Daily Quranic Inspiration

Reading Qur’aan at night saves one from negligence, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever reads ten verses at night will not be recorded as one of the negligent.” Narrated by al-Haakim, who said it is saheeh according to the conditions of Muslim. Al-Albaani said in Saheeh al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb (640): It is saheeh because of corroborating reports.

It is not obligatory for a woman to put on hijaab in order to read Qur’aan, because there is no evidence to indicate that this is obligatory. 

Know that the best of your deeds is prayer and that no one maintains his wudoo’ except a believer.

If a person reads a translation of the meanings in order to understand the meaning and benefit from what the aayaat are saying, then he will be rewarded for doing this, and his reward is with Allaah, because the Muslim will be rewarded for reading tafseer (explanation and commentary), and a translation is tafseer.

The best way to learn Tajweed (proper recitation of Qur’aan) is to read to a shaykh who is qualified in Qur’aan recitation.

If you do not have any work, there is nothing wrong with reading Qur’aan, or reciting Tasbeeh (saying Subhaan Allaah) or Tahleel (saying Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah) or other dhikr.

The correct view is that reading Qur’aan with the rules of tajweed is not obligatory; tajweed is only a means of making one’s recitation more beautiful.

The Holy Qur’aan is blessed, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“(This is) a Book (the Qur’aan) which We have sent down to you, full of blessings that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember.”[Saad 38:29]

A man will be rewarded for reading it whether he understands its meanings or not… But the believer should not read the Qur’aan without understanding at the time when he is responsible for his actions.

The majority of fuqahaa’ say that it is haraam for a woman to recite Qur’aan during her period, until she is taahir (pure) again. The only exceptions they make is in the case of dhikr (remembrance of Allaah) and phrases that are not intended as tilaawah (recitation), such as saying “Bismillaahi’r-Rahmaani’r-Raheem” or “Innaa Lillaahi wa innaa ilayhi raaji’oon”, or other phrases from the Qur’aan which are repeated as general du’aa’s.

This is permissible and was done by the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). When he prayed tahajjud at night, when he came to a verse of warning he would seek refuge with Allah, and when he came to a verse of mercy he would ask his Lord for mercy. So there is nothing wrong with that; rather it is mustahabb when praying tahajjud at night and when praying by day, or when reading the Qur’aan outside of prayer.

Acquire the knowledge of Quran and Sunnah. It is with no doubt, the best thing a Muslim could spend his time, money and effort pursuing. A Muslim who acquires this knowledge not only benefits himself; he benefits others as well.

It is permissible for a Muslim to read Qur’aan in all situations, except when he is junub (in a state of major impurity following sexual activity); he is not permitted to read Qur’aan in this situation. Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyah] said: “The scholars are unanimously agreed that it is forbidden for the person who is junub to read Qur’aan.” (See Tawdeeh al-Ahkaam by ‘Abd-Allaah al-Bassaam, vol. 1, p. 309)

With regard to what is mentioned about reading Qur’aan being dhikr, this is correct, indeed it is one of the best forms of dhikr, because it is the words of Allaah.

There are marfoo’ ahaadeeth concerning that which support one another and indicate that it is prescribed to read Soorat al-Kahf on Friday.

There is no difference between reading Qur’aan from the Mushaf or reading from an electronic Mushaf, or from pages on the Internet, or from the screen of a mobile phone. What counts is reading, moving the lips and looking at the written words of Allah, may He be exalted, and all of that is achieved when reading from an electronic screen. So it attains the reward of reading concerning which the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever reads a letter of the Book of Allah will have one hasanah (good deed) for it, and the hasanah (good deed) brings a tenfold reward. I do not say that ‘Alif-Laam-Meem’ is a letter; rather Alif is a letter, Laam is a letter and Meem is a letter.”

Ibn Maajah (215) and Ahmad (11870) narrated that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Verily Allah has His own people among mankind.” They said: O Messenger of Allah, who are they? He said: “They are the people of the Qur’an, Allah’s own people and those who are closest to Him.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah.

Al-Minnaawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

That is, those who memorise the Qur’an and act in accordance with it are the people of Allah, who are as close to Allah as a person’s family is to him. They are called thus by way of honouring them, just as (the Ka‘bah) is called the House of Allah.

An-Nasaa’i (10479) narrated that Ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Whoever recites ‘Tabaarak alladhi bi yadihi’l-mulk… (Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion…)’ [Soorat al-Mulk] every night, Allah will protect him [mana‘ahu] thereby from the punishment of the grave. At the time of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), we used to call it al-maani‘ah (the protector). It is a soorah in the Book of Allah which, whoever recites it every night, he will have done a great deal and done well.”

Classed as hasan by Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) in Saheeh at-Targheeb wa’t-Tarheeb.

The point – as is the apparent meaning of the hadiths – is that the virtue mentioned is only attained by the one who recites that soorah.

Learning and teaching the Qur’an are among the noblest and best of good deeds, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5027)

It was narrated from Abu Umaamah al-Baahili from the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that he said: “The virtue of the learned man over the worshipper is like my virtue over the least of you. Verily Allah and His Angels and the inhabitants of the heavens and the earths, even the ant in its hole and even the fish send blessings upon the one who teaches the people good.”

Narrated by at-Tirmidhi (2685); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh at-Tirmidhi.

Soorat al-Mulk is one of the great soorahs of the Qur’an which we are encouraged in saheeh reports to recite frequently, and there are reports which say that it will protect the one who recites it from the punishment of the grave.

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever recites ten verses at night will not be recorded as one of the heedless.” Narrated by al-Haakim in al-Mustadrak (1/742), and he said: This hadeeth is saheeh according to the conditions of Muslim although they (al-Bukhaari and Muslim) did not narrate it. It was also narrated by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb (2/81)

There is nothing wrong with a Muslim singling out a soorah from the Book of Allah for extra attention, whether that is reciting it or listening to it or learning about its meanings and the like, and learning about what it contains of rulings, exhortation, warnings and so on, without that leading to neglect of the rest of the Qur’an and neglecting to recite it, so long as that is based on some special reasons such as trying to develop a deeper understanding of the soorah or because one feels moved by its contents and the like. It should not be based on a belief in a particular virtue of that soorah for which there is no proof in sharee‘ah.