In the saheeh Sunnah it is encouraged to recite the Qur'aan in a
melodious voice, i.e., making the voice beautiful when reciting it. It
does not mean that one should recite it as if singing, rather what is
meant is that one should make the voice beautiful when reciting. For
example the saheeh hadeeth says: "Allaah never listens to anything as
He listens to a Prophet with a beautiful voice reciting the Qur'aan
out loud" and "He is not one of us who does not recite Qur'aan in a
melodious voice when reciting it out loud." What this means is making
the voice beautiful, as stated above.
The meaning of the hadeeth quoted above refers to listening in a
manner that is befitting toAllaah and it is not like theattributes of
His creation, as is the case with all His other attributes. It may
besaid of His listening that it is like His other attributes, that it
is in a manner that is befitting to Allaah, may He be glorified and
exalted, and there is nothing like unto Him, may He be glorified and
exalted. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "There is
nothing like Him, and He isthe All-Hearer, the All-Seer" [al-Shoora
42:11].Reciting in a melodious tone means reciting out loud and making
the voicebeautiful and with proper focus, so that the heart is moved,
because the aim isto stir the heart with this Qur'aan, so that people
will fear Allaah and so thatthey will find peace and benefit from it.
An example of this is the story of Abu Moosa al-Ash'ari (may Allaah be
pleased with him), when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) passed by him as he was reciting Qur'aan,and he started
listening tohim and said: "You have been given a beautiful voice like
the beautiful voices of the family of Dawood." When Abu Moosa came,
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told him about
that and Abu Moosa said: If I had known, O Messenger of Allaah, that
you were listening, I would have made it very beautiful indeed. The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not denounce
him for that,which indicates that making the voice beautifuland being
careful in reciting is something that is required, so that both the
reader and the listenerwill focus properly and will both benefit.
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