The Quran was revealed in Arabic by Allah. All other translated Qurans are efforts of scholars who want people to understand the Quran. For beginners who want to learn how to read Quran in its original form which is Arabic, they need to learn the Arabic language. In addition to that, they should endeavor to learn about Tajweed and its application. Also, beginners should try to listen to the Quran as many times as possible.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) said: ‘’The one who recites the Quran and the one who listens to it have equal share in the reward.’’
7 Tips to Read the Quran in Arabic for Beginners
There are other tips for beginners which will be discussed in this article:
1. Study the Arabic Letters and Vowels
When you start the journey of learning how to read the Qur’an in Arabic, the first thing you need to do is study the Arabic letters and vowels. The Arabic letters consist of 28 letters, starting with the letter Alif and ending with the letter Yaw. After the letters come the vowels. The vowels are eight which are Fathah, Kasra, Dumma, Sukoon, Shadda, Fathataan, Kasrataan, and Dummataan.
When these vowels come into contact with any letter, they produce different unique sounds. Let’s use one of the alphabets to illustrate the different vowel sounds.
Let us take the letter ‘’Ba’’ for example. If Alif comes in contact with the letter Ba, it produces the ‘Ba’ sound. When it comes in contact with Kasra, it becomes ‘’Bi’’. For Dumma, it produces ‘’Bu’’. For Fathataan, it becomes ‘’Baan’’, for Kesrataan, it becomes ‘’Bin’’, while for Dummataan, it becomes ‘’Buun’’.
These are the first basic knowledge a beginner needs to know.
2. Use Nurool Bayan to Study Word Formation
The next important knowledge for beginners who want to learn how to recite the Quran in Arabic is knowledge of word formation.
When letters are combined with each other, they form words. When words are combined together, they form sentences. Knowledge of word formation can be obtained from the book Nurul Bayan.
Nurul Bayan is a 45-page book written by Tariq Al-Saeed. The book is written in a step-by-step manner for beginners who do not have any knowledge of the Arabic letters. The book will also introduce beginners to the science of Tajweed, which is an important science for reciting the Qur’an correctly.
After completing Nurul Bayan, students will be able to combine Arabic letters to form words. They will also be able to read words collectively in Arabic letters.
3. Apply the knowledge of Word Formation to Surahs
Once you understand how letters combine to form words and you can read words together, you should be able to read the Qur’an little by little. What you will find in the Qur’an is what we explained in the first two points. The Qur’an consists of 28 Arabic letters. These 28 letters carry the vowels that are used to pronounce their sounds.
But when you want to start, do not start with surahs like Surah Al-Baqarah, Al-Imran, or Nisai. Start with the short ones that you can easily read in one or two minutes.
4. Target Pace and Accuracy
When you are able to start reciting the Quran, the next thing you should aim for is speed and accuracy. You can start with a surah. Choose one surah; Read it over and over several times. When you are sure you have mastered your recitation, use the watch to track how many minutes you have spent.
Take Surat An-Nas for example, and recite it over and over several times. Check the minutes you were using to recite the surah before, and check the minutes used after reciting it several times, you should notice the difference.
This means that repetition is one of the reasons that makes you recite the Qur’an quickly. When you achieve speed with the first surah you are practicing. The same method was applied to the other surahs.
5. Start Memorizing the Surah as Little as You Can
Memorizing a surah means the surah is in your memory which is one of the ways to learn Quran. Scholars usually encourage students to target how to memorize the Holy Quran first before vying for other knowledge like Fiqh, Hadith, and Usool.
6. Target the Understanding of the Quran
The easiest way to learn something is to understand it first. Once you start reciting the Quran and start memorizing it, you should try to learn the meanings of the verses of the Quran.
Knowing the meanings of the verses of the Qur’an helps in reciting the Qur’an. It will guide the reader where to stop and where not to stop so that the intended meaning of the verse does not change.
7. Get a Native Arabic Teacher
If you want your Qur’an journey to be quick and easy, it is best to get a teacher through Qur’an lessons for beginners. Not just a teacher, but an Arabic language teacher who understands the Quran and the Arabic language very well.
Scholars say it is the best way to learn not only the Quran but all Islamic sciences in general.
Sheikh Muhammad Shummuni said,
‘’The one who is listening verbally to a Shaykh or scholar face to face, he is far away from getting the wrong knowledge. However, the one who is just studying from books will not be considered as a holder of knowledge.’’
Al-Imam al-Gazari also said that there is a unanimous agreement that the Quran must be taught in the same way of receiving it from Imam after Imam (Shaykh after Shaykh) up to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) so that other ways of receiving it are rejected and not accepted.
The two quotes from these scholars point to the fact that taking knowledge from scholars directly is very important. To them, anybody who claims to be a scholar without having a Shaykh is not a scholar.
Conclusion
Finally, if you are a beginner who wants to learn how to read the Quran in Arabic then learn Quranic Arabic programs, these are the tips you need. These tips were carefully selected by us because we believe they are the best for beginners.
