Majd Al-Hadmi
Translated and modified
by QFM
The history of reading the Quran
in al-Aqsa Mosque started from Al-Iqraa School in the Levant al-Sham and it is
attributed in its origin to the companion Abu Darda (ra), one of the people who
gathered the Quran in the era of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) and that time he
was a judge on al-Sham in 32 AH.
Al-Quds is proud of its
unquestioning interest in the Holy Quran whether recitation, education and
Quranic Sanad. It embraces al-Aqsa Mosque, which opened its gates to the
Islamic scientists and the students throughout history. Al-Aqsa Mosque was the
only great scientific institute in al-Quds in the first four centuries of
prophet migration. It is the mosque and the school where the science of Fiqh,
Hadith and Quran comes from.
The Crusader occupation caused a
decline of the Islamic scientific influence of al-Quds but it returned again
and strongly in the Ayyub id, Mamluk and Ottoman periods. During these periods,
the rulers of al-Quds took a keen interest towards education and were keen to
be honored to visit it, especially during the pilgrimage seasons. It’s clearly
noticed in the biography books that students from all over the Islamic states
sought to visit the scholars living in al-Quds to benefit from their great
knowledge, including the sciences of the Quran and Sanad -the bond between the
reader and his teachers to the Prophet (pbuh)- through readers who read the
Holy Quran in al-Quds. There were a number of readers who worked in al-Aqsa,
including Shahabuddin Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Mughith Alandalusi, Sheikh Othman
bin Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman Abu Omar al-Jabrati, and the head of readers in
al-Quds, Sheikh Shihabuddin Ahmed, the son of Sheikh Shams al-Din Muhammad bin
Mohammed bin Hussein al-Awtari Al-Shafei who passed away in 874 AH / 1469 AD.
There is a great mention in the
biography books of al-Aqsa readers which is not limited to the readers who have
read at al Aqsa during history, or those who were born in al-Quds, lived in it,
or died there. We can’t mention them all due to their large number but we will
mention some of them like; Imam al-Nasai, the author of “Alsunn Alkubraa
Walsughraa”, whom the people know as a scholar of Hadith and they do not know
that he read and recited the holy Quran at al-Aqsa and he died in 303 AH / 915
AD. As well as the famous Imam al-Razi, who used to read the Quran and teach it
in the Dome of the Rock in the fourth century AH, and one of his disciples was
Abul Abbas, al-Nasawi, the Imam of Masjed al-Haram during that time. The first
imam of the Dome of the Rock after the conquest was Andalusian and known as
Alhaj al-Malqi and his name was Abul Hassan Ali bin Jameel Maafri al-Maqdisi,
studied in Morocco then moved to Damascus when he was still young man and
learned from its scholars. After that, he lived in al-Quds to lead the people
in their prayers and to teach them the holy Quran. He died in 605 AH / 1208 AD.
Thereafter, the habit of reverence of Hajj has spread out, which some pilgrims
were keen to adhere to. It means visiting al-Quds after performing Hajj. This
habit had a good effect on the scholars' stay in al-Quds and on the flourishing
of the scientific movement there, especially the Moroccan pilgrims who used to
take the opportunity to travel to al-Aqsa Mosque because they may not be able
to pray there again because of the far distance.
Some of them decided to stay in
al-Quds in their neighborhood which is still known as the Moroccan neighborhood
(Harat al-Maghariba) to learn the Islamic sciences from the scholars of
al-Quds, including Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Maghribi who used to recite the
holy Quran and teach it at al-Aqsa Mosque and he stayed there until he died in
710 AH / 1310 AD.
Shehabuddin Ahmad ibn Jabara
al-Maqdisi al-Salhi, one of those who were affected by the Crusaders occupation
of al-Quds in 1099, his family migrated to Syria until he returned to al-Quds
in the seventh century AH. He became one of the most famous readers and
schoolers of the sciences of the holy Quran. He lived there until he died in
728 AH / 1327 AD. In addition, Imam Muhammad ibn al-Jazri was considered as one
of the most famous sheikhs of the Quranic readings in al-Aqsa Mosque. Ibn
al-Jazri travelled between the Sham, the Hijaz, Egypt and Iraq, learning the
Quranic readings and teaching them to the people. Sheikh al-Islam Shehabuddin
sent him an invitation to visit Bait al-Maqdis and he responded to him and
stayed there for the rest of his life until he died in 833 AH / 1492 AD. He was
the head of al-Jawharia school and al-Salahia school in al-Quds. Also, he was
assigned as an Imam to recite the Quran of Zaher Jumqaq at the Dome of the
Rock.
The continuance of reading of the
holy Quran in al-Aqsa Mosque throughout the year
The Mamluks (who ruled the Sham
between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries) dedicated a function to the
reader of the Quran, which we call today the reciter, which is based on reading
the holy Quran, reciting it at certain times of the day and explaining the
meanings of the verses Aya to a group of people in mosques.
The appointment of the reciter
was accompanied by giving copies of the Quran to the mosques. The rulers and
the governors were competing to send copies of the holy Quran to al-Aqsa Mosque
to be read there at all times without interruption. One of the manifestations
of this care is what some of the Mamluk sultans did to honor the Holy Quran.
Sultan Toman Bay placed a copy of the Quran inside the mosque of the Dome of
the Rock towards the mihrab. He appointed Shaikh Muhammad ibn Qatlubgha
al-Ramli as the reciter and he was a famous reader with strong memory and good
voice. One of the copies that was given
to al-Aqsa Mosque is Mushaf al-Nafis, the copy of Sultan of Morocco,
"Abulhassan El-Marini", which is kept in the Islamic Museum at
al-Aqsa Mosque. Where the Sultan gave three copies to Masjed al-Haram, Masjed
al-Nabawi and al-Aqsa Mosque, the first two copies were lost and only the copy
of al-Aqsa Mosque has remained in the entire Islamic world. A number of Moroccan readers have
been appointed by the sultan to read this Quran in the mosque.