Practical steps to upgrading your connection
1. Plan for Consistency
If you think of children in grade one, during the process of learning to read, sometimes they have such an aversion to reading. This may be because they are struggling, they are still learning, they notice that they are making mistakes and dislike the sound of hearing themselves making mistakes.
But once they have passed that stage and can read fluently, it is so much easier to have a love for reading.
And the same way with Quran, if you can become more fluent, you will start to enjoy and find more peace in reading Quran
Sit with someone who has studied Quraan and set up a time with them if not every day then once a week, or whenever convenient, but set that time CONSISTENTLY.
You actually have to have a calendar on your wall or use Google calendar and you literally block out that day and time continuously for that whole year or however long you think you will take.
If it’s on your wall, write it big, if it’s on your google calendar, make it a pretty colour, and set up some reminders.
So that you can over a long period of time recite a half-page or page per day/week to this person, and you can continuously improve your pronunciation and your fluency, learn where to stop and pause and learn all the tajweed rules.
Now I did mention in the previous question that you could listen to the Qari reciting the verse, this doesn’t apply here, once you have learned to say it yourself, it is imperative for you to recite it back to a teacher.
This way, they can listen to how you are reciting and correct you if need be, because it is not easy for us to pick up our own mistakes.
And we need to ensure that in the way we are reciting, we are not changing the meaning.
If you do not have the time or opportunity to go out and attend a class because of commitments, be creative….find someone who is willing to teach you and listen to you over the phone or on a video call to help you improve your reading.
2. Improve your recitation – 8 rules to improve your recitation
In a commentary in Fadhaailul A’maal, it explains 7 rules to recite the Quran with good and clear pronunciation.
2.1 Correct recitation of the letters
The letters of the alphabet should be pronounced properly eg not confusing taa with tau or a seen with saud etc
ط\ت
س\ص
2.2 Correct places to stop or pause reading.
Making sure you learn the correct places to stop, pause, and join the aayaat, (the equivalent if punctuation in English) so that the meaning of the verses are not changed. Reading in Arabic without correct punctuation will be like how in English a small child would read
The cat | sat on the mat and the cat | was very | small he likes to drink | milk.
This is very important and often overlooked.
2.3 Correct pronunciation/differentiation of vowel sounds
The correct pronunciation between the vowel sounds, differentiating where to make a long and short vowel sound with the fatha, kasra, and dhamma, when there is an extra alif, waaw or yaa etc
2.4 Reading audibly
Raising the voice slightly so that the words of the Quraan uttered by the mouth can reach the ears and thus influence the heart.
2.5 Reading with emotion
That the reader reads with pathos – and that is in a way that evokes emotion when you hear it, it affects and influences the heart and it moves and strengthens the soul.
So I can definitely say that if you are going to motor through the Quraan, the sound of that recitation is not going to evoke any emotion.
2.6 Making emphasis where needed
Reciting the tashdeed (when there are double letters) and madd (elongation of vowel sounds) because this reveals the grandeur of the Quraan and adds to its effectiveness.
2.7 Reciting with fear and gratitude
The reader’s heart should respond accordingly to the verses of mercy and punishment of Allah. So when we hear of Allah’s mercy we should make shukr and ask Allah for that and when we hear of punishment, we should seek Allah’s protection from it.
3. Use the Quran for guidance
For those who do know how to read Arabic and can already read Quraan
I would like us to start looking towards Allah’s Quraan for guidance and answers to our problems.
Instead of taking things on our shoulders, having 1000 worries in our head and a ten-page to-do list,
When there are things you want to accomplish in this Dunya, make 2 rakaats of salaah, make dua and open the Quran and read a few aayaat and see what message Allah has for us that day. This feeling of worry is the result of straying from the remembrance of Allah.
Allah says that:
وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَن ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنكًا وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَىٰ –
And whosoever turns away from my remembrance, he will have a difficult life, (a person will suffer from poverty, feel distressed, depressed, weak, exhausted.
20:124
So you know instead of turning to buy the next book, consulting the next “expert” see how you can, not just read the Quraan every day, but start to listen to and turn to and ponder over the message that is in it for us.
