope through his recitation for the waking of the sleeping one and hence be the means of his revival and because a lazy, neglectful one may be energised by his energy and thereby desire to serve (Allah).’

Beautifying one’s recitation
Al-Ghazâli quotes a number of hadîth, some of which are included in previous classes and also the stories of Sâlim the freed slave of Abû Hudhaifa and Abdulllah ibn Masûd who were both excellent reciters of the Qurân and praised by the Messenger, upon him be peace, for their recitation.

The ‘inner actions’ involved in reciting the Qurân
There are ten inward adâb. They are:
1. Understanding where the Qurân originates
2. Veneration (ta’dhîm)
3. Presence of heart
4. Reflection (tadabur)
5. Striving to understand (tafahum)
6. Removal of barriers to understanding
7. Personalising the message (takhsîs)
8. Feeling the effect of the Quran (ta’athur)
9. Rising (taraqî)
10. Recognition of not having any part in the blessing (tabarra)

May Allah grant us understanding of these actions and the ability to practice them and fulfil the rights of the Qurân. Āmin.

Intention for studying from Imam Abdullah Al-Haddad (may God be pleased with him!) translated from Arabic to English by Shaykh Abdul Aziz Ahmed Fredericks (may God be pleased with him!) of Glasgow, as:

All praise to God, Lord of the Worlds. And salutations and greetings upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and companions. I intend to study and teach, take and give a reminder, take and give benefit, take and give advantage, to encourage the holding fast to the book of God (the al-Qoran) and the way of His messenger, and calling to guidance and directing towards good, hoping for the countenance of God and His pleasure, proximity and reward, transcendent is He.

May God grant us all success in the world and in the hereafter, âmîn.

He was one of the Syaikhul Islam, an initiator and a main leader in the path of dakwah and education, from a descendant of an honourable Sayyid, Abdullah bin Alawi Alhaddad, Al-Alawi, Al-Husaini, Al-Hadhrami, Asy-Syafi’i, an Imam who was in his era, was a preacher to Allah’s path, struggled in disseminating the holy religion with his words and pens, and a centre of reference for the knowledge seekers.

The honourable Habib was born in one of the village in Tarim which is one of the state in the well known Hadhramaut, in the night of 5th of Safar 1044H, in Yaman. He was brought up in that village which is popularly known to be a centre of inhabitants of Asyraaf (Sayyid descendant) tribe from descendant of Sayyidina Hussain bin Ali bin Abi Thalib (May Allah be pleased with all of them!). It was here that he received his education on Al-Quran Al-Kareem and memorize it.

During his childhood, he was infected with smallpox (which vaccine was not in existence during that time) that had taken away his sight. However, The Most Merciful Allah Taala had replaced the visible sightness with the indispensible sight of the heart. He continued to quest for the islamic knowledge and studied them as deep as possible until he became one who was expert in many aspects of the religion. At the same time, he was the one who always maintain the closeness to the many renowned mu’alims at that time until Allah Ta’ala bestowed him with an amazing good memory and an exceptional insight.

He was very steadfast in performing his ibadah and zest for knowledge. This had been his way of life since his teenagehood through to his elderlyhood. The knowledge attained was then delivered actively to his students and his fans, all were done with the only intention that is to bring them to the right path of Allah Ta’ala. These had attract a lot of knowledge seekers from everywhere to meet and studied with him which contributed to the widespread of his scholarly insight and hence his barakah. He was also a frequent traveller to many places for the sake of seeking knowledge, conveying it to others and for the sake of dakwah.

He was also a talented poet. Whenever his poem was recited, always it was the one that was fascinating. He was also a poetic writer. His writings was of uniquely touching and heart-catching. Whenever he was preaching, people would always attracted to listen to and whenever he was debating, he was always the winner.

He was renowed to has a clarified analogy in his writings, firm in his comprehension, deep in his debate, meticulous in his adaptation, has every clarity in his hujjah, enchanted clarification and has a broad spectrum of interpretation. He always use verses in AlQuran Al-Kareem, Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) traditions (Ahadith) and words from previous scholars in order to strenghten his points, to uproot any distraction and wahn from oneself, and to rectify any negative insight, until there was no question was left unanswered. All of these could be obtained by the many of his books namely An-Nashaaih Ad-Dinniyyah (Religious Advice and Faith Will), Ad-Da’wah At-Tammah, Al-Mudzakarah Ma’al Ikhwan Wal Muhibbin, Al-Fushuul Al-Ilmiah and Ittihaafus-Saail Bi Ajwibatil Musaail and in his famous diwan (collection of poems).

Imam Al-Haddad (May ALlah be pleased with him!) returned to his Al-Khaliq (the Sole Creator) on the Tuesday, 7th of Dzul-Qa’idah 1132Hijriah, and was buried at Zanbal Graveyard, Tarim. May Allah reward him multiply.

“One of the interesting stories about Imam AL-Hadad that was conveyed to me by Sheikh Muhammad Fauzi Al-Hadhrami was that Imam Al-Hadad had always prayed to Allah Taala to give him the opportunity to implement all (100%) of the sunnahs of Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him!) in himself, but as he became older, his head became older too in such away that he was bald which was in contrast to the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him!) and hence his wish cannot be fulfilled. However, Allah Taala The Most Merciful and The Most Omnipotent, had fulfilled his wish in such a way that Imam Al-Hadad did not die in baldness but with hair of the same length as the Prophet’s (peace and blessing be upon him!) which appeared during the ghusul of the mayyit. MasyaAllah!”