Al-Salam ‘Alaykum, this is Syed Ali Imran – and you are listening to the Forties podcast, brought to you by Mizan Institute.
This is episode 51 – The Reward for Reciting the Qurān
عَنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ ع قَالَ: مَنْ قَرَأَ آيَةً مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ فِي صَلَاتِهِ قَائِماً يُكْتَبُ لَهُ بِكُلِّ حَرْفٍ مِائَةُ حَسَنَةٍ فَإِذَا قَرَأَهَا فِي غَيْرِ صَلَاةٍ كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَهُ بِكُلِّ حَرْفٍ- عَشْرَ حَسَنَاتٍ وَ إِنِ اسْتَمَعَ الْقُرْآنَ كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَهُ بِكُلِّ حَرْفٍ حَسَنَةً وَ إِنْ خَتَمَ الْقُرْآنَ لَيْلًا صَلَّتْ عَلَيْهِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ حَتَّى يُصْبِحَ وَ إِنْ خَتَمَهُ نَهَاراً صَلَّتْ عَلَيْهِ الْحَفَظَةُ حَتَّى يُمْسِيَ وَ كَانَتْ لَهُ دَعْوَةٌ مُجَابَةٌ وَ كَانَ خَيْراً لَهُ مِمَّا بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ قُلْتُ هَذَا لِمَنْ قَرَأَ الْقُرْآنَ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَقْرَأْ قَالَ يَا أَخَا بَنِي أَسَدٍ إِنَّ اللَّهَ جَوَادٌ مَاجِدٌ كَرِيمٌ إِذَا قَرَأَ مَا مَعَهُ أَعْطَاهُ اللَّهُ ذَلِك
In Hadith #10 we read from Imam Ḥusayn (a) who said: Whoever reads from the Quran in his prayer in a standing position, Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, writes down for him the reward for one hundred good deeds for each letter and if one reads from the Holy Quran without being in prayer, Allah writes down for him the reward for ten good deeds for each letter, and if one listens to the reading of the Holy Quran, Allah writes down for him the reward for one good deed for each letter. “If one completes reading the whole Quran at night, the angels pray for him until morning, and if he completes during the day the angels pray for him until night and his prayers are accepted. This is better for him than all that is between the heaven and earth.’ I (the narrator) then said, ‘This is for one who reads the Holy Quran. What is for one who does not read?’ The Imam said, ‘O brother from Banu Asad, Allah is generous, glorious and magnanimous if one reads whatever he can, Allah will reward him.”
Just as a reminder, remember we are in the second set of 40 narrations that are expounding on that second statement Allah (swt) informed Adam (a) about; which was that Allah will reward us for the good deeds that we do. In that context, we are now going over various deeds where Allah has promised us the type of rewards, and we have thus far covered some of the magnificent rewards we can get for fasting on certain days and months. Now we are looking at the rewards related to the recitation of the Qurān. In the previous narration we saw how if someone reads the Qurān in their house, the house is brightened like a star.
However, in this narration, the reward is for an even more generic act, and that is just merely reading the Qurān. The narration shows us how much reward we get, for even just every letter and word that we recite from it. What this narration highlights though is that these rewards are for the one who reads from the actual physical copy of the Qurān itself; which once again shows us the importance of being acquainted with reading the Qurān, being fluent and comfortable in reading the Qurānic Arabic. However, the companion of the Imam gets worried and thinks this reward is just for those who read from a copy, but what if someone is unable to read from the copy of the Qurān, remember in those days there were still some people who would possibly be illiterate, and would have simply memorized the chapters. So the Imam tells his companion not to worry and that Allah (swt) is not stingy in giving reward and blessing. To whatever extent a person can read, then they should read it, and Allah will reward them in accordance to their capacities.
One may think that if we have the Qurān memorized, isn’t it just better to read off memory? In the next narration we see that a companion asks this exact question and the Imam will tell him that reading from a physical copy is better.
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Sayyid Ali studied in the seminary of Qom from 2012 to 2021, while also concurrently obtaining a M.A in Islamic Studies from the Islamic College of London in 2018. In the seminary he engaged in the study of legal theory, jurisprudence and philosophy, eventually attending the advanced kharij of Usul and Fiqh in 2018. He is currently completing his Masters of Education at the University of Toronto and is the head of a private faith-based school in Toronto, as well as an instructor at the Mizan Institute and Mufid Seminary.
