Holding the Qur'an on the Head

Priority: c, Quality: b
From wikishia
Holding the Qur'an on the Head
Ceremony of Holding the Qur'an on the Head in the holy shrine of Imam 'Ali (a)
Ceremony of Holding the Qur'an on the Head in the holy shrine of Imam 'Ali (a)
Ritual information
TimeNights of al-Qadr
PlaceMosques • Holy shrines of Imams (a) and Imamzadas • other religious places
Geographical
Extent
Shi'a areas
Supplication(s)Asking God by the rights of the Qur'an and the Fourteen Infallibles (a) for forgiveness of sins


Holding the Qur'an on the head (Persian: قرآن به سر گرفتن) is among the rituals Shi'a perform in the night of Qadr. In this act, people hold the Qur'an on the head and ask God by the rights of the Qur'an, The Prophet (s), Lady Fatima al-Zahra (a) and the twelve Imams (a) to forgive their sins and include them among the rescued from the hellfire. It is not necessary to hold the Qur'an on the head in open form.

The Ceremony

In Mafatih al-jinan, the third act among the rituals common among Qadr nights is described so that a person should open the Qur'an in front of himself and ask God by what is mentioned in the Qur'an, O God include us among those rescued from the hellfire. In a hadith, it is mentioned that the person should ask his requests from God after this mentioned sentence.[1]


Then, Shaykh Abbas Qummi explains the fourth recommended action in the night of Qadr as follows:

"Hold the Qur'an on the head and ask God by the rights of the Qur'an and the rights of the one sent with the Qur'an who was the Prophet (s) and the rights of every woman and man believer who is praised in the Qur'an and then say ten times "bik-a ya Allah" (by You O Allah) and then ask God in the names of each of the fourteen Infallible Ones (a) and mention their names, each ten time. It is an independent action and does not need to be opened and held on the head.[2]
This painting by Mahmoud Farshchian depicts holding Quran on the head in the night of Qadr

Hadith Sources

In Mafatih al-jinan, Shaykh Abbas Qummi has mentioned these two instructions without mentioning their sources, among the rituals common in nights of Qadr.[3] In al-Kafi, al-Kulayni transmitted a hadith from Imam al-Baqir (a) in which, only the first part of this instruction which is opening the Qur'an, holding it in front of the face and asking God by the rights of the Qur'an. According to this hadith, the time for reciting this supplication is the second ten days of the month of Ramadan.[4] In al-Muqni'a, al-Shaykh al-Mufid recommended this supplication to be recited in the three nights of nineteenth, twenty first and twenty third of the month of Ramadan without attributing it to Imams (a).[5] In al-Da'awat by al-Qutb al-Rawandi[6] and Iqbal al-a'mal by Ibn Tawus,[7] this supplication is recommended to be recited in the three nights of the month of Ramadan without mentioning a certain night.

In al-Amali, al-Shaykh al-Tusi mentioned a hadith in which, Imam al-Sadiq (a) taught a prayer to a person who asked a supplication for fixing his problems and said after the prayer recite the same supplication, but he (a) did not mention the month of Ramadan or the night of Qadr.[8]

In Iqbal al-a'mal, Sayyid b. Tawus mentioned this action in the rituals of the nights of Qadr without mentioning the prayer before it.[9] But in Jamal al-usbu', he mentioned the prayer and instruction after it as a prayer for the accomplishment of one's request on Thursday.[10]

See Also

Notes

  1. Qummī, Mafātīḥ al-jinān, section: aʿmāl-i mushtarikih-ie shabhāy-i qadr, p. 225.
  2. اللّهم بحق هذا القران، وبحق من ارسلته به، وبحق كل مؤمن و مؤمنة مدحته فيه، وبحقك عليهم فلا أحد اعرف بحقك منك بِكَ يَا اللَّهُ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ ثُمَّ تَقُولُ بِمُحَمَّدٍ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِعَلِيٍّ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِفَاطِمَةَ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِالْحَسَنِ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِالْحُسَيْنِ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِعَلِيِّ بْنِ الْحُسَيْنِ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِجَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِمُوسَى بْنِ جَعْفَرٍ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِعَلِيِّ بْنِ مُوسَى عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِعَلِيِّ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِالْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ بِالْحُجَّةِ عَشْرَ مَرَّاتٍ
  3. Qummī, Mafātīḥ al-jinān, section: aʿmāl-i mushtarikih-ie shabhāy-i qadr, p. 225.
  4. Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 629, h. 9.
  5. Mufīd, Al-Muqniʿa, p. 190.
  6. Quṭb al-Rāwandī, sulwat al-ḥazīn, p. 206.
  7. Ibn Ṭāwūs, Iqbāl al-aʿmāl, vol. 1, p. 186.
  8. Ṭūsī,Al-Amālī, p. 293.
  9. Ibn Ṭāwūs, Iqbāl al-aʿmāl, vol. 1, p. 186.
  10. Ibn Ṭāwūs, Jamāl al-usbū', p. 109-110.

References

  • Ibn Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā. Jamāl al-usbū' bi-kamāl al-'amāl al-mashrū'. 1st Edition. Qom: al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, 1330 AH.
  • Ibn Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā. Iqbāl al-aʿmāl. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1409 AH.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1407 AH.
  • Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Muqniʿa. Qom: al-Muʾtamar al-ʿĀlamīyya li-alfīya al-Shaykh al-Mufīd, 1413 AH.
  • Qummī, Abbās. Mafātīḥ al-jinān. Qom: Nashr-i Uswa, [n.d].
  • Quṭb al-Rāwandī, Saʿīd b. Hibat Allāh. Kitāb sulwat al-ḥazīn al-maʿrūf bi al-Daʿawāt. Qom: Intishārāt-i Madrisa Imām Mahdī(a), 1407 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Amālī. Qom: Dār al-Thiqāfa, 1414 AH.