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Recitation of Holy Quran

It has to be read with the best light that our intellect can supply

RECITATION OF the Holy Quran during the blessed month of Ramadan is a rewarding exercise. Muslims should try to give as much time as possible in prayers and the recitation of Holy Quran for spiritual bliss. The Book of Allah is unlike any other; it is the timeless Speech of Allah, and not a created thing. It is the study guide for life, death, and what follows. Therefore, it deserves a far more careful study than anyone else’s speech. It necessitates that its reader return to the early narrations of those who witnessed its revelation and heard its explanation by the one deputed by Allah to rehearse and explain His Words to humanity, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

For if one would try to ponder over the meanings of the verses without having done this study, then surely the filth of the time that he lives in and his ignorance of the correct application and understanding that the early Muslims had would cause him to understand some things not intended by Allah, Most High, and therefore he would go astray, thinking to be worshipping Allah. So, let every sincere Muslim who hopes to earn Allah’s Love by reciting and reflecting over Allah’s Book hold tight to the meanings explained by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and those taught by the Companions and their immediate followers, and the early scholars of Islam.

The Holy Quran is the book of guidance for Muslims. There are many verses in the Holy Quran itself that underscore the majesty of Allah’s verses and the Holy Quran itself. We all know from the Holy Quran and the Ahadeeth about the countless rewards and benefits of praying and reciting Holy Quran during the nightly prayers (last one third of the night).

The Holy Quran has even more of an important significance in the month of Ramadan, the month of fasting. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Holy Quran, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and wrong) [Quran al-Baqarah 2:185]

Faith and sincerity are the first requisite if one wants the divine help in understanding the Holy Quran and following the message of God in practical life which can turn him into a man of excellent character, the crying need of the Muslim nation. The recitation of the holy Quran in the month of Ramadan, which is also known as the month of the Holy Quran is a source of infinite blessings.

No doubt, it is the duty of every Muslim, man, woman, or child, to read the Holy Quran and understand it according to his own capacity. If anyone of us attains to some knowledge or understanding of it by study, contemplation, and the test of life, both outward and inward, it is his duty, according to his capacity, to instruct others, and share with them the joy and peace which result from contact with the spiritual world.

The Holy Quran —indeed every religious book — has to be read not only with the tongue and voice and eyes, but with the best light that our intellect can supply, and even more, with the truest and purest light which our heart and conscience can give us. The soul of mysticism and ecstasy is in the Holy Quran, as well as that plain guidance for the plain man, which a world in a hurry affects to consider as sufficient.

Every earnest and reverent student of the Holy Quran, as he proceeds with his study, will find with an inward joy difficult to describe, how the general meaning of the Quranic verses enlarges as his own capacity for understanding increases. It is like a traveller climbing a mountain: the higher he goes, the further he sees.

How much greater is the joy and sense of wonder and miracle when the Holy Quran opens our spiritual eyes. The meaning, which we thought we had grasped expands. New worlds are opened out. As we progress, still newer and again newer worlds ‘swim into our ken’. The miracle deepens and deepens, and almost completely absorbs us. It is in this spirit that we should approach the Holy Quran with sincerity and total faith in the religion of Islam.

To reflect upon the verses of Allah is a form of worship; it is something that will draw one close to Allah, Most High. This reflection is not a reckless and wandering one, rather, it includes a study of the classical Tafseer (exegesis) of the verses being pondered over. Allah, Most High, says in the Holy Quran (what means): “Then do they not reflect upon the Quran? If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction.” [Holy Quran: 4:82].

So, let us make sincere efforts to reflect on the message of Allah and pledge to follow the teachings of the Holy Quran to the best of our ability.

— Special to Khaleej Times