Implementing the Quran is more important than reading it
2-10-2005 | IslamWeb
Question:
My question is I wrote a letter and put it on a wall in the mosque as a kind of Da'wah. Saying its no art to sit and recite the Quran and Hadeeth but the real art is to follow the path of the Quran and the Sunnah. Was I wrong in this statement because some Muslim told me otherwise?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
There is no doubt that reading the Quran and Prophetic narrations is something religiously required as well as acting according to them. So both things are required and a Muslim can not renounce any of them. Allaah Says (which means): {Follow, [O mankind], what has been revealed to you from your Lord.}[Quran 7:3]. Allaah further Says (which means): {…and recite the Quran with measured recitation.}[Quran 73:4]. There are other verses which order us to follow what has been revealed to us and to recite the Quran properly. Therefore, if you meant that "the matter is not restricted to reading…", meaning that reading is not the only required thing to do, then this is correct. But if you meant that reading the Quran and Prophetic narrations is something that is not religiously required, then this statement is wrong, and we do not think that this is what you meant.
It might be that the reason for which some people objected to this statement from you, is because such statement suggests a second wrong meaning. A person, who wants to call to Allaah, has to do so in a clear and eloquent way that does not cause any ambiguity to the people. It is reported that 'Ali 
said: "Speak to the people according to what they can comprehend, do you want that Allaah and His Messenger 
will be belied." [Al-Bukhari]
Furthermore, the Prophet : "Never that you tell a statement to the people which they can not figure out what it means except that it will be an affliction for some of them." [Muslim]
Allaah Knows best.