36- Reverence when reciting Quran

36- Reverence when reciting Quran

The First Khutbah
All praise is due to Allah, who has made us from His believing slaves. I bear witness there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah, the Uniquely One, having no partner in that One-ness. And I bear witness that our Leader and Sayyid, our Prophet, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), is the perfect example of servanthood unto Allah, and is His sent Messenger unto the entirety of the created universe. O Allah send your peace and blessings upon him and upon his family and companions all of them, and upon whoever follows them in the best of ways until the Last Day.

To continue: I advise you, o slaves of Allah and myself to emobody the Taqwa of Allah, for Allah says:
وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَخْشَ اللَّهَ وَيَتَّقْهِ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَائِزُونَ
And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger and fears Allah and is conscious of Him - it is those who are the attainers (Qur'an: 24:52)

O Believers: Allah says:
إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ
The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful. (Qur'an: 8:2)

So the believers are those who when Allah is remembered, their hearts find reverence, as they honour His command, and humble themselves for His greatness.
Allah says:
اللَّهُ نَزَّلَ أَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابًا مُتَشَابِهًا مَثَانِيَ تَقْشَعِرُّ مِنْهُ جُلُودُ الَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ ثُمَّ تَلِينُ جُلُودُهُمْ وَقُلُوبُهُمْ إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ
Allah has sent down the best statement: a consistent Book wherein is reiteration. The skins shiver therefrom of those who reverentially fear their Lord; then their skins and their hearts relax at the remembrance of Allah. (Qur'an: 8:2)

So they are affected by the words of their Lord, such that their reverence of Allah will become manifest in their recitation. 

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said:
إِنَّ مِنْ أَحْسَنِ النَّاسِ صَوْتًا بِالْقُرْآنِ: الَّذِي إِذَا سَمِعْتُمُوهُ يَقْرَأُ حَسِبْتُمُوهُ يَخْشَى اللَّهَ
Among the people who recite the Qur’an with the most beautiful voices is the man who, when you hear him, you feel that he reverentially fears Allah. [Ibn Majah]

How can a believer not have reverence of his Lord, how can he not have reverence when hearing the verses of his Lord, when the mountains have humbled themsleves?
As Allah says:
لَوْ أَنْزَلْنَا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ عَلَى جَبَلٍ لَرَأَيْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُتَصَدِّعًا مِنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ
If We had sent down this Qur'an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah. (Qur'an: 59:21)

Our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) whenever he would hear the words of his Lord, his heart would become reverential and tears would flow from his eyes. So one day he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Abdullah bin Masud (may Allah be pleased with him): "Recite [the Qur'an] to me", so Ibn Masud narrates: "I began reciting Surah al-Nisa until I reached the saying of Allah: So how [will it be] when We bring from every nation a witness and we bring you, [O Muhammad] against these [people] as a witness? (Qur'an: 4:41). After that I raised my head and saw the tears of the Prophet flowing [Bukhari and Muslim]."

This is the affair of the believer with the speech of his Lord and the remembrance of his Creator, he becomes humble and reverential, shedding tears out of hope and fear in Allah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Seven people will be shaded by Allah under His shade on the day when there will be no shade except Him" from amongst them he mentioned: " a man who remembers Allah when he is alone and his eyes overflow with tears [Bukhari and Muslim]."

So O Allah make us of those who recite Your Book, those who ponder upon Your verses, honouring Your command, being of those who are reverential when hearing the verses.

I say this, and seek your forgiveness for myself and for you, so seek His forgiveness, indeed He is the most forgiving, most merciful.

The Second Khutbah
All praises are due to Allah, the One, and peace and blessings upon the Prophet after whom there is no other, and upon his companions and those that follow him.

O Slaves of Allah:
Allah says about the attributes of the believers:
وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَانًا
The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith. Qur'an: (8:2)

So the believers if he reflects upon the verses of the Qur'an, he becomes reverential in his heart and is fearful of the station of his Lord. So he increases in his faith and beautifies his actions out of devotion for Allah. He rectifies his character, so you find him showing spiritual excellence and good behaviour to his family and his neighbors, embodying the best of character in his dealings. So let us be avid in our reciting the Qur'an and reflecting on it, taking on the best of character as outlined therein, for in this is the happiness for people in this life and the hereafter.