This moving reflection was penned by Ziyad bin ‘Aruwān, who shares a deeply personal encounter with Sheikh Prof. Abdulmuhsin al-‘Askar. What began as a casual exchange about Qur’an revision soon unfolded into a heart-stirring lesson about a lifetime commitment to the Book of Allah—culminating in an unforgettable moment that will leave you inspired to re-evaluate your own relationship with the Qur’an.
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O People of the Qur’an 📣
Today I met with Sheikh Prof. Dr. Abdulmuhsin al-‘Askar—may Allah preserve him, now over sixty years of age.
The Sheikh asked me about my Qur’an revision and advised me to complete a khatmah every seven or every five days.
He then shared that he once asked Sheikh Salah al-Budayr (the Imam of al-Masjid al-Nabawi):
“Abu Muhammad, your memorisation of the Qur’an is remarkably strong, mā shā’ Allah.”
Sheikh Salah replied:
“When I was in Riyadh, I was even stronger”—referring to the period before he moved to Madinah.
He mentioned that he used to complete a khatmah every five days, and said:
“Whoever completes a khatmah every five days will never forget.”
Sheikh Abdulmuhsin then spoke about Sheikh ‘Abdulrahman al-Barrāk, encouraging us to visit him. He asked if I had ever heard the Sheikh’s recitation. I replied that I had not.
Later, I saw Sheikh al-‘Askar praying—his prayer long and beautiful. Afterwards, he sat at the back with a book. I remained for a short while and suddenly heard a powerful voice reciting the Qur’an. I looked up to find Sheikh al-‘Askar holding out his phone, from which the recitation was coming. On the screen, I read the caller ID: “al-‘Allāmah Abdulrahman al-Barrāk.”
In that moment, my skin shivered with awe. Sheikh al-Barrāk is over 95 years old, yet he still revises the Qur’an with others—his memorisation strong and intact.
I asked Sheikh Abdulmuhsin about this, and he replied:
“The Sheikh and I have been revising together for years.”
A Lesson for Every Seeker of the Qur’an
O companions of the Qur’an… this is a lesson for me, for you, and for everyone walking the path of Allah’s Book.
Living with the Qur’an is not a brief phase of your youth where you memorise and then set it aside.
Living with the Qur’an means spending your entire life revising, reciting, and nurturing it in your heart—even when your hair turns grey, your body weakens, and you reach your nineties.
This is the path of the Qur’an: a life spent in its company. A scholar of Islam, whose beard has turned white in knowledge and whose back has bent in defending the religion, continues to receive questions from all corners of the world—yet he has never abandoned his share of the Qur’an.
So, to the one who has been negligent in revision, who has been lazy with their daily portion, and who has let days pass without reciting the words of their Lord: wake up! Re-evaluate yourself. For the Qur’an is the spring from which your soul must drink—or you will wither in the barren desert of life.
—Written by Ziyad bin ‘Aruwān