“Your recompense is lost; today you have no share. Go, O deceiver, and look for your reward from the one for whom you used to labour.”
ʿAlqamah reports from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd that he said:
“How will you fare when a tribulation envelopes you—one in which the youngster grows up and the elder grows old—and an innovated practice comes to be regarded as Sunnah? People will live by it, and if anything of it is altered they will protest, ‘The Sunnah has been changed!’”
It was asked, “When will that be, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān?” He replied, “When your Qur’an-reciters are many and your jurists are few; when your governors abound and those who can be trusted are scarce; when the life of this world is sought by means of works intended for the Hereafter, and when fiqh is pursued for motives other than religion.”
Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah said:
“It has reached us that Ibn ʿAbbās remarked, ‘Had the bearers of the Qur’an taken it with the reverence and duty it deserves, Allah would have loved them. Instead they sought the world by means of it; Allah therefore detested them, and they became contemptible in people’s sight.’”
It is reported from Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, regarding the words of the Exalted: ‘Then they and the perverse will be hurled headlong into it’ (Q 26:94), that he said, “They are a people who described truth and justice with their tongues, yet turned away from them to something else.” (Further clarification of this topic will appear later in the book, if Allah wills.)
Chapter: What the Companion of the Qur’an Must Impose upon Himself and Never Neglect
The first requirement is that he purify his intention in seeking the Qur’an for the sake of Allah—Mighty and Majestic—as we have already mentioned; and that he obligate himself to recite it night and day, in prayer or outside of prayer, lest he forget it.
Muslim relates from Ibn ʿUmar that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said:
“The example of the companion of the Qur’an is like that of a man who owns tethered camels: if he keeps a close watch over them he holds on to them, but if he releases them they run away. Likewise, when the companion of the Qur’an rises and recites it by night and day, he retains it; but if he neglects it, he forgets.”
He should be one who praises Allah, thanks Him for His favours, remembers Him constantly, relies upon Him, seeks His help, longs for Him, holds fast to Him, and readies himself for death. He should fear his own sins while hoping for his Lord’s pardon. During good health fear should predominate, for he does not know how his life will end; yet when his term approaches, hope should be stronger within him, out of his good opinion of Allah.
The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said:
“Let none of you die except while thinking well of Allah,”
meaning, confident that He will show mercy and grant forgiveness.
He must also be knowledgeable about the people of his time, wary of its rulers, intent on saving his own soul and delivering his life, forwarding ahead whatever worldly property he is able, and striving against his lower self to the utmost of his capacity.
Above all, he should give priority to scrupulousness in his religion, applying the fear of Allah and vigilant awareness of Him in whatever He has commanded or forbidden.