Virtues of Holy Quran - Islamibayanaat.com

Virtues of the Holy Qur'an Part I (Hadith 26) 59
Look at the difference between the paths; what a great
divergence!
HADITH- 25
Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (Radhiyallaho anho) narrates
that Rasulullah (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) said,
"Almighty Allah never gives attention so much to any-
thing as He does to the voice of a Prophet reading the
Qur'an in a sweet tone."
It has been mentioned earlier that Almighty Allah de-
votes special attention to the recitation of Qur'an, which is
His own Word. Since Prophets meticulously observe all the
rules of reverence in reading the Qur'an, Allah's listening
to them with greater attention is evident. And the sweet-
ness of voice itself adds to the embellishment. As for
people other than Prophets, their recitaticn attracts Divine
attention according to the standard of its excellence.
HADITH- 26
Hadhrat Fudhaalah Ibn Ubaid (Radhiyallaho anho)
narrates that Rasulullah (Sallallaho alaihe wasallani)
said, "Almighty Allah listens to the voice of the reader
of the Qur'an more eagerly than does a master ! to the
song of his singing slave girl."
It is natural that singing should attract attention. But
religious people do not listen to singing because of the re-
striction in Islam. However, Islam does not prohibit listen-
ing to the song of a slave woman in one's lawful
possession, even though, this may attract the fullest atten-
tion.
It is, however, necessary that the Qur'an shall not be
recited in a singing tone, because doing so is forbidden
according to several ahadith. In one hadith it is said:
Beware of reciting the Qur'an in a musical tone, like
that of lovers singing their love poems as musical com-
positions.
The mashaa'ikh say that one who reads the Glorious
Qur'an like a musical song is a faasiq (evil-doer), and even
a listener to such recitation commits a sin. It is, however,
desirable to recite the Qur'an in a sweet voice without fol-
lowing the rules of singing. There are various ahadith con-
taining exhortation for reading the Qur'an in a sweet voice.
Rasulullah (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) has said at one
place, "Adorn the Qur'an with a good voice." In another
hadith it is said, "A sweet voice makes the beauty of the
Qur'an twice as beautiful."
Hadhrat Shaikh Abdul Qaadir Jilani (Rahmatullah
alaih) has written in his book 'Ghunyah that once Hadhrat
Abdullah ibn Mas'ood (Radhiyallaho anho) happened to
pass a place in the vicinity of Kufa and saw a gathering of
evil-doers in a house. A singer named Zaazaan was singing
and playing his instrument. On hearing his voice, Ibn
Mas'ood (Radhiyallaho anho) said, "What a sweet voice,
only if it were used for reciting the Glorious Qur'an," and
thus saying he covered his head with a piece of cloth and
went his way. Zaazaan had seen him saying something. On
enquiring from the people, he came to know that Ibn
Mas'ood (Radhiyallaho anho) was a Sahabi who had passed
saying those words. Zaazaan got very much perturbed by
that remark and, to cut the story short, he broke all his mu-
sical instruments arid became a follower of Ibn Mas'ood
(Radhiyallaho anho) and thereafter rose to the position of a
distinguished scholar of his time.
There are various ahadith that commend reading of the
Holy Qur'an in a good voice and at the same time prohibit
reading it in a voice resembling singing, as has been stated
before.