Tweet
Muhammad (S), according to our traditions, used to recite the whole of the Quran during Ramadan, and before he entered eternity and stepped beyond our worldly view he recited it twice in his final Ramadan.
This custom would translate into individualized tarawih up to the reign of the great Caliph Omar Bin Al Khattab. The latter ordered the tarawih process such that one of the 4 great memorizers, Ubaay ibn Kaab would lead the now time honored, ummah wide tarawih.
From our beloved Afghanistan to the far reaches of Africa, to remote corners of the globe, and in the heart of many nations throngs gather to recite the whole of the Quran from beginning to end in one month. The imams, the over whelming majority of the time, do this from memory with a series of hafizaan standing behind them as checks on one another for accuracy. When one projects this back across 1400 years it means that every single one of those years the people themselves have been safe gaurding the constitution and bedrock of Islam in the masses. Every one of those years, all across the world in large and small gatherings the whole of the Quran has been publicly recited.
Every so often the American congress gathers to read the American constitution publicly. A few elite lawyers may have the whole of it memorized word for word. On the other hand, a poor man in Mumbai will hear the Quran recited every year of life publicly in 30 parts during the Ramadan period, as will a man in Chicago, and a man in Kandahar, etc etc.
This reminds me of the famous book, Fahrenheit 451. All books are burned in Bradbury's dystopia and the end result is a cadre of people who commit great works to memory because the collective human mind cannot be done away with.
Whereas those men memorized the sense of the books they sought to preserve, we here all know that there is the utmost meticulousness in reciting the Quran from memory.
What a great comfort to know that even here on PF alone, we could probably put together a large portion of the Quran verbatim from our collective memory. Beyond that, in many single cities in the West, the whole Mushaf could be collected and checked by multiple witnesses within the span of days
I understand the sentiment these days that we ought to know the translation of what we recite. I agree with this wholeheartedly. Yet there is something astounding and amazing about the fact that across this world there exist folks from many language groups and walks of life that memorize and recite every cadence and every syllable in pure classical Arabic and that even these non Arabic speaking peoples can contribute to the process of safe guarding the Quranic text.
For this reason, take the time to memorize at least 1 surah during Ramadan so that you can be a part of this collective whole that can witness to a section of the mushaf should it ever need recollection.
Every ramadan, take up the practice of the prophet and do your own personal jamaa al Quran by going over what you have memorized in full.
Here is a gift to you all:
End of Surah Baqarah - Fatih Seferagic - YouTube
This custom would translate into individualized tarawih up to the reign of the great Caliph Omar Bin Al Khattab. The latter ordered the tarawih process such that one of the 4 great memorizers, Ubaay ibn Kaab would lead the now time honored, ummah wide tarawih.
From our beloved Afghanistan to the far reaches of Africa, to remote corners of the globe, and in the heart of many nations throngs gather to recite the whole of the Quran from beginning to end in one month. The imams, the over whelming majority of the time, do this from memory with a series of hafizaan standing behind them as checks on one another for accuracy. When one projects this back across 1400 years it means that every single one of those years the people themselves have been safe gaurding the constitution and bedrock of Islam in the masses. Every one of those years, all across the world in large and small gatherings the whole of the Quran has been publicly recited.
Every so often the American congress gathers to read the American constitution publicly. A few elite lawyers may have the whole of it memorized word for word. On the other hand, a poor man in Mumbai will hear the Quran recited every year of life publicly in 30 parts during the Ramadan period, as will a man in Chicago, and a man in Kandahar, etc etc.
This reminds me of the famous book, Fahrenheit 451. All books are burned in Bradbury's dystopia and the end result is a cadre of people who commit great works to memory because the collective human mind cannot be done away with.
Whereas those men memorized the sense of the books they sought to preserve, we here all know that there is the utmost meticulousness in reciting the Quran from memory.
What a great comfort to know that even here on PF alone, we could probably put together a large portion of the Quran verbatim from our collective memory. Beyond that, in many single cities in the West, the whole Mushaf could be collected and checked by multiple witnesses within the span of days
I understand the sentiment these days that we ought to know the translation of what we recite. I agree with this wholeheartedly. Yet there is something astounding and amazing about the fact that across this world there exist folks from many language groups and walks of life that memorize and recite every cadence and every syllable in pure classical Arabic and that even these non Arabic speaking peoples can contribute to the process of safe guarding the Quranic text.
For this reason, take the time to memorize at least 1 surah during Ramadan so that you can be a part of this collective whole that can witness to a section of the mushaf should it ever need recollection.
Every ramadan, take up the practice of the prophet and do your own personal jamaa al Quran by going over what you have memorized in full.
Here is a gift to you all:
End of Surah Baqarah - Fatih Seferagic - YouTube
Comment