What is meant by the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), “It will be said to the reciter of the Qur’an: ‘Read, and ascend, and recite…”?

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

At-Tirmidhi (2914) and Abu Dawood (1464)
narrated that ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “It will
be said to the companion of the Qur’an: ‘Read, and ascend, and recite as you
used to recite in the [previous] world, for your status will be according to
the last verse that you recite.’”

Shaykh Muhammad Shams al-Haqq
al-‘Azeemabaadi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“It will be said”: i.e., when people are
admitted to Paradise

“to the companion of the Qur’an” i.e., the
one who consistently recites it and acts upon it, not the one who reads it
and does not act upon it.

“Read and ascend” i.e., to the higher levels
of Paradise or of closeness to Allah.

“”and recite” i.e., do not be hasty in your
recitation in Paradise

“as you used to recite” that is, in your
reading

“in the [previous] world”.

From this hadeeth it may be understood that
this greater reward will not be attained except by one who memorized the
Qur’an and learned how to recite it properly and in a precise manner, as it
should be done.

End quote from ‘Awn al-Ma‘bood fi Sharh
Sunan Abi Dawood (4/237).

In the answer to question no.
169485 we discussed what is meant by the virtue
mentioned in the hadeeth quoted above; it is only attained by the one who
memorises the Qur’an and acts upon it; please see the question mentioned for
more information.

Secondly:

The hadeeth mentioned above speaks about the
virtue of the companion of the Qur’an. That does not mean that the one who
has not memorized the Qur’an will be of the lowest status in Paradise.
Rather the hadeeth refers to a particular virtue for a particular deed; it
does not indicate that the higher levels (of Paradise) will only be attained
by those who memorise or read the Qur’an. Most of the Companions of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not memorise the Book
of Allah, in the sense of memorising its recitation; rather they memorised
it in the sense of acting upon it. So if anyone misses out on this
particular reward and virtue, it is still possible for him to strive hard in
whatever virtues Allah makes easy for him, such as prayer, tahajjud and
qiyaam (voluntary prayers during the night); or zakaah and charity; or
fasting on hot days; or constantly remembering Allah; or meeting people’s
needs… Or whatever else Allah wills of different kinds of goodness and
guidance.

Al-Bukhaari (3256) and Muslim (2831)
narrated from Abu Sa ‘eed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The people of
Paradise will see the people of the highest place in Paradise above them as
you see the brilliant star far away on the horizon in the east or the west,
because of the difference in status between them.” They said: O Messenger of
Allah, is that the status of the Prophets that no one else will attain? He
said: “No, by the One in Whose hand is my soul. They are men who believed in
Allah and believed in the Messengers.”

Muslim (251) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may
Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) said: “Shall I not tell you something by means of
which Allah erases sins and raises people in status?” They said: Yes, O
Messenger of Allah. He said: “Doing wudoo’ properly at times when it is
difficult to do so, taking many steps to the mosque, and waiting for prayer
after prayer. That is constant readiness.”

For more information, please see the answer
to question no. 27075.

And Allah knows best.