The Rights of the Quran and some tips on how to fulfill them – Part 1
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu Alaikum.
Last year, I put up a lecture on the rights of the Quran.
Here is a summary of its rights:
1) To believe in it
2) To recite it
3) To understand it
4) To act upon it
5) To call to it
[6) To do the above all the time]
Now, how can we can actually fulfill these rights especially with the month of the Quran almost here?
Here are some tips that might be useful, insha-Allah.
1) To believe in it
Well, here is the main obstacle that this ummah (nation) faces today when trying to keep in touch with the Quran: many Muslims secretly have doubts about the Quran.
They don’t directly say it of course but one can easily understand that they do when they say things like “Polygamy is not correct” or “Capital punishment is cruel” or “Times are different now.”
These are the same people who call for “reinterpreting the Quran”. They also reject many authentic hadeeth. Why? Well, because it goes against their beliefs.
There’s a problem here, of course. Being a Muslim means we take our beliefs from the Quran and the Sunnah. It does not mean that we come in with a bunch of pre-conceived notions then try to interpret Islam in a way that suits our desires. That is not called submission.
Submission is letting Allah and His Messenger dictate what we should and should not do.
So, how can we fulfill this right of the Quran?
Well, we need to take everything that it tells us as the truth. We need to judge everything else according to it and not the other way around.
For example, suppose someone mentions a scientific “fact” that goes against the Quran. We need to accept what the Quran says and reject this scientific “fact”.
Another way would be to learn aqeedah (creed). This is one way of increasing oneself in certainty and iman (faith).
Also, there’s a nice book, called “How to Approach and Understand the Quran” by Jamal Zarabozo, that talks about the proper way to approach the Book of Allah. [No, I don’t think that it’s online.]
2) To recite it
The proper way to recite the Quran is explained in a science known as “tajweed”.
It is mandatory for a person to read the Quran with tajweed (i.e. following the rules of recitation). Why? Well, if one recites the words incorrectly, it could lead to changing the meaning.
So, how can you recite the Quran with tajweed?
1) Get a teacher ASAP. You cannot do this alone as someone has to be there to spot your mistakes.
2) Practice, practice, practice and after that, practice some more.
What if you have no teachers in your area? Well, try to get one of those online teachers. [Warning: Some of them these online Quran teachers are cheats. A relative of mine had a bad experience with one of them.]
Also, you could try to keep listening to the ayaat (verses) over and over again.
The following websites would be helpful:
For tajweed rules, one may refer to the following websites:
http://www.tajweedinenglish.com/
http://www.readwithtajweed.com/
[Oh and I have some useful stuff on my Haafidh blog as well.]
For those who have no way of getting a teacher, the following two series may help:
Correct your recitation by Muhammad Salah
The Noble Emissaries by Yasir Qadhi
To be continued…
Assalamualaikum
About the Tajweed part, I know it’s obligatory on us to learn how to pronounce the letters correctly, but what about The rules of tajweed (mudood, noon and meem sakinah etc) especially the madd because there are different rules for different ways of recitation. Is it obligatory to practice these as well while reciting .
I attended this lecture about connecting with the Quran (from an authentic brother/Sheikh) and he basically said learning tafsir is more important than learning tajweed, which is true i guess, (although he did say that while recitation it is waajib upon us that we recite each letter correcty) what he mentioned were the rules (Mudood)?
I m really confused …is there a hadith that mentions that tajweed is fard? Or does tajweed only mean to correct your pronounciation?
Wa Alaikum Assalam Sister.
Firstly, please forgive me for the late reply.
The scholars of tajweed agreed that there were six matters that were mandatory for everyone to follow. These six all involved changing the meaning of the Quran (reciting with the wrong makhaarij, adding or deleting a letter, incorrect harakah), etc
As for the madd, ghunnah, etc, they differed on this. The majority (as far as I remember) said that it was not obligatory for those that have not learnt it to recite it.
If a person has studied these rules though, he is obligated to recite with them. This is what I remember. Allah knows Better.
Tajweed means beautifying if I recall correctly. As a science, it includes all of the above that you mentioned.
The proof is that we recite the way the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) recited and the fact that Allah ordered us to recite with tarteel.
I would say that both tajweed and tafseer are important, although perhaps not at the same level, and both should be given their time. When reciting, one should recite properly and with understanding.
I hope that answers your question.
Baarakallahu feek.