In the text of al Kunnash, our Shaikh al Khatm at Tijani had this to say about the excellent merit of the public recital (tilawa)

"As for the degree of the outer aspect of the inmost of the inmost, that degree being the public recital of the Quran, it relates to the Supreme Assembly, in which there in no 'where', no demarcation and no 'how', except the Lordly communication and the Eternal secret, which cannot be understood and cannot be discovered, and which no description matches and no indication explains.

The holder of this degree is endowed with full comprehension of everything expressed by our Lord on the tongues of creatures, from all eternity to all eternity. This degree has no recognized modality, no recognized purpose, and no perceptible conclusion, for it is his (the Prophet's) degree (Allah bless him and give him peace) and his alone, with regard to his public recital of the Quran.

"As for the reward for the recitation of the Quran, it is allotted by degrees, in accordance with the degrees of the people concerned. The degree of the one who is veiled is not like the degree of the one to whom the secrets of minor sainthood are revealed. The degree of the minor saint is not like the degree of the gnostic (arif) who has reached the degree of Championship of Truth (Siddiqiyya). The degree of the gnostic who has reached the degree of Championship of the Truth is not like the degree of the unique and comprehensive Cardinal Pole (Qutb).

"Each of these degrees has a limit where the reward for the public recital of the Quran is concerned. Each of these degrees also has both an outer an inner aspect. The outer aspect of the degree has been mentioned in the Prophetic tradition, where the following categories are listed:
-If someone recites the Quran without having perfomed the minor ablution(wudu), he will be credited with ten good deeds for each letter.
-If he has perfomed the minor ablution, and he recites in a situation other than a ritual prayer, he will be credited with twenty-five good deeds for each letter.
-If he has performed the minor ablution and he recites while sitting in the course of a ritual prayer he will be credited with fifty good deeds for each letter.
-If he has perfomed the minor ablution and he recites while standing in the course of a ritual prayer, he will be credited with one hundred good deeds for each letter.

"Such is the degree of the outer aspect. As for the degree of the inner aspect, it is beyond definition and comparison. It cannot be measured or quantified, and its essential nature will never be accessible, for all eternity, to anyone among the entirety of creatures. Even if all the remembrances were combined, as well as all the Names, attributes and virtues, and all the acts of worship perfomed from the beginning of time to the end thereof, all of that would fall short of the value of one single letter of it. Such is the inner degree."

On Memorizing The Quran



Benefits of Memorizing Quran

Shaykh Hassan Cisse





All Praises are Due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds (Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alamin). All of you should say Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alamin. Thanks be to Allah, Who blessed the community with this ceremony. Whenever a Muslim memorizes the Quran, it is another blessing for the entire Muslim community. We said ‘Alhamdulillah,’ because we are thanking Allah for all these blessings. There are four types of thanks that belong to Allah; the thanks from Allah to Himself; the thanks from the creation to Allah; the thanks from a servant to Allah; the thanks from a servant to another servant. All four types of thanks belong to Allah. We are here today to say, ‘Alhamdulillah’ because of the great blessing Allah has given to us. Whenever Allah blessed the previous prophets with anything, they would say, ‘Alhamdulillah.’ To memorize Quran is one of the blessings in the religion. During the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), there were only twenty-five people who had memorized Quran. Today, throughout the Muslim world, they are memorizing this Book because it is promised from Allah. Allah said in The Book: “We revealed the Book and we will keep it in the hearts of those who memorize it.” It has been kept in writing; it has been kept in tapes; it is even being kept by the computers of today. Among the one hundred fourteen chapters of the Quran, there is one called Ikhlas, in which Allah tells us to say “Allah is One.” If those who are unable to memorize the entire Quran read that chapter three times, they will have the reward of those who read the entire Quran. Further, if they read the chapter called The Victory four times, they will also have the reward of those who have read the entire Quran.



It is very important to read Quran. The Quran has the answer to all of our problems today. Reading it will increase your knowledge and make it clear to you; but, also, Allah will reward you for every letter that you read of Quran. The Prophet (SAW) said, “He will not say Alif Lam Mim is one letter, but Alif is one letter, Lam is the second, and Mim is the third and for each letter, Allah will give you ten good rewards.” It is very useful for Muslims, for us, at this time, in this place in the world to read Quran day and night. Because of Quran, Allah will give whoever memorizes it a voice to save seventy people who are going to hellfire on his father’s side and seventy people who are going to hellfire on his mother’s side. Allah gives him that seventy people on each side who were to go to hellfire will be forgiven by Allah and put into Paradise. So, it is a very great achievement for our children to memorize Quran.



If you have Quran, you will never feel loneliness, because reading Quran itself is like having a conversation with Allah. The Prophet (SAW) said: “If you want to talk to Allah, open the Quran and read it.” You should read it because it contains the Words of Allah and it has been kept for you since the fourteenth century until today. How did Allah promise He will keep it forever? Everyday, we have signs to prove that what Allah promised us in Quran is going to take place; there is no doubt in that. Quran is a letter from Allah to every single person in this world, from the time it was revealed to the Prophet (SAW) to the end of time. It is a letter from Allah and, in it, He states what He wants us to do and what He dislikes, what the reward is for doing what He wants and what the punishment is for doing what He doesn’t like. It is clear in Quran that anyone who follows the orders of Allah is on the right path and anyone who disobeys the orders of Allah is on the wrong path. That is why the Prophet (SAW) said: “All people are going to Paradise, except those who refuse.” When asked who would refuse to go to Paradise, he said: “He who obeys me has accepted to go to Paradise and he who disobeys me has refused to go to Paradise.”



Obeying the Prophet (SAW) is reading the Holy Quran and what is considered disobeying him also has been made clear in this Book. Allah has nothing to gain from mankind if they obey Him, from Adam to the last born. If all people had the heart of the most pious among us, it will not increase Allah by anything. And, if all people deny Him and disobey Him, it will not decrease Allah by anything. If the entire creation came together, from Adam to the end of time, and Allah gave everybody what they asked for, it will not decrease what Allah has in any way. It is the same as if you put a needle into the ocean and take it out; it will not decrease the ocean in any way.



We have invited you on this special occasion because the Muslims used to invite their beloved ones on the same occasion. When you are in a place where the Quran is being finished, whatever you ask of Allah, may Allah accept it. So, don’t forget to ask Allah for whatever you want Him to do for you, except two things: being Allah and being a prophet after the Prophethood of Muhammad (SAW). These two gates are closed forever. Other than these, (you may) ask Allah for whatever you want.



In teaching and learning the Quran, we see the things Allah has stated we should take ourselves away from, like alcohol, stealing, fornication and any sort of haram that Allah prohibits us from doing. Allah does not gain from our keeping away from these things, but if we avoid them, we gain out of obeying Allah and His Prophet (SAW). To show you that alcohol and other drugs are the worst, we look to the old books. The Prophet (SAW) calls alcohol Umm Kabaith, the mother of all bad things. I will narrate this story to you. A woman invited a pious man to her house. When the pious man came into the house, the woman said, “You must sleep with me, or you must kill an innocent boy or you must drink alcohol”. The pious man knew that to sleep with a woman who is not his wife is a big sin; to kill an innocent person is also a big sin, so he said he would drink the alcohol. But when he got drunk from the alcohol, he slept with the woman and killed the boy. The Prophet (SAW) is advising us to keep away from it because it will take away from your intellect. A human being without intellect is just like the animals.



A few years ago, I attended a conference in Chicago and I heard one of the professors from Europe arguing that Islam has been bad for Africa. He said that he was in Ibadan, Nigeria and found a drunken person in the street shouting the reasons that Islam is bad. He used the example of the drunk person in the street to show that people in Africa are fed up with Islam. I answered him saying that Islam is good because prior to Islam, Africa was involved in tribal wars and Islam stopped them. Islam has taught us how to worship Allah alone and not to associate Him with any other thing. Islam has taught us all the good things you know and things you don’t know and advised us to do them. Islam has prohibited all bad things for us. As for the man who was drunk, if you meet him again, tell him Islam is not talking to him, because Islam is addressing the intellect and once he became drunk, he lost his intellect. Islam has nothing to do with him. That is why, prior to the banning of alcohol, the Prophet (SAW) said, “If you get drunk, be away from your Salat until you have your mind again, because once you lose your intellect, you cannot worship.” When worshiping Allah, you must know what you are worshiping. Allah says in the Book, “know there is no God but Allah.” A drunk person will never know who Allah is, (and will never know) the Creator from the created. You will see from these examples that staying away from forbidden things benefits mankind. A man came to the Prophet (SAW) and said, “I want you to give me permission to fornicate.” The Prophet (SAW) said, “Would you do it with your mother?” The man said, “No!” “Would you do it with your sister?” The man said, “No!” The Prophet (SAW) said, “Then why do you want to fornicate with the people’s mothers and sisters’?” That is a lesson. From that point, the person stopped doing it. He knew that if it is something he does not want in his family, he should not do it with anyone else’s family. That is why Islam is to want for your brother what YOU want for yourself. If there is any difference between what you want for yourself and what you want for your brother, then your Islam is incomplete.



The Prophet (SAW) said that we should follow and obey the teachings of Allah and the teachings of the Prophet (SAW), as clearly stated in the Book. We should be Muslims, not only by birth or name, we should be Muslims by actions and we should practice what Allah tells us to do in Quran. Knowing what is in Quran without practicing it has no meaning. You will have a problem on the Last Day for having knowledge and not practicing it. Let us practice what we know of Quran and let us do our best to learn what we do not know of Quran. If we can help our children to memorize this Book, we should do that for them.



From one generation to the next, the people used to compete with each other to memorize the Quran. My grandfather taught me that his grandfather was with his brother and the brother memorized the Quran before him, even though he was older. By the time my grandfather’s grandfather memorized Quran, his brother had already finished reading Tafsir (Quranic Exegesis), grammar, and Arabic language. Then, my grandfather’s grandfather told his brother, “Today you have passed me in knowledge, but I will take revenge in my grandchildren.” That man is the grandfather of Shaykh Ibrahim Niass (RA). One day, Shaykh Ibrahim (RA) was teaching in Kaolack, a city in Senegal, and all the grandchildren of his brother were around his desk, listening. He said, “Oh, what my grandfather said has come true! He said he will take revenge in his grandchildren”. So, what you can’t do today, try to let your children do tomorrow. If you find that memorizing the Quran is difficult for you because you are an older person, try to have your son or daughter memorize it, because if your child has it, you will have the reward of having it. And, helping others to do something good, you will receive the reward of it from Allah, even if you don’t do the same action. So, we should be with Quran and we should help our children to memorize and understand it.



I am advising you that, for the rest of your life, you will never read anything better than Quran. May Allah bless you with Quran. Keep it. Read it day and night. Don’t leave it. If you don’t read it day and night, it will go. But if you keep reading it day and night it will stay forever. To have Quran in your heart is a blessing and a light throughout your life. It is a blessing and a light wherever you are in the world: America, Senegal, everywhere.



I am thanking you for attending this ceremony. I thank our people who came all the way from Detroit, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. And I also thank our beloved brother, Abdullah Ibrahim, who gave us the opportunity to have this ceremony in this place. I thank our brother, Omar Cisse, who is working at the Senegalese Embassy in New York. I thank all of you. May Allah bless all of you and may Allah put the blessing of Quran on every single person amongst you. Whatever we need, may Allah give it to us with peace and blessings. May Allah help us to be victorious throughout our life. May Allah help us in the religion of Islam and make us aid this religion. As-Salaamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi Talā wa Barakātuhu.

Written By:
Shaykh Hassan Cisse