they had learned the knowledge and practice contained in them.” They said: “Thus we learned the Quran, knowledge, and practice together.”

For this reason, his statement,

“The best of you are those who learn the Quran and teach it,”

includes teaching both its wording and its meanings. Indeed, learning its meanings is the primary purpose of teaching its wording, and it is this that increases faith. As Jundub ibn ‘Abd Allāh, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar, and others said:

“We learned faith, then we learned the Quran, and our faith increased. You, however, learn the Quran and then learn faith.”

In the two Sahīh collections, Hudhayfah said:

“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, told us of two things. I have witnessed one and am awaiting the other. He told us that ‘trustworthiness descended into the very roots of people’s hearts, and the Quran was revealed.’”

He related the hadith in full, but this sheet does not have room to recount it. The point is simply to emphasize that all of this was among what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, conveyed to the people. His Companions conveyed to us from him both faith and the Quran—its wording and its meanings. This was among what Allah revealed to him, as the Most High said:

“And thus We have revealed to you a spirit by Our command. You did not know what the Book was, nor faith, but We have made it a light by which We guide whom We will of Our servants.”

It is permissible, both in prayer and outside it, to recite according to established readings that conform to the written outline of the codex, as these readings have been established. In that case, they are not anomalous. And Allah knows best.