We are always hearing people recommend the recitation of various chapters verses of the Qur’ân as a prescription for attaining certain goals or for the relief from various problems and afflictions. There are books that compile these claims together, often recommending reading a certain verse of the Qur'an 100 or 1000 times every morning or evening to attain a specific goal.
Should we act upon all of these recommendations? Should we pay heed to them? Are any of them valid, and if so, which ones?
The truth is that most of what people claim about reciting particular chapters and verses of the Qur’ân on particular occasions is completely unsubstantiated by the Prophet's Sunnah. Besides the completely unsubstantiated claims, there are a large number of fabricated and spurious hadîth that flasely attribute to the Priophet (peace be upon him) claims that he recommend the recitation of certain verses for certain objectives.
What is authentic in this regard is quite limited by comparison.
As an illustrative example of how this fabrication became so widespread, al-`Irâqî relates in his book Sharh Muqaddimah Ibn al-Salâh the following story from Mu’ammal:
A sheikh related to me this hadîth (meaning a hadîth listing the virtues of the Qur’ân chapter by chapter) and I asked the sheikh: “Who related this to you?”After relating this story, al-`Irâqî then says: “It is likely that this man spent around three months traveling in order to verify the narration of this single hadîth.”
He said: “A man in Madâ’in related it to me and he is still living.”
So I traveled to see him and asked him: “Who related this to you?”
He said: “A sheikh in Wâsit narrated it to me and he is still living.”
So I traveled there to see him and was told: “A sheikh in Basra related it to me.”
Then I traveled there to him and he said: “A sheikh in `Abbâdân related it to me.”
I traveled there (to `Abbâdân) to see him and he took me by the hand and led me into a house. Thereupon I saw a group of Sufis in the company of a sheikh. He said: “This is the sheikh who related it to me.”
I then asked him: “O sheikh! And who related it to you?”
He replied: “No one related it to me. However, I saw that the people have become neglectful of the Qur’ân, so I fabricated for them this hadîth to draw their hearts back to the Qur’ân.”
This story is related by Ibn Hibban in al-Majrûhîn (1/29), Ibn `Abd al-Barr in al-Tamhîd (1/48-49), al-Khatîb al-Baghdâd in al-Rihlah (59), and many others.
This story shows us just how concerned the scholars of the past were to verify the reports that people attributed to the Prophet (peace be upon him).
The sincerest advicefor a Muslim to follow is not to pay any heed to such claims that people make unless they are willing to substantiate their claims with their evidence form the Sunnah. If they cannot even cite their sources from the hadîth literature, then it is very difficult to go back and verify where these people are coming from.
If they at least cite the text of the hadîth and in which books it is to be found, it becomes possible to check up on the hadîth’s authenticity. Otherwise, these claims are endless and trying to verify them all is extremely time-consuming.
As for some of what is authentic, we have the following:
Sûrah al-Baqarah: 255 (Ayah al-Kursî)
For this, we have the hadîth of Abû Hurayrah, which reads in part:
I said: “He said to me, ‘When you go to bed, recite Ayah al-Kursî to the end.’ He said to me: ‘You will have someone guarding over you from Allah and the devils will not come near you until the morning’.”Sûrah al-Baqarah: 285-286
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “He told you the truth even though he is a liar. Do you know whom you were speaking with on these three days, Abû Hurayrah?”
I said: “No.”
The Prophet said: “It was Satan.” [Sahîh al-Bukhari (3275)]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The last two verses of Sûrah al-Baqarah, whoever reads them at night, they shall suffice him.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (4008) and Sahîh Muslim (807)]
Sûrah al-Ikhlâs, Sûrah al-Falaq, and Sûrah al-Nâs
The Prophet (peace be upon him) advised us to read these three chapters of the Qur’ân thrice when going to sleep at night and thrice when waking up in the morning. He said: “They will suffice you from all afflictions.” [Sunan Abî Dâwûd (5082), Sunan al-Tirmidhî (3575) and Sunan al-Nasâ’î (5430) with an authentic chain of transmission]
And Allah knows best.
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