The Descent of the Noble Qur'an in It and the Meaning of the Saying of Allah the Exalted: "A Book We have revealed to you, blessed, so that they may reflect upon its verses and that people of understanding may be reminded."

The Shaykh : Among its virtues is that Allah the Exalted revealed in it the Qur'an, the Glorious Qur'an, the Great Qur'an, the Noble Qur'an, the Qur'an possessing the Reminder, the Qur'an in which no book was revealed to a prophet that is better than it, more complete than it, or more sufficient for the interests of the servants. It is a book that Allah the Exalted revealed as a dominion over the books that preceded it, confirming what was before it. For this reason, this Qur'an abrogates all previous books. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, did not reveal this Qur'an merely for recitation, seeking blessing through recitation, or worshipping through recitation alone. Rather, He revealed it for that and for a greater meaning, which is what He, Exalted and Majestic, indicated in His saying: Thus, Allah the Exalted described this Book as blessed, and this is an intrinsic attribute of the Qur'an that it is blessed. But what is our duty, O the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)? Our duty, He said: The meaning of reflection is that we contemplate these verses and seek to know their meaning so that we may benefit. For the person who reads the Qur'an but does not reflect upon its verses does not benefit from it except with the mere reward for recitation. As for knowledge, he gains no knowledge. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: meaning, except recitation. So Allah described them as illiterate because they do not understand it. Therefore, we say that the one who reads and the one who does not read are on equal footing regarding what they benefit from the meanings of the Qur'an, if the one who reads does not reflect upon the meaning. But if he reflects upon the meaning, he benefits and is of benefit. People differ in understanding; some have strong comprehension, and when they reflect, they derive many rulings from the verses, or even from a single verse. And some people read and read and reflect, yet they derive only few rulings. Here I ask, I ask all of you: if a man dies leaving a son and a daughter, is any one of you able to distribute his estate between them? Yes, yes. Good. Are all of you able to distribute his estate between them? How not? Does not Allah say: This meaning is close; if a person reflects upon it, even with the slightest reflection, he knows that this man who died with three thousand riyals, we give the daughter how much? One thousand, and we give the son two thousand. How did we know that? From the saying of Allah the Exalted: Good. A man dies leaving a wife and a son, a wife and a son. Do you all know what we give the wife? Yes, we all know this. Where does that come from? From the Qur'an. So why do we not reflect upon the Qur'an so that we know its rulings and use them as evidence? It is true that some verses of the Qur'an are such that their meaning is not known except by those deeply rooted in knowledge.