The Meaning of Tilaawah (Recitation) of the Quran

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As Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh! I hope this finds you close to Allah & in the best of health and Iman.


The Meaning of Tilaawah (Reciting) of the Qur'aan   
____________ _________ _________ __

Reciting the Qur'aan, as it is understood by our Noble and Pious Predecessors,
means to act upon it and to follow it and to adhere to the lawful and abandon
the unlawful - and not merely recite it with one's tongue.

Ibn Katheer (rh) said in his Tafseer Qur'an il-Adheem, regarding the saying of
Allaah:
"Those to whom We have given the Book recite it as it truly should be recited,
they are the ones who (truly) believe in it. And whoever disbelieves in it, then
they are the losers."[1]
"Qataadah said: "They are the Companions of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu
alaihi wasallam)."

Umar ibn al-Khattaab (radiallaahu anhu) said: "When he comes across the
mentioning of Paradise, he asks Allaah for Paradise and when he comes across the
mentioning of the Fire, he seeks refuge in Allaah from the Fire."
Ibn Mas'ood said: "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, verily its truthful
recitation is that a person treats as lawful what is lawful therein, treats as
unlawful what is unlawful therein, that he recites it just as Allaah had
revealed it, that he does not give its words other than their proper meanings
and does not give an interpretation to any part of it which is not its proper
interpretation. "
Al-Hasan al-Basree (rh) said: "They act according to and upon its clear and
manifest verses (whose meanings are clear and apparent) and they believe in its
allegorical verses (whose meanings are unclear) and they entrust whatever is
difficult for them (to know) to its Knower."
Ibn Abbaas (radiallaahu anhu) said regarding "as it truly should be recited...":
"They follow it as it truly should be followed.[2] " And then he recited the
verse: And by the Moon when it follows it (the Sun)[3]. He said: "Follows it."
Ibn Mas'ood (radiallaahu anhu) said about the same verse: "They follow it as it
truly should be followed."
Umar ibn al-Khattaab (radiallaahu anhu) said: "They are the ones who when they
pass by a verse mentioning mercy, they ask for it from Allaah and when they pass
by a verse mentioning punishment, they seek refuge from it."
And His saying: "They are the ones who (truly) believe in it": is a description
of the ones 'to whom We have given the Book' and who "..recite it as it (truly)
should be recited.."[4] "
So dear reader, the meaning of reciting the Book of Allaah (Tilaawah) is to
memorise it, to recite it as it was revealed to the Messenger (sallallaahu
alaihi wasallam), to study it and to follow it, acting upon its clear and
explicit verses (following its orders and refraining from its prohibition) , to
believe in its allegorical verses avoiding false interpretations of such verses
and to submit the knowledge of their meanings to their Knower in truth, Allaah
the Exalted. If you do that then you are guaranteed Paradise as Ibn Abbaas
(radiallaahu anhu) has said: "Allaah guarantees the one who reads the Qur'aan
and acts upon whatever is contained within it that he will not go astray in this
life and will not be wretched in the Hereafter."


NOTES
1 Soorah Baqarah 2:121
2 "Yattabi'oonahu haqqa ittibaa'ihi" So the meaning of Tilaawah in this verse as
Ibn Abbaas and Ibn Mas'ood explain is Ittibaa'
3 Soorah Shams 91:2
4 Tafseer Ibn Katheer (1/168-169)