For those, who have the time, they can easily find that books are full of
examples of people, who practiced acts longer and difficult than praying a
thousand units of prayer in a night, but neither Ibne Taymiyyah nor anyone else
has either objected against them or against those, who have reported this; and
considered them impossible and negative. Because the reason for denying in the
case of Ahle Bayt (a.s.) was not present in those cases! Below we hint at some of
those acts:
1. Abu Huraira Doosi, the companion, (d. 57/58/59 A.H.): Every night,
before going to sleep, he recited 12000 rosaries and every day recited divine
forgiveness 12000 times.1
2. Abu Hanifah, leader of the Hanafites (d. 150 A.H.): He attended Friday
prayer and before that prayed twenty units of prayer and finished the Quran in
that.2
You know that a thousand units of prayer contains 83000 words, which is
more than words of Quran. Now, compare this to the act mentioned above; you
will find that it is much more than this. But loyalty to that person makes him
qualified to perform this act, but enmity to one, who prays a thousand units of prayer from the Purified Progeny, is the cause for him being unable to perform it.
As for recitation of Quran in one unit of prayer by Uthman, who is
mentioned at the end of Ibne Taymiyyah’s statement, is beyond the scope of this
discussion, but he has preferred to compare this excellence of Uthman to that
excellence of Ameerul Momineen (a.s.), forgetful of the fact that the objection he
laid against the prayers of Imam is applicable here as well. From this aspect, this
act of Uthman, on the basis of Ibne Taymiyyah’s view, is firstly opposed to
Sunnah, because for the Prophet, reciting the Quran in one unit of prayer is not
proved and secondly it is an impossible act, because the Quran has 77934 words
and according to Ata bin Yasar, 77439 words.3 And this one unit can be either
between Maghrib and Isha or after Isha Prayer till the Morning Prayer, and in
both cases to perform that in one unit is impossible.
Moreover, Bukhari and Muslim have narrated from the Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.a.) that he said to Abdullah bin Umar: “Recite the Quran in seven days and
don’t exceed more than that.”
It is narrated from His Eminence, through correct chains of narrators that;
“One, who recites the Quran in less than three days, has not understood it.”
Furthermore, Uthman is regarded as a companion, who completed a
recitation of Quran every week.4
The difficulty of completing recitation of Quran in books of Ahle Sunnat is
mentioned in a form that is clearly false and heavier than a mountain, that ends in
deviation and foolishness; they say: Some of them completed recitation of Quran
in one unit: between Noon and Afternoon Prayer or between the Evening and
Night Prayer or other than that; among them being:
1. Uthman bin Affan, the Umayyad finished the Quran in a night in one unit.5
2. Abu Hanifah Noman bin Thabit, leader of Hanafites: for thirty years he remained awake whole nights and recited the whole Quran in one unit.6
Some people completed the recitation of whole Quran every day, among them being:
1. Ahmad bin Hanbal, leader of the Hanbalis (d. 241 A.H.).7
2. Bukhari, author of Saheeh (d. 256 A.H.).8
3. Shafei, leader of the Shafeites (d. 204 A.H.), in other than the month of Ramadhan.9
Some people completed recitation of Quran in a single night, among them being:
1. Bukhari, author of Saheeh (d. 256 A.H.); he did this during the month of Ramadhan.10
3. Shafei, leader of the Shafeites (d. 204 A.H.), did this in other than the month of Ramadhan.11
Some persons recited the whole Quran twice during twenty-four hours, like:
1. Abu Hanifah, leader of Hanafites: he performed this act during the month of Ramadhan.12
2. Shafei, leader of Shafeites, did this in during the month of Ramadhan and recited them in prayers.13
It is mentioned in Sifatus Safwa,14 that during the month of Ramadhan, Shafei
completed the recitation of Quran sixty times and this was other than the Qurans
he recited in his prayers.
Some have finished the Quran twice and some recited it thrice during
twenty-four hours. Some finished the Quran four times during the day. Some
recited the Quran five times between Evening (Maghrib) and Night (Isha) Prayer.
Some recited the Quran eight or more times during twenty-four hours.
Nazli writes in Khazinatul Asrar:15
“Regarding Moosa Sadrani, a companion of Abi Madayan Maghribi, it is
mentioned that he recited the complete Quran seventy thousand times. And
regarding him, it is narrated that he began reciting it after kissing the Black Stone
and when he reached before the door of Kaaba, he had finished it. In such a way
that some of his companions heard each word of it, according to Ahya and Ali
Qair in Sharh Mishkat.”16
Bukhari has narrated from Abu Huraira17 that Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) said:
“It was easy for Dawood to recite the Quran; thus he ordered the horse to be
saddled and began reciting the Quran; and before the saddle was fixed, he
finished the Quran.”
Qastalani says in the explanation of this tradition:18
“It is concluded that a short time becomes divinely blessed to become
prolonged and that more can be achieved in that time and this tradition proves that Almighty Allah can prolong time for anyone He likes,19
as He fold up the lands for persons to travel far off distances in a short time.”
Allamah Amini says: These are nothing, but fiction and foolishness of past
writers. If Ibne Taymiyyah knew about such things, he would refrain from laying
objections against Ameerul Momineen (a.s.), Imam Husain (a.s.) and Imam
Sajjad (a.s.), but if it is true, he should know that:
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا۟ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَٱسْمَعْ وَٱنظُرْنَا لَكَانَ خَيْرًۭا لَّهُمْ وَأَقْوَمَ
“And if they had said (instead): We have heard and we obey, and hearken, and look at us, it would have been better for them and more upright.”20