Years ago, I heard about a village in the former Soviet Union, whose inhabitants were non-Arab Muslims. All they got was a single copy of the Quran which was inherited from their ancestors.
Each family used to keep it for a specific period of time by turns, one following the other.
“This is the word of my Lord,” was the phrase uttered by one of them while pointing his finger at the Quranic text. That was his way of showing due respect and regard to the Divine Revelation as he could neither read nor understand a single Arabic letter!
Let’s ask ourselves: What did we do while we keep several copies of the Quran at home, the office, the car, and the mosque?!
Do we read the “word of our Lord” regularly? Or, we just render it deserted and abandoned?
Here, you can find 15 ways to become one of the people of the Quran:
1. Recite the Quran regularly
Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and be blessings upon him) said,
‘The believer who recites the Quran is like a citron whose fragrance is sweet and whose taste is delicious.
The believer who does not recite the Quran is like a date-fruit which has no fragrance but has a sweet taste.
The hypocrite who recites the Quran is like basil whose fragrance is sweet, but its taste is bitter.
And the hypocrite who does not recite the Quran is like a colocynth which has no fragrance and its taste is bitter” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
2. Memorize as much as you can
Lady `A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “I wonder! How can one live for sixty years without memorizing sixty hizbs [parts of the Quran]!”
Ibn `Uyaynah said: “He who knows Allah’s Book by heart, keeps Prophethood in his heart with the exception that he does not receive revelation!”
Abu Musa reported that the Prophet said,
‘Read the Quran regularly. By the One in Whose Hand Muhammad’s soul is, it escapes from memory faster than camels do from their tying ropes’” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
3. Reflect the Quran in your manners
When Lady `A’ishah was asked about the character of the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) she said, “His character was the Quran.”
`Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“When you read the Quran, you become well known; when you apply what you read, you become one of its people!”
4. Accumulate rewards through reading the Quran
`Uqba Ibn `Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
When we were in Suffa, the Messenger of Allah came out and said:
“Which of you would like to go out every morning to But-han or al-`Aqiq [markets] and bring two large she-camels without being guilty of sin or severing the ties of kinship?”
We said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we would like to do it.’
Upon this he said:
“Then, how about going out in the morning to the mosque and learning or reciting two verses from the Book of Allah, the Majestic and the Glorious? That is better for one of you than two she-camels, and three verses are better (than three she-camels), and four verses are better for him than four (she-camels), and so on” (Muslim)
Ibn Mas`ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah said,
‘Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he will be credited with a good deed, and a good deed gets a ten-fold reward. I do not say that Alif-Lam-Mim is one letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter” (At- Tirmidhi)
5. Try to perfect your recitation
Lady `A’ishah reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) said,
‘The one who is proficient in the recitation of the Quran will be with the honorable and obedient scribes (angels), and he who recites the Quran and finds it difficult to recite, doing his best to recite it in the best way possible, will have a double reward” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
6. Allocate enough time to reflect on what you read
The Quran says:
{Then do they not reflect upon the Quran, or are there locks upon [their] hearts?} (Muhammad 27:24)
7. Teach the Quran to others
`Uthman ibn`Affan (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) said, ‘The best amongst you is the one who learns the Quran and teaches it’” (Al-Bukhari)
8. Join sessions of Quranic recitation
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing upon him) said,
‘Any group of people that assemble in one of the Houses of Allah to recite the Book of Allah, learning and teaching it, tranquility will descend upon them, mercy will engulf them, angels will surround them, and Allah will make mention of them to those (the angels) in His proximity” (Muslim)
9. Help your children learn the Quran
Enroll them in sessions and institutions that teach the Quran and the rules of its recitation. Or, if you can afford it, bring them a Quran private tutor.
10. Support institutions that teach the Quran
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported, that the Messenger of Allah said,
‘When a man dies, his deeds come to an end except for three things: Sadaqah Jariyah (ceaseless charity); a knowledge which is beneficial, or a virtuous descendant who prays for him (for the deceased)’” (Muslim)