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Reciting the Holy Qur'an with eagerness and farvour and put all your heart
and soul in the recitation. Be sure that love of the Qur'an means love of
God.
The Prophet of God (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) affirmed:
"
The best form of worship for my followers is recitation of the Qur'an
".
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Engage yourself in the
recitation of the Qur'an most of the time and never
feel wary of reciting the Holy Book.
The Holy Prophet of God (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him)
affirmed:
" God has ordained that any man who engages himself in the
recitation of Qur'an so constantly that he finds no time to send prayers
to me, I shell provide him more without asking than those who ask
". ( Tirmidhi)
Further than this, the
Prophet of God (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) observed:
" The
servant gets nearest unto God by means of reciting the Qur'an
".
(Tirmadhi)
Instructing the people to recite the Holy Qur'an, The Prophet
of God (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) also observed:
"The
man who has studied the Qur'an and recites it daily can be likened to a
basket full of musk whose sweet smell is making the whole atmosphere
fragrant. And the man who has studied the Qur'an but dose not recite it
may be likened to a bottle full of musk whose moth has been sealed with a
stopper ".
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Recite the Qur'an with the sole motive of seeking guidance. Do not recite
the Holy Book for the sake of gaining popularity, or establishing a
reputation for good, harmoniuse recitaation or making a name for piety.
These are base motives and he who recites the Qur'an with these motives in
mind can obtain no guidance from the Qur'an.
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Take care to be
completely neat and clean before you sit down for recitation. Do not
touch the Holy Book without performing ablution and recite it sitting in
a clean and tidy place.
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Sit cross-logged with
your face towards the Qiblah and recite the Qur'an with your head bowed,
with utmost care, complete attention, eagerness of heart and in a proper
manner.
God affirms:
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As far as possible
recite the Qur'an in a clear and distinct manner and
read the letters correctly and utter the syllables in proper style and
recite slowly.
The Holy Prophet ( Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) observed:
" Use your
voice and style to recite the Qur'an in the best
manner".(
Abu Dawud)
The Holy Prophet ( Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) observed:
" He who recites the Qur'an will be told on the Day of Judgment ". Recite the Qur'an now
in the same clear and distinct manner and in the same harmonious style in
which you used to recite it with care and propriety in the world and as a
reward for the recitation of each verse you shell be elevated one degree
higher and your ultimate place is near the end of the final
verse". ( Tirnidhi)
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Do not recite in an
extremely loud or very low voice. Keep your voice at a medium pitch.
God ordains:
Wa la tajhar
bisalatika wa la tukhafit biha wabtaghi baian dhalika sabila.
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Recite the Qur'an whenever you find time, but do try to recite Qur'an in
the course of Tahajjud prayer at dawn. This recitation of the Qur'an
entails the reward of highest degree and it should be the aspiration of
the true believers to attain the apex of excellence in reward for
recitation.
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Do not complete the
reading of the whole of the Holy Qur'an in less than three days.
The Holy Prophet ( Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) observed:
" He who completes the recitation of the full text of the Qur'an in less than three days dose not understand the meanings of the
Qur'an at all ".
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Keep in mind the
glory and value of the Qur'an and as you observe
the etiquette of keeping your person neat and clean while reciting the
Qur'an, so also you must purge your heart of evil thoughts, wicked
passions and impure purposes. The heart that is tainted with evil and
wicked thoughts and passions cannot appreciate and admire the glory and
value of the Holy Qur'an nor can the bearer of such an evil heart grasp
the meanings and realities of the Qur'an.
Hadrat ' Ikrama ( God be pleased with
him) whenever he opened the Qur'an, he often fainted. He used to
say:
" These are the words of my Great and Glorious Lord".
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Recite the Qur'an with the conviction that on this earth this Book is the
only source of guidance for mankind. Meditate and reflect deeply over the
meanings of the Qur'an from this view point and try to grasp the realities
and learn the wisdom contained in the Book. Do not recite it rapidly but
form the habit of reading slowly, distinctly and with careful
understanding of the meanings and try to ponder over the message
conveyed to us .
Hadrat ' Abdullah b.Abbas (God be pleased
with him) often remarked:
" I
consider it for better to recite small Surahs like ' Al-Qari'ah and 'Al-Qadr'
with understanding and care than to read through the longer Surahs of 'Al-Baqrah'
and 'Al-Imran' at a rapid pace without careful understanding of the
meanings of the words.
The Holy Prophet ( Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him)
once recited this one verse over and over again all through the night.
In tu'adhdhibhum fa-innahum
'ibabyka wa in taghfir lahum fa-innaka ant-al-aziz-ul-hakim.
" If Thou punisheth them, Lo ! they are Thy
slaves, and if Thou forgiveth the, Lo ! Thou only Thou art the Mighty, the
Wise ".
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Recite the Qur'an with full determination to adapt your life to he
injunctions of this Holy Book and to reform the pattern of your living in
the light of the guidance provided by it. Make constant endeavours
to order your life in conformity with the Qur'anic injunctions and purge
your life of all impurities. The Holy Qur'an like a mirror will clearly
reflect each blot and spot in your character. It is entirely your own
responsibility to wash off these blots and stains from your life.
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Feel the full impact of
the verses during recitation of the Holy Qur'an.
Rejoice and feel happy on reading about the narrations of Divine Mercy,
Forgiveness and the Everlasting bounties of Paradise. And on reading about
the narrations of the wrath, anger and the terrific punishments of Hell
your body should tremble, eyes should flow and the heart should melt with
the sentiments of repentance and shame. Your face should glow with the
light of happiness on reading about the successes of the pious and
faithful people and you should be seized with deep sorrow on reading about
the destruction of nations. The study of verses containing warnings and
forebodings of torments should make you tremble and your soul should be
filled to the brim with the sentiments of gratitude on reading the verses
which bear glad tidings.
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After reciting the Holy Qur'an
offer a prayer. The words of one of the prayers offered Hadrat 'Umar( God
be pleased with him0 are as follows:
