بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
al Quran: the Book of Allah
Summary of main points
al-Quran is the inimitable speech of God revealed to the prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
It is the last and final of the revelations and guidance to humanity till the end of times.
Together with Sunnah, it comprises the main source on which our religion is based.
The recitation of the Quran is an act of worship.
The preserved book
Allah Almighty says in the Quran:
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ
Indeed, it is We who sent down the remembrance (al-Quran) and indeed, We will be its guardian. (Al-Hijr, ayah 9)
This is a unique characteristic of Quran differentiating it from the previous scriptures: it is preserved to our day in its original form.
Reciting the Quran is praiseworthy
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah gets credited with a good deed, and the good deed receives a ten-fold reward. (at-Tirmidhi)
Surahs and ayahs
The Quran consists of 114 surahs (chapters).
Surahs consist of ayahs (verses).
The longest surah is al-Baqarah (#2), consisting of 286 ayahs.
The shortest surah is al-Kauthar (#108), consisting of 3 ayahs.
Etiquettes
Muslims have great respect towards the Quran and Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).
Some of the etiquettes of dealing with the Holy Book include:
To touch the physical copy of the Quran in Arabic, we need to be in the state of ritual purity.
When the Quran is recited, we listen attentively and seek to understand its meaning.
When reciting the Quran ourselves, it is sunnah to seek protection of Allah by saying:
أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْمِ
I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the accursed.
When starting a surah from the beginning, we usually say:
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Ever-Merciful.
Quran is the basis for our beliefs and actions
A prominent example is the surah Al-Ikhlas. It establishes the absolute oneness of Allah, and refutes common misconceptions other religions have about God.
Worth-noting is that translations of the Quran in English and other languages are interpretations of what the actual verses say. Therefore, we only consider the Arabic version to be the Qur'an. This further highlights the virtue of learning to understand Arabic.
Pronouncing and reading Arabic
When learning to pray, beginners mostly use transliteration, i.e. Arabic written in English letters. However, transliteration doesn’t do justice to the sounds of Arabic, as Arabic has letters and sounds which are not present in English.
Therefore, once you've learnt the necessary minimum to establish the prayer, you should proceed to learn reading Arabic.
How to get closer to the Quran
Listen to recitation by shaykh al-Hussary and/or shaykh Abdul Basit;
Learn to read Arabic;
An easy starting point is our app called Joode.
Find a teacher to recite and memorize with (this is the real key).
The Prophet ﷺ encouraged us to learn the Quran even if we struggle with it. He said:
"He who finds it hard (to recite the Qur'an) will have a double reward." (Muslim)
May Allah grant us the success of reciting, learning, and following the Qur'an, and being from truthful!