How Should One Engage with the Quran during the Month of Ramadan?
Answered By Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Fayez Awad
Question
How should one engage with the Quran during the month of Ramadan?
Answer
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, his Family, and his Companions.
The Month of the Quran
Ramadan is not only a month of fasting and prayer but also a month of the Quran. It holds a special relationship with the Quran, as Allah (Most High) says:
“Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was revealed as a guide for humanity with clear proofs of guidance and the decisive authority.” [Quran, 2:185]
Indeed, the Quran was revealed in this blessed month, particularly on a blessed night, which is Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of Decree). Allah (Most High) states:
“Indeed, (it is) We (Who) sent this (Quran) down on the Night of Glory. And what will make you realize what the Night of Glory is? The Night of Glory is better than a thousand months. That night the angels and the (holy) spirit descend, by the permission of their Lord, for every (decreed) matter.” [Quran, 97:1-4]
The Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) would revise the Quran with Gabriel every night during Ramadan, and in the last year of his life, he revised it twice with Gabriel (peace be upon him).
‘Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) narrated that Fatima walked in a manner similar to that of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and he welcomed her, saying, “Welcome, my daughter.” He then seated her beside him, right or left, and whispered something to her, which made her cry.
When I asked her why she was crying, he whispered again, making her laugh. I commented that I had never seen happiness so close to sadness before.
After the Prophet’s (Allah bless him and give him peace) passing, I asked her about their conversation. She revealed that he had told her, “Gabriel used to meet with me to revise the Quran once each year, but this year he did it twice. I do not see this but as a sign of my impending death, and you will be the first of my family to join me.” That made her cry.
Then he said, “Wouldn’t you be pleased to be the leader of the women of Paradise or the believing women?” And that made her laugh. [Bukhari; Muslim]
Fatima al-Zahra passed away six months after the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), being the first of his family to join him thereafter.
Imam Malik, when the holy month entered, would cease his teaching of Hadith and his assemblies with scholars, devoting himself to the reading of the Quran from the Mushaf.
Sufyan Thawri used to say, “It (Ramadan) is about feeding the hungry and reading the Quran.”
Guidance and Cure
Muslims should emulate the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), and study the Quran with someone who has memorized it more than they have during this blessed month. Some of the predecessors would complete the Quran every ten days, others every seven days, and some even every three days.
The Quran is made by Allah (Most High) as a guidance for the God-fearing, as Allah (Most High) informed us. The believers increase in faith by listening to the Quran, and those with disease in their hearts only increase in doubt and turmoil, as Allah (Most High) says:
“The (true) believers are only those whose hearts tremble at the remembrance of Allah, whose faith increases when His revelations are recited to them, and who put their trust in their Lord.” [Quran 8:2]
The true measure of faith and sincerity in belief is that a Muslim increases in faith when they hear the Quran. As Allah (Most High) said:
“Whenever a sura is revealed, some of them ask (mockingly), ‘Which of you has this increased in faith?’ As for the believers, it has increased them in faith, and they rejoice. But as for those with sickness in their hearts, it has increased them only in wickedness upon their wickedness, and they die as disbelievers.” [Quran, 9:124-125]
The people of faith, who have truth, belief, love, and sincerity to Allah (Most High) in their hearts, increase in faith when they listen to the Quran, whereas those harboring doubts, skepticism, and hypocrisy only increase in doubt and unrest.
The Quran is a guidance for the God-fearing, and Allah (Most High) has made it healing for what is in the breasts.
“We send down the Quran as a healing and mercy for the believers, but it only increases the wrongdoers in loss.” [Quran, 7:82]
It is a cure for what afflicts the hearts.
Continuous Reading
Many scholars have stated the desirability of continuous reading until completion. Upon completing the Quran, it is recommended to start another reading immediately. Imam Nawawi says:
“It is preferred that when one completes a reading of the Quran, they should immediately start another, as was preferred by the predecessors.” [Nawawi, al-Tibyan]
Ibn ‘Abbas narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) was asked which deed was the best. He replied:
“The ever-traveling one.” When asked what the ever-traveling one was, he said, “The companion of the Quran who travels from the beginning of the Quran to its end and from its end to its beginning, whenever he settles, he departs.” [Hakim; Tirmidhi; Darimi]
May Allah help us to make the most of this noble month with fasting, prayer, and recitation of the Quran, for He is the All-Hearing, the All-Responsive.
[Shaykh] Dr. Muhammad Fayez Awad
Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Fayez Awad, born in Damascus, Syria, in 1965, pursued his Islamic studies in the mosques and institutes of Damascus. A graduate of the Islamic University of Medina in 1985, he holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Bahauddin Zakariya University in Pakistan.
He has extensive experience developing curricula and enhancing the teaching of various academic courses, including conducting intensive courses. Shaykh Awad has taught Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Quranic sciences, the history of legislation, inheritance laws, and more at several institutes and universities such as Al-Furqan Institute for Islamic Sciences and Majma‘ al-Fath al-Islami in Damascus.
He is a lecturer at the Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih Waqf University in Istanbul, teaching various Arabic and Islamic subjects, and teaches at numerous Islamic institutes in Istanbul. Shaykh Awad is a member of the Association of Syrian Scholars, a founding member of the Zayd bin Thabit Foundation, a member of the Syrian Scholars Association, and a member of the Academic Council at the Iman Center for Teaching the Sunna and Quran.
Among his teachers from whom he received Ijazat are his father, Shaykh Muhammad Muhiyiddin Awad, Shaykh Muhiyiddin al-Kurdi, Shaykh Muhammad Karim Rajih, Shaykh Usama al-Rifai, Shaykh Ayman Suwaid, Shaykh Ahmad al-Qalash, Shaykh Muhammad Awwama, and Shaykh Mamduh Junayd.
