Etiquettes with respect tothe glorious Quran –II

Beautifying the Voice With the Quran
You should strive to read the Quran in a nice sounding voice. One who
was given a pleasant voice should strive as much as they areable. This
should never resemble the style of music and songs.
Al-Baraa' Ibn 'Aazib narrated that the Prophet said: "Beautify the
Quran with your voices (i.e. byreciting it in a pleasant nice voice)."
(Abu Daawood) Thepreferred reading is the quiet reading, where
onehears himself without disturbing others.
'Uqbah ibn 'Aamir Al-Juhani narrated that the Prophet said:"He who
raises his voice with the Quran is like onewho displays his charity
and he who lowers his voice with the Quran is like he who gives
charity privately." (Abu Daawood)
Except of course that he should be able to hear himself. It is also
withoutharm to raise one's voice with the Quran sometimes for a
particular purpose such as to perfect pronunciation, aid in
memorization or to fight drowsiness. Also included in this is
teaching and learning and a condition for all of this is that it is
not disturbing others or interrupting their prayer.
Contemplating the meanings
When you recite the Quran, you should remember the great kindness and
favor of Allaah upon His creation in allowing the meaningsof His
speech to enter his mind by means of this Book. You should remember
always that what you are reading is unlike any other book. Keep the
reality and greatness of the source of the Quran present in your heart
and ponder the meanings of what you are reading. This pondering and
this understanding is, after all, the point of the Quranand the point
of reading it. If it can only be accomplished by repeating verses over
and over, then do that and do not rush on to more verses. If you do
not understand the Arabic, then read and contemplate a translationof
the meanings in your language after each verse you recite while
remembering that what you are reading in another language is not the
speech of Allaah, but only the translation of the meaning.
Abu Tharr reported that the Prophet once spent an entire night in
contemplation of Allaah'sstatement (that means): " If you punish them,
they are yourslaves…" [Quran, 5:118].
When you recite the Quran and contemplate its meanings, you should
bring as much understanding as possible to each verse you read and get
the full benefit of that verse. So for example, when you read verses
that mention the creation of the heavens and the earth, have in your
heart and mind the contemplation of the greatness and complexity of
all that Allaah has created.
When you read about thecreation of the fetus fromsome liquids in the
body and the stages it goes through in development, reflect on the
great power of Allaah in bringing about something so complex from
something so simple.
Staying away from all that blocks or prevents understanding
For example, evil thoughtmay inject into your heart that you have not
read correctly and pronounced a letter exactly correctly and so you
get stuck on that andforget about concentrating on the meanings.
Another cause is if the reciter is engaged in a sin on a continuous
basis, or is arrogant or imprisoned by his desires. All of this is a
cause of darkness of the heart and its rust. It islike dirt on a
mirror that prevents true vision.
The heart is like a mirror and the desires and distractions are like
the dirt and the meanings of the Quran are like the images seen in the
mirror. So exercise your heart by setting desires aside and focusing
against all distractions as if you are cleaning a mirror.
When you recite the Quran, you must know that you are the one being
addressed in the Quran with the promises and the threats. And that its
tales were not sent forentertainment but to learn from and take
warning. On this basis, you can contemplate the book and act upon its
directions.