Abandoning the Qur'aan

Allaah سبحانه و تعالى says,



"And the Messenger [Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم] has said, 'O my Lord, indeed my people have taken this Qur'aan as [a thing] abandoned.'" (Sooratul-Furqaan, 25:30)

It can reasonably be argued that many people today are treating the Qur'aan as something to be shunned. Yes, no Muslim would ever do such a thing intentionally. However, a Muslim may do this without realising what he is doing; and that is where the real problem lies.

There are many ways by which a people may take the Qur'aan as something mahjoor. Imaam Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله notes the following ways:

(1) Avoiding listening to its recitation, believing in it, paying attention or inclining to it.

(2) Avoiding acting by and respecting what the Qur'aan states as permissible or forbidden, even though the person reads it or believes in it.

(3) Avoiding accepting the Qur'aan as the arbiter or judging by it in the fundamental as well as secondary aspects of the religion or believing that it does not warrant certainty or belief.

(4) Avoiding pondering over its meanings, understanding it and knowing what Allaah desires from the reader.

(5) Avoiding using it as a healing and cure for the diseases of the heart while seeking the cure for such diseases from other sources. [1]

Another important way by which one takes the Qur'aan as something mahjoor - and a very dangerous way because the person may not realise it or may not be willing to admit it - is to only emphasise or concentrate on the secondary aspects of the Qur'aan and to ignore its main goals and purposes. Muslims turn to the Qur'aan for many reasons. But it seems, Allaah knows best, that one of the main reasons why the Muslims are not receiving the entire guidance fromt the Qur'aan is that they are emphasising aspects of it that are not the main reasons for which it was revealed. If Muslims only emphasise these secondary aspects of the Qur'aan, they may never find its true message. [2]

Mufti Muhammad Shafi رحمه الله said, "On the face of it, abandonment of the Qur'aan means its denial or non-acceptance, which is expected only from the disbelievers. However, in certain traditions it is reported that there are Muslims who do believe in the Qur'aan, but they neither read it nor try to follow it [and they are the ones who fall into this category of people]. Sayyiduna Anas رضي الله عنه has quoted the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم as saying, 'The person who has learnt the Qur'aan and then hanged it (on the wall), neither recites it routinely nor ponders over its injunctions, will be brought on the Day of Judgement with the Qur'aan hanging from his neck, and it will complain before Allaah سبحانه و تعالى, "This servant of Yours had abandoned me, so decide between me and him."'" [3]

Imaam Ibn Katheer رحمه الله said, "When he (the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم) would recite the Qur'aan to them (the idolators), they would talk nonsense or speak about something else, so that they would not hear it. This is a form of forsaking it and rejecting it, and not believing in it is the same as forsaking it, and not pondering its meanings and trying to understand it is the same as forsaking it, and not acting upon it and following its commandments and heeding its prohibitions is the same as forsaking it, and turning away from it in favor of poetry or other words or songs or idle talk or some other way is the same as forsaking it. We ask Allah, the Most Generous, the Bestower of bounty, the One Who is able to do what He wills, to keep us safe from doing that which earns His wrath and to use us to do that which will earn His pleasure of preserving and understanding His Book, following its commandments night and day in the manner which He loves and which pleases Him, for He is Generous and Kind." [4]

Notes:

[1] al-Fawaa'id (Beirut: Daar an-Nafaa'is, 1984), pp. 107-108.

[2] How to Approach and Understand the Qur'aan.

[3] Ma'aariful Qur'aan, vol. 6, pp. 483-484.

[4] Tafseer Ibn Katheer