Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

 

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Brother,

AssalamoAlekum,

May Allah give you Jaza for having this forum.It helps in answering many questions and clearing many doubts.

My question is....Is it not permitted to get together and read any surah of Quran?For e.g.,some ladies getting together at one of sister`s house for reading Surah Yaseen or any other Surah.

I heard some people call it haram.But my doubt or point is that as we are leaving away from our own families and we get together some times to have dinner or else why not get together for this purpose.It will serve as a way of getting together and also have ALLAH`s blessing and Ajar.

The other question is if it is not permitted to read Quran in a group what about the prayers at masjid and Ijtimas.

May Allah reward you for answering my question

 

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Answer:

 

Read quran together

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person,  no grave, no prophet,  no imam,  no dai,  nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

 

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth.  If our humble and modest efforts have helped even one brother or sister get closer to Allah and His Deen of Truth, then we would consider ourselves indeed fortunate to have been given this opportunity by the Lord Most Merciful to serve in His Cause.  We hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our humble and weak efforts, forgives us our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire.  Ameen.

 

Your Question: My question is....Is it not permitted to get together and read any surah of Quran?For e.g.,some ladies getting together at one of sister`s house for reading Surah Yaseen or any other Surah.

I heard some people call it haram.But my doubt or point is that as we are leaving away from our own families and we get together some times to have dinner or else why not get together for this purpose.It will serve as a way of getting together and also have ALLAH`s blessing and Ajar.
For any act to be considered worship or a meritorious deed in the Sight of Allah, one must always look at the example of the Messenger of Allah (saws); for without an iota of a doubt, no man who ever walked on this planet earth loved, feared, and worshipped the Lord Most High more than the self of the Noble Messenger of Allah, Mohamed ar-Rasool Allah (saws).  

 

Such was his (saws) way of life, such was his (saws) character, such was his (saws) love for his Lord, such was his (saws) absolute awe and reverence for the Lord Most Exalted, and such was his (saws) worship that the Lord Most High, Most Gracious Himself nominated and appointed this His Noble Slave-Servant and Messenger Mohamed (saws) as the absolute best example to follow, for every such person who looks forward to Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much!

 

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzab verse 21: There is indeed the best example for you to follow in the Messenger of Allah, for every such person looks forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much.

 

Thus if one wishes to gather one’s family and friends for a social get-together, and desires to make this get-together a blessed gathering, and use this opportunity to also worship Allah by reciting some Surahs from the Holy Quran together; or one moves into a new office or house and desires to bless their move by gathering people and holding what is known as a ‘Quran-Khani’; or one wishes to visit the house where someone has died and they all recite the Quran, etc…… As much as one may wish, and think, and assume, and believe that these are good deeds and an act of worship, if one truly believes in Allah and the Last Day, one must first and foremost look at the example of the Messenger of Allah (saws) and determine whether it was his (saws) way or Sunnah to worship Allah in this manner or not?   

 

If they find that it was the way or Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) to worship the Lord in this manner, they may do so without stint; but if they find that this was not the method or way of the Messenger of Allah (saws), then they should know that it cannot be an act of worship, nor a deed which is pleasing to Allah, nor an act which would earn them a reward from Allah, nor a deed which would be acceptable to the Lord Most High.

 

As meritorious and as rewarding is the recitation of the Glorious Quran in Islam, to the best of our knowledge there is nothing in the established and authentic Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) whereby every time he (saws) gathered or met his family and friends they would first recite the Quran together and then socialize; or every time one moved into a new house or bought a new shop they would gather and first recite the Quran together, or every time one amongst them died, they would all get together and recite the Quran, etc.!   Allah is our witness sister, if the recitation of the Quran together at such gatherings was a meritorious act, or an act of worship, or a deed acceptable to the Lord Most High, or a deed that would earn the Pleasure and Good Will of the Lord, the Messenger of Allah (saws) would have surely done so!

 

To invent and observe such a ritual in the deen, especially when it is not endorsed by Allah and His Messenger (saws), is to observe an innovation in the deen; and the Messenger of Allah (saws) declared that every single innovation in the deen of Islam is an error and a sin.

 

Aisha narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: ‘If somebody innovates something which is not present in our religion, then that thing will be rejected.’

Related by Bukhari.

Sahih Muslim Hadith 1885     Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah

That the Prophet of Allah (saws) said in a sermon:  “The best speech is that which is embodied in the Book of Allah, the Al Quran;  and the best guidance is the guidance given by me, Mohamed (saws).   The most evil affairs are the innovations,  and every innovation is an error.”

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 168         Narrated by Bilal ibn Harith al-Muzani

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: “He who introduced some innovation (in the deen) which Allah and His Messenger did not approve has (a burden of sin upon him) like the sins of one who acted according to it, without their sins being mitigated thereby in the least.”

 

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 4515  Narrated by Ali ibn AbuTalib

That the Prophet of Allah (saws) said: “If anyone introduces an innovation (in religion),  he will be responsible for it.   If anyone introduces an innovation or gives shelter to a man who introduces an innovation (in religion),  he is cursed by Allah,  by His Angels,  and by all the people.”

 

If every individual were left to decide according to their whims and fancies which deed is loved by Allah, or which deed is considered an act of worship in the Sight of Allah….this beautiful, perfect and easy deen of Islam would lose its simplicity and its purity and become a concoction of innumerable and unlimited self-invented and innovated ideas, rites, rituals, and acts according to the whims and fancies of each individual; and these innovations in time would become a burden for the believers who choose to worship their Lord.   

 

There is absolutely no harm, in fact it is highly recommended and absolutely encouraged in Islam, that the believers who wish to study Islam may gather together and learn the dictates of the deen; or recite, learn, study, and understand the Commands and Guidance of the Holy Quran; or study the knowledge from the established and authentic Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws), etc.  The Messenger of Allah (saws) endorsed such gatherings where the believers get together for the sole purpose of understanding or gaining knowledge in the deen, and declared that an hour spent in the seeking, studying, and acquiring of knowledge in the deen (alone or in a gathering) is better than spending the whole night in prayer!

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 257         Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr

Allah's Messenger (saws) happened to pass by two groups (of muslims) in the mosque and he (saws) said: ‘Both of them are good, but one is superior to the other. One group is supplicating Allah and praying to Him. If He so wills, He will confer upon them and if He so wills He will withhold.  So far as those who are acquiring the understanding of religion and its knowledge and are busy in teaching the ignorant, they are superior. Verily I have been sent as a teacher.’ He (saws) then sat down amongst them.

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 256         Narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: ‘Acquiring knowledge (of the deen) in company for an hour in the night is better than spending the whole night in prayer.’

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 249         Narrated by Al-Hasan al-Basri

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘He whom death overtakes while he is engaged in acquiring knowledge with a view to reviving Islam with the help of it, there will be one degree between him and the Prophets in Paradise.’

 

But the making of a ritual whereby one gathers for a purpose other than acquiring knowledge, but starts the gathering with the recitation of the Glorious Quran, or all in the gathering simply recite the Quran individually or collectively to earn ‘thawaab’ or ‘ajr’, or one visits the house of the deceased and all those gathered recite from the Quran to ‘transfer’ the ‘thawaab’ and ‘ajr’ to the account of the deceased, etc. are not acts of worship endorsed by the Messenger of Allah (saws), nor his noble companions, nor the true believers who followed them! 

 

And every act in the deen which is not specifically endorsed by Allah and His Messenger (saws) can be nothing but an innovation; and every innovation in the pure, perfect, and beautiful deen of Islam is nothing but an absolute error and a sin in the Sight of the Lord.

 

Your Question: The other question is if it is not permitted to read Quran in a group what about the prayers at masjid and Ijtimas.

The only place where it is held permissible in Islam to recite the Glorious Quran aloud by an individual and all the others listen to it attentively is in the congregational prayers, or in gatherings where the people have gathered for the sole purpose of studying and acquiring knowledge of the deen where either the ‘imam’ or scholar or the believers recite the Glorious Quran and learn and understand the wise Commands of Guidance from their Lord.   The Messenger of Allah (saws) himself led the believers five times a day, every day, in the congregational prayers; and more often than not taught and explained the believers, individually or in a gathering, the Wise Commands and Dictates of the deen from the Glorious Quran.

 

But never ever did the Messenger of Allah (saws) or his noble companions ever gather for a purpose other than studying the Quran, and in an effort to bless their gathering started their gathering with the ritual of the recitation the Quran, or gathered to recite the Glorious Quran only to earn ‘thawaab’ and ‘ajr’ together!

 

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws),   one can be assured of never ever being misled;   but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of being led astray.  

 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

 

Your Brother in Islam,

 

 

Burhan