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How should I recite and sit with the Qurʾan?

The scholars distinguished between recitation that moves the tongue and recitation that moves the heart. Here is how they taught the second.

10 passages from 8 books in the library

The classical scholars distinguished between recitation that merely moves the tongue and recitation that moves the heart, urging the second. Al-Ghazali teaches that the proper manner is tartīl, a slow and measured recitation, because the objective is reflection and understanding, not speed. He criticizes the heedless reciter and praises pausing between verses, as is recorded of Abu Hurayra. Beautifying the recitation, honoring the Book, frequent reading, and joining recitation to the study of its meanings are all part of sitting rightly with the Qurʾan.

Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.

Where the answer comes from

The classical approach.

These passages are drawn from 8 books by Imam al-Ghazali, Ibn al-Qayyim, and Ibn Kathir — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.

Read them closely. If a passage doesn't sit right, open the full book in the library and listen to the chapter around it. Context in the classical tradition is everything.

Cover of Book 8: The Mysteries of Qur'an Recitation
Book 8: The Mysteries of Qur'an Recitation
Imam al-Ghazali · Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din

11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali → · Provenance →

  1. "Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Three things increase intelligence and remove phlegm: cleaning the teeth, fasting, and reciting the Quran." In Criticism of the Recitation of the Heedless: Anas ibn Malik said, "Perhaps a reciter of the Quran, and the Quran curses him. Maysarah al-Gharib said, "The Quran is within the stomach of a sinner."

  2. "it prays for him; otherwise, it curses him." Some scholars have noted that a person might unknowingly curse themselves while reciting the Quran, saying, "Indeed, the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers," while being one themselves, or "Indeed, the curse of Allah is upon the liars," while being among them. Al-Hasan remarked, "You have taken the recitation of the Quran as stages, using the night as a means to traverse its stages, whereas those before you regarded it as letters from their Lord, contemplating them at night and applying them by day.""

  3. "to reflect upon during prayers, to dwell upon in solitude, and to implement in acts of obedience and followed practices. Malik ibn Dinar used to say: "What has the Quran planted in your hearts, O people of the Quran? Indeed, the Quran is the springtime of the believer, just as rain is the springtime of the earth. Qatada said: "No one sits with this Quran without either gaining or losing," for Allah said: {It is a healing and a mercy for the believers, and it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss}."

Cover of Book 7: The Mysteries of Pilgrimage
Book 7: The Mysteries of Pilgrimage
Imam al-Ghazali · Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din

11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali → · Provenance →

  1. "The hadith: "Whoever sends blessings upon me once, Allah will send blessings upon him ten times. This was narrated by Muslim from the hadith of Abu Hurairah and Abdullah ibn Amr. Book: Etiquettes of Reciting the Quran Chapter One: On the Virtue of the Quran and its People and Criticism of Those Negligent in Its Recitation The Virtue of the Quran: The Muhajirun and Ansar, may Allah be pleased with them, surrounded him, and he, peace and blessings be upon him, urged them to obey Allah Almighty through his sermon."

Cover of Book 31: The Book of Repentance
Book 31: The Book of Repentance
Imam al-Ghazali · Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din

11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali → · Provenance →

  1. ""Fear Allah wherever you are, and follow a bad deed with a good one to wipe it out," and Allah’s words: "Indeed, good deeds remove bad deeds. Thus, sinful listening is expiated by listening to the Quran and attending gatherings of remembrance; sitting in the mosque impure is atoned for by devoting oneself to worship there. Touching the Quran when impure is atoned for by honoring the Quran, frequent recitation, and often kissing it, or by producing a Quran and dedicating it as a waqf (endowment)."

Cover of Book 18: The Book of Listening and Ecstasy
Book 18: The Book of Listening and Ecstasy
Imam al-Ghazali · Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din

11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali → · Provenance →

  1. "The hadith "God is more attentive to a man with a good voice reciting the Quran than the owner of a songstress to his songstress" was previously mentioned in the Book of Recitation of the Quran. The hadith regarding David's beautiful voice in lamentation upon himself and in reciting the Zabur does not have a known origin."

Cover of The Disease and The Cure
The Disease and The Cure
Ibn al-Qayyim · Timeless Classics

14th century · Damascus, Syria
Madārij al-Sālikīn — the classical map of the spiritual journey — and a vast body of work on the soul, love, the traps of the ego, and the nature of the heart.
More on Ibn al-Qayyim → · Provenance →

  1. "his body. Thus it was conveyed that ignorance is an ailment and its cure is to ask questions. Allah has also informed that the Quran is a healing. As he says, had we made it a non-Arabic Quran, they would have said, why are its verses not explained clearly? A foreign language in an Arab say it is for those who believe a guidance and a healing from surah Fusilat. And he said, and we send down from the Quran that which is a healing and a mercy for the believers from surah Al-Isra. Here from is used to indicate the entire category, not to imply partiality, for indeed the whole Quran is a healing as stated in another verse. It is a healing for hearts from"

Cover of Volume 1 — From Creation to Mūsā
Volume 1 — From Creation to Mūsā
Ibn Kathir · Al-Bidāya wal-Nihāya

14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
More on Ibn Kathir → · Provenance →

  1. "him, said, the merit of congregational prayer over individual prayer is 25 degrees. The angels of the night and the angels of the day gather at the dawn prayer, as Abu Huraira noted, referencing the Quranic verse, and the recitation of the Quran at dawn, for the recitation of the Quran at dawn is witnessed. Finally, another narration from Abu Huraira states that the messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, if a man calls his wife to his bed and she refuses and he spends the night angry, the angels curse her until the morning."

  1. "Umm Salama described the recitation of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, as a recitation that was articulated word by word. It is narrated that Anas ibn Malik was asked about the recitation of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. He described it as prolonged. Umm Salama reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, would break his recitation, pausing between phrases like, Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate, and Master of the Day of Judgment."

Cover of Book 19: The Book of Commanding Good and Forbidding Evil
Book 19: The Book of Commanding Good and Forbidding Evil
Imam al-Ghazali · Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din

11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali → · Provenance →

  1. "altering the structure of the Quran and exceeding the divine ordainment, is highly disliked and denounced by many early generations. Among these are gatherings on Friday for selling medicines, foods, and amulets, standing beggars, their Quran recitation, and poetry recitation or similar acts. Some of these are prohibited due to deceit and falsehood, like the fabrications of herbalists and pretenders of magic and trickery, as well as most charm sellers who deceive children and villagers."

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