Miscellaneous / General
By
Justice Maulana Muhammad Taqi Usmani
On Recitation Of The Holy Quran And It's Translation


Q. I asked a relative of mine to take to the recitation of the Qur'an, a part of it, everyday. Two weeks later when we met again, he said he had finished half of it. Later, when I found out that he had read a translation of the Qur'an and not the text, he told me that there was no use reading the text without understanding it, so he read the translation. Please guide us to the correct approach in this respect?

A. I am glad that you asked this question. This is typical of the approach to the recitation of the Holy Qur'an found in many parts of the world...especially among young people with western education...Let me being by saying that there are three rights of the Holy Qur'an on all of us, the Muslim ummah. The highest is that one should act according to it, and acting according to it depends upon understanding it, that is, understanding its injunctions and directions. Then, if you were to look carefully, you will realize that its understanding depends upon the recitation of its words. Therefore, when the Holy Prophet graced this mortal world and the Holy Qur'an itself declared that Allah has sent him on a mission to accomplish three things:
                                                           
                                                (Recite His verses before them)

You will not miss the clear instruction of 'Yatlu' (recite) here. Then, it was said

                                                          
That is, teach them the book, explain to them its meanings. So, the recitation of the Qur'an stands established as one of the objectives of the mission of the noble Prophet (S.A.W.); and the explaining of its meanings has been identified as yet another. The reality is that both are necessary - the recitation of the Holy Qur'an as well as its teaching and learning. As for those who say why should they recite like parrots when they are not going to understand the meaning, they end up missing the very taufiq of understanding.This much about Tilawah, the recitation of the Qur'an. Teaching and learning come next. Let us keep in mind that the recitation of the Qur'an is a standing obligation, a definite and on going objective, an Ibadah, act of worship in its own right, and a source of rewards and blessings. Just imagine that the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) is teaching his Companions, all of them Arabs, the meanings of Qur'anic words, of course, but, at the same time, he is telling them how to pronounce the words after him. He is teaching them the method of reciting the Qur'an.

So, the method that he taught was most faithfully passed on to the generation following the Companions, the Tabi'in, and the generation which followed, the Taba'Tabi'in, and so on and so forth right up to our own time with a concern for authenticity that remains un- matched in human history. This tells us that the proper and correct recitation of the Holy Qur'an is a constant objective. It is our duty to recite the words of the Holy Qur'an correctly and nicely. It is for this reason that it has been said in Hadith that there is a reward with Allah on every letter recited from the Holy Qur'an. Now, if there is some one still looking for a 'rationale' for this frankly through, I do not believe in 'rationales', especially concerning the 'ahkam' (injunctions) of Allah Ta'ala but, for one who prefers to see only from that angle, I would say that it is through this method that Allah Almighty has taken the responsibility of keeping the text of the Holy Qur'an preserved for all times to come.

Just imagine how comprehendively that responsibility has been fulfilled: not one part of a letter, not one single word of the text of the Holy Qur'an has ever been changed during the last 1400 years. The phenomenon of the preservation of the Holy Qur'an is something Allah Almighty has manifested at the hands of the Muslim Ummah itself, through its children, through its young people who do not understand the meaning of the Holy Qur'an. God forbid, if there were some one who succeeds in burning all the existing copies of the Qur'an, and eliminates the printed version from the face of the earth, even then, the whole Qur'an could be written again from the memory banks of small Muslim children. This is so because the men and women of this ummah held the Qur'an dear to their hearts in unmatched esteem. They revered the words of the Qur'an in the same manner as they held its learning and teaching in esteem; it was a total effort in devotion to the recitation, learning its meanings and teachings, understanding its message and perfecting in their deeds.

So, the excuse that the words of the Qur'an can be bypassed in favour of translated readings is a product of gross misun- derstanding. However, one should not stop at the simple recitation of the Qur'an. One should go further, move towards the understanding of its meanings, see for himself, through tafasir (explanations), the message Allah Almighty has given therein. The point is that recitation alone should not be taken as sufficient. Making an effort to understand its meanings and message must follow. However, the attitude of leaving out the learnings of the words of the Qur'an, that is, its correct recitation, as if it was something useless, is totally wrong. They ultimately remain deprived of the very ability to understand its meaning and message.