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Etiquette of Reciting the Qur’aan

Allah (swt) said: “When you read the Qur’an, recite it.” [73: 4]

Allah (swt) said: “When you recite the Qur’an ask refuge in Allah from the shaytan” [16: 98]

- so whenever you recite the Qur’an, begin first by saying “A’UDHUBILLAHI MINASH SHAYTANIR RAJIM”

1- WHEN YOU READ THE QUR’AN, YOU MUST HAVE THE NIYYAH TO RECITE IT SINCERELY FOR THE SAKE OF ALLAH (SWT) EXCLUSIVELY

The MOST ritual act after the salah, The niyyah must be entirely for the sake of Allah (swt), not for the sake for people to say that you are a good qari’

Abu Huraira
The Prophet (saw) said: “The first people who Allah will judge, will be a man who died and people said he was a shaheed, and will be Allah will say “I gave you ni’ma in the Dunya, what did you do with it?”, he will say “I fought and died for your sake.” He (swt) will say “you are a liar”, you died for people to say that you were brave, and people did so.” then he (swt) will order that he be dragged on his face until he enters hellfire.”, and also a man who was a scholar, and sought knowledge. And it will be that Allah (swt) will say “I gave you ni’ma in the Dunya, what did you do with it?”, he will say “I sought ilm and a recited the Qur’an”. He (swt) said “you are a liar, you studied ilm for the sake of people to say you were knowledgeable and you recited Qur’an for the sake of people to say you were Qari’, and they did.” then he (swt) will order that he be dragged on his face until he enters hellfire."” Muslim 1905

2- WHEN YOU RECITE QUR’AN YOU MUST ACT UPON IT.

Allah (swt) said: “You should act upon the Qur’an (tadabbur), or the heart and mind will be blocked completely” [47: 24]

Allah (swt) said: “Shouldn’t they have tadabbur (or have Fiqh/knowledge of the halal and haram)?” [4: 82]

The Prophet (saw) said: “I came a across a man who was lying on his back, a man came and stood over him and kept hitting him with a rock on his head, the rock fell and the man would retrieve it, and continued to hit him, (this continues again again.) I asked who this was, Allah (swt) said the man who was hit on the head was the one who used to recite Qur’an and go to sleep without to contemplate it and not act upon it in the day.” Bukhari 1386, Muslim

Abdullah ibn Amru ibn aas
The Prophet (saw) said: “The most hypocrite of my Ummah are the qaris” Musnad Imam Ahmad vol.2 p. 175 Hadith no. 6633

3- IF YOU MEMORISE AYAT YOU MUST CONTINUE TO REMEMBER IT (BY RECITING IT) AND YOU MUST ACT UPON IT.

Abdullah ibn Umar
The Prophet (saw) said: “The man of the Qur’an is like the man with a camel, if he holds it and looks after it all the time, it will stay with him, if he does not hold on to its ropes, and neglects it, it will leave him.” Bukhari 5031, Muslim 789

Abu musa al-Ash’ari
The Prophet (saw) said: “Keep maintaining close relationship with the Qur’an, By Allah the Qur’an, if you keep maintaining it, you will come so close to it, it will be like you are holding the rope of the camel, and if you let go of it, it is as if you let go” Bukhari 5033

Don’t say, “I forgot the Qur’an,” but say “Allah made me forget”

Aisha (ra) said: “The Prophet (saw) was sitting at home, and he heard a man reciting the Qur’an, he said, “may Allah bless this man, he made me remember this ayah that Allah made me distracted from it.” Bukhari 5038, Muslim 788

Ibn Mas’oud said: “The dispraise for the one who says “I Forgot so-and-so verse” he did not forget the verse, something made him forget.”

- therefore we must be polite with the Qur’an
- not to say that we deliberately forgot the Qur’an but that something made us forget
- The one who forgets the Qur’an, Allah will forget them on the day of judgement.

Allah (swt) said: “…Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that which he has earned, and he is punished for that which he has earned. “Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, …” [2: 286]

Allah (swt) said: “(Allah) will say: “Like this: Our Ayat (Qur’an) came unto you, but you disregarded them, and so this day, you will be neglected.” [20: 126]

- What is the Hukm of the one who memorises the Qur’an and forgets it.

Whosoever memorises the Qur’an then ignores to act on it and to maintain it, he is sinful.

If Allah makes him forget some ayat, but he remembers the meaning and fiqh of the ayat, and he acts upon it, he is not sinful, and some fuqaha say that he is rewarded for it as if he still remembers it.

Hifz can apply to some or all of the Qur’an, so you can be Hafiz of some ayat.

4- IT IS OBLIGATORY TO HAVE AT-TADABBUR OF (TO UNDERSTAND AND ACT UPON) THE QUR’AN

The Prophet (saw) asked us to recite the Qur’an as if it was revealed now.

Allah (swt) said: “This is a book we have sent to you is a blessing so that they may have tadabbur of the ayah. And that men of understanding may remember” [38: 29]

Allah (swt) said: “Do they not then consider the Qur’an carefully?” [4: 82]

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “A report to us from the Sahabah of the Prophet (saw) that they used to learn 10 verses, and they used never to go to the next 10 verses until they have learnt all of the fiqh of the first 10. So we learn the knowledge and action together.” Musnad Imam Ahmad 22971

- in another narration he said 5 verses

Imam Maalik reported from Yahya ibn Sa’id.

“I was sitting with Muhammad ibn Yahya and I asked: “what did you learn from your father?” “I learnt from zaid ibn thabit, he asked “what do you think of the one who recites the Qur’an in 7 days? He said “it is better if you recite it in half a month or 10 days, so that you can understand it and act upon it."” Muwatta’ 320

Al Tadabbur ul Qur’an is Waajib

5- IT IS PERMISSIBLE TO RECITE LYING DOWN OR IN ANY POSITION, AS LONG AS IT IS NOT IN THE TOILET

Allah (swt) said: “Those who recite Allah’s word, standing, sitting and lying down on their side (in all positions), and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth… “ [3: 191]

Allah (swt) said: “And who has created all the pairs and appointed for you ships and cattle on which you ride: in order that you may mount on their backs, and then may remember the favour of your lord when you mount thereon, and say: “glory to him who has subjected this to us, and we could never have it (by our own efforts). And verily, to our Lord we indeed are to return.” [43: 12-14]

Abdullah ibn Nakfal said: “I saw The Prophet (saw) the day he conquered Makkah, he was reciting Surah Nasr while on his camel and the camel was moving:” Bukhari 5034, Muslim 794

Aisha said: “The Prophet (saw) used to recite while he was lying in her lap, while she was in menstruation.” Bukhari 297, Muslim 301

Imam Nawawi explained that it is allowed to recite Qur’an even if you are near to impurity in analogy to this hadith.

[Fath ul Baari vol. 1 p. 479]

6- TOUCHING THE QUR’AN WITH PURITY

Allah (swt) said: “This is an honourable Qur’an. In a book well-guarded which none can touch it (the Qur’an) except in purity.” [56: 77 - 79]

Which type of purity?

1. Small impurity (no wudu’
2. Big impurity (junub)

There is no dispute that you CANNOT touch the Qur’an while in junub.

“Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Hazm that in a letter that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent to Amr ibn Hazm it said that no-one should touch the Qur’an unless he was pure.” Muwatta’ 468

- It is forbidden to touch the Qur’an without wudu’ directly, but in a bag it is ok, and you cannot carry it even in a bag with junub
- You can carry it in your pocket even without wudu’ but not in junub.
- This only applies to the uthmani script.
- Even if it is a translation, but with Arabic inside, you must have wudu’ to touch the ARABIC text but not to carry it.

If someone is not in wudu’ and not in janaba, can he recite.

There is dispute amongst the fuquha,

- Some say you can because the Prophet (saw) did it.
- Others (and Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad) say that he can read but not recite. Although the Prophet (saw) used to recite without wudu’, it is only for the Prophet (saw) because the Prophet (saw) was allowed even to pray while in junub.

Imam Ali (ra): “The Prophet (saw) used to recite for us without wudu’ without janaba” Musnad Imam Ahmad 627

Ibn Abbas said: “I was in my aunts house (Maimuna), it became midnight, the Prophet (saw) used to wake, wipe the sleep from his face and he recited the last 10 verses of ‘Ali Imran, just after he woke up and made wudu’ after.” Bukhari 183, Muslim 673

“Yahya related to me from Malik from Ayyub ibn Abi Tamima as-Sakhtayani from Muhammad ibn Sirin that Umar ibn al-Khattab was with some people who were reciting Qur’an. He went to relieve himself and then came back and recited Qur’an. One of the men said to him, “Amir al muminin, are you reciting the Qur’an without being in wudu?” Umar replied, “Who gave you a verdict on this? Was it Musaylima?"” Muwatta’ Vol. 15 hadith 2 / 469

- Those who say that you do not need wudu’, they say if they have the Qur’an in front of them you MUST have wudu’
- Shafi’ies believe that you are not allowed to recite in a group for tafseer etc except with a Qur’an in front of them except in the salah.
- There is no evidence for someone to pray with the Qur’an in his hands.

7- TO RECITE FROM MEMORY OR FROM THE QUR’AN

- Some say that it is better to recite from memory
- Most fuquha say it is better to recite from the book, because to look at the word of Allah is worship.
- Both are allowed and rewardable

From alghurabaa.co.uk