You do not speak a word of Arabic and you know
a bit about Islam but only in the English tongue. You hear the beautiful Qur'an recitations and
you wish you could do likewise while understanding and appreciating the powerful
words and you also know you need to learn some Arabic for prayer. Where does one begin down the road to being
able to recite and understand the Qur'an?
You should already have memorized the
testimony of faith (La ilaha illa Allah Muhammadu r-rasoolullah) in English and
Arabic and since its a few short words establishing the oneness of Allah and
the one whom He sent his message through.
So the prayer, the prayer. It
begins with the prayer the most important duty.
It is narrated on the authority of 'Abdullah son of 'Umar RAu that the
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: (The
superstructure of) al-Islam is raised on five (pillars), testifying (the fact)
that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is His bondsman and messenger,
and the establishment of prayer, payment of Zakat, Pilgrimage to the House
(Ka'ba) and the fast of Ramadan. - [Sahih Muslim 16 c].
Strategies depend on your learning style. Side by side translation and Arabic resources
are in abundance. Word-for-word
translation resources are out there.
Transliteration resources are available.
Audio recitation exists for the whole chapter or even a verse down to
even a word at a time. Generally someone
new will want to use what is known as transliteration, which is an approximate
English phonetic spelling of the Arabic words so you can learn without being
able to read Arabic. Memorization tools
that repeat selections of verses are available.
There are books, desktop apps, phone apps and many web pages offering
varying degrees of these features.
Generally one should learn the meaning of the words and verses as the
benefit of understanding is so great compared to mere recitation. The Sahaba (RA) used to recite 10 verses at
the most at a time before discussing them and figuring out how to implement
them in their life. Find a style that
works for you then as for what to learn, here is a guideline.
1) Surah Al Fatihah (1. The Opening). These are called the 7 often recited verses
for a good reason:
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah RAu from the
Prophet ﷺ, who said: A prayer
performed by someone who has not recited the Essence of the Quran (1) during it
is deficient (and he repeated the word three times), incomplete. - [40 Hadith
Qudsi #8].
2) Next one should learn all of the obligatory
expressions for the prayer. From takbir
(Allahu Akbar) to tasleem (As-salaamu `alaykum) including tasmi` (sami` Allahu liman hamida), tasbih
(subhan Allah al-`ala or al-`azeem) and the tashahhud (At-tahiyattu lillahi wa
as-salawaatu wa at-tayibattu...)
3) One should start learning things to fulfill
Sunnah's including the "4 qul's" (Say): Surah Al-Ikhlas (112. The
Sincerity), Surah Al-Falaq (113. The Daybreak), Surah An-Nas (114. Mankind),
Surah Al-Kafiroon (110. The Disbelievers).
Generally, it is easiest to start at the end of the final part (1/30th)
of the Qur'an called Juz Amma and work backward until you have memorized. Notable short and easy chapters are Surah
Al-Kawthur (107. The Abundance/River in Paradise), Surah Al-`asr (103. The
Time) and Surah Al-Qadr (97. The Night of Power/Decree). Ayat Al-Kursi (Al-Baqarah, 2:255) is highly
recommended as many hadith mention the benefit of this particular verse such as
before sleeping, as part of an after prayer dzikr or in the morning or evening. The 2 verses after it (2:256-257) are also
good for remembrance of Allah.
Narrated Abu HurairaRAu: Allah's Messenger ﷺ ordered me to guard
the Zakat revenue of Ramadan. Then somebody came to me and started stealing
from the foodstuff. I caught him and said, "I will take you to Allah's
Messenger ﷺ!" Then Abu
Huraira described the whole narration and said: That person said (to me),
"(Please don't take me to Allah's Messenger ﷺ and I will tell you a
few words by which Allah will benefit you.) When you go to your bed, recite
Ayat-al-Kursi, (Al-Baqarah, 2.255) for then there will be a guard from Allah
who will protect you all night long, and Satan will not be able to come near
you till dawn." (When the Prophet ﷺ heard the story) he
said (to me), "He (who came to you at night) told you the truth although
he is a liar; and it was Satan." (Sahih al-Bukhari 5010).
There are other verses referenced in the
hadith many have learned because there are virtues and benefits to them:
I) The first 10 of Surah Al-Kahf (18. The
Cave) to protect from the dajjal (anti-Christ).
The whole chapter is virtuous to recite every Jumu`ah (Friday).
Abu Darda' RAu reported Allah's Apostle ﷺ as saying: If anyone
learns by heart the first ten verses of the Surah al-Kahf, he will be protected
from the Dajjal. - [Sahih Muslim 809 a].
II) The verses 285-286 of Al-Baqarah (2. The
Cow) before sleeping. Add on verse 284
and verses 1-5 of the this same chapter for remembrance.
It was narrated from Abu Mas’ud RAu that the
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever
recites the last two Verses of Surat Al-Baqarah at night, that will be
sufficient for him.” [Sunan Ibn Majah.
Establishing the Prayer and the Sunnah Regarding Them, Grade : Sahih
(Darussalam)].
III) The last verses 190-200 of Al-Imran (3.
The Family of Imran) upon awakening.
Narrated Ibn `AbbasRAu: (One night) I stayed
overnight in the house of my aunt Maimuna, and said to myself, "I will watch
the prayer of Allah's Messenger ﷺ " My aunt placed
a cushion for Allah's Messenger ﷺ and he slept on it in
its length-wise direction and (woke-up) rubbing the traces of sleep off his
face and then he recited the last ten Verses of Surat-al-`Imran till he
finished it. Then he went to a hanging water skin and took it, performed the
ablution and then stood up to offer the prayer. I got up and did the same as he
had done, and stood beside him. He put his hand on my head and held me by the
ear and twisted it. He offered two rak`at, then two rak`at, then two rak`at,
then two rak`at, then two rak`at, then two rak`at, and finally the witr (i.e.
one rak`a) prayer. [Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book 65, Hadith 4570].
IV) Surah As-Sajdah (32. The Prostration),
Surah Al-'Insaan (76. The Person) and Surah Al-Mulk (67. The Dominion) before
sleeping for protection from the punishment of the grave.
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet ﷺ used to recite the
following in the Fajr prayer of Friday, "Alif, Lam, Mim, Tanzil"
(Suratas- Sajda #32) and "Hal-ata-ala-l-Insani" (i.e. Surah-Ad-Dahr
#76).
Narrated Ibn 'AbbasRAu: "One of the
Companions of the Prophet ﷺ put up a tent upon a
grave without knowing that it was a grave. When he realized that is was a
person's grave, he recited Surat Al-Mulk until its completion. Then he went to
the Prophet ﷺ and said: 'O
Messenger of Allah ﷺ [Indeed] I erected my
tent without realizing that it was upon a grave. So when I realized there was a
person in it I recited Surat Al-Mulk until its completion.' So the Prophet ﷺ said: "It is a
prevention, it is a salvation delivering from the punishment of the
grave.'" [Jami` at-Tirmidhi, Chapters on The Virtues of the Qur'an, Grade
: Da'if (Darussalam)].
V) Surah Al-`ala (89. The Transcendence) is of
special mention since it is a tradition for the Witr (odd) prayer which is
strongly emphasized.
Narrated Ubayy ibn Ka'bRAu: The Messenger of
Allah ﷺ used to observe witr with (reciting) "Glorify the name of
thy Lord, the most High" (Surah 87), "Say O disbelievers" (Surah
109), and "Say, He is Allah, the One, Allah, the eternally besought of
all" (Surah 112). [Sunan Abi Dawud
1423, Grade : Sahih (Al-Albani)].
VI) If you plan on doing pilgrimage then 2:201
and 2:158 in Al-Baqarah.
VII) Quranic "Rabbanas" (Our Lord)
such as the well-known 40, as these are the most authentic supplications being
from the Qur'an and though not specifically mentioned, both making
supplications and reciting any verses of the Qur'an is encouraged in countless
hadiths.
VIII) Authentic supplications from the Sunnah
as recorded in books like Fortress of the Muslim.
IX) At this point you are also ready to begin
trying to memorize various hizb (half of a juz) one at a time until you have
memorized the entire Qur'an. Divisions
exist in the Qur'an in part to make it easy to reference and memorize.
Ibn Mas'udRAu reported: The Messenger of Allah
ﷺ said, "Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he
will be credited with a good deed, and a good deed gets a ten-fold reward. I do
not say that Alif-Lam-Mim is one letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter
and Mim is a letter." [At- Tirmidhi].
4) Along side the above mentioned strategy,
when you have gained some comfort, begin to take a Arabic reading and writing
class like the one offered for free at IOU and then some Qur'anic Arabic
classes thereafter which will get you familiar with 80% of the Qur'an
vocabulary. As motivation, think of how
great taraweeh (the night prayers of fasting month) during Ramadan will be
after you can readily understand 4 out of 5 words.
5) Make sure your intention to learn the
Qur'an and Classical Arabic is for prayer, remembrance of Allah, serving the
cause of Allah or pilgrimage. If this
carries you to memorize the entire Qur'an then Alhamdulillah (all praise and
thanks is to Allah), a great blessing has been bestowed on you. Otherwise this road map should in shaa Allah
at least maximize your ability to benefit with whatever stage you have made it
to. One should seek rewards step by step
and not go for the big rewards while losing all the rewards that are milestones
along the way.
At first glance, learning a new language seems
like a daunting task but Allah has made the Qur'an easy to learn and if you go
to it with an open heart and mind, you will advance your intellect and develop
a closer relationship to Allah during the process. Allah SWT says:
"And We have certainly made the Qur'an
easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?" (Al-Qamar,
54:17). This means anybody can learn a
decent amount of Arabic including ability to read it, the vocabulary, some
grammar and memorize a great deal of verses and chapters and authentic
supplications relatively quickly. Make
goals and try to implement it into your day to day life. You will find everything you could ever need
as these verses touch your soul and give your life true meaning.
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