In the Name of Allaah, the All-Merciful, may His Salaah and Salaam be upon His final Messenger, to proceed:

Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, says:

“Has not the time come for the hearts of those who believe to be affected by Allaah’s reminder (i.e., the Qur’aan) and of the truth that has been revealed, and not to be like those who had been given the Book before, whereby the term was lengthened for them and their hearts became hard and many of them are rebellious.” Soorah al-Hadeed (57): I6

“Allaah has sent down the best speech, a Book, its parts resembling each other in goodness and truth, oft repeated. The skins of those who fear their Lord shiver from it. Thereafter, their skin and hearts soften to the remembrance of Allaah. That is the guidance of Allaah. He guides with it whom He pleases and whomever Allaah sends astray, has no guide whatsoever.” Soorah az-Zumar (39):23

These aforementioned aayaat contain the clearest indication of the importance of the Qur’aan, the required attention that has to be paid to it, its powerful effect upon the hearts, and that it is the greatest matter that increases eemaan, especially, if the recitation is performed upon contemplation, reflection and on trying to understand its meaning.

Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allaah have mercy upon him, says: “In short, there is nothing more beneficial for the heart than reading the Qur’aan with contemplation and reflection. The Qur’aan encompasses all the levels of the travelers, the conditions of the workers, and stations of those possessing knowledge. It is the Qur’aan that generates love, desire, fear, hope, repentance, reliance, pleasure, entrustment, gratitude, patience and the rest of the different states that are life to the heart and perfection of it. Likewise, it repels all the rebuked characteristics and actions that cause the corruption and ruin of the heart.

If people were to possess a realization of what recitation of the Qur’aan with contemplation contains, they would devote themselves to it at the expense of anything else. When the person reads it with reflection and he comes across an aayah that he is in need of, for the cure of his heart, he repeats it, even if he does so a hundred times or the whole night. Hence, to recite a single aayah of the Qur’aan with contemplation and reflection is better than reciting the Qur’aan to completion without any contemplation or reflection. It is also more beneficial for the heart and more conducive to attaining eemaan and tasting the sweetness of the Qur’aan ...” Miftaah Daar as-Sa’aaadah, page 204

Muhammad Rasheed Ridaa states: “Know that strength of religion and culmination of eemaan and certainty does not come about except by reading the Qur’aan very often and listening to it upon contemplation with the intention of being guided by it and to act on its commands and prohibitions. The correct and submissive eemaan increases, strengthens, develops and its effects such as righteous actions and abandonment of disobedience and corruption, all arise in proportion to the contemplation of the Qur’aan. It also decreases and weakens in proportion to not contemplating on the Qur’aan.

[Causes Behind The Increase and Decrease of Eemaan By Shaykh Abdur-Razzaak al-Abbaad]