And the Messenger has said, “O my Lord, indeed my people have taken this Qur’an as [a thing] abandoned.” (25:30)

What a terrible state one would to be in, to have the Messenger testify against you, in the greatest of all courts; the Court of Allah, on the Day of Judgement! It is for this reason, my brothers and sisters that we must endeavour to cherish the Qur’an.

There are many ways by which one may abandon the Qur’an. Some allow the mushaf to collect dust on the shelves without lifting it to read. Others forget what they have learnt. And there are those who devote time to memorising it but do not let it affect their hearts. All this is worthy of blame. As muslims we should learn the Qur’an, seek to understand it the way the companions and salaf-as-salih did. We should apply it in our lives by acting on the laws contained within it. We should extract lessons from it, by learning from the examples of nations and peoples past. We should reflect and ponder upon it, to come closer to Allah, for in it He has explained His signs for those who would take heed. We should memorise it and recite it during the days and nights, and an easy way to take care and revise it; repeat it in our Salah. The Qur’an was sent a guide for us, an instruction by which we live our lives, it is a manual, detailing the code of living which we call Islam. How can we claim to be Muslims, following Islam if we are unaware of what is within the Qur’an which details Islam?!

It seems preposterous, but this is the case with many of us. We would happily ascribe Islam to ourselves, but we fail to know what it is, simply because we neglect its source. The Prophet peace be upon him left behind him two things, which if we hold onto, we can never falter, the first of these two, is the Qur’an. The second being the Sunnah.

Below is a quick summary of the ways in which one may neglect the Qur’an.

Types of abandonment:

• Not reciting it
• Not memorising it
• Not learning from it
• Not acting Upon it
• Not seeking to understand it
• Not reflecting upon it
• Forgetting what one has learnt of it
• disrespecting it

The Messenger has informed us that the Qur’an needs constant attention. Once one takes a hold of it, one is bound by it. He said, “The likeness of the one who memorizes the Qur’an is that of the owner of a hobbled camel. If he tends to it regularly, he will keep it, but if he lets it go, he will lose it.” (al-Bukhaari, 5031)

In another hadith collected by Imam Bukhari, ‘Abdullah said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “It is not right for any one of you to say, ‘I have forgotten such and such.’ On the contrary, he has been made to forget. Try to review the Qur’an, for it is more likely to escape from men’s hearts than camels.” (Bukhari, 5032)

By one neglecting the Qur’an, he has been caused to forget. Let us not be amongst these. Thus I advise you and myself, let us make it a proof for us and not against us.

Abu Maalik al-Ash‘ari said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The Qur’an is evidence for you or against you.” (Muslim)

Regarding this, Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“Either it will be for you, if you sought to draw close to Allah means of it, and you fulfilled the obligations towards the Holy Qur’an, namely believing its stories, obeying its commands, heeding its prohibitions and venerating and respecting the Holy Qur’an, in which case it will be proof for you,

Or it will be the opposite, if you disrespected the Qur’an and neglected its words and meanings and failed to act upon it, and you did not fulfil the obligations towards it. In that case it will be a witness against you on the Day of Resurrection.” Sharh Riyadh as-Saaliheen, p. 30

Furthermore, there is punishment for those who neglected and abandoned the Quran.

In the long hadeeth of Samurah ibn Jundub from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) about dream, in which he saw various punishment, he (peace be upon him) says: “As for the one whose head was being crushed with the rock, he took the Qur’an then abandoned it, and he (often) slept and missed the obligatory prayer.”

Ibn al-Qayyim (raḥimahullāh) said: “The people of the Qur’an are those who read it and act upon it, even if they haven’t memorised it” (Zaad Al Ma’ad1/327)

May Allah aid us to be amongst the people of the Qur’an who give it its due rights and do not neglect it in any way.

At-Tirmidhee al-Hakeem said: “From respecting & honouring the Qur’an is that you do NOT place anything on top of it from the books, so that the Qur’an is always above all books, be it books of knowledge or other books.” [Tafseer al-Qurtbee 1/50, Resalah Publishers,1st edition]

“And We have indeed made the Qur’an easy to understand and remember, then is there any that will remember (or receive admonition)?” [al-Qamar 54:17].