Reading the Quran Without Understanding Does Not Bring Any Benefit.

Reading the words of the Quran can bring great benefits if we think about them and understand them. Reading or reciting without understanding does not produce any benefit.

People doing salat in their daily routine recite some surah in the prayer. Many people don’t understand what the surah means or why they are reciting it.
When someone dies, family and friends gather and do a reading of the Quran, thinking that it will earn benefits for the deceased, even though nobody understands what they read.

Many people read through the whole Quran during Ramadan, thinking that it earns them ‘thawab’ or credits even though they do not understand what they read.

During Ramadan, traveeh prayers are held in mosques in which the Imam recites through the Quran at a rapid rate. Most people who attend traveeh  have no idea what the recitation means. Their minds wander everywhere during the prayer and they become restless.

The Quran is a book of wisdom, instruction and inspiration. Reading its text without understanding does not bring any benefit.

It is better to read one or two ayas and think about them rather than read many pages without understanding.

Understanding the Quran versus Its Memorization

Sura 47 Aya 24        أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا

“Do they not then earnestly seek to understand the Quran, or are their hearts locked up by them?”

This aya asks us to earnestly seek to understand what is in the Quran, because wisdom is not grasped by superficial reading. The Arabic word ‘tadabbur’ is used in the aya, which means to think and understand deeply.

Note that there is no instruction in the Quran for people to memorize it.

Memorization like a parrot dulls the mind and it does not produce understanding.

A major reason for social and spiritual stagnation in the Muslim world is rooted in the belief that recitation of verses you don’t understand brings you closer to God.

 People repeat memorized suras that have no personal meaning for them, and believe they are earning credit in salat.

Note that people engaged in violent sectarianism and groups like the Taliban and Boko-haram believe they are very religious because they continuously recite memorized suras and dzikr phrases.

In most mosques the imam is someone who has memorized the Quran, but has little understanding of how life works, and many people ask him for guidance in solving their problems.

In the early days memorization was the only way to preserve the text so Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) encouraged people to memorize. But there is no need for it now because we have printing.

In any case, it is a mistake to believe that that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) wanted people to memorize the Quran without thinking about what is in it, as is the common practice now.

If some people memorize an engineering textbook without deeply analyzing and understanding its contents, a bridge they try to build will collapse.

 The Quran teaches how you and I can raise ourselves to a life of excellence. This is not possible if we memorize some or all of it and keep reciting what we memorized. It becomes possible if we make an earnest and sustained effort to understand the amazing insights it gives to uplift our lives.

A misunderstanding that prevents people from understanding the Quran

There is a very common misunderstanding that blocks people from understanding the Quran. It is the assumption that the Quran is a continuous reading.

We all know that the Quran was revealed over a period of 22 years. Five short ayas were revealed when Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was forty years old. Many months passed before the second revelation came and it is in a different sura. Afterwards revelations came when the Prophet (pbuh) needed guidance or inspiration. Each revelation has a different purpose and a different insight. And they came at irregular intervals.

But now we have the Quran as a Book and it feels natural to read it in sequence. You can open the Book and read from page 1 to page 15 in half an hour. When we re read like this we get confused because there is a different insight after every few lines.

You can overcome this difficulty by focusing on only one or two ayas and think about them. Pick ayas that appeal to you. Ask yourself “What is this aya telling me”? “How does this relate to my life”?, or “What is the benefit in this teaching”?. You may have to think like this for a long time. But in due course you will find answers to your questions and your understanding of life will grow.

Those Who Earned Allah’s Anger and Those Who Have Gone Astray

Recently I received a question about the meaning of the last two verses in Al-Fatiha. The Question is given below followed by my response.

Question: In Al-Fatiha, it says

Iyya-ka na`budu wa iyya-ka na-sta`een. Ihdi-na as-sirata al-mustaqiim

You alone we worship and You alone we seek the help of.

Guide us to the path straight

Sirata allathina an`amta `alay-him ghayr il-maghdubi `alayhim wa la ad-daallin

The path (of) those You have given grace, not those who Your

anger (is) on them and not those who went astray

In the later ayat, who are those that have Allah’s anger and who are those that have 'gone astray' ?

Traditionally and in many English translations this is viewed as the Jews and the Christians. I find this disrespectful to people honesty following a faith in good conscience. .If indeed that is an appropriate rendering, then I am troubled, for I do not feel that monotheistic faiths are mutually exclusive  (yes, there are differences, but) I feel that these differences can be respected rather than picked over. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Reply:
  The interpretation you refer to is based on this Hadith:

 Narrated Adi bin Hatim: I asked Allah’s Messenger about the aya: "Ghairil maghdubi ‘alaihim [not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger]," he replied: "They are the Jews". And : "Walad dallin (nor of those who went astray)," he replied: "The Christians, and they are the ones who went astray".

 This Hadith is quoted by Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud

It refers to the Jews and Christians in Medina who struggled against Prophet Muhammad and his companions. Sura 2 has many statements accusing those Jews of acting against what they learned from the Torah. The Christians were criticized for being exaggerated in their devotion to Jesus, declaring him to be God and not a man who was a Prophet.

But note also aya 62 in sura 2 which says:

Those who believe (in the Quran), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

This shows that the hadith quoted above is not a condemnation of all Jews and Christians.

 Moreover it is said in sura 4 aya 93 : “If a man kills a believer, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein, and the anger and curse of Allah are upon him.”  

From this aya we can infer that the majority of those who are earning Allah’s anger at this time are from the Muslims because of their readiness to kill people, Muslims of other sects and non-Muslims simply because they don’t agree with them.

Those who are astray

This refers to people who abandon truth out of exaggerated devotion and ignorance. An illustration of this is provided by the present day worshippers among Muslims who pray day and night but don't know what they are saying in their prayers.

 Go to traveeh in a mosque in Ramadan. There are hundreds of people praying but most have no idea of what is being said in prayer. They worship Allah in a manner that is misguided and devoid of knowledge.

Religious Tolerance

Sura 22 Aya 67

To every community We have given ways of worship which they observe. Therefore, do not let them draw you into disputes on this matter, but invite people to your Lord, for you are on the right way.

An attitude of religious tolerance is described in this verse. It is in recognizing the authenticity of the different ways of worship found among different people. Different religious traditions represent different possible paths to God-consciousness, and it is a mistake to argue with people about their traditions and rituals. 

The opposite attitude is to consider our own particular ritual of prayer as the only one acceptable to God. An extension of this belief is that all other ways are misguided and those who follow them are bound for hell. This belief is the root of intolerance. It has caused enmity and bloodshed between religious communities for centuries.

         

When Muslims were a new community on Long Island in the 1980s, they formed an association but did not have a building of their own. They approached a church, and the elders of the church gladly gave them permission to hold their prayers in the church. The church elders demonstrated the wisdom conveyed by this aya.

In a few years, the Muslim community collected enough funds to build a mosque of their own and moved their congregation to the new building. A few years later, a group of Ismaili Muslims approached them because they were new to the area and did not yet have a building of their own. They asked the officials of the mosque for permission to hold their prayer services in the mosque. The mosque officials denied them permission. “The Ismailies are misguided people, and their prayer is not correct,” said one of the mosque trustees. The mosque trustees did not understand the message of this aya.

This attitude is common in mosques throughout the world. It is at the root of the deep suspicion many Muslims display toward peoples of other faiths, not only non-Muslims, but also Muslims with alternate traditions. In many countries Muslims following the teachings of different imams are alienated from each other, and sometimes hostile to each other. Minority Muslim populations such as the Ismailies, the Druze, and the Ahmadies feel isolated and persecuted in many Muslim countries.

 An essential part of Muslim reformation is to recognize that tolerance is not a Western idea, but it is a universal concept from the Quran. It is beneficial to everyone who practices it. Societies where people accept each other irrespective of religious beliefs are strong and dynamic, and societies where there is intolerance among faith groups are splintered and weak.

The attitude of self-righteous intolerance comes partly from feelings of insecurity about your own ways. If you have not thought about your rituals of worship deeply and are not sure why you do them, you feel threatened by the alternatives offered by others. If, on the other hand, you are sure that you are on the right way as the aya above points out, you will gladly acknowledge that other people have their own authentic ways of worshipping God. This tells us that we should focus on improving our own prayer and other rituals, so that they bring peace and fulfillment to us, rather than criticizing what others do.

Women's Place in the Mosque

Hadith reported in the Book of Muslim:

Umm Hisham who was the daughter of Haritha who was the son of Ne’man said the following: “I memorized sura Qaf from hearing it from Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) because he used to recite it often during his khutbah on Fridays.”

Remember that there were no loud speakers in the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). How far from the minbar do you think women were in the mosque of  Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in Madina. Umm Hisham memorized Sura Qaf (sura no. 50 which has 45 ayas ) by hearing it again and again because Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) used to recite it in his Friday khutbah. Perhaps 20 feet or maybe 30 feet away.

How does this compare with the place of women in the mosque you go to? Can the women see the khateeb? , or are they behind a wall or curtain, or maybe on a different floor of the building?

The way women were in the mosque of the Prophet (pbuh), they felt part of the Muslim community. Do women feel part of your community, or are they treated as outsiders and a nuisance for the men?

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) lived more than 1400 years ago. Women were welcome in his mosque and they were at a forward place in the mosque.

Other cultures have moved forward since that time in recognizing the contributions women can make to a community. They welcome women in their houses of worship and give them important positions in their affairs.

But Muslim society has gone the other way. Muslim women have less status in the mosques of today than 1400 years ago. This is because the affairs of mosques are decided by narrow minded men who got their religious education by rote-memorization and not by thinking.

An important step in Muslim reformation is to change this sad state of affairs. At the very least women should be in the main hall of the mosque. In a mosque which upholds the progressive spirit of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), women should be integrated into all its affairs. The roles assigned for different functions should not be based on discrimination by gender, but by learning and leadership qualities of the individual.

Boredom in Prayer

Many people feel bored in prayer. In the mosque we see people yawning in salat and shifting from side to side. The majority are hurrying to complete the required number of rakat and leave.

One reason people feel bored is because their salat is according to a formula they have memorized which they repeat again and again. They have repeated it so many times that they don’t pay attention to the words they are saying. Salat is something to be done and “be done with”. Your heart is not in it and your mind wanders everywhere.

It is important to know that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did not pray according to a fixed formula. He changed what he said in salat according to how he felt. This is very clear when we read about the Prophet’s prayer in books of Hadith.

To give a simple example, when people are in ruku, they say “subhana rabbi-al- azeem”. Many do not know what it means. Most of those who know the literal meaning have never thought about how it relates to their lives. This is what they were taught and this is what they say every time. In Hadith we find that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said different things at different times in ruku. You can count more than five different supplications and affirmations people heard him say in ruku. And this is a count of what people heard him say. We can guess that the Prophet spoke with spontaneity in his private prayer also.

Also, the Prophet recited verses from the Quran in his salat but when he was particularly moved by some aya he would stop the recitation, raise his hands and make dua, then he would resume his recitation, and later when he was so moved he would again raise his hands and make dua.

The main point to understand is that we are not following the Prophet’s example when we are doing salat by repeating a fixed formula again and again in an absent minded manner. His salat was spontaneous and inspiring to him. When was the last time you were inspired in your prayer?

We should know that boredom is a negative emotion. It creates a feeling of helplessness, and if continued leads to depression. You can see how bored people in your mosque are. They are apathetic and not able to do even simple things.

Everyone knows that prayer can help you if it comes from your heart. That is how the Prophet’s salat was. Prayer according to a fixed formula in which you are bored and distracted is very different, and it does not help.