He said (may Allah have mercy on him): "Chapter on the recommendation of beautifying the voice with the Qur'an, and seeking recitation from one with a beautiful voice and listening to it"
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The reciter: He said (may Allah have mercy on him): "Chapter on the recommendation of beautifying the voice with the Qur'an, and seeking recitation from one with a beautiful voice and listening to it:
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say:Sahih Muslim 792c Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
And Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him:Sahih Muslim 793e Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
And in a narration by Muslim: that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him:Sahih Muslim 793e ".
The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book *Riyad al-Salihin* in the etiquette of recitation: "Chapter on the recommendation of beautifying the voice with recitation, and seeking recitation from one with a beautiful voice and listening to it": These are two issues:
The first issue: The recommendation of beautifying the voice with the recitation of the Qur'an. Beautifying the voice with the recitation of the Qur'an is divided into two categories:
The first is: improving the delivery. Improving the delivery means clarifying the letters and producing them from their points of articulation so that the Qur'an appears clear and distinct. One should not merge letters or delete any of the letters, lest something be diminished from what was revealed to his Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).
The second is: beautifying the voice, meaning the melody. One beautifies his voice with that melody. Both are sought, but regarding the first matter, which is improving the delivery, one should not exaggerate or go to extremes in it, such that you find a man reciting the Qur'an straining himself, his face turning red, straining in the nasal resonance and the merging of letters and the like. For this is among the strained articulation of letters. But let his recitation be natural, clarifying the letters and the vowel movements; this is what is sought. As for exaggeration and going to extremes, these are not sought. From this we know that learning tajwid is not obligatory. Learning tajwid is not obligatory, because it returns to beautifying the voice without exaggeration or going to extremes. So it is among the recommended matters by which a person attains something recommended, not something obligatory.
As for the second category, which is beautifying the voice, one might say: A beautiful voice is not within a person's choice, because Allah the Exalted is the One who bestows upon whom He wills of His servants, giving them a wide throat and a good, pleasant voice. It is said: Yes, that is the case. But a person beautifies the voice through learning, because a beautiful voice is both innate and acquired. So he keeps reciting, reciting with a beautiful voice, until he learns and delivers with a beautiful voice.
Then the author mentioned the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said:Sahih Muslim 792c Meaning a prophet, and the prophets are the best of the ranks of creation. "Sings with the Qur'an" means he recites it with a beautiful voice. "Raises his voice with it" means he elevates his voice with it. This is the one to whom Allah listens, meaning: Exalted and Majestic is He, He listens to him because He loves it; He loves the beautiful voice with the Qur'an and the beautiful delivery.
Then he mentioned the hadith of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him), who is Abdullah ibn Qays, one of the orators of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) listened to his recitation one night, and it pleased him, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said to Abu Musa:Sahih Muslim 793e: And "the family of Dawud" means by that Dawud (peace be upon him). Dawud had a beautiful, lovely, and elevated voice, until Allah the Exalted said: [Saba 34:10] The mountains would respond to him; they were solid stones. And likewise the birds would return to him, Subhan Allah. They would come, and when they heard his recitation, they would gather in the sky and echo with him: [Saba 34:10] meaning "echo with him," meaning "thus We commanded the birds." So the birds and the mountains, when they heard Dawud's recitation of the Zabur, would rise and echo with him. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said to Abu Musa: Sahih Muslim 793e: meaning a beautiful voice like the voice of the family of Dawud. Abu Musa said, when the Messenger said to him: he said: : meaning his adornment was better than what I had heard. The scholars said: "In this is evidence that if a person beautifies his voice with the Qur'an in order for the listener to take pleasure in it and be pleased by it, then there is no harm in it, and it is not considered showing off (riya')": meaning this man beautifies his voice so that people take pleasure in his recitation; would that be showing off? No, this is what calls people to listen to the speech of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, so that people are pleased by it. For this reason, some people, when their chests are tight, listen to the recitation of a person with good recitation and a beautiful voice.
And this, praise be to Allah, is available now, on tapes of some reciters who do not strain in their recitation, and their voices are beautiful and their delivery is good. When a person listens to them, he hardly gets bored, because the speech of Allah has an effect when it comes from a person with a beautiful voice and good delivery. It is beneficial from these two hadiths that a person should recite the Qur'an in the best way he can recite it, with a beautiful voice and good delivery. And we ask Allah the Exalted to make me and you among those who establish their letters and their limits, so that it may be an argument for us, not against us. And Allah is the One who grants success.
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say:
Allah does not listen to anything, (more approvingly) as He listens to a Prophet reciting loudly the Qur'an in a sweet voice.
ما أَذِنَ اللهُ لشيء ما أَذِن لنبي حسن الصوت يتغنى بالقرآن يجهر بهAnd Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him:
You are in fact endowed with a sweet voice like that of David himself.
لقد أوتيت مِزمارًا مِن مزامير آل داودAnd in a narration by Muslim: that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him:
If you were to see me, as I was listening to your recitation (of the Qur'an) yester-night
لو رأيتني وأنا أستمع لقراءتك البارحةThe Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book *Riyad al-Salihin* in the etiquette of recitation: "Chapter on the recommendation of beautifying the voice with recitation, and seeking recitation from one with a beautiful voice and listening to it": These are two issues:
The first issue: The recommendation of beautifying the voice with the recitation of the Qur'an. Beautifying the voice with the recitation of the Qur'an is divided into two categories:
The first is: improving the delivery. Improving the delivery means clarifying the letters and producing them from their points of articulation so that the Qur'an appears clear and distinct. One should not merge letters or delete any of the letters, lest something be diminished from what was revealed to his Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).
The second is: beautifying the voice, meaning the melody. One beautifies his voice with that melody. Both are sought, but regarding the first matter, which is improving the delivery, one should not exaggerate or go to extremes in it, such that you find a man reciting the Qur'an straining himself, his face turning red, straining in the nasal resonance and the merging of letters and the like. For this is among the strained articulation of letters. But let his recitation be natural, clarifying the letters and the vowel movements; this is what is sought. As for exaggeration and going to extremes, these are not sought. From this we know that learning tajwid is not obligatory. Learning tajwid is not obligatory, because it returns to beautifying the voice without exaggeration or going to extremes. So it is among the recommended matters by which a person attains something recommended, not something obligatory.
As for the second category, which is beautifying the voice, one might say: A beautiful voice is not within a person's choice, because Allah the Exalted is the One who bestows upon whom He wills of His servants, giving them a wide throat and a good, pleasant voice. It is said: Yes, that is the case. But a person beautifies the voice through learning, because a beautiful voice is both innate and acquired. So he keeps reciting, reciting with a beautiful voice, until he learns and delivers with a beautiful voice.
Then the author mentioned the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said:
Allah does not listen to anything, (more approvingly) as He listens to a Prophet reciting loudly the Qur'an in a sweet voice.
ما أَذِن الله لشيء ما أذن لنبي حسن الصوت يتغنى بالقرآن يجهر بهThen he mentioned the hadith of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him), who is Abdullah ibn Qays, one of the orators of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) listened to his recitation one night, and it pleased him, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said to Abu Musa:
You are in fact endowed with a sweet voice like that of David himself.
لقد أوتيت مِزمارا من مزامير آل داودO mountains, repeat [Our] praises with him, and the birds [as well].
يا جبال أَوِّبي معه والطيرO mountains, repeat [Our] praises with him
يا جبال أوبي معهand the birds
والطيرYou are in fact endowed with a sweet voice like that of David himself.
لقد أوتيت مزمارا من مزامير آل داودIf you had seen me while I was listening to your recitation last night
لو رأيتني وأنا أستمع إلى قراءتك البارحةHad I known that you were listening, or he said, that you were hearing, I would have adorned it for you with adornment
لو علمت أنك تستمع أو قال تسمع لحبرته لك تحبيراAnd this, praise be to Allah, is available now, on tapes of some reciters who do not strain in their recitation, and their voices are beautiful and their delivery is good. When a person listens to them, he hardly gets bored, because the speech of Allah has an effect when it comes from a person with a beautiful voice and good delivery. It is beneficial from these two hadiths that a person should recite the Qur'an in the best way he can recite it, with a beautiful voice and good delivery. And we ask Allah the Exalted to make me and you among those who establish their letters and their limits, so that it may be an argument for us, not against us. And Allah is the One who grants success.