A Scholar of the Holy Qur'an & Religious Knowledge

With regard to him, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra) also writes in Sirat Khatam-un-Nabiyyeen [The Life and Character of the Seal of Prophet (sa)] that Abdullah bin Mas‘ud was not from among the people of Quraish, but belonged to the tribe of Huzail. He was a very poor man and used to graze the sheep of Uqba bin Abi Mu‘ayt, chief of the Quraish. After accepting Islam, he stayed with the Holy Prophet (sa) and eventually became a great scholar as a result of the company of the Holy Prophet (sa). The majority of Fiqh Hanafiyyah [Hanafi School of jurisprudence] is based on his accounts and interpretations.

(Sirat Khatam-un-Nabiyyeen, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra), p. 124)

There is a narration regarding his proficiency in religious knowledge. Hazrat Ibn Mas‘ud states, “People know that I have a lot of knowledge of the Holy Quran. I know when and where each chapter and every verse of this Holy Book was revealed.” Abu Wa-il narrates, “No one raised any objection to this”, i.e when Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud made this statement.

(Ashaab-e-Badr, Qazi Muhammad Sulaiman, p. 107, Maktabatul Islamiyyah, Lahore, 2015)

The four Companions regarding whom the Holy Prophet (sa) instructed [the believers] to learn the Holy Quran from, Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud is on the top of this list.

(Sahih Al-Bukhari, Kitaab-ul-Munaaqib, Baab Munaaqib Abdullah bin Mas’ud (ra), Hadith no. 3760)

Hazrat Musleh Maud (ra) has explained this in detail in Dibacha Tafsirul Quran [Introduction to the Study of the Holy Quran] in the following manner, “As the eagerness of the people for memorising the Quran increased, the Holy Prophet (sa) appointed four principal teachers of the Quran who used to memorise it under the supervision of the Holy Prophet (sa) and then taught other people to commit it to memory. These four in turn trained a number of other people who became competent to teach the Quran. These four were: Abdullah bin Mas‘ud, Salim Maula Abi Hudhaifa, Mu‘az bin Jabal and Ubayy ibn Ka‘b. The first two of these were Muhajirin, early Muslims who had migrated from Mecca to Medina, and the last two were Ansar, early Muslims of Medina. Abdullah bin Mas‘ud used to occupy himself as a labourer, Salim was a freed slave, and Mu‘az and Ubayy were two of the leading men of Medina. Thus, the Holy Prophet (sa) appointed teachers of the Quran from among different sections of society. It has been mentioned in a Hadith:

خُذُواالْقُرْاٰنَ مِنْ اَرْبَعَۃٍ مِنْ عَبْدِاللّٰہِ ابْنِ مَسْعُوْدٍ وَسَالِمٍ وَ مَعَاذِ ابْنِ جَبَلٍ وَ أُبَیْ بِن کَعْبٍ

‘Those of you who wish to learn the Quran should learn it from Abdullah bin Mas‘ud, Salim Maula Abi Hudhaifa, Mu‘az bin Jabal or Ubayy ibn Ka‘b.’ These four had learnt the whole of the Quran under the supervision of the Holy Prophet (sa). But many other Companions of the Holy Prophet (sa) had also learnt portions of it directly from him. It is related that on one occasion when Abdullah bin Mas‘ud was reciting the Quran, Hazrat Umar pointed out that a certain word should be pronounced in a particular way. Abdullah bin Mas‘ud protested that he had been taught by the Holy Prophet (sa) to pronounce it in the manner in which he had pronounced it. Hazrat Umar (ra) took him to the Holy Prophet (sa) and complained that he did not recite the Quran correctly. The Holy Prophet (sa) asked him to recite the portion concerning which there was a difference of opinion between the two and when he recited it, the Holy Prophet (sa) said he was quite right. Thereupon Hazrat Umar (ra) submitted that he had been taught by the Prophet to pronounce the word differently. The Holy Prophet (sa) then asked him to recite the verse and when he did so, told him that that was also correct.” Hazrat Musleh Maud (ra)thus concluded from this that “This shows that in addition to the four Companions whom the Holy Prophet (sa) used to teach the whole of the Quran, there were others who used to learn portions of it from him. Umar’s submission that he had been taught to pronounce a certain word in a particular way shows that he, too, used to learn portions of the Quran from the Holy Prophet (sa) himself.”

(Dibacha Tafsirul Quran, Anwar-ul-Uloom, Vol. 20, pp. 427-428)

It is mentioned that after the Holy Prophet (sa), Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud was the one to recite the Holy Quran in public for the very first time. There is an incident mentioned regarding this:

“One day, the Companions had gathered and it was mentioned that the Quraish had not yet heard the recitation of the Holy Quran aloud in public. They enquired if there was anyone who could recite it to them. Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud responded, ‘I will recite the Holy Quran to them.’ They replied, ‘We fear that the disbelievers may cause you harm as you are a poor man. It would be better to find someone of a prominent status instead and his tribe will protect him if the disbelievers resort to violence.’ Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud responded, ‘Do not worry about it as God shall protect me.’” These Companions had such extraordinary passion. “The next morning, he began reciting the Holy Quran publicly near the Ka‘bah. He recited:

بِسْمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْم۔ الرَّحْمٰنُ عَلَّمَ الْقُرْاٰنَ

That is, ‘In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. It is God, the Gracious. Who has taught the Qur’an’. (Al-Rahman:1-3)

The people of Quraish were astonished when they heard this and some said, ‘He is reciting from the same scripture of Muhammad (sa) recites’ and when they heard this recitation they got up and began to strike Abdullah bin Mas‘ud on his face. However, he continued with the recitation and finished the entire portion he had intended to recite. When he returned, the Companions saw the marks on his face because of the beating he had endured and they said that this is exactly what they feared that he would be attacked. Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud replied, ‘In my sight, these enemies of God have never been as insignificant as they seemed when they were attacking me. If you’d like, I can do the same tomorrow.’ The Companions responded, ‘No! This is enough. You made them listen to something they did not want to hear.’”

(Usdul Ghaba, Vol. 3, p. 383, Dar-ul-Kutub al-ilmiyyah, Beirut)