Bismillahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem
'An example of such is when any of them gets himself busy with qira’aat shaadhah (rejected modes of recitation), striving for them, spending all the life time for them, writing books about them and teaching others (these modes of recitation) such that he gets busy by them from knowing other obligations in the Deen. You may see an Imaam of a masjid who presents himself for such but who does not know what invalidates the Salat. Love of self-aggrandizement may prevent him from sitting before the people of knowledge to take (other aspects of) knowledge from them. If they had pondered well, they would have realized that the goal is to memorize the Qur’aan, perfect the tongue regarding its recitation, then understanding and acting by it, then facing (other things) that may benefit the soul, purifying the character, then getting busied with what are important in the knowledge of the Shariah…
Al-Hasan Al-Basree (may Allaah bestow mercy on him) said: ‘The Qur’aan was revealed so that it will be acted with, but people have taken its mere recitation as the (main) deed.’ That is, they remained on mere recitation and forsook acting by it. You will see some of those people reciting the rejected modes in his corner (in the masjid) and forsaking the mutawaatir (the universally accepted modes of recitation that went back authentically to the Prophet – sallallaahu alahyi wa sallam). The most correct view with the scholars is that no Salat is valid if the recitation therein is from one of the shaadh (rejected ones). The intention (most times) is for them to show unusual recitations (al-gharaaib) to garner people’s praise, and for people to incline towards them… there are some of them who will recite the (mutawaatir) together (that is, in their ordinary tilaawah) saying ‘Maalik’, ‘malik’, ‘Mallaak’ (that is, at a go as it is common in Egypt most especially), this is not right because it makes the Qur’aan loses its focus…
Some of them would make bonfires when they are about to complete a recitation wasting money and copying the Majoos…some of them would claim they had an Ijaazah from so-and-so teacher whereas he never recited to him. Some would have Ijaazah but ascribe many other lies to the person that had given them the Ijaazah, this is [a form of] tadlees…some of them would claim proficiency to the extent of listening to two or three students recite to them the same time yet if any visitor comes in they will still engage him in talk while the students recite on - the heart cannot contain all these together – yet he will write by his hand that so-and-so person recited so-and-so qiraa’ah upon me…
Another example is when you see some of them trivializing some sins such as backbiting before others; in fact they often commit bigger sins thinking memorization of Qur’aan would remove its punishment from them. They often cite this statement of the Messenger of Allaah as a proof: ‘If the Qur’aan were to be placed in a dried skin, it will not burn.’ That is a great plot of Iblees against them. Indeed the punishment of he who knows is severer than the punishment of he who does not know…'
End of quote
An abridgement from Talbees Iblees of al-Imaam Abul-Faraj Ibn Al-Jawzee pp.107-112, Daar Fikr Publication, 2006 Edition.
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