THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE OF THE QUR’AN A translation of AKHLAQ HAMALAH AL-QUR’AN WA AHLIH by Imam Abu Bakr Muhammad b. al-Husayn al-Ajurri, d. 360 H Translation: © Usama Hasan / Al-Qur’an Society, London 1 ABOUT THE AUTHOR .................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 His Life ....................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 His Teachers............................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 His Students ............................................................................................................................... 4 1.4 The Scholars’ Praise for al-Ajurri ........................................................................................... 4 1.5 His Madhhab (School of Law).................................................................................................. 5 1.6 His Works................................................................................................................................... 5 2 ABOUT THE BOOK.......................................................................................................................... 7 3 THE CHARACTER OF THE BEARERS OF THE QUR’AN AND ITS PEOPLE, AND THEIR REQUIRED CHARACTER........................................................................................................................ 8 3.1 Isnad of the Damascus Manuscript.......................................................................................... 8 3.2 Isnad of the Egyptian Manuscript ........................................................................................... 8 3.3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 9 4 Chapter One: Virtues of the Qur’an ............................................................................................... 10 5 Chapter Two: Virtues of the Bearers of the Qur’an...................................................................... 15 6 Chapter Three: Virtues of the One Who Learns the Qur’an and Teaches It.............................. 17 7 Chapter Four: Virtues of Gathering in the Mosque to Study the Qur’an ................................... 18 8 Chapter Five: Mention of the Etiquettes of the People of the Qur’an.......................................... 19 9 Chapter Six: The Character of Those Who Recite the Qur’an Without Intending Allah, Mighty and Majestic, Thereby................................................................................................................................ 24 10 Chapter Seven: Etiquettes of the Recitation-Teacher When He Sits To Teach Recitation and Instruct for the Sake of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and the Manners Befitting Him........................ 32 10.1 Facing the Qiblah .................................................................................................................... 32 10.2 Accommodating young and old, rich and poor, alike........................................................... 32 10.3 Testing the Student before Teaching in Earnest................................................................... 34 10.4 Listening to the Student’s Recitation..................................................................................... 34 10.5 Humility towards the Student, even when he Errs............................................................... 35 10.6 Avoiding Material Benefit from Teaching the Qur’an......................................................... 36 11 Chapter Eight: Mention of the Manners of the One Who Learns the Qur’an from the Teacher ....................................................................................................................................................... 39 11.1 Etiquettes of Receiving Instruction........................................................................................ 39 12 Chapter Nine: Manners of the Reciters When Reciting the Qur’an, That It Does Not Befit Them to Ignore ........................................................................................................................................... 42 12.1 Purification and Cleaning the Teeth...................................................................................... 42 12.2 Reciting from the Mushaf....................................................................................................... 42 12.3 Reciting when in a State of Impurity..................................................................................... 42 12.4 Prostrations of Recitation ....................................................................................................... 42 12.5 Facing the Qiblah if Seated when Reciting............................................................................ 43 12.6 Reciting with Sorrow and Contemplation............................................................................. 43 12.7 Traditions related in this regard ............................................................................................ 43 12.8 Importance of these Etiquettes............................................................................................... 45 13 Chapter Ten: Reciting the Qur’an with a Beautiful Voice....................................................... 46 13.1 Reciting with Tartil (Slowly and Rhythmically) ................................................................... 48 14 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................. 49 14.1 Addendum................................................................................................................................ 49 15 ABOUT THE AUTHOR.............................................................................................................. 60 16 ABOUT THE BOOK ................................................................................................................... 60 With the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Ever-Merciful 1 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 1.1 His Life His full name was Muhammad b. al-Husayn b. ‘Abdullah, Abu Bakr al-Ajurri al- Baghdadi. He was a Scholar of Hadith and Law, a pious Imam and trustworthy Follower of the Sunnah. He was born around 264 or 280 H in Baghdad, where he hailed from its Darb al-Ajurr area (Ajurr is a fired brick used in building and construction), a locality on the west bank of the river that had produced several people of knowledge.1 He was raised in Baghdad and studied with its people of knowledge before teaching Hadith there. He remained in his native city until the year 330 H, when he performed the pilgrimage to Makkah. Ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn ‘Imad al-Hanbali, Ibn Khillakan and al-Subki relate that when al-Ajurri entered Makkah, may Allah protect it, he was extremely impressed by it and prayed, “O Allah! Grant me residence here for a year,” upon which he heard the voice of an invisible caller say, “Rather, thirty years!” Al-Ajurri settled in Makkah after the pilgrimage and stayed there for the remaining thirty years of his life, dedicated to worship and the teaching of Hadith, until his death aged eighty (or ninety-six, according to some sources) on the first day of Muharram, 360 H. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi said that Muhammad b. ‘Ali al-Suri said, “Abu Bakr al-Ajurri passed away in Muharram in the year three hundred and sixty – I read that on his gravestone in Makkah.” It is also related that al-Ajurri used to often pray that he would not reach the sixtieth year (of the century).2 He passed away just hours into the year 360 H. 1.2 His Teachers Al-Ajurri compiled a book called “Eighty Hadith from Eighty Shaykhs,” showing that he had at least this many Hadith teachers. Badr ‘Abdullah al-Badr, in his introduction to al- Ajurri’s “Forty Hadith,” names 79 of these teachers from seven of al-Ajurri’s published works. These include the following as well as many of their contemporaries, some of whom feature in the narrations given in this book, and all of whom were famous Imams and Hadith-preservers mentioned by al-Dhahabi in his Tabaqat (or Tadhkirat) al-Huffaz (“Generations of Hadith-Preservers”): 1. Abu Muslim al-Kajji, Ibrahim b. ‘Abdullah (d. 292 H) 2. Abu Shu’ayb al-Harrani 1 Yaqut al-Hamawi said about it in his time, “It is now desolate.” Cf. Mu’jam al-Buldan (“Compendium of the Lands”) of Yaqut and Wafayat al-A’yan (“Dates of Death of Famous Personalities”) of Ibn Khillakan. 2 [Translator’s note:] Al-Ajurri’s prayer seems to be based on the famous one of the greatest Hadith- Preserver ever, the Companion Abu Hurayrah, “O Allah! I seek refuge with You from the beginning of the sixtieth year, and from the leadership of children.” His prayer was answered, for he passed away at the age of 78 in the year 57 or 58 or 59 H (authorities differ), before Yazid b. Mu’awiyah became Caliph in 60 H at the age of 35. 3. Khalaf b. ‘Amr al-‘Akbari 4. Ahmad b. Yahya al-Hulwani 5. Ja’far b. Muhammad al-Firyabi (d. 301 H) 6. Al-Fadl b. Muhammad al-Junadi (d. 308 H) 7. Ahmad b. ‘Umar b. Zanjwayh al-Qattan [“the Cotton-Trader”] (d. 304 H) 8. Qasim b. Zakariyya al-Mutarriz [“the Embroider”] al-Baghdadi (d. 305 H) 9. Ahmad b. al-Hasan b. ‘Abd al-Jabbar al-Sufi 10. Harun b. Yusuf b. Ziyad 11. Abu Bakr b. Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (d. 316 H), whose father was the famous scholar of Hadith,