The 365 · Sunnah · Day 335 · Quran
Listening Attentively to the Qur'an
The hadith
قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَإِذَا قُرِئَ الْقُرْآنُ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ وَأَنْصِتُوا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ﴾ (الأعراف 204). عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ: قَالَ لِي النَّبِيُّ ﷺ: «اقْرَأْ عَلَيَّ». فَقُلتُ: أَقْرَأُ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَيْكَ أُنْزِلَ? قَالَ: «إِنِّي أُحِبُّ أَنْ أَسْمَعَهُ مِنْ غَيْرِي». قَالَ: فَقَرَأْتُ عَلَيْهِ سُورَةَ النِّسَاءِ حَتَّى بَلَغتُ: ﴿فَكَيْفَ إِذَا جِئْنَا مِن كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ بِشَهِيدٍا﴾، رَأَيتُ عَيْنَيْهِ تَذْرِفَانِ.
Allah says: 'When the Qur'an is recited, listen to it and be silent, that you may receive mercy.' (al-Aʿrāf 7:204). ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd narrated that the Prophet ﷺ asked him to recite. He said: should I recite to you when it was revealed to you? The Prophet ﷺ said: 'I love to hear it from another.' Ibn Masʿūd recited Sūrat al-Nisāʾ until he reached 'How will it be when We bring forth from every nation a witness?' The Prophet's ﷺ eyes flowed with tears. (Bukhari 5050)
Svenska: Allah säger: 'När Koranen reciteras, lyssna på den och var tyst, så att ni kan få nåd.' (al-Aʿrāf 7:204). ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd berättade hur Profeten ﷺ grät när han lyssnade till Koranens recitation. (Bukhari 5050)
al-Aʿrāf 7:204; Bukhari 5050
The story
The Prophet ﷺ wept when Ibn Masʿūd recited al-Nisāʾ. The verse 4:41 names the witness from each nation; the Prophet ﷺ understood he was that witness for this Ummah. The weight of being the witness brought tears. Listening to the Qur'an reaches places that reciting cannot.
Why it's here
Listening to the Qur'an is itself a Sunnah, distinct from reciting it. Allah commands silence and attention when it is recited. The Prophet ﷺ loved to hear it from others; he wept at verses recited to him. The believer participates in the Qur'an through ears as well as tongue.
Try it today
Set a daily time to listen, in addition to reciting. 15 minutes in the morning, 15 minutes in the evening, with a quality reciter. When the Qur'an is recited in salah jamāʿah, do not occupy the mind with anything else. The Sunnah is active listening.
In your day
Phones have made world-class recitation continuously available. Use this gift. Listen during commute, work, exercise. Allah's command in 7:204 is met when the believer listens with attention; the reward of istimāʿ is named with the reward of recitation.
A reflection to carry
Listening attentively is its own Sunnah. The recitation reaches the listener from a place outside himself; the heart receives differently than when it speaks.
Read the longer reflection
Istimāʿ is the Qur'an Sunnah we underestimate most. We reckon recitation as ibadah; we often forget that listening is also. The Prophet ﷺ modeled it: he asked Ibn Masʿūd to recite to him and wept. He preferred hearing from another over reciting himself in that moment. Allah commands silence when the Qur'an is recited; the silence is not absence but reception. May Allah make our ears as attentive to His Book as our tongues, and may His Speech enter us from every direction.
Sources: Sahih Bukhari. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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