Divine Method of Recitation



Abdullah ibn  Amr reported:  The  Messenger of Allah, peace, and blessings be upon him, said, “Read the  Qur'ān  once in  every month.”  I said,  “I have the strength to do more.”  The Prophet said, “Then read it  in twenty nights.” I said, “I have the strength to do more.” The Prophet said, “Then read it in  seven nights, and do not do more  than that.” - Sahīh Bukhārī; Sahīh Muslim

Since Quran is a book of Allah, nothing happens in it by accident. 

So we question as to what can be the hikmah in the division of the Quran into Surahs and their arrangements as we see it?

Why are the long Surahs at the beginning and the short Surahs at the end of the Qur’ān?  Why is the longest Sūrah of all located at the very beginning of the Qur’ān?

Allah Most High has declared that He divided the  Qur’ān  so that it might  be recited at intervals: 

Qur’ān, al-Isra, 17:106 

"This is a  Qur’ān which we have divided into parts,  i.e.,  as  Surahs (plural of  Sūrah).  We have done so in order that you might recite it to the people at intervals, and in conformity with those divisions as Surahs. We also sent it down  part-by-part."

The implication of the above is that Allah Most High has divided the  Qur’ān into  Surahs so that they may function as Azza or Siparahs,  or Parts, to be recited whenever we wish to  Khatam the Qur’ān, i.e.,  to recite it cover-to-cover to completion. 

Qur’ān, al-Qiyāmah, 75:18

"And when We  have recited it,  i.e.,  when we have delivered through  the Angel Gabriel  the way that  it  should be  recited, you must follow  that way of reciting  the  Qur’ān."

Prophet Muhammad  (ﻡﻠﺳ ﻭ  ﻪﻳﻠﻋ ﷲ  ﻲﻠﺻ)  never sub-divided Sūrah al-Baqarah into parts for daily recitation. Indeed, Allah Most High has prohibited such sub-division of  Sūrahs— including  Sūrah al-Baqarah—for the daily recitation of the  Qur’ān. He did so when he declared in  Sūrah al-Hijr  that He sent Prophet Muhammad  (ﻡﻠﺳ  ﻭ  ﻪﻳﻠﻋ  ﷲ  ﻲﻠﺻ)  as a warner,  and He then went on to warn those who  arbitrarily sub-divide the  Qur’ān (for recitation)  that they will have to answer to Him on Judgment Day: 

Qur’ān, al-Hijr, 15: 92-93 

"Say to them  O  Muhammad: I  am a warner who warns you, and I do so in a manner which is clear and without ambiguity— warning you of  Divine anger which descends on the  Muqtasimin who divide the  Qur’ān arbitrarily into bits and pieces. Allah  Most High then took an oath:  By thy Rab,  O Muhammad, I will certainly hold  them to  account for what they have done (hence they will all have to answer to Me one day for having divided the Qur’ān  into bits  and pieces)."

Around the world today there is a universally accepted system of division of the  Qur’ān into 30  Ajza, or 30 different parts, which sinfully breaks up Sūrahs of the  Qur’ān into bits and pieces. It is even more alarming that no one even questions that sinful breaking-up of  Surah's for the daily recitation of the  Qur’ān in a manner which is other than that ordained by Allah Most High.

Recite it over the period of a month”. - Sunan Ibn Majah.

Since Allah Most High has already divided the  Qur’ān into Surah's it follows that we cannot sub-divide a  Sūrah into parts during daily recitation.  Such a division would amount to chopping the  Qur’ān into bits and pieces,  and this has been denounced by the  Qur’ān itself.   

Here is a suggested division of the  Qur’ān into 30 parts for daily recitation in order to complete the recitation of the whole Qur’ān—from cover to cover—during a period of one lunar month. Our gentle readers should note that we have respected the division of the  Qur’ān which Allah Most High has done in the form of  Surahs,  and no  Sūrah has ever been broken by us into parts in our daily recitation. We are of the view that there can be no other way to recite the first fifteen  Ajza of the Qur’ān,  other than the way we have explained it.  We invite those who differ with us to provide their own list of the first fifteen  Ajza  of the  Qur’ān: 

The Azza for the first six days of  the month,

  1st  Juz,  i.e.,  Juz  to be recited  on the first  day of the month:  alBaqarah—286 verses; 

  2nd Juz;  Āle Imrān—200 verses; (2nd  day of the month)   

  3rd Juz: al-Nisā’—177 verses; (3rd  day) 

  4th Juz: al-Māidah—120 verses; (4th  day) 

  5th Juz: al-An’ām—166 verses;  (5th  day) 

  6th Juz: al-A’rāf—206 verses; (6th  day) 

  7th Juz: al-Anfāl, 75 & al-Taubah, 129 -  i.e., a total of 204 verses;                       

  8th  Juz:  Yūnus, 109; &  Hūd, 123  -  i.e., a  total of 232 verses;                    

  9th Juz: Yūsuf,  111; & al-Ra’d, 43 -  i.e., a total  of 154 verses;  

  10th Juz: Ibrahīm, 52; & al-Hijr, 99 -  i.e., a total of 151 verses;   

  11th Juz: al-Nahl - 128 verses.    

This writer prefers to restrict the recitation of the  Juz for the 11th  day to  Sūrah al-Nahl, not just because it is a long  Sūrah, but also because it allows us to combine the recitation of  Sūrah al-Isra with  Sūrah al-Kahf on the 12th  day of the month. We have provided adequate evidence elsewhere that these two  Sūrahs of the  Qur'ān are Divinely-linked with each other.               

 The 11th  day also marks the completion of the first 1/3 of the  Qur'ān, and this a matter of great importance, especially in Ramadān, when the month is divided into 3 parts with significant implications for each part. 

  12th Juz: al-Isrā,  111; & al-Kahf, 110 -  i.e., a total of 221 verses; 

  13th  Juz:  Maryam, 98;  & Tā  Hā, 135 -  i.e., a  total  of 233 verses;                             

  14th Juz: al-Anbiyā’, 112;  & al-Hajj, 78 -  i.e.,  a total of 190 verses;      

  15th  Juz:  al-Mu’minūn, 118; & al-Nūr, 64  -  i.e.,  a total of 182 verses.        

When the 14th  day of the month has ended and the 15th  night commences, the time of the full moon has arrived. Since this is the time of most  Nūr or light, Allah most High gives us  Sūrah al-Nūr to be recited on the 15th  day.  Whenever he recites this  Sūrah while reciting the whole  Qur'ān once a lunar month, the believer is thus alerted to the arrival of that stage in the passage of time during the lunar month, when half the month has ended, and a half now remains.      

  16th Juz: al-Furqān, 77; & al-Shu’ara, 227 -  i.e., a total of 304 verses; 

  17th Juz:  al-Naml, 93; al-Qaa, 88; & al-Ankabūt, 69 -  i.e.,  a total of 250 verses;     

  18th  Juz:  al-Rūm, 60; Luqmān, 34; al-Sajdah, 30; & al-Ahzāb, 73 - i.e., a total of 197 verses; 

  19th  Juz:  Saba’,  54; al-Fātir, 45; Yā Sīn, 83; & al-Sāfāt, 182  -  i.e., a total of 364 verses; 

  20th  Juz:  Sād, 88; al-Zumar, 75; & Ghāfir, 85  -  i.e., a total  of 248 verses; 

  21st Juz:  Fussilāt, 54; al-Shurā,  53; & al-Zukhruf, 89; al-Dukhān, 59 -  i.e., a total of  255 verses. 

When the 21st  day of the month commences, this would be a matter of very great importance indeed in blessed  Ramadān since it would mark the commencement of the last 1/3 of the Qur'ān, and it would be in the odd nights of this last part of the month that  Lailatul Qadr would occur. It would be on that blessed night that the angels and the  Rūh  (i.e.,  the  Rūh alQuddus or Holy Spirit, who is Gabriel) would descend from above in order to perform every errand assigned to them by Allah Most High.

  22nd Juz:   al-Jāthiyah, 37; al-Ahqāf, 35;  Muhammad, 38; & al-Fath, 29; al-Hujurāt,  18 -  i.e., a total  of 157 verses; 

  23rd Juz:   Qāf, 45; al-Dhāriyāt 60; al-Tūr, 49; al-Najm, 62; & alQamar, 55, -  i.e., a total of 271 verses. 

  24th Juz:  al-Rahmān - 78; al-Wāqi‘ah - 96; al-Hadīd - 29; & alMujādilah - 22;   

  25th Juz:  al-Hashr - ; Mumtainah- 13; al-Saff - 14; al-Jumu’ah - 11;      al-Munāfiqūn - 11; al-Taghābun - 18; al-alāq 12; & alTarīm - 12; al-Mulk - 30; al-Qalam - 52 

  26th Juz:  ; al-Hāqqah - 52; &  al-M‘ārij - 44;  Nūh - 28; al-Jinn - 28; al-Muzzammil  - 20; al-Muddaththir - 56; 

  27th Juz:   al-Qiyāmah - 40; al-Insān - 31;  & al-Mursalāt - 50; alNaba’ - 40; al-Nāzi‘āt - 46; 

  28th Juz:  ‘Abasa- 42; al-Takwīr - 29;  al-Infitār - 19; al-Muaffifīn  - 36; al-Inshiqāq - 25; al-Burūj  - 22; al-Tāriq - 17; al-A‘lā - 19; & al Ghāshiyah - 26; 

  29th Juz:  al-Fajr - 30;  al-Balad  - 20;  al-Shams - 15;  al-Layl  - 21; al-Duhā - 11; al-Sharh - 8; al-Tīn - 8; & al-‘Alaq  - 19; al-Qadr -  5. 

In view of the fact that  Sūrah al-Qadr is the  Sūrah which informs us that  Lailatul Qadr is by far the greatest night of all nights of the year because it was on this night that the  Qur’ān was revealed, and this  Sūrah makes mention of both al-Fajr and of al-Lail, we have arranged our  Juz of recitation to combine the recitation of  Sūrah al-Qadr on the 29th  day of the month with both  Sūrah al-Fajr as well as  Sūrah al-Lail.

  As a consequence of this momentous coming together of all three of these  Suwar in the  Juz that is recited on the 29th  day of the month, we have reason to believe that  Lailatul Qadr is located on the 29th  night of blessed  Ramadān.

 Our advice, therefore, is that the greatest attention of all should be paid to staying awake all night in worship on the 29th  night of the blessed month of Ramadān. We should make  Duah on this night in particular, for all that we have been asking for all through the year.  

We must warn our readers that our Islamic eschatological understanding of this subject is that  Dajjāl is responsible for the almost universal neglect of the 29th  night of  Ramadān— even though it is one of the odd nights in the last third of the blessed month.

 When the 29th  day of the month ends, we also have a duty to look in the evening sky  (i.e., the sky above us in the location on earth where we are)  to see whether the new moon is visible. 

If we see the new moon, we would then have to complete the recitation of the few remaining  Suwar of the  Qur'ān in order to complete the recitation of the whole  Qur'ān cover-to-cover. This would take a very brief period of time.

 If,  on the other hand, the new moon is not seen, we would then have just a few short  Suwar to recite on the 30th  day of the month in order to complete the recitation of the whole  Qur'ān.  

  30th Juz:  al-Bayyinah - 8; al-Zalzalah - 8; al-‘Ādiyāt - 11; al-Qāriah - 11; al-Takāthur - 8; al-‘Ar - 3;  al-Humazah - 9; al-Fīl - 5; Quraysh - 4; al-Mā‘ūn - 7; al-Kauthar - 3; al-Kāfirūn - 6; al-Nar - 3; al-Masad - 5; al-Ikhlā -  4; al-Falaq -  5;  & al-Nās - 6. 

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We advise that those who recite the  Qur'ān to  Khatam or complete it in one lunar month should restrain themselves from completing the recitation of the  Qur’ān before the month ends (such as on the 25th  day, or 26th  day, etc.). They must make sure that they have a 29th  Juz to recite on the 29th  day, as well as a 30th  Juz to recite in the event that the month continues to the 30th day.  

- Extract from the Book The Quran and the Moon by Sheik Imran Nazar Hosein