What is the ruling on reciting the Qur'an without reflecting on its meanings?
2026-09-21
F40 · Selected fatwas
Shaykh Ibn Bāz
الشيخ عبد العزيز بن باز
Original Q&A · Complete published question and answer
The complete published question and answer, including the closing thanks, are included. The official transcript labels the closing thanks “Answer”; that wording is retained without assigning it to a different speaker.
النص العربي
السؤال الأصلي
بعد هذا رسالة بعث بها أحد الإخوة المستمعين من المدينة المنورة، يقول: هل قراءة القرآن بغير تدبر تعد إثمًا إذ أنني أحياناً لا ألاحظ على نفسي التدبر، وجهوني جزاكم الله خيرًا، وألاحظ أيضاً أنني أكون مشغولًا عند بعض القراءات وجهوني جزاكم الله خيرًا؟
الجواب
السنة التدبر ولو قرأ بغير تدبر فلا حرج، لكن السنة أن يعتني بالتدبر والنظر فيما يقرأ حتى يستفيد، حتى ينتفع؛ لأن الله يقول سبحانه: كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِيَدَّبَّرُوا آيَاتِهِ [ص:29]، ويقول سبحانه: أَفَلا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ [النساء:82]، كل هذا حث وتحريض على التدبر، فالسنة التدبر والعناية، والحرص على فهم ما يقرأ والعمل، لكن لو قدر أنه شغل عن ذلك فلا حرج عليه.
الجواب: جزاكم الله خيراً.
English translation
English translation prepared for SalafAlSalih.com from the cited Arabic source. It is not an official translation.
Original question
A listener from Madinah has sent a letter asking: Is reading the Quran without reflection sinful? Sometimes I do not notice myself reflecting. Please guide me; may Allah reward you with good. I also notice that I am distracted during some recitations. Please guide me; may Allah reward you with good.
Answer
The Sunnah is to reflect. If a person reads without reflecting, there is no blame, but the Sunnah is to take care to reflect and consider what he reads so that he gains benefit. Allah, glorified is He, says: “A blessed Book that We have sent down to you, so that they may reflect on its verses” [Ṣād 38:29], and He says: “Do they not reflect upon the Quran?” [al-Nisāʾ 4:82]. All of this urges and encourages reflection. The Sunnah is therefore reflection, attentiveness, and striving to understand what one reads and act upon it. But if it happens that a person is distracted from this, there is no blame on him.
May Allah reward you with good.
Source and editorial notes
Official Ibn Bāz website fatwa 8679
الموقع الرسمي للشيخ عبد العزيز بن باز
Official website of Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz
Arabic checked against the complete official published transcript. Text is preserved; spacing is normalized and legacy honorific glyphs are expanded. The English translates every displayed paragraph; Quran quotations are translations of their meanings.