Hadith with respect to reciting and understanding Quran

Question

I heard a hadith along the lines of (thus paraphrasing): Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that "Right now there a only a few who recite Quran but many who understands it; time will come when there will be many who recites Quran but few will understand it."

I couldn't verify it, but maybe because I am using the wrong keywords.

Answer 1

I am not aware of any hadith to that effect. However, there is an athar by 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ūd that bears a similar meaning:

إِنَّكُمْ فِي زَمَانٍ: كَثِيرٌ فُقَهَاؤُهُ، قَلِيلٌ خُطَبَاؤُهُ، قَلِيلٌ سُؤَّالُهُ، كَثِيرٌ مُعْطُوهُ، الْعَمَلُ فِيهِ قَائِدٌ لِلْهَوَى. وَسَيَأْتِي مِنْ بَعْدِكُمْ زَمَانٌ: قَلِيلٌ فُقَهَاؤُهُ، كَثِيرٌ خُطَبَاؤُهُ، كَثِيرٌ سُؤَّالُهُ، قَلِيلٌ مُعْطُوهُ، الْهَوَى فِيهِ قَائِدٌ لِلْعَمَلِ، اعْلَمُوا أَنَّ حُسْنَ الْهَدْيِ - فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ - خيرٌ مِنْ بعض العمل

_{— NOTE: My own translation, so treat with care:}

You live in times with many scholars and few lecturers. Few ask and many give. [Good] deeds lead away from [unlawful] inclination. There will come a time afterward when there will be few scholars and many lecturers. Many will ask and few will give. [Unlawful] inclination will lead away from [good] deeds. Know that good guidance — near the end of times — is better than some [good] deeds.

This athar was documented in In Fat'h Al-Bari (Arabic: فتح الباري شرح صحيح البخاري) by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (Arabic: أحمد بن علي بن حجر العسقلاني), Vol. 10, pp. 510.

Note that Ibn Mas'ūd mentioned this a few times with different words, but the same meaning:

إنك في زمان كثير فقهاؤه قليل قراؤه تحفظ فيه حدود القرآن وتضيع حروفه قليل من يسأل كثير من يعطي يطيلون فيه الصلاة ويقصرون الخطبة يبدون أعمالهم قبل أهوائهم وسيأتي على الناس زمان قليل فقهاؤه كثير قراؤه يحفظ فيه حروف القرآن وتضيع حدوده كثير من يسأل قليل من يعطي يطيلون فيه الخطبة ويقصرون الصلاة يبدون فيه أهواءهم قبل أعمالهم

_{— NOTE: My own translation, so treat with care:}

You live in times with many scholars and few reciters [of the Qur'an]. Qur'an's laws are in maintained and its words are rarely wasted. Few ask and many give. They lengthen their prayers and shorten their speeches. They give priority to [good] deeds over [unlawful] inclinations. There will come a time with few scholars and many reciters [of the Qur'an]. Qur'an words will be maintained and its laws will be wasted. Many will ask and few will give. They will lengthen their speeches and shorten their prayers. They will give priority to [unlawful] inclinations over [good] deeds. (Al-Muwatta')

This version was narrated by Imam Malik.