Quranic Recitation in Ramadhan

The Creator has shown great favor unto His servants by delivering them from the satanic temptations that the ‘ego’ imprints in their hearts and minds. He has always successfully opposed the hopes of the satanic forces by one or other way and ‘prescribed fasting’ in the month of Ramadan is one such way which is a ‘shield’ for His servants. We know that Ramadan is the month in which everyone tries to achieve inner peace and salvation by various religious practices. Whether it be Dhikr (remembrance of Allah) , offering Salah and Taraweeh or reciting The Holy Qur’an, everyone tries to gain the strength which one needs to withstand another year, to show patience and to face all the calamities that may befall. In this month, Muslims always aim at reciting the whole of The Holy Qur’an and the same is achieved either reciting Qur’an individually at home or in the mosque or in congregations. Although, the most common way is the recitation of The Holy Qur’an in the Taraweeh prayers and that’s why these prayers last for a long time.

Aga Syed Aijaz Rizvi who hails from the Hawal area of Srinagar has been reciting The Holy Qur’an in congregation with all the men and the children sitting along in proper manner,  and women on the second floor of the Holy Place ie, Aastan Aaliya Haji Syed Hassan Nabdipora. The initiative was actually taken in 2007. Just a few days ago, I came across an article through a correspondent in a newspaper where he had mentioned that Mehfil e Qur’an started from 2015 which is true of “other places”, maybe he forgot to mention those who actually took this initiative. Anyway, if we see Aijaz Rizvi Sahab came back from Iran after the completion of his religious studies in 2005. He built his own place for Quranic, Arabic and Akhlaq studies which is famously known as “Baqiyatullah Quranic Center”. Though he, as we know, used to recite Qur’an at home or in mosque individually but, soon he felt that all of us should come together and recite Qur’an in congregation. It was exactly in 2007 that Aijaz Sahab came up with the same idea, he was  initially joined by some of his students and neighbours at the mosque and Astan Aaliya Haji Syed Hassan Nabdipora where they would recite The Holy Qur’an together, a portion a day and therefore, complete the whole Qur’an up to 29/30 of Ramadan.

   

It was the time when communication was still very poor. There was no 4G, no better sources to propagate information like that of social media platforms which we have today and even there wasn’t much use of loudspeakers for the spread of message of goodness. It’s all because of The Mercy from Allah that today many people come from different parts of Srinagar to Aastan Aaliya Haji Syed Hassan Nabdipora (where they do the recitation) to take part in the congregation/gathering. Even, the initiative taken was such that people who are in office for the whole day, students in school and colleges, can also come because time was selected in the afternoon at 5:00 or 6:00. Those who are tired for the whole could easily come and get refreshed by Tilawat e Qur’an and could also complete the reading of the whole Qur’an. Apart from this, a break is taken in the middle of a Chapter and during that small break, a small piece of sermon or advice or important message is also given.

Those who don’t know the Qiraat also come and sit and do Dhikr along with the hearing of Qur’an and therefore they are also benefited. Youngsters who usually don’t go to such places have also now developed interest. It is because of this place at Nabdipora that others in the residing areas were also inspired by the initiative being taken. Therefore, the outcomes are quite evident now. We see gatherings at various places in Srinagar now having the same purpose like in Hassanabad, Imam Bargah Zadibal etc. At these places, the gathering started around 2015 and they were also appreciated for their efforts and were joined by many all along from the area, even the neighboring areas. These initiatives are very important because they help in creating a healthy Islamic environment across Kashmir, they help in getting our kids and younglings interested in the pious work. This is in fact the present need.

In fact, they also held an awareness program on Islam and Sunnah called “Humrah e Saqlain” on every Sunday, and people would come from different areas of Srinagar including many great scholars. Due to COVID-19, although the programs stopped but even today Mehfil e Qur’an is held where it is kept in mind that SOPs are followed – including social distancing, wearing masks and using sanitizers. This time very few people come to join the gathering and it’s made sure that people get their hearts soothed and those who come are benefitted to some extent in their life. Indeed, they succeed to a large extent!

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