LikeWe were in Masjid Al Azhar, and my apartmentmates and I were just invited by a girl who was probably six or seven to grab knowledge with Shaykh Ahmed Amr, a famous Qari in Egypt. We literally jumped at the opportunity…and so did hundreds before us. We piled into the men’s area of the masjid with probably a hundred sisters and even more brothers and we spent over an hour with Surah Ale Imran, walHamdullahiRabil’alameen.
The whole experience was amazing subhanAllah [it's after 'asr every Tuesday for anyone who can make it!], but what really struck me today was the vigor of the children who wanted to recite Qur’an to the Shaykh. We’re talking about boys and girls who are probably seven and younger. One girl, possibly seven, opened the mushaf and began to recite from surah Ale Imran (with strong tajweed masha’Allah) while others piled around her, waving their hands in the air, trying to get the Shaykh’s attention to pick them. I was thinking about how blessed they are to be here, how blessed they are to care about the Qur’an at such a young age, how BLESSED they are to have parents who brought them to the masjid to recite Qur’an and to raise them around people who want it.
And in the midst of it all, the halaqa was stopped by a man on crutches. I could not completely understand the dialogue that took place between the Shaykh and the man, but he hobbled through the crowd (may Allah cure him), and came close to the Shaykh and made a request. Within a few moments his daughter, who was possibly six years old, was next to the Shaykh, reciting what she had memorized from surah Insan, with mashaAllah amazing tajweed, in front of hundreds of people. Her father, on crutches, was watching her, subhanAllah so proud, and when she finished, the Shaykh kissed her and gave her words of encouragement. The sister next to me made dua for her, and the other kids around the table jumped at the opportunity to recite for the shaykh as well.
About ten minutes later we’d already gotten back into the halaqa, and suddenly a rush of kids (seriously, we’re talking all under the age of ten), started basically jumping up and down, eagerly waving their hands in front of the shaykh, calling out to him that they wanted to recite. Some of the attendees got upset because it was hard to concentrate on the lesson with the kids bursting with excitement, but Allahu Akbar, how amazing it was to see children who have so much passion for reciting the Qur’an.
And I couldn’t help but think- these children were chosen by Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. How many of us know children, six, seven, eight years old, who can whip out the names of every celebrity, or every new movie…ila akhirih (etc), but have NO IDEA how to recite surah al Fatiha? (May Allah protect us and forgive us!)
Are the two the same? They are not the same! And what makes the difference? Did one come into the world and order her or his parents: Teach me Qur’an!, and the other: Teach me the name of every celebrity! Obviously not…the parents labored to bright up the child, one way or the other, and the fruit of that labor can already be seen at this young, young age.
The father on crutches, he labored to walk through the crowd, to ask in front of everyone to give his daughter the opportunity to recite the Qur’an for the Shaykh, and he looked with such honor and pride towards his daughter when she was reciting. There was visible effort, serious effort, intense effort, to help this young girl be raised ‘ala kitabAllah wa sunnati Rasulilah sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallama.
How many of us are doing [or are planning on doing] the same?
Sr. Maryam
Subhanallah….what an amazing experience for you….jazakallah khairun for sharing that! It’s very motivating to read that and make dua to be able to go and pray in Masjid Al Azhar one day, InshAllah.
Ma Sha Allah dear sister,
I pray Allah increase your faith and work in His sake. I have one problem with this beautiful article outlining your experience with Allah’s guidance. You mentioned in a list of words “ila akhirao (etc),” I hope if you are in Egypt you are there for the knowledge which is in Arabic.
One day Suhaib and I went to see what the Azhari Sufi teachings were all about. There was a lecture by a purported Shaikh of balanced Qur’an and Sunnah Sufiism. I was bothered by two things during the lecture which made me leave and work on my Hifth outside that room. The first was that he contradicted his principles when leaving the book and moving into “inspired” stories and poems. The second is what relates to your statement “ila akhirao (etc), ” This supposed shaikh defaced the Arabic language and kept saying more clearly “ila Akhiruh” to mean etc. which is putting teh grammatical ruling of raf’ in the place of jarr which is elementary Arabic it should be Ila Akhirih with an I sound before the h.
This comment is not against you, it is a notification and admonishment to all students of knowledge to be aware that it is not cool to talk colloquial Arabic. The true knowledge within the confines of which Allah blessed us with His speech is pure traditional Arabic. This is the langauge of the people of knowledge as mentioned by Hasan Al-Banna in his Rasa’il as well as by many others. The only exception would be if you do not have close relation with someone and you think fus-ha would alienate or create a strange situation then you may speak to people with what is common to their mentality as the Prophet (saws) said.
Students of knowledge should encourage the use of Fusha in their homes and should politely correct one another when straying. It is a matter of enjoing what is good and interacting with rightesouness and God-Consciousness. The jews of today do not truly understand Hebrew, thus the Torah because of the helenistic period when greek heavily influenced them and they were lazy with it. Beware of the colonial/secular ways they have many agendas against our deen. Seeing fus-ha as some outdated “religious” language only for khutbas is one of them.
Wallahu a’lam
Barik Allahu feek wa ahluk Akh Abu Majeed. InshaAllah you’ll get the reward any time someone reads your correction and learns.
I used ila akhiraho in class all the time and had no idea it was not correct. I asked her about this after reading your correction, and was wondering why she did not correct me when she knew I was making this mistake.
She told me that the language takes patience, and she is correcting what needs to be corrected at the time that it needs correction, and the rest will come in stages inshaAllah, but to just be patient and be more patient.
so jezakAllahu khayrin, that was an excellent reminder Alhamdullilah.
AS
Sister hope your well. I am delighted to hear that you are taking time to benefit from Ustadh Ahmad Amr (h) in the masjid of al-Azhar ash-Sharif he is an excellent teacher of tajwid along with the master al Allamah Abdul Hakim al Hanbali al Azhari. Both of these men do a great service to tajweed studies in the masjid of al Azhar. I am not sure if you are aware but Ustadh Amr developed a special technique to teach tajwid and it is practical and based on clarifying mistakes so you do not make them again.
Please do keep constant in the attendance and overlook the faults of the people.
Ma Salaama
Thanks for sharing and encouraging; many people do not benefit from Egypt because they complain much and are not ambitious in the pursuit of knowledge. Egypt has its good and bad, and some times they seem to struggle with each other.
wa alaykum as salam warahmatuAllahi wa barakatahu,
Alhamdullilah Egypt is amazing, barik Allahu feek for your encouragement. I heard so many bad things before I came that I expected much worse and am Alhamdullilah very pleasantly surprised.
Allamah Abdul Hakim hafidahullah teaches at a time I have class, but inshaAllah I hope to make it one day…for those who can make it, I think it’s Sunday mornings.
maryam
Assalamu Alaikum,
Jazakallahu khair Ustadh Abu Majeed for that reminder. A quick question regarding that phrase: is it supposed to be الى اخره (ila akhirih’i') literally meaning “to it’s end”? And the word akhir is majroor (ends in a kasra) because of the harful jarr “ila” right?
Salaam All
Talib hope you dont mind me interupting, but what you stated is correct.
Wassalam
Walaikum Assalam,
Jazakallahu khayr br. Haq.
Asalamu alaykum,
Sr. Maryam! That was an amazing article. Just imagine, after you increase your studies how many gems are waiting for you in the Hawza of al-Azhar.
SDW
Asalaamualykum, br webb, i sent u an email and havent received a reply, so mailed you again and you no longer have an account… how do i contact you again?
beautiful article….and wow….those children make us Arab Americans look like the worst human beings ever to be created, for how many times do we sincerely pick up the Qu’ran? …..May Allah guide us all…
Thanks for the article again! Beautiful written…and best wishes!
Kindest Regards,
Fatima
Salam,
A very good article which, I’m sure, will make most of us fell shame for not learning the Quran. I had this experience form the mosque I go on Fridays. A woman sitting next to me was reading Quran, when i looked at it, i thought she was also reading the English translation. But with a closer look, i understood it was not English translation, but the Arabic verses written in English. And she was reading it according to the English pronunciation! I felt shame of our society – Quran is our holy book, let alone the meaning of it, what if we can’t even read the Arabic? There are many non-Arabs in the world who cannot read the Quran. And how can we make it the guideline of our life, if we cant read it or understand it? The kids of the azhar are really very much blessed when comparing with these people who can’t even read the Arabic.
Wassalam,
a very inspiring story sister