THE IDEAL MUSLIMAH

Imam Nawawi writes in his book at-Tibyan Fi Aadaab Hamalatil-Qur’an:

“It is befitting to make special time for the Tilaawah (recitation) of the Qur’an and increase in it.

It was from the practise of the Salaf (may Allah be pleased with them) that they used to finish the Qur’an within different periods of time.

Ibn Abi Dawud reports that some of the salaf used to finish one khatam (complete Qur’an) in two months.

Others use to finish one khatam every month.

Some used to finish one khatam within ten days the likes of Hasan al-Basri. And some every eighth day such as the noble companion Ubayy bin Ka’b.

A great portion of them used to finish the Qur’an within a week, people such as Abdullah bin Mas’ud and ‘Alqamah bin Qays etc.

Some finished every six days such as al-Asud bin Yazeed and others every five days.

A portion of them used to finish the Qur’an every four days such as Abu Darda’.

And even a greater portion used to finish the Qur’an every three days like ‘Abdullah bin ’Amr.

Some every two nights such as ‘Ataa bin as-Saa-ib. And a big portion of them used to finish the Qur’an every day like ‘Abdullah bin Zubayr.

Some even finished the Qur’an twice, meaning every night and day! Such as ‘Abdur-Rahman bin al-Qaasim.

Some finished the Qur’an three times a day, whereas others finished the Qur’an eight times a day, four khatams during the day and four during the night.

As for those who used to finish the Qur’aan every day and night were the likes of ‘Uthman bin ’Affan, at-Tameem ad-Daariyy, Sa’eed bin Jubair, Mujahid, ash-Shafi’i amongst others.

Ibn Abi Dawud reports with an authentic chain that Mujahid used to finish the Qur’an once during Ramadan between Magrib and Isha.

Some of the Tabi’een used to finish two khatams between Magrib and Isha during the month of Ramadan.

And it has also been reported that many of the salaf used to finish the entire Qur’an in one raka’ah these were people like ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan, at-Tameem ad-Daareyy and Sa’eed bin Jubair.”

Action Points

• Set yourself a target - How long it will take you to finish reading the Qur’an. E.g one khatm every month.
• How to reach your goal – Figure out how much you need to read each day to reach your target. So if you want to finish once each month, that’s one juzz a day (remember: be realistic).
• Make special time for the Tilaawah of the Qur’an – Set out a certain time of the day when you dedicate your time to reciting and understanding the Qur’an.
• Be consistent in reciting the Qur’an everyday, and then slowly increase it. E.g. start off with one page a day, then as time goes by increase it to two pages etc.