Should he show that he is hafiz of Qur’aan so as to encourage people?

 

I am hafiz of Qur’aan, praise be to Allaah. Is speaking of that for the purpose of encouraging others permissible? Or is it something that should be kept secret between a person and his Lord? i.e. is it better to conceal it?.

Praise be to Allaah.

It is permissible for a
person to speak of what Allaah has blessed him with of knowledge or hifz
(memorization of Qur’aan) if that is done so as to ward off harm or to serve
the interests of people, such as if he wants to encourage them to memorize
Qur’aan and seek knowledge, and that is not regarded as the kind of
self-praise that is forbidden. Allaah tells us that Yoosuf (peace be upon
him) said (interpretation of the meaning): 

“[Yoosuf (Joseph)] said:
‘Set me over the store‑houses of the land; I will indeed guard them with
full knowledge” (as a minister of finance in Egypt)’”

[Yoosuf 12:55]. 

‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood
(may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I recited seventy-odd soorahs to the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the
companions of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) know that I am the most knowledgeable among them of the Book of
Allaah. If I knew that anyone was more knowledgeable than me, I would go to
him. Narrated by Muslim (4502). 

Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said, commenting on this hadeeth: This hadeeth shows that it
is permissible for a person to mention virtues and knowledge that he has if
there is a need for that. 

With regard to the
prohibition on praising oneself, that refers to praising oneself
unnecessarily, when the motive is boasting and self-admiration. But
prominent people often praised themselves when there was a need, such as to
ward off harm thereby or to achieve something that is in the people’s
interests, or to encourage them to acquire knowledge from him, and so on. An
example of serving the people’s interests is when Yoosuf (peace be upon him)
said: “Set me over the store‑houses of the land; I will indeed guard them
with full knowledge”, and an example of warding off harm is when
‘Uthmaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) said, when he was under siege that
he had supplied equipment to the army that went to Tabook, and had dug the
well of Roomah. And an example of encouragement to others is when Ibn
Mas’ood said this (the words quoted above) and when Sahl ibn Sa’d said:
There is no one left who has more knowledge of that than me, and when
someone else said: You have come to the expert, and so on. End quote. 

But whenever a person is
able to conceal his knowledge, that is better, because his showing it and
speaking of it may open the door to the shaytaan and cause him to fall into
pride and self-admiration. 

And Allaah knows best.

Following note from Learning Quran online Blog 

 

Learn holy Quran online which it self states in it that only those who are learn quran and pure should touch the holy text: This is indeed a Quran in Arabic in a book well-guarded, which none shall touch but those who are clean (56:77-79).  One should make formal ablutions before handling or Quran reading and this the quran tutor should tell in his quran teaching when quran for kids lessons are going on. After intercourse or menstrual bleeding one should not touch the holy Quran or do quran recitation and also not do quran memorization until after bathing non-Muslim should not handle the sacred text, but may listen to Quran online or read quran translation or exegesis. With all these things in mind when one is not reading or reciting holy Quran it should be closed and stored in nice and clean place, it should never be placed on floor or in a bathroom and Muslim should focus on reading quran the tajweed quran and its rules with a proper institute.