The Rare Ahadith

‘‘The readers of the Holy Quran are of three kinds: There is a man who has learned the Holy Quran and has taken it as a piece of merchandise to attract the rulers thereby and dominate the people. There is a man who has learned the Holy Quran, preserved its letters, but has lost its laws. He has kept its letters without change. (I wish) Allah would not increase the number of people like him as the carrier of the Holy Quran. ‘‘There is a man who has applied the medicine of the Holy Quran to the wounds of his heart, it keeps him vigilant during the night, he endures thirst during the day, stands up in mosques and leaves his bed for its (the Holy Quran) sake. Through such people Allah, the Most Majestic, the Almighty, defends the land against the enemies, and through them he sends down rain from the sky. By Allah, such ones among the readers of the Holy Quran are like alchemy in rarity and value.”

“I heard Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) saying, ‘The Holy Quran came in three parts: One third about us ( Ahl al-Bayt) and about our enemies, one third about traditions and axioms and one third about obligations and laws.’”

‘‘The Holy Quran came in four parts: One fourth is about lawful matters, one fourth about unlawful matters, one fourth about traditions and laws and one fourth about the news of what was before you and what will be after you and ways to settle your disputes.”

“The Holy Quran came in four parts: One fourth is about us (Ahl al-Bayt) one fourth about our enemies, one about traditions and axioms and one fourth about obligations and laws.”

“The first thing that was revealed to the Messenger of Allah was, ‘(I begin) in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Read in the name of your Lord . . .’ (Chapter 96) and the last thing was, ‘When support comes from Allah. . . (Chapter 110)

“Once I asked Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) about the words of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, ‘The month of Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was revealed, . . .’ (2:185) but there were twenty years between its first and last (words).’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) said, ‘The Holy Quran was revealed in one piece in the month of Ramadan to Bayt al-Ma ’mur, then it was revealed in twenty years.’ The Imam said, ‘The Holy Prophet has said, “The books of Ibrahim were revealed in the first night of Ramadan, Torah was revealed on the sixth day of Ramadan, lnjil was revealed after thirteen nights of the month of Ramadan had passed, al-Zabur was revealed after twenty six days were passed from the month of Ramadan and the Holy Quran was revealed after twenty-three days had passed from the month of Ramadan.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) has said, ‘The Holy Quran is not to be used for omens or prophecy.’”

“Once I showed to Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) a copy of the Holy Quran decorated with writings of gold in a stamp form and at the end of chapters there were writings with gold. He did not criticize anything in it except the writing of the Holy Quran with gold saying, ‘I do not like the writing of the Holy Quran in anything except black ink, just as it was written the first time.’”

“In the last third of the month of Ramadan, you may take a copy of the Holy Quran, open it, place before you and say, ‘O Lord, I plead before You through Your revealed book and through what is in it and in it there is Your greatest, the magnificent name and Your beautiful names, what is feared and what is hoped for, to make me of those whom You have freed from the fire’ and then ask for help for whatever you like or need help.”

“Abu Ja’far (a.s.) has said, ‘For everything there is a spring. The spring for the Holy Quran is the month of Ramadan.’”

“Once I asked Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) whether al-Quran and al-Furqan are two different things or one thing? The Imam said, ‘Al-Quran is the name of the whole book and al-Furqan is that much that is clearly understood and is necessary to act accordingly thereby.’”

“The Holy Quran is one. It has come from One, however, the differences come from the narrators.”

“Once, I said to Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) ‘People say that the Holy Quran was revealed upon seven letters.’ The Imam said, ‘They, the enemies of Allah, lie. It was revealed upon one letter from One source.’”

“The Holy Quran was revealed in a manner like, ‘I speak to you, but it is the neighbor who must listen.’” It is narrated, in another Hadith, from Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) who has said the following: “The meaning of ‘I speak to you, but it is the neighbor who must listen’, is that whenever Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has addressed His prophet in critical expressions they, in fact, are addressed to others and not the Holy Prophet such as: ‘Had We not strengthened your faith you might have relied on them some how,’ (17:74) is addressed to others (not the Holy Prophet).”’

“Once I asked Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) ‘How was the Holy Quran revealed?’ The Imam said, ‘Recite as you have been taught.’’’

“Once, abu al-Hassan (a.s.) gave me a copy of the Holy Quran saying, ‘Do not look at it.’ I opened and read in it (Chapter 98) ‘The unbelievers were not . . .’ and I found therein the names of seventy people from Quraysh with their names and the names of their fathers.’ The narrator has said that the Imam (a.s.) sent a message to me, ‘Send the copy back to me.’”

"My father (a.s) said, “Whoever mixes up the Holy Quran becomes an unbeliever.’”

“I heard abu Ja’far (a.s.) saying, ‘A copy of the Holy Quran had fallen in the sea, when they found it all the writing was gone except: ‘ ... is it not the case that all things end up in the presence of Allah. . . .’” (42:53)

“Once abu Ja’far (a.s.) said to me, ‘Read.’ I then asked, ‘What should I read?’ The Imam said, ‘Read from Chapter 9.’ I (the narrator) tried to find it but he said, ‘Read from Yunus (which is Chapter 10).’ I (the narrator) then read: ‘The righteous will receive good rewards for their deeds and more. Their faces will suffer no disgrace or ignominy. . . .’ (10:26) The Imam said, ‘The Messenger of Allah has said, “It is astonishing to me, why should I not grow old much quicker when I read the Holy Quran.’”

“Once I asked one of the two Imam (a.s.) about the words of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy: ‘It has been revealed in plain Arabic.’ (26:195) The Imam said, ‘It (the Holy Quran) explains the languages but the languages do not explain it.’”

“Whoever reads the last verse of al-Kahf (Chapter 18) can wake up at night at the hour that he intends to wake up.”

“Once, I said to Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) ‘Your Mawla, Sulaym says that of the Holy Quran with him there is only Yasin, Chapter 36. At night he wakes up and completes reading of the Holy Quran whatever is available with him, can he repeat it reading?’ The Imam said, ‘Yes, he can do so.’”

“Once, a man read before Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) certain letters from the Holy Quran, while I was present, which were not like those that people read. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) said, ‘Stop this reading. Read as people read until the one who will establish Divine Authority on earth will come. When he will come, the book of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, will be read upon its limits. He then brought the copy of the Holy Quran that Ali (a.s.) had written and said, ‘Ali (a.s.) brought this to people when he completed writing down the Holy Quran in one copy and said to them, “This is the book of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, as Allah had revealed upon Muhammad (a.s.) and I have written it in one copy from two tablets.” They said, ‘With us there is the comprehensive copy of the Holy Quran. We do not need it.’ He then said, ‘By Allah you will never see this from today on. It was necessary for me to tell you after I completed writing it down so you can read.’”

“Once I asked Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) about a man who reads the Holy Quran but then he forgets, he reads again and forgets. Is it an offense? The Imam said, ‘No, it is not an offense.’”

“My father has said, ‘Whoever mixes one part of the Holy Quran with the other part he turns into an unbeliever.’”

“ Surah al-Mulk (Chapter 67) is a protector. It protects against the torment of the grave. It ( Surah al-Mulk) is written in the Torah. Whoever reads it at night has done a great good deed and with it he will not be written of the neglectful ones. I read it in Ruku’ position while, sitting after ‘Isha’ prayer. My father would read it everyday and night. When the person who reads it will be placed in the grave the interrogating angels (Na’kir and Nakir) will enter his grave from the direction of his feet. His feet will say, ‘You cannot enter from our side. This servant (of Allah) would stand on us and read Surah al-Mulk everyday and night. ’ When they try to enter his grave from the middle section his middle section will say, ‘You cannot enter from my side of the grave. This servant (of Allah) had placed Surah al-Mulk inside of me.’ When they try to enter from the side of his face his tongue will say, ‘You cannot enter from my side. This servant (of Allah) would read with me Surah al-Mulk every day and night.’”

“We were with Abu Abdullah (AS), and with us was Rabi'ah al-Ra'y, and we mentioned the virtue of the Quran. So Abu Abdillah (AS) said, 'If Ibn Mas'ood does not recite according to our recitation, then he is misguided.' Rabi'ah said, 'Misguided?' He (AS) replied, 'Yes, misguided.' Then Abu Abdillah (AS) said, 'As for us, we recite according to the recitation of Ubayy.'’”

“The Quran that Jibril (as) brought to Muhammad (sw) had seventeen thousand verses.”