Question
The scholars say that when reading Qur’an, the individual should make himself feel that Allah is addressing him with every verse, but how can I feel that Allah is addressing these words to me when He speaks of the disbelievers, polytheists, deniers and others, when I am Muslim and believe in the Last Day? May Allah bless you.
Answer
Praise be to Allah.
Making yourself feel that Allah is addressing you in the Qur’an is attained by listening attentively to the Qur’an, reflecting properly upon it, and acting in accordance with it, as the Muslim believes that Allah is addressing His slaves in the Qur’an, issuing commands and prohibitions to them; sometimes He addresses a particular group in some contexts, and sometimes He addresses humanity as a whole.
When He addresses the believers, then the Muslim should reflect on that and say: We hear and we obey. Ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When you hear Allah saying “O you who believe”, then pay attention, for it is something good that He is enjoining or something bad that He is forbidding.
Tafseer Ibn Katheer (1/374).
When Allah addresses humanity as a whole, then you should think that Allah is addressing you in particular, so if it is a command then do it, and if it is a prohibition then refrain from it, and if it is an exhortation then act upon it.
The individual should reflect upon what Allah says throughout the entire Qur’an, but that reflection varies according to the context of what is being recited of the text. If obedience is mentioned, then he should bear in mind that Allah is addressing him with the command to obey. If disobedience is mentioned, then he should bear in mind that Allah is addressing him with the prohibition on disobedience. If people of faith (believers) are mentioned, he should bear in mind that Allah is addressing him with the command to take them as friends and allies and love them. If the people of disbelief and hypocrisy are mentioned, he should bear in mind that Allah is addressing him with the command to hate them and regard them as enemies.
If the Shaytaan is mentioned, he should bear in mind that Allah is addressing him with the command to regard him as an enemy, go against him and not to follow him, and to strive to obey Allah. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Did I not enjoin upon you, O children of Adam, that you not worship Satan – [for] indeed, he is to you a clear enemy –
And that you worship [only] Me? This is a straight path”
[Yaa-Seen 36:60-61].
If truthfulness and those who speak the truth are mentioned, he should bear in mind that Allah is addressing him with the command to strive to be one of them.
If allies and liars are mentioned, he should bear in mind that Allah is addressing him with the command to strive to not be one of them.
Imam Abu Bakr al-Aajurri (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
… Then Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, urges people to reflect upon the Qur’an, as He, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an, or are there locks upon [their] hearts?”
[Muhammad 47:24].
And Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from [any] other than Allah , they would have found within it much contradiction”
[an-Nisaa’ 4:82].
Muhammad ibn al-Husayn [al-Aajurri] said: Do you not see, may Allah have mercy on you, how your most generous Lord urges His creation to reflect upon His words? Whoever reflects upon His words will come to know the Lord, may He be glorified and exalted, and will come to know the greatness of His might and power, and will come to know the greatness of His grace and bounty towards the believers, and will come to know his duty to worship Him, so he will commit himself to do what is obligatory, and will beware of whatever his most generous Lord has warned him against, and will be eager to do what He has urged him to do.
Whoever has this attitude when reciting Qur’an, and when listening to someone else reciting it, the Qur’an will be healing for him, and he will become independent of means even if he does not have wealth; he will feel honoured and proud even if he does not have a large family around him; and he will feel at ease in situations where others feel worried. His main concern, when starting to read or recite a soorah, will be “when will recitation of Qur’an have an impact on me?”, not “when will I finish the soorah?” Rather his concern will be: when will I understand and pay heed to what Allah is saying to me? When will I rectify myself, when will I learn the lesson? Because recitation of Qur’an is an act of worship, and an act of worship cannot be done properly when there is heedlessness and a lack of attention. May Allah help and guide us all.
End quote from Akhlaaq Hamalat al-Qur’an (3)
This is how the attitude of the one who recites Qur’an should be.
And Allah knows best.
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