Habib ibn Muhammad al-Ajami al-Basri [d.120H/737CE] ‘alayhi al-rahmah wa’l-ridwan
Following from Kashf- al-Mahjub “Unveiling of the Enshrouded” by ‘ALI UTHMAN AL-HUJWIRI (Data Sahib) [Source: Kashf al-Mahjub]
His [al-Ajami] conversion (tawbat) was begun by Hasan of Basra. At first he was a usurer and committed all sorts of wickedness, but Allah gave him a sincere repentance, and he learned from Hasan something of the theory and practice of religion. His native tongue was Persian (‘ajami) and he could not speak Arabic correctly.
Shrine of Habib al-Ajami
One evening Hasan of Basra passed by the door of his cell. Habib had uttered the call to prayer and was standing, engaged in devotion. Hasan came in, but would not pray under his leadership, because Habib was unable to speak Arabic fluently or recite the Qur’an correctly. The same night, Hasan dreamed that he saw Allah and said to Him: “O Lord, wherein does Thy good pleasure consist?” and that Allah answered: “O Hasan, you found My good pleasure, but did not know its value: if yester-night you had said your prayers after Habib, and if the rightness of his intention had restrained you from taking offense at his pronunciation, I should have been well pleased with you.”
It is common knowledge among Sufis that when Hasan of Basra fled from Hajjaj he entered the cell of Habib. The soldiers came and said to Habib: “Have you seen Hasan anywhere?” Habib said: “Yes.” “Where is he?” “He is in my cell.” They went into the cell, but saw no one there. Thinking that Habib was making fun of them, they abused him and called him a liar. He swore that he had spoken the truth. They returned twice and thrice, but found no one, and at last departed. Hasan immediately came out and said to Habib: “I know it was owing to thy benedictions that Allah did not discover me to these wicked men, but why didst thou tell them I was here?” Habib replied: “O Master, it was not on account of my benedictions that they failed to see thee, but through the blessedness of my speaking the truth. Had I told a lie, we both should have been shamed.”
Habib was asked: “With what thing is Allah pleased?” He answered: “With a heart which is not sullied by hypocrisy,” because hypocrisy (nifaq) is the opposite of concord (wifaq), and the state of being well pleased (rida) is the essence of concord. There is no connection between hypocrisy and love, and love subsists in the state of being well pleased (with whatever is decreed by Allah ). Therefore acquiescence (rida) is a characteristic of Allah’s friends, while hypocrisy is a characteristic of His enemies. This is a very important matter. I will explain it in another place.
Habib al-Ajami passed away in 120 after Hijri, his shrine is in Baghdad.
the truth on 
m.a.kidwai,CME/IND.RLY.(retd.) on 
cmon man this is a matter of fiqh. you don’t take fiqh from a sufi treatise whose purpose isn’t to dispense fiqh rulings.
fact of the matter the science of proper pronunciation and tajweed was developed by the imams of recitation the same way the sciences of fiqh were developed by our mujtahid imams. similarly how when we make taqleed to the imams of fiqh we’re actually making taqleed to the teachings of the Prophet (s), when we recite the Quran properly adhering to all the rules of tajweed including pronunciation, we’re making taqleed to the way of recitation taught to us by the Prophet (s). So of course, the better one’s pronunciation is and the more its in conformance with the rules of tajweed Allah’s pleasure will be greater.
At the same time when we don’t take the time out to learn proper pronunciation of the Arabic, meanings change. For example, in Fatiha when we say Alhumdu lillahi rabbil 3lameen, 3lameen with an “ain” has a distinct meaning from aalameen with an “alif”. So if we’re going to recite the Quran while consciously disregarding the rules of recitation taught to us by the Prophet (s) it could even be a source of Allah’s anger.
Bismillah
Asalamu`aliekum
Brother Umer, the lesson in the story is not to downplay the importance of tajweed and correct pronunciation. Rather it is to emphasize the tremendous importance of having a pure and sound heart free of hypocrisy and full of love and contentment. The one in with a sound heart will strive to improve his pronunciation to the max of his ability, so that he may gain the pleasure of Allah. While the reverse is not true…meaning if one is a master of tajweed he can still have a heart diseased with hypocrisy, hate, and resentment.
That’s how I’ve understood it.
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
It’s not a fiqh matter, it is a matter of purification. Those who criticize others on the basis of their pronunciation. It’s for them. In this case a person with perfect recitation, Allah’s good pleasure would have been found in the following someone without perfect recitation. That’s the lesson. No one is disregarding the rules, they are the rules and we hope to master them. But purification is a separate matter, it is easy to get proud on how well one has mastered the rules. That is the danger and the balance.
gotcha…i guess the title skews the msg of the post…for me atleast
So does this mean that the correct pronounciation is not too big a deal? I do not understand this enough?
Bismillahir Rahmaanir Rahiim
“the lesson in the story is not to downplay the importance of tajweed and correct pronunciation”
“No one is disregarding the rules, they are the rules and we hope to master them.”
It seems very clear that no one is saying correct pronunciation is “not too big a deal” if only people would take the time to read this thoroughly.
The point is not “pronunciation doesn’t matter” but that there are other elements that make the recitation truly pleasing to Allah. Just being able to pronounce the words correctly does not in any way mean that a person has a clean heart, clean intentions, and sincerity when reciting. i would imagine that the Shaytans are able to recite quite perfectly, and certainly there have been complete hypocrites whose recitation was “flawless” sounding… But someone with pure intentions and sincerity, even if their pronunciation is imperfect, they are rewarded for those intentions, inshaAllah. For those – and there are many of us – who are not Arabic-speaking from birth, it is a much bigger challenge to learn proper pronunciation – it may take many years for us to perfect our recitation. We should be willing to work those years towards that attainment, but it doesn’t mean that all the recitation we do in between time is useless, if we recite for the pleasure of Allah.
Nor should imperfect pronunciation be used to degrade people who are examples of purity in so many other ways. And those who think they have perfect pronunciation should not be bragging about it and using their own skill as an excuse to speak ill of others.
BRR
Slm aleykum,
it bespeaks the arrogance, ignorance and stubbornness of these these times when a simple point has to be explained, discussed, debated, defended…matters in Islam have taken a truly rabbinical turn. what was that hadith of the ahir zaman? abt muslims following the sunnah of the jews and christians?…
I totally understand now. Many thanks to sister Aaminah and brother Abdullah; may Allah accept you and all others who posted here into the highest level of Paradise, amin. Forgive me, as these metaphorical-style stories are something novel to me and I am gradually learning to appreciate and understand them. But having seen the comments, I’m spurned on to be a person that revives this art and I ask your prayers for me to have success in it.
As-salamu ‘alaykum wa rahmat Allahi wa barakatuh.
Ameen inshaAllah