Is it Better to Recite or To Understand Qur’aan?

One of the most frequently asked questions regarding the Qur’aan – is that is it better to recite, or to understand? How should one prioritize his/her time to get the best from the Book of Allah? 

With regards to recitation, it is a given, that one would be rewarded for every letter that he recites, with that of ten hasanah (rewards). The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:

مَنْ قَرَأَ حَرْفًا مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ فَلَهُ بِهِ حَسَنَةٌ وَالْحَسَنَةُ بِعَشْرِ أَمْثَالِهَا

“Whomsoever recites one letter from the Book of Allah,

For him is (that he receives) a reward (hasanah); and every hasanah is (multiples) of ten like it.

لاَ أَقُولُ الم حَرْفٌ وَلَكِنْ أَلِفٌ حَرْفٌ وَلاَمٌ حَرْفٌ وَمِيمٌ حَرْفٌ

“I do not say that “alif lam meem” is a letter; but alif is one letter, lam is one letter, and meem is one letter” 

(Narrated by At-Tirmidzi who graded it hasan sahih)

So it is a mercy and blessing from Allah that simply reciting from his book, without understanding whatsoever, entitles one to a huge rewards – and this reward has not been granted to any other book in this world, except the Qur’an. And if you ponder the fact that al-Fatihah alone has 113 letters, simply reciting this surah can yield in 1,130 rewards, Alhamdulillah. So yes, recitation is definitely good.

But let’s ponder for a second, the function of the Qur’an and its purpose to mankind. This is the Book that was sent to the Qurayshi nation of Jahiliyyah – one that was submerged in idol-worship, fornication, adultery, gambling, alcoholism and murdering – and it was this very book, the Qur’an that inspired and transformed this same nation who was the Best Example for mankind : that was a shining example in righteousness, abstinence, discipline and excellence.

So having said that, let’s be realistic and ask ourselves this honest question : Can a book ever have any achievement of that magnitude by having the people read and recite that book without understanding it?

If I were to read a motivational book in Spanish, a cookbook in German, or a manual in Filipino, would I really expect it to change my life in anyway, if I didn’t understand a single word? I can read the words, after all…?

Allah describes the Qur’an as هدى a Guidance (for our lives), البينة a clarification (of His Laws, of how we conduct ourselves), الفرقان the criterion (to differentiate right from wrong, truth from falsehood) – and how can one fully benefit from these functions of the Qur’an without understanding?

So my brothers and sisters, while we can, in theory, simply recite the words “طه” (ta ha), “يس” (ya seen) one hundred times in a minute and receive rewards for it, and while we can rush our Quran recitation this Ramadhan to meet our completion KPI to receive our ten multiple rewards; in reality, without spending effort to understand, ponder and reflect on these verses, how will we expect these recitations to have a practical effect on our lives and changing it for the better?

We should aspire to have the Qur’an have an effect on our hearts and our lives.

So we should balance it out; as much as we do spend time to recite the arabic text, we should also put in the effort to understand it : read the translation, listen to lectures on tafseer, read up a basic tafsir.

Themes in the Qur’an are often repeated but told from different perspectives to emphasize different lessons – so a little understanding can go a long way and really have a huge benefit and will have a profound impact to how we benefit from the Revelation of Allah.

The advent of YouTube lectures and eBooks today makes it so easy and accessible to us these days and we have no excuse.. it’s simply a matter of how serious are we about it.

أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا

“Do they not ponder and reflect deeply on the Qur’an? Or are their hearts sealed?” (Surah Muhammad, verse 24)

May Allah make us amongst those who understand, recite, memorize, act upon, and convey His Book. 

Amin

Wahai Duta Agama : Jagalah Akhlaq Anda

Peringatan kepada semua Ustaz, Pendakwah, penuntut ilmu, pencinta sunnah, penegak agama Allah, dan terutama sekali kepada diri saya sendiri: jagalah perilaku dan akhlakmu dan tonjolkanlah peribadi yang mulia – sama ada secara peribadi mahupun di laman media sosial – kerana demi Allah, anda bertindak sebagai duta dan wakil untuk agama, sama ada anda sedar atau tidak.

Malah, kalau anda berjanggut, bertudung labuh atau ber-niqab, pun sama juga: anda secara tidak langsung membawa imej agama bersama anda.

Orang yang “suka” atau “sokong” anda, akan melihat tingkah laku anda sebagai rujukan dan contoh teladan.

Bila anda mempamerkan akhlak yang buruk seperti mengata, mengutuk, mengumpat orang lain dengan biadab, menggunakan perkataan yang tidak senonoh atau melampaui batas dalam perbincangan; atau sikap yang ambil ringan terhadap isu haram/khilaf; meremehkan amalan sunnah; atau berkongsi lawak kotor; pakaian yang kurang sopan; mengkritik usaha dakwah lain – secara tidak langsung mengajar orang awam bahawa ini semua adalah “ok”, lama-kelamaan merosakkan akhlak dan sikap umat Islam, dan kadangkala menyebabkan perpecahan di ummah, terutama di kalangan “pengikut”.

Manakala orang yang tidak setuju atau adanya permusuhan dengan anda, akan cari ‘poin’ untuk kenakan anda dan merosakkan imej anda, dan anda baru sahaja menghidangkan peluru kepada mereka, di samping amalan anda dicatit dan disaksi oleh Allah dan Malaikat-Nya.

Orang yang tidak suka agama pula, akan gunakan contoh anda sebagai alasan “beragama tetapi perangai buruk”.

Ingatlah wahai sahabat, Rasulullah ﷺ bersabda:

“إِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُ لِأُتَمِّمَ صَالِحَ الأَخْلاقِ‏”

“Sesungguhnya aku HANYALAH diutuskan untuk menyempurniakan akhlak yang baik” (Diriwayatkan oleh Al-Bukhari dalam Adab Al-Mufrad, dinilai sahih oleh Al-Albani)

Tujuan utama Rasulullah diutuskan secara keseluruhannya adalah untuk menyempurnakan akhlak mulia – jadi kalau seseorang yang menuntut ilmu yang dibawa oleh Rasulullah, tetapi ilmunya itu tidak membawa perubahan positif pada akhlaknya, bermaksud dia telah gagal terhadap matlamat Rasulullah diutuskan.

Para ulama zaman dahulu meletakkan garis panduan yang sangat terperinci tentang akhlak dan adab penuntut/penyebar ilmu: kerana kepentingan peranan mereka mengajar dan mentarbiyah masyarakat. Alangkah sedihnya bila kita lihat zaman skarang dipenuhi dengan “ustaz” yang ada ilmu, tetapi menonjolkan perangai yang buruk dan malang sekali, dijadikan ikutan.

Para ulama salaf-us soleh, mereka menjadi rujukan terbaik masyarakat: dan mereka sendiri belajar adab dan akhlaq daripada guru mereka sendiri. Bayangkan, pada zaman Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, diriwayatkan bahawa dalam halaqah ilmunya, seramai 3000-5000 orang akan datang ke kelasnya. Di zaman yang takde mikrofon, apa yang 3000 orang dapat pelajari? Mereka datang untuk mempelajari akhlaknya.

Jadi wahai sahabat, sentiasa berwaspadalah dengan akhlak anda. Kesemua pertuturan kita – termasuklah apa yang dikongsi di Facebook – dicatit, dinilai, dan PASTI akan dibalas oleh Allah. Bawalah sebaik-baik bekalan ke akhirat anda.

“Finding” the Time to Memorize Qur’an - A Practical Approach

There’s no secret to it – memorizing Qur’an is all about repetitions, repetitions, and repetitions. There are varying specific techniques to memorize, depending on different individual capacity and capability, but they all revolve around repetition. 

 

The science behind it is that repeated brain neurological activity helps build “bridges” across brain cells, making the connection stronger and thus easier to recall as more repetitions are made; much like how athletes and sportsmen get increasingly better at “praciticing” the same strokes/moves and perfecting them at professional levels, and thus is so easy for us to speak, as our ‘native language’ and ‘accents’ have been so engrained across years of repetitive use – likewise we need the repetition to ‘engrain’ the Qur’an in our minds and hearts.

But the million-pahala question is : how do we find the TIME to memorize Qur’an?

When we have professional and personal responsibilities to handle; full-time jobs, a family to care after, chores to complete.

As much as we should, not all of us can easily “make time” dedicated for memorization on a consistent basis. We don’t necessarily need to “sit down in front of the mushaf” to memorize, we can do it whilst walking, standing, driving, etc.. as long as we can get easy access to Qur’an reference to look at once in a while (e.g. mobile phone app is a HUGE blessing).

So that’s basically what I do, and am recommending to you all : ‘optimize’ and ‘scavenge’ the time that we have.

As busy as we are within our 24-hour schedule, not all 24-hours require complete brain function – much of our day actually involves of idle time, waiting and mundane tasks : leaving perfect opportunities for us to learn and continuously repeat our recitation of Qur’an, “alang-alang” whilst doing other activities; example :

- 3 minutes while waiting for the water to boil/preparing breakfast

- 5 minutes while waiting for your spouse/child to get ready

- 10 minutes while driving to the masjid/office/station

- 5 minutes while walking to office

- 20 minutes in LRT

- 3 minutes waiting for the train

- 2 minutes while walking up/down the staircase

- 4 minutes in the lift

- 15 minutes while waiting in line at the post office/bank/government office/clinic

- 30 minutes in boarding lounge before flying

- And many, many more depending on your daily routines..!

If we really put our minds to it, we can easily get 1-2 hours per day, every day (perhaps more) – all without even taking time off or altering our normal schedule.

A brother shared that he fully utilized the KL traffic to his advantage, by repeated recitation in the Qur’an in the car – and almost by this alone, he can steadily memorize one full page every week.

By half a year he would have memorized an entire juz’.

I personally picked up this tip from my mom – She would memorize/recite repeatedly whilst making her morning walks in the park/around the apartment.

This technique has other ‘side’ benefits to it: instead of wasting time during this ‘idle’ time by staring at our social media apps, instead we fully use it in the benefit and worship of Allah, in a way which He loves. The Prophet ﷺ said:

“وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ أَحَبَّ الْعَمَلِ إِلَى اللَّهِ أَدْوَمُهُ وَإِنْ قَلَّ”

“And know, that the most beloved deeds to Allah are those which are done continuously, even if they are small” (Narrated by Muslim, An-Nasa’I, also similar narration by Al-Bukhari)

Bearing in mind, as well, that Allah rewards us for every single letter we recite:

“مَنْ قَرَأَ حَرْفًا مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ فَلَهُ بِهِ حَسَنَةٌ وَالْحَسَنَةُ بِعَشْرِ أَمْثَالِهَا لاَ أَقُولُ الم حَرْفٌ وَلَكِنْ أَلِفٌ حَرْفٌ وَلاَمٌ حَرْفٌ وَمِيمٌ حَرْفٌ”

“Whoever recites a letter from the book of Allah then for him is a good deed “hasanat” each – and a good deed is multiplied by ten.

I do not say that “alif, lam, meem” is one letter – rather, “alif” is a letter, “lam” is a letter, and “meem” is a letter.” (Narrated by At-Tirmidzi, graded hasan)

And, we recite the Book and the Words of Allah, this should also have a “Self-Reminder” effect of keeping our actions in check; if we are busying ourselves with reciting Qur’an it should remind us to control our limbs and eyes from doing/seeing what is displeasing to Allah, which is, in essence – taqwa (consciousness of Allah).

With this in mind, “No time” isn’t really much of an excuse.. it’s about how much we want to achieve it. May Allah make us all huffadz of the Qur’an – ameen!

Mastery of the Qur'an - the Greatest Honor

I truly respect, admire and – for the sake of Allah – Love those who can recite Qur’an with excellent Tajwid, and those who memorized Qur’an, especially those who achieved this during their adult years.

As a person currently undertaking the effort to reach those goals (and having a long way to go), I can appreciate that this is NOT something easy – Mastering Tajwid and Memorizing Qur’an requires massive willpower, enthusiasm, discipline, and istiqamah towards reaching that goal, and a huge deal of self-awareness in fighting off the whispers of Shaytan to make us procrastinate and finding excuses to delay the efforts.

So when I meet, or see, or know of a person who has excellent Tajwid in Recitation, and/or one who memorizes a lot / the entire Qur’an, it immediately earns my respect as I see this person as a person who is serious in his/her Deen: to have undertaken the serious self-motivated and determined effort for years – in spite of the chores, responsibilities, and distractions of every day life – to attain this.

The honor of Mastering the Qur’an is greater and more worthy to be respected than the honor of wealth, titles and lineage - and anyone can attain this if they put in the effort. 

Many people get demoralized at these subjects – especially at Tajwid when they keep on being pointed their mistakes by Tajwid teachers. The reality of Tajwid improvement IS to “hunt for mistakes” in attaining perfection in Recitation – and when one continually stumbles across error after error, in class, in public, in front of friends, sometimes in spite of ‘years learning’ tajwid, still making mistakes – this can make them feel discouraged, embarassed and ashamed in front of others, and give up entirely. Some people avoid entire halaqah sessions because they feel intimidated by Tajwid sessions.

Likewise with memorizing Qur’an – the most common trick of Shaytan to make people give up is to intimidate people into thinking it’s a “heavy” and “difficult” task: like looking up a massive skyscraper one has huge aspirations of climbing. Instead of tackling it step by step, the fear and intimidation prevents them from even taking their first step, and thus abandon further attempts.

And sometimes as we go along, it’s a struggle to maintain the previously memorized parts, then we feel discouraged again, start thinking it’s “futile” and give up. Qur’an requires constant revision to ensure its memorization is retained, as the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:

“تَعَاهَدُوا الْقُرْآنَ فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لَهُوَ أَشَدُّ تَفَصِّيًا مِنَ الإِبِلِ فِي عُقُلِهَا”

“Always return and revise (your memorization) of the Qur’an, for I swear by the One in Whose Hand is my soul, it (the Memorization of the Qur’an) runs away faster than camels are released from their tying ropes” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari)

Let’s just take a step back and consider the case of the world’s greatest sportsmen, athletes, and scholars, in any field – do we think that they just ‘attained’ the status overnight? At some point of time they were also struggling amateurs, but through their passion and determination, their effort eventually drove them to the top. One does have to wonder : Had they procrastinated and easily get demoralized, would they even be on the map?

Even if one were to consider the task of attaining a bachelors degree – even that wasn’t easy! Very difficult, to me, in fact.. but Alhamdulillah many of us made it!

Have we put in HALF or even a FRACTION of the effort that we put to obtain our degree as we did in our Hifz and Tajwid of Qur’an in our lives? 

We need to plant in serious determination and effort to Improve our Rectiation and Memorize the Book of Allah, and put aside personal pride, ‘fears’ and procrastination attempts. The Prophet ﷺ would motivate the person who is struggling in his/her Recitation by glad tidings of double rewards for their sincere efforts:

“مَثَلُ الَّذِي يَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ وَهْوَ حَافِظٌ لَهُ مَعَ السَّفَرَةِ الْكِرَامِ الْبَرَرَةِ، وَمَثَلُ الَّذِي يَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ وَهْوَ يَتَعَاهَدُهُ وَهْوَ عَلَيْهِ شَدِيدٌ، فَلَهُ أَجْرَانِ”

"The example of a person who recites the Qur’an and masters / memorizes (it by heart), will be amongst the Noble Righteous Scribes (i.e. noble Angels in Paradise);

And a person who exerts himself to learn the Qur'an by heart, and recites it with great difficulty, will have a double rewards." (Narrated by Al-Bukhari)

May Allah make us steadfast on being amongst these and become the best of mankind.

“خَيْرُكُمْ مَنْ تَعَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ وَعَلَّمَهُ”

“the BEST of you are those who Learn the Qur’an and teach it” (Hadith Narrated by Al-Bukhari)

Riya' - Mengapa digelar sebagai "Syirik Kecil" atau "Syirik Tersembunyi"?

Mengapakah “Riya’” disebut sebagai “syirik kecil” atau “syirik tersembunyi”?

Bukankah syirik itu menyembah berhala, tokong, patung, dan sebagainya…? Jadi apa kena-mengenanya dengan menunjuk-nunjuk amalan ibadah kita?

Syirik adalah menyekutukan sesuatu objek/makhluk dengan Allah. Apabila ada sesuatu itu adalah milik Allah Semata-mata, dan seseorang itu memberikan hak itu kepada orang lain, maka itu adalah meletakkan “Sekutu” dengan Allah.

Mengambil contoh ‘berhala’ tadi, apabila seseorang menyembah atau bersujud kepada objek atau berhala, Hak untuk disembah dan disujud adalah Hak Allah semata-mata – oleh itu, sembah terhadap makhluk selain daripada Allah adalah mengadakan sekutu dengan-Nya lantas adalah satu bentuk Syirik.

Jadi apa kaitannya dengan Riya’? Definasi Riya’ adalah mengerjakan amalan ibadah dengan niat untuk mendapatkan kepujian dan penghargaan daripada manusia. Berbeza dengan takabbur/kibr (sombong/berlagak atau angkuh), dan ujub (rasa kagum dengan diri sendiri) – ini adalah kategori yang lain.

Oleh kerana Hak untuk mengurniakan bahasan pahala atas amal ibadah adalah Hak Allah Sahaja, maka apabila seseorang beribadah dengan niat Riya’ - melakukan amal ibadah untuk mendapat kepujian dan penghargaan manusia – maka Dia seolah-olah mengharapkan “balasan” itu daripada manusia sebagai sekutu dengan Allah. Maka dengan itulah ianya Syirik

Hal ini dibuktikan daripada Hadith Rasulullah ﷺ:

“Perkara yang aku paling takuti untuk kamu adalah syirik tersembunyi”

Rasulullah ditanya, “Apakah syirik tersembunyi, wahai Rasulullah?”

Baginda menjawab, “Riya' – Allah akan berfirman pada Hari hamba-hambanya akan dibalas untuk segala amalannya,

“Pergilah kau kepada mereka yang kamu nak menunjuk-nunjuk amalanmu di dunia – dan carilah kalau ada dengan mereka sebarang balasan (pahala)” 

(Hadith Riwayat Musnad Ahmad)

Di dalam hadith Qudsi pula, Rasulullah ﷺ bersabda:

“قَالَ اللَّهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى أَنَا أَغْنَى الشُّرَكَاءِ عَنِ الشِّرْكِ مَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلاً أَشْرَكَ فِيهِ مَعِي غَيْرِي تَرَكْتُهُ وَشِرْكَهُ ‏"”

“Allah Maha Suci dan Maha Tinggi berfirman :

“Aku Maha Kaya dan Bebas daripapada sebarang sekutu.

Barangsiapa yang beramal dan menyekutukan-Ku dengannya, Aku akan tinggalkannya dan biarkannya sahaja dengan siapa yang dia sekutukan dengan-Ku” (Hadith Riwayat Muslim)

Sungguh bahaya amalan riya sehinggakan Rasulullah ﷺ mengkhabarkan tentang golongan yang PERTAMA yang akan dimasukkan ke dalam neraka, dan salah satu daripadanya adalah seorang ‘aalim (berilmu), dan mengajarkan ilmu agama kepada orang lain, dan membaca Al-Qur’an.

Dia akan berkata kepada Allah, “Sungguh, aku membacanya (dan mengajarnya) untuk-Mu (ya Allah)!”

Allah akan berfirman 

“كَذَبْتَ، وَلَكِنَّكَ تَعَلَّمْتَ الْعِلْمَ لِيُقَالَ: عَالِمٌ، وَقَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ لِيُقَالَ: هُوَ قَارِئٌ،”

“Kau berbohong! Sebenarnya, kau menuntut ilmu dan mengajarnya agar dikatakan tentang kamu, ‘dia seorang ‘aalim’;

dan kamu membaca Al-Qur’an (dengan baik) agar dikatakan tentang kamu, ‘dia seorang Qari (pembaca Quran)’”

Dikatakan sedemikian, kemudian akan diarahkan agar dia diheretkan atas mukanya sehingga dia dicampakkan ke dalam Neraka.” (Hadith Riwayat Muslim)

Para ulama memberi komentar tentang hadith ini dan mengambil pengajaran yang amat tegas dan keras – bayangkan, disebabkan Riya’, seorang mu’allim dan ‘aalim di kalangan ‘ulama’ akan masuk neraka DAHULU sebelum Fir’awn, Abu Jahal dan Abu Lahab.

Bahayanya riya’ kerana hakikatnya, ia sesuatu yang amat tersembunyi – dikatakan ianya seolah-olah “semut hitam yang berjalan atas batu hitam di kegelapan malam” – kerana ianya sesuatu yang hanya Allah sahaja ketahui. Pada zahirnya, amal ibadah itu akan kelihatan sama sahaja – sama ada ikhlas atau riya’, dan mustahil kita ketahui niat sebenarnya. 

Dan kadangkala niat kita yang pada asalnya ikhlas, tetapi bila kita mula lalai dan mula terjebak inginkan pujian manusia - terus bertukar menjadi ma'siat kepada Allah.

Sebab itu perkara yang paling merisaukan Rasulullah tentang umatnya adalah Riya’. Bayangkan, dahsyatnya fitnah dan musibah Dajjal; sehingga di dalam satu hadith, baginda bersabda, “aku memberi amaran kepadamu tentangnya (dajjal), dan tidak ada seorang Nabi pun yang diutuskan, kecuali dia memberi amaran tentangnya; sesungguhnya (nabi) Nuh (pun) memberi amaran kepada kaumnya!” (HR Al-Bukhari).

Akan tetapi sedahsyat-dahsyatnya Dajjal, di dalam lagi satu hadith, Rasulullah bersabda:

“أَلاَ أُخْبِرُكُمْ بِمَا هُوَ أَخْوَفُ عَلَيْكُمْ عِنْدِي مِنَ الْمَسِيحِ الدَّجَّالِ”

“Mahukah aku khabarkan kepadamu sesuatu yang AKU LEBIH TAKUTI UNTUKMU DARIPADA AL-MASIH AD-DAJJAL?”

Baginda bersabda, “الشِّرْكُ الْخَفِيُّ أَنْ يَقُومَ الرَّجُلُ يُصَلِّي فَيُزَيِّنُ صَلاَتَهُ لِمَا يَرَى مِنْ نَظَرِ رَجُلٍ”

“Syirik kecil – (contohnya), apabila seseorang bangkit untuk solat, dan dia mencantikkan solat dia apabila (dia sedar) dia dilihat oleh orang lain” (Sunan ibn Majah, darjat Hasan)

Oleh itu sentiasa berwaspadalah atas niat kita dalam amal kebajikan untuk memastikan amal ibadah kita ikhlas semata-mata mendapatkan keredhaan dan balasan Allah semata-mata, dan mohonlah pertolongan daripada Allah agar sentiasa istiqamah dalam membetulkan niat kita. 

Semoga Allah jadikan semua di kalangan hamba-hambaNya yang ikhlas.