The Excellence of the Noble Qur'an and Its Miracle

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The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.

The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, perhaps we should begin the questions in these sessions by speaking generally about the excellence of the Noble Qur'an. Allah the Exalted said:

⁽⁷⁷⁾ Indeed, it is a noble Qur'an ⁽⁷⁸⁾ In a Register well-protected; ⁽⁷⁹⁾ None touch it except the purified.

إِنَّهُ لَقُرْآنٌ كَرِيمٌ فِي كِتَابٍ مَّكْنُونٍ لَّا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ

[Al-Waqi'ah 56:77-79]

This Qur'an is the greatest miracle of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and the speech of the Lord, the Master. Will you not tell us, may Allah preserve you, about the excellence of this great Book?

The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions. As for what follows, the great Qur'an is the eternal, abiding Book.
It is the dominant authority over the divine Books that came before it. It is the greatest of the Books of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, for it is a Book for the entire world, for the two heavy burdens, the jinn and mankind, as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. As Allah the Exalted said:

In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

[Al-Fatihah 1:1]

Blessed is He who sent down the Criterion upon His Servant that he may be to the worlds a warner -

تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ الْفُرْقَانَ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ لِيَكُونَ لِلْعَالَمِينَ نَذِيرًا

[Al-Furqan 25:1]

. And He the Exalted said: And indeed, it is a Book. And indeed, as He the Exalted said:

⁽⁴¹⁾ Indeed, those who disbelieve in the message after it has come to them... And indeed, it is a mighty Book. ⁽⁴²⁾ Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; [it is] a revelation from a [Lord who is] Wise and Praiseworthy.

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِالذِّكْرِ لَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ وَإِنَّهُ لَكِتَابٌ عَزِيزٌ لَّا يَأْتِيهِ الْبَاطِلُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلَا مِنْ خَلْفِهِ تَنزِيلٌ مِّنْ حَكِيمٍ حَمِيدٍ

[Fussilat 41:41-42]

.
Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) informed us of its status in the highest assembly, saying:

And indeed it is, in the Mother of the Book with Us, exalted and full of wisdom.

وَإِنَّهُ فِي أُمِّ الْكِتَابِ لَدَيْنَا لَعَلِيٌّ حَكِيمٌ

[Az-Zukhruf 43:4]

It is the Book of Allah; Allah the Exalted spoke it, and Jibril received it as revelation from Him, and Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) conveyed it to his Ummah. The Ummah has received it from generation to generation. Allah the Exalted guaranteed its preservation, saying:

Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its guardian.

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ

[Al-Hijr 15:9]

No one who is fair-minded hears it but testifies that it is the truth and that it is not the speech of humans, but rather the speech of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), even the jinn when they heard it.

and said, 'Indeed, we have heard an amazing Qur'an. ⁽²⁾ It guides to the right course, and we have believed in it. And we will never associate with our Lord anyone.

فَقَالُوا إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا قُرْآنًا عَجَبًا يَهْدِي إِلَى الرُّشْدِ فَآمَنَّا بِهِ وَلَن نُّشْرِكَ بِرَبِّنَا أَحَدًا

[Al-Jinn 72:1-2]

and

They said, "O our people, indeed we have heard a [recited] Book revealed after Moses confirming what was before it which guides to the truth and to a straight path.

قَالُوا يَا قَوْمَنَا إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا كِتَابًا أُنزِلَ مِن بَعْدِ مُوسَىٰ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْحَقِّ وَإِلَىٰ طَرِيقٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

[Al-Ahqaf 46:30]

O our people, respond to the Messenger of Allah and believe in him; Allah will forgive for you your sins and protect you from a painful punishment.

يَا قَوْمَنَا أَجِيبُوا دَاعِيَ اللَّهِ وَآمِنُوا بِهِ يَغْفِرْ لَكُم مِّن ذُنُوبِكُمْ وَيُجِرْكُم مِّنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ

[Al-Ahqaf 46:31]

So it is the Book of Allah.
The one He sent down upon His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and it is the greatest miracle of this Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Allah challenged the jinn and humans to bring forth the like of it, but they were unable to do so. He said:

Say, "If mankind and the jinn gathered in order to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like of it, even if they were to each other assistants."

قُل لَّئِنِ اجْتَمَعَتِ الْإِنسُ وَالْجِنُّ عَلَىٰ أَن يَأْتُوا بِمِثْلِ هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنِ لَا يَأْتُونَ بِمِثْلِهِ وَلَوْ كَانَ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ ظَهِيرًا

[Al-Isra 17:88]

Then He challenged them to bring forth ten surahs, saying:

Then bring ten surahs like it

فَأْتُوا بِعَشْرِ سُوَرٍ مِّثْلِهِ

[Hud 11:13]

But they were unable to do so. Then He challenged them to bring forth one surah like it, but they were unable to do so. How could they do so, when it is the speech of Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) and not the speech of humans? It is a great Book.
Its recitation is an act of worship for His servants, its contemplation is an act of worship for His servants, and acting upon it is an act of worship for His servants. It is good in its entirety, and there is reward in its recitation, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he will be credited with a good deed, and a good deed gets a ten-fold reward.

من قرا حرفا من كتاب الله فله حسنه والحسنه بعشر امثالها

Riyad as-Salihin 999

The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

One who is proficient in the Qur'an is associated with the noble, upright, recording angels; and he who falters in it, and finds it difficult for him, will have two rewards.

الماهر بالقرآن مع السفرة الكرام البررة والذي يقرأ القرآن ويتتعتع فيه وهو عليه شاق له أجران

Sahih Muslim 798a

He the Exalted said:

[This is] a blessed Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that they might reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded.

كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِّيَدَّبَّرُوا آيَاتِهِ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ

[Sad 38:29]

He the Exalted asked: Do they not contemplate the Qur'an?

If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction.

وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ غَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا فِيهِ اخْتِلَافًا كَثِيرًا

[An-Nisa 4:82]

He the Exalted said:

Then have they not reflected over the Qur'an

أَفَلَمْ يَدَّبَّرُوا الْقَوْلَ

[Al-Mu'minun 23:68]

And He the Exalted said:

Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an, or are there locks upon [their] hearts?

أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا

[Muhammad 47:24]

? When a person contemplates it, he finds in it the truth, and he finds in it guidance and the right path, each according to his understanding and his ability. Everyone benefits from the Qur'an when he hears it or reads it with contemplation and reflection, for he benefits according to what Allah has granted him of understanding, for it is a blessed Book. A Book, as Allah the Exalted said:

Alif, Lam, Ra. [This is] a Book whose verses are perfected and then presented in detail from [one who is] Wise and Acquainted.

كِتَابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ مِن لَّدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ

[Hud 11:1]

Yes.

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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