Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
Will a person be rewardedif he reads the Qur'aan, even if he does not
understand its meanings?
He replied:
The Holy Qur'aan is blessed, as Allah, may He be exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning): "(This is) a Book(the Qur'aan) which
We have sent down to you, full of blessings, that they may ponder over
its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember" [Saad 38:29].
So man is enjoined to readit, whether he understands its meanings or
not. But the believer who is enjoined to act upon it should not read
Qur'aan without understanding its meanings. If a person wants to learn
medicine, for example, and studies the books of medicine, he cannot
benefit from them unless he understands their meanings and they are
explained to him; in fact he will be very keen to understand the
meanings so that he can apply them. So why do you think anyone should
read the Book of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, which is a
healingfor what is in the hearts and exhortation to people,without
pondering and without understanding its meanings? For this reason the
Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) would not move onfrom ten
verses until they had learned them and learned the knowledge they
contained and how to act upon it. So they learned the Qur'aan and
knowledge and action all together.
A person will be rewarded for reading the Qur'aan whether he
understands its meanings or not, but he should be very keen to
understand its meanings and to learn these meanings from scholars who
are trustworthy in their knowledge. If he has no access to a scholar
whocan teach him the meanings, he may refer to the trustworthy books
of tafseer, such as Tafseer IbnJareer, Tafseer Ibn Katheer and others
which pay attention to the tafseer that is based on reports narrated
from the Sahaabah and the Taabi'een (may Allah be pleased with them).
End quote from Fataawa Noor 'ala al-Darb, tape 85, side A.
And Allah knows best.
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