knowledge by degrees.”

The Quran requires understanding and reflection, which a person may be incapable of. Such people, however, fall into error when they believe that remembrance of Allah is superior without qualification. This is not so; rather, reciting the Quran is inherently superior to remembrance, by the consensus of the Muslims. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The best words after the Quran are four expressions, which are themselves found in the Quran: Glory be to Allah; praise be to Allah; there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah; and Allah is the Greatest.”

Narrated by Muslim.

A man said to him, “I cannot commit any of the Quran to memory, so teach me something that will suffice for me in my prayer.”

He replied, “Say: Glory be to Allah; praise be to Allah; there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah; and Allah is the Greatest.”

For this reason, the scholars held that remembrance in prayer is a substitute for recitation, to which one may resort only when unable to recite. Its relation to recitation is like that of purification with earth to ablution, fasting two months to freeing a slave, and fasting to offering a pilgrimage sacrifice.

The hadith recorded in al-Tirmidhī states:

“The servants have never drawn near to Allah with anything better than that which has come forth from Him.”

This means the Quran. In the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbās narrated by Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī, and graded authentic by the latter, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah has people of His own among mankind.”

He was asked, “Who are they, Messenger of Allah?”

He replied, “Those devoted to the Quran: they are Allah’s own people and His chosen ones.”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would give those devoted to the Quran precedence in various situations. Thus, on the day of Uhud, he gave them precedence in burial. He permitted two or three men to be buried in a single grave and said, “Place those who knew the most Quran nearest the qiblah, the direction of prayer.”