The Sahabas Relationship with the Quran - Corrected Khutba
By Abdul Nasir Jangda | 2025-12-24T23:06:04.47975+00:00 | Topic: Relationships
The Sahabas' Relationship with the Quran
Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda | Miftaah Circle
Opening
I actually wore the blue because I was coming to Chicago. I wanted to let them all know I'm a Cowboys fan. But before I get started, I just wanted to touch on a couple of things very quickly. It's a beautiful event.
May Allah accept from everyone. May Allah bless everyone for being here today. The organizers, the volunteers, may Allah bless them. May Allah accept from them. Give the volunteers a huge round of applause.
And you know, inshallah Sheikh Abdullah will be speaking to you all a little bit later about the remarkable work that Miftah is doing.
Introduction to Qalam Institute
I wanted to also just take the opportunity to share with everyone how excited we are at Qalam to be able to serve the community. It's a privilege. It's an honor. It's a blessing of Allah. It is not a right. No one is entitled to this, but it is a privilege and a blessing to be able to serve the deen and the religion of Allah.
And we are so honored and pleased and blessed that Allah has given us the opportunity to be able to serve. I want to just see by a show of hands here. How many people have listened to or do listen to the Qalam podcast? Very good. Very good. Alhamdulillah. Barakallah fikum and just inshallah continue to stay connected with us.
Continue to benefit from the resources that the team at Qalam is providing. And we pray and we hope that Allah accepts our efforts and that we are all able to come closer to Allah and grow in this deen together.
Announcement: Project Oasis
The second thing that I wanted to mention and I'm kind of jumping the gun here a little bit. Yes, that's a figure of speech using the word gun because I'm from Texas, but I'm kind of getting ahead of the program here by saying this, but because I'm so enthused and excited about this opportunity for the
Chicagoland community that I wanted to kind of take the opportunity to emphasize it. I won't say too much. I'll leave it for later.
But if as you were walking in today as you were sitting down on your chairs today, you saw the flyer, the postcard for a project called Oasis. This is a long time coming. This is a really remarkable project, a really beautiful opportunity for this community to have a place, to have a space where they can grow. Where everyone from all walks of life can come together and find a home. So we're very excited. I won't say too much more.
Hold on to those flyers, make sure that you connect online and you'll be learning more about that later tonight inshallah.
Main Topic: The Sahaba and the Quran
Now I'm going to go ahead and jump right into my topic. My topic is the Sahaba and the Quran.
When I first saw the topic, I thought that Mufti Abdul Wahab had just randomly put two words together. He didn't know what to assign to me. So he just picked two Arabic words, Sahaba, Quran. Done. All right. No, no, I'm just teasing him.
But it is a beautiful topic and that is the topic of the relationship that the Sahaba had with the Quran. How did the companions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) interact with the Quran? How did the people whom Allah vouches for in the Quran deal with the Quran? The people that are talked about in the Quran, what was their relationship like with the Quran?
It's so remarkable when you think about that idea. Because these are the same group of people, Muhammad Rasulullah, that these are the same people who time and time again Allah is credentialing them in the Quran. And what was their relationship with the Quran like?
Focus on Understanding and Reflection
Now, this is a huge topic that we could talk about from so many different angles. But there was one particular angle that I wanted to address this from. And that was to emphasize that what was their relationship with the Quran like? Particularly when it came to understanding, reflecting, grasping, pondering the meaning and the message of the Quran.
How did the message of the Quran resonate with them? Yes, they read it and they memorized it and they recited it better than any generation has ever done. Absolutely. But because we have a limited window to talk about this, I just wanted to focus solely on what was their relationship like with the meaning of the Quran.
Quranic Foundation: The Ideal Relationship
And Allah tells us what that relationship is supposed to be like. And many of the Mufassirun have stated that these verses were talking about the companions, about the Sahaba.
Allah in Surah Al-Anfal says:
That when the name of God is mentioned, their hearts move, their hearts shake and tremble. And when the verses, when God's verses are recited upon them, their iman increases. And they continue to grow in their trust and in their reliance upon their Lord.
In Surah Az-Zumar, Allah similarly says:
That Allah said, God is the one who has revealed the best of speech, the most excellent presentation that humanity has ever interacted with. And that is the Word of God Himself. And this Word of God is fascinating, multilayered, complex. And different topics are repeated and reiterated in different places in different ways.
But what is the reaction to this message? What is the reaction to this presentation? Did you just listen to it for entertainment? Did they just find it captivating for a moment? No, Allah says that they shake and they tremble. Their hair stands up when they interact with it out of the fear of their Lord. And then they become very humble and soft in turning back to Allah.
This is indeed the guidance of God, and He gives it to whomsoever He wills. And whomsoever has been misguided by Allah, then there is absolutely no one who can ever guide that person. The Sahaba interacted with the message, with the meaning of the Quran.
Examples of the Sahaba's Relationship with the Quran
Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) - The Tender-Hearted
Aisha Siddiqa (رضي الله عنها), our mother, Aisha (رضي الله عنها) famously said this, days before the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) passed away, when he was on his deathbed in the Hadith of Bukhari, that when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) could not get up to go lead the prayer, and he told Aisha (رضي الله عنها):
(Bukhari hadith 678)
"Go and command your father and tell him to lead the people in prayer."
What did his daughter, our mother, the wife of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), Aisha Siddiqa, what did she say about her father? Subhanallah. She said that:
(Bukhari hadith 678)
"Abu Bakr is a very soft-hearted, humble man. When he recites the Quran, he cries so profusely that he cannot continue."
Because he wasn't just reciting it, he wasn't just reading it, but he was reflecting on it and interacting with the meaning of it.
Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) - Moved to Tears
Abdullah ibn Shaddad ibn al-Had (رحمه الله) one of the tabi'un, the students of the companion, the generation of the successors. He says:
"I came to the masjid of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and I prayed Salatul Fajr behind none other than Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) when he was a khalifa. And I was in the very last row, I was in the very last saf, and from the very last row, when Umar (رضي الله عنه) reached the verse:
That was the statement of Ya'qub (عليه السلام), when he was longing for his son Yusuf (عليه السلام). And he was in pain, and he said that I only turn with my pain and my agony only and solely to Allah. I turn in my sadness only to Allah. When Umar (رضي الله عنه) reached this verse, he started to cry so profusely, that he says that I could hear him trying to catch his breath from the very last row in the prayer."
Because they interacted with the meaning and the message of the Quran. It was not just on their lips, not just on their tongue, but it was within their hearts.
Thabit ibn Qais (رضي الله عنه) - Self-Reflection
There's a beautiful narration in Sahih Bukhari about Thabit ibn Qais (رضي الله عنه). That when the verse came down:
"O you who believe, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم)."
He was a person with a very loud voice. He was naturally, he had a very loud, booming kind of voice. He immediately reflected on that, and he didn't just reflect on it in terms of, okay let me see who talks loudly to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). He reflected on himself, and he said, I speak so loudly, I can think of numerous occasions in which my voice was louder than the voice of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).
This is wrong, this is unacceptable, I cannot do this anymore, and he was so down on himself that he proclaims:
And he stopped coming to the masjid, so that he would no longer raise his voice over the voice of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). A day or two went by, and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) looked, and he realized that he has not been here for a while.
So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) asked Sa'd bin Mu'adh (رضي الله عنه):
(Bukhari hadith 4846)
"O Aba Amr, what's going on with Thabit? Is he sick?"
And Sa'd bin Mu'adh says:
"He's my neighbor, I don't know if he got sick or not."
And then when Sa'd bin Mu'adh went and spoke to Thabit, and he told him what he was thinking, then Sa'd brought that news to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) when he heard this, he said:
(Bukhari hadith 4846)
"No, he is from the people of paradise, he's not from the people of hell."
But again, I want us to understand and look at this and realize this. The companions were reading the Quran, and immediately reflecting and thinking about the Quran, and they were immediately measuring themselves against what they were reading in the Quran. This was not a pastime, this was not an entertainment, this was not even merely a ritual for them. But they dialed in, they connected with it, at a very deep, profound level.
Abu Talha ibn al-Ansari (رضي الله عنه) - Immediate Action
Abu Talha ibn al-Ansari (رضي الله عنه) another narration in Bukhari. He owned this beautiful garden, right across from the masjid of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Bayruha. And it was such a beautiful garden, with trees and fruits and a well, and water and shade and grass, and it was a beautiful garden. That it was such a pleasant experience, that even the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) he himself was very fond of going to that garden, and praying there in that garden, and spending time in that garden to relieve himself. To just enjoy himself, to take a break.
And then one day Abu Talha (رضي الله عنه) comes to the masjid, comes to the gathering of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) tells the companions, that the verse of the Quran was revealed:
"You shall not attain piety, so long or until you do not spend from that which you love. You cannot attain true piety, until you are willing to give up that which you love."
He hears this verse, immediately walks up to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمand he says:
(Bukhari hadith 1461)
"I'd like to donate my garden. I want to immediately donate my garden."
Why is that? Ya Rasulullah, Allah says, that I cannot attain piety until I give up what I love, and I love this garden. I've worked on it my whole life. It is the apple of my eye. It is my most prized possession. It is the thing that I love, the thing that I take care of. I want to give it to Allah, so that I can attain piety.
And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم instructed him. He said, I advise that instead you share it with the members of your family. And he followed the instruction, the advice of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
But the point of it is, that once again, you see that they were interacting with the meaning and the message of the Quran.
Asma bint Abi Bakr (رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهَا) - Deep Contemplation
Asma bint Abi Bakr رضي الله عنها,a remarkable woman,ذات النطاقين. Her father is Abu Bakr. Her mother is Umru Man. Her sister is Aisha Siddiqa. Her husband is Zubayr ibn al-Awam. Her son is Abdullah ibn Zubayr. So remarkable, remarkable woman.
Asma bint Abi Bakr رضي الله عنها one time her grandson narrates, that one day in the prayer, she was praying at home. And she was reciting surat al-Tur in her prayer. And she reached the verse:
"That God blessed us and He protected us from the very horrific punishment of the hellfire."
She reached this verse. And she started repeating that verse in her prayer over and over and over and over. And then she finished her prayer.
And when she finished her prayer, walking around the house, she kept reading the verse over. Allah blessed us by saving us from the punishment of hellfire. And then he says that she needed to go run some errands.
She went to the marketplace, ran her errands, did her shopping. She came back home. And she was still repeating that verse over and over again because she was reflecting on it and thinking on it.
Allah gave us this deen. Allah gave us iman. Allah gave us the Quran. Allah gave us Islam. Allah has blessed us. And He has given us the path that can save us from the hellfire.
The Companions' Methodology of Learning
And that's exactly what Abdullah bin Mas'ud رضي الله عنه was talking about. When he says:
"Any one of us when would do it is we would learn 10 verses of the Quran and then we would not move forward until we had fully reflected on and understood the meaning of those verses. And we learned how to implement those verses within our lives."
And in another statement, he goes on further to say:
"We learned the Quran and we learned to live the Quran simultaneously. Learning the words of the Quran and living the Quran were not two separate things as unfortunately we have done today. But they were simultaneous, they were concurrent, they were one in the same."
And Abdullah bin Umar رضي الله عنهما says so beautifully:
"The simple humble people in the early days of Islam were the ones who maybe knew a surah or a couple of surahs. But they lived it."
And then he said:
"At the end of the days of this ummah everyone will know how to read the Quran. Blind people will know the Quran. Little children will be able to recite the whole Quran to you. And that might seem like a beautiful thing, but he says, the problem is they will no longer be living the message."
They will no longer be living the message. We need to get back to our roots. We need to go back to our foundations. We need to go back to what made us who we were. And that is to understand the message of the Quran, to interact with the meaning of the Quran, and to live the life of the Quran.
Practical Advice from Ibn Qayyim
And I'll finally conclude with some advice from Ibn Qayyim رحمه الله in his very famous work, الفوائد where he says:
"If you want to benefit in your relationship with the Quran, when it is being recited, when you are listening to it, whether you are reading it or listening to it, then bring your whole heart completely. And pay attention, listen fully. And be present, being mindful of the fact, being mindful of the one who is addressing you through the Quran. It is Allah speaking to you."
"This is God communicating with us through the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم."
Because Allah says in Surah Qaf:
"There is a reminder. There is a life changing realization. For the person whose heart is connected to it, or at the very least, the person is willing to listen very carefully and be fully present."
Closing Dua
May Allah make us amongst those who are present in the presence of the Quran.
May Allah make us amongst those who listen attentively and carefully.
May Allah make us amongst those who understand the message of the Quran.
May Allah make us amongst those whose hearts are connected with the Quran.
And may Allah grant us all the ability to be able to live the life of the Quran.
جَزَاكُمُ اللهُ خَيْرًا . بَارَكَ اللهُ فِيكُمْ. وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ