There are two types of etiquettes and rules of reciting Quran:
1. Outward etiquettes and the outward rules
2. Inward etiquettes and Inward rules
When we read the Quran this is something that is deeply beloved within the Ummah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
Unfortunately many aspects of reverence, and our religion have to some degree within some people may Allah subhana WA Ta’ala store all of our hearts and all of our full expression of Islam, some aspects of reverence have diminished but one of the areas that are still very strong and still very much agreed upon and you find Universal within the Ummah is the love of the Quran.
What we’ll look at inshallah in this quick overview of the etiquettes of the Quran, we will mention just a few ahadith.
Then we’ll look at the actual inward etiquettes of the Quran and that this is one of the greatest acts of worship and should be something that we dedicate our lives to.
The holy Quran does transform us and will transform us but we have to give ourselves to Allah subhana WA Ta’ala in order for that to occur the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wasalam, he said: “That there is no intercessor that is greater in virtue or has a higher degree with Allah the exalted than the quran. No prophet or angel or anything else.”
because the Quran is the word of Allah SWT, with that there’s nothing greater than the words of allah subhanahu wata’ala.
In another hadith, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said: The Quran is an interceder and will be accepted as an intercessor.
in another hadith the prophet salaallah alayhi wasalam said: recite and read the holy Quran, for it will come, on the day of resurrection as an intercessor for its companion, for the one who read it now.
There are many many Ahadith the famous one that we know is that the best of you, the most virtuous of you, the most honored of you, are those who learn the Quran and teach it.
Learning the Quran and teaching the Quran is not just limited to memorization, but the deeper ones learning and teaching of the Quran, the deeper the actualization of their virtue and their merit will become.
So the recitation of the Quran or understanding the Quran is not limited just to being like a parrot, but it is this inward reality and the meaning of the Quran and the message that Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala wants from us.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said in another hadith narrated by Imam Al-Bayihiqi: “The most virtuous of worship of my ummah is the recitation of the Quran.”
The companion of the Holy Prophet PBUH, Uthman bin Affaan said: if the hearts were pure, they would never become satiated from reading the Quran, they would just continuously want to read the Quran. but it’s a process. it is the greatest form of which one of the Saliheen when he would recite the Quran he would start to taste the sweetness of honey in his mouth.
His level of spiritual experience was so powerful that it started to introduce itself even in his physical experience where he would recite the Quran and he would taste the sweetness, so he was scared in the day of Ramadan that it would break his fast.
That’s how the people of the Quran loved the Quran.
We also love to mentioned the hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in which he said: that Allah has chosen people from among humanity,
they (companions) said o Messenger of Allah who are those chosen people?
He sallallahu alayhi wasallam said; that the people of the Quran are the people of God and his most chosen.
There’s many other sayings
Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah RA, he said:
- that a house in which the family members in that house recite the Quran:
- It becomes expensive for the family.
- A lot of good will come to that household.
- The angels will be present in the house.
- The Devils will leave that house.
- A house in which the book of allah is not recited by its people becomes:
- Constricted upon the family.
- It’s good is little.
- The angels will leave that house.
- The Devils will make themselves present.
so there’s a lot of barakah even for your house even for your life in reciting the Quran, if you recite the Quran regularly that these are the words of allah subhanaw taala, we’ll look at some of the hadith about the spiritual nature of the Quran it’s very very weighty it’s very significant
Imam Ahmad’s Dream:
The great Imam Ahmad bin Humble may Allah have mercy on him and be well pleased with him, he said:
“I saw Allah glorious and majestic in a dream (that’s possible because the dream is spiritual it’s not physical) and he to said to Allah SWT,
O my lord what is the most virtuous act that those who come close to you? can seek nearness to you through?
In the dream, Allah responded to him and said:
Through my words through my speech Oh Ahmed.
so Imam Ahmad said: does it necessary that they have to understand it or even not understanding it?
Allah SWT said to him in the dream: with understanding and without understanding.”
Why? because the generosity of God is vast.
Now does that mean that you shouldn’t understand it? of course, you should understand it. that’s even better.
But Allah is so generous there are people who love the Quran, but they don’t understand Arabic but they have that respect of the Quran in their hearts.
There was a woman who would just look at the Quran and begin crying, and she said how beautiful are the words of Allah SWT, she had that kind of respect.
That person is in a better state than someone who just reads it like apparent reads it and understands it and doesn’t care about it.
The point is not to just be parrots, it actually affects us spiritually to have that reverence, there’s a great reward in that.
Adaab/Etiquette of Reciting Quran:
We should spend some time appreciating the Quran and learning about the Quran so that we can appreciate it when we’re reciting it.
Let’s look at the ten internal spiritual etiquettes of the Quran
Knowing the Greatness of These Words
The first etiquette is knowing the greatness of these words and their exaltedness and the grace of allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala and his generosity and gentleness in sending his words to his creation.
We need to think about the exaltation that this is the speech of allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala and these are the words of Allah.
The great imam from the descendants of the Prophet PBUH, when he would recite the Quran he would start to shake from the all that he would fear and he would say: This is my Lord’s Word, this is my Rabb’s word.
Sayyeduna Umar bin Khattab radhi allahu anhu one time he was listening to the Quran and he passed out and he was in bed for three days and they would visit him like a sick person.
They experienced it at such a level, as Allah SWT said: “if we revealed this Quran upon a mountain it would crash asunder.” Their hearts trembled greater than that mountain trembled, so their bodies felt it and they would pass out from hearing the Quran.