Cure for the disease: listening to
recitation of the Qur'an
People might ask, "If we quit listening to music, what would we replace it with 7" In fact, listening to the recitation of the noble Qur' an is the best substitute and solution to this problem. As has been shown in the previous sections, music acts like a drug. In today's age of electronics, music can be regarded as a 'plug-in drug.' Addiction is associated with the use of any narcotic drugs, and music is no exception. When we stop listening to music, we may suffer from withdrawal symptoms, but listening to the recitation of the noble Qur' an provides a cure for them. We must remember that human beings have a dualist nature: a terrestrial element as well as a celestial element. The angelic soul, which is centered in the heart, is on a continuous search for peace and tranquility. When people listen to music, which is not meant to be the food for the soul, it only keeps their souls engaged temporarily. As soon as the music or the song ends, they may be overcome with a feeling of emptiness.
The real tranquility for the angelic being (soul) comes from listening to the book of Allah (SWT), the Qur'an, which has a heavenly origin, similar to our soul. Recitation of the Qur' an is the
37 Ibn al-Qayyim, Ighdthat ul-Lahfdn min Masii'id ash-Shaytdn, vol. 1.
true food for our soul. Listening to music deludes a person and shuts off his or her contemplating faculties, while listening to the Qur' an makes the person reflect upon the purpose of his or her creation. Allah (SWT) has made our hearts only for His remembrance. Recitation of the Qur' an has the power to cure the hearts which are addicted to music because the Qur' an is a healing for the diseases of the heart, as Allah (SWT) mentions:
~And We send down of the Qur' an that which is a healing and a mercy for the believers .. ,) (Qur'an 17: 82)
~O mankind, there has come to you instruction from your Lord [the Qur'an], and healing for what [disease] is in the breasts and guidance and mercy for the believers.s (Qur'an 10: 57)
Shaykh Anwar Shah Kashmiri, the renowned Indian Islamic scholar of Hadith, stated the following on this issue:
The person who is overwhelmed and captivated by music and singing and it becomes hard for him or her to quit music, as you have observed the singers that they are always humming a song, then if such people desire to refrain from music, for them Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prescribed that they should attach themselves to the Qur' an. They should do much recitation of the Qur' an and delve into it so much they attain
tranquility only from the Qur' an 38
38 Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri, Faidhul Bdri, vol. 4 quoted in Shafee, Islam and Music
The beauty of recitation of the Qur' an is that reciters and listeners never get bored by it. Continual recitation of it increases its sweetness, and repetition of it makes one love it more. Music and singing do not possess this quality. People quickly become bored after listening to a certain kind of song or music, and then they search for other artists and songs, which is how the music industry survives. On the other hand, no Muslim ever gets bored by the Qur'an; it does not lose its freshness. A well-known saying describes this miraculous quality of the Qur' an:
Scholars are not satiated by it, repetition does not wear it out, and its wonders do not end. Whoever recites it speaks the truth. The highest expression of 'melodization' in Islam is the recitation of the Qur' an, which has dramatic effects upon its listeners. Commenting on the recitation of the Qur' an, Louisa Young, a British journalist and author, writes: The simple pulse, the beating of the drum of the heart, is the repetitive rhythm which leads and propels meditation - the voyage into the heart - in all religions .... One Muslim ritual is the recitation of the Qur' an; the flowing, hypnotic rhythm of the Arabic words has often been compared to the heartbeat.
Grief caused by the separation from God is assuaged by remembering God: "Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest." This remembrance is dhikr - remembrance, the mental and verbal repetition of a verse of the Qur' an or one of the names of God,39
The eminent English intellectual and convert to Islam, Mohammad Marmaduke Pickthall, in his much celebrated and famous English translation of the noble Qur' an, described the
39 Louisa Young, The Book Of The Heart (New York: Doubleday, 2003),
recitation of the Qur'an as "the inimitable symphony, the very sound of which moves men to tears and ecstasy. ,,40 In praising the beautiful rhythm and rhetoric of the Qur' an, Professor A.J. Arberry, another British intellectual and historian, wrote in his translation of the Qur' an:
In making the present attempt... to produce something which might be accepted as echoing however faintly the sublime rhetoric of the Arabic Koran, I have been at pains to study the intricate and richly varied rhythms which - apart from the message itself - constitute the Koran's undeniable claim to rank amongst the greatest literary masterpieces of mankind.t'!
Malik Bennabi, the renowned Algerian Muslim intellectual, has the following to say about the influence of the unmatched rhythm of the Qur' anic verses on people during the time of Prophet Muhammad (m):
Some testimonies of this period, which have been recorded by tradition, provide us with ample information concerning the irresistible charm which Qur' anic verses exerted on the Bedouin soul. 'Umar [ibn al-Khattab] himself was converted under the effect ofthis charm, while al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, who personified the eloquence of the literary pride of his period, expressed his opinion concerning the "magic of the Qur'an". Answering Abu Jahl who asked him about his opinion of it, he said, "What do I think of it? By God, I think there is nothing of its like ... it is too majestic to be matched! ,,42
40 Mohammad Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an: Text and Explanatory Translation, ed. Arafat K. El Ashi (Maryland: Amana Publications, 1996).
41 Arthur John Arberry, The Qur'an Interpreted: A Translation (New York: Touchstone, 1996).
42 Malik Bennabi, The Qur'anic Phenomenon: An Essay of a Theory on the=
Jubayr ibn Mut'im, a polytheist from Makkah who had not embraced Islam yet, came to visit Madinah and said: «I heard the Prophet (m) reciting soorat at- Toor (the Mount) in the sunset prayer. When he reached the verse: ~Or were they created out of nothing, or were they the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Rather, they are not certain. Or have they the depositories [containing the provision] of your Lord? Or are they
the controllers [ofthem]?~ (Qur'an 52: 35-37), my heart practically flew to Islam.» (Bukhari)
The Qur'
anic recitation has profound effects upon its listeners. Charles le Gai Eaton,
a former British diplomat who embraced Islam in 1959, describes this quality of
the Qur'anic recitation:
For the
listener the sound [of Qur'anic recitation] - and for the reader the script -
have a profound transforming effect.. .. it could be said that there is an
effect upon the regions of the personality which are in practice concealed from
conscious thought or control. ... Because the Qur' an is the divine Word (in
which we ourselves originated) it is able to fill every crevice of our being
and, in a sense, to replace the debris which previously filled that space with
something of heavenly origin.l''
The human
heart and body are pacified and responsive to the recitation of the
Qur'an.l" Listening to the poetic words of the Qur' an chanted by a
beautiful voice can bring about profound
=Qur'an,
trans. Mohamed El-Tahir El-Mesawi (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust, 2001).
43 Charles
Le Gai Eaton, Islam and the Destiny of Man (New York: The Islamic Texts
Society, 1985).
44 Mushtaq,
The Intelligent Heart, The Pure Heart: An Insight into the Heart based on
Qur'an, Sunnah and Modern Science.
effects
upon its listeners. Qadi 'Iyad (died 1149 CE), the great Maliki Islamic scholar
from Muslim Spain, notes this miraculous aspect of the Qur' an in his famous
biography of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) titled Ash-Shifa:
The
believer continues to be terrified and in awe of it when he recites it [the
Qur'an], and it attracts him and it brings him joy by his heart's inclination
to it and confirmation of it.45 The effects of Qur' anic recitation on the
believers are described in the Qur' an when it is said:
“ ... The
skins shiver therefrom of those who fear their Lord; then their skins and their
hearts relax at the remembrance of Allah .. ) (Qur'an 39: 23)
Similarly, Allah
(SWT) also mentions:
“If We had
sent down this Qur' an upon a mountain, you would
have seen
it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah ... “ (Qur'an 59: 21)
Commenting
on this verse, Qadi 'Iyad wrote:
This
indicates that this is something unique to it. It can even seize someone who
has no understanding of its meanings and does not know its explanation. This
was related about a
45 Qadi
'Iyad Ibn Moosa al-Yahsubi, Muhammad Messenger of Allah (Ash- Shifa of Qadi
'Iyad), trans. Aisha Bewley (Scotland: Madinah Press, 1991).
Christian
who passed by someone reciting and he stopped and wept. He was asked, "Why
are you weeping?" He said, "Because it has broken my heart and
because of the beauty of its arrangement." This awe has seized many before
Islam and after it. Some of them became Muslim the first moment they heard it,
believing in it, while some of them rejected it.46
Qadi 'Iyad
mentioned those words about nine hundred years ago. Recently, the effects of
Qur'anic recitation on our bodies have been shown via scientific experiments
conducted separately by two Muslim scientists in two different parts of the
world. One study was conducted in 1984, and experiments are still going on at
the Akbar Clinics, Panama City, Florida in the United States by Dr. Ahmed
Elkadi, who is using the most sophisticated, state-of- the-art instruments in
his research.
In the
series of experiments conducted and published by Dr. Elkadi, three groups of
volunteers - Muslims who understood Arabic, Muslims who did not understand
Arabic and non- Muslims who did not understand Arabic - listened to recitation
of the Qur' an while physiological parameters, such as their heart rate, blood
pressure and muscle tension, were monitored. The results of his study showed
very clearly that listening to the recitation of Qur' an resulted in relaxation
of smooth muscles, reduction of the heart rate, and all the physiological
changes that indicate a release from stress and anxiety. These effects were
produced among Muslims and non-Muslims both, regardless of whether or not they
understood the Arabic language. Another important observation was that when
verses promising rewards (verses of persuasion) were recited, there was more
stress
46 Ibid.
reduction
(for example, more tranquility in the heart rate) among the listeners, whereas
listening to verses promising punishment (verses of dissuasion) caused
comparatively fewer stress-reducing effects on the listeners.47 This study
demonstrates the beneficial effects of Qur'anic recitation on the human heart
and body.
Dr.
Muhammad Khair al-Irgisoosi carried out a similar scientific study as part of
his PhD research at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, under the supervision of
the world-renowned Islamic psychologist Dr. Malik Badri. The subjects of this
study were patients who suffered from hypertension due to stressful lifestyles
or other reasons. The results of this study also showed that listening to the
recitation of the Qur' an contributed significantly to lowering the blood
pressure among the patients. In some cases, their doctors even told them to
stop taking their
medication
because their blood pressure readings had returned to normal levels. 48 These
research findings support the results of the research going on at Akbar Clinics
in the U.S. In the same vein, Dr. Mohammad Usman Najati, one of the most famous
contemporary Islamic psychologists, has the following to say about the
significance of recitation of the Qur' an, based on his clinical experience
with patients:
The
recitation of the Qur' an is not only the best cure for restlessness and mental
agitation due to the feelings of guilty conscience, but also it is the best
treatment for all the
47 Ahmed
Elkadi, "Health and Healing in the Qur'an," in Islamic Perspectives
in Medicine - A Survey of Islamic Medicine: Achievements and Contemporary
Issues, ed. Shahid Athar, M.D. (Indianapolis: American Trust Publications,
1993).
48 Malik
Badri, Contemplation: An Islamic Psychospiritual Study (London: The
International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2000).
psychological
and mental disturbances as well as mental depression. The Prophet (PBUH)
treated neurosis of people with the Qur'an.i"
It is not
thus surprising to note that the Companions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) used to
recite the Qur' an with beautiful voices. In various hadiths, Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) emphasized that the recitation of the Qur' an should be done in the best
natural voice possible. He said: «Beautify the Qur'an with your voices.»
(recorded
by Abu Dawood and graded as sound by al-Albani)
In another
hadith, the Prophet (PBUH) is reported to have said:
«He who
does not recite the Qur' an while beautifying it with his voice is not from
among us.» (Bukhari)
In one
hadith, al-Bara' ibn 'Azib reported: «A man was reciting soorat al-Kahf (the
Cave), and there was a horse beside him, tied with two ropes. As he was
reciting, a cloud overshadowed him, and as it began to come nearer and nearer,
the horse began to trample violently. The man came to the Messenger of Allah
(SWT) in the morning and mentioned the incident to him.
The Prophet
(PBUH) said: That was tranquility, which descended as a result of the
recitation of the Qur'an.» (Muslim)
We can
easily understand from the above discussion that if we get these benefits from
just listening to the Qur' an, then there will be even more benefits when we
apply the Qur'an to our lives. We should not reduce the Qur' an to being merely
a ceremonial book, to be used on special occasions for attaining blessings but
not used as the code for our lives. The Companions of the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) used to apply every verse of the Qur' an to their
49 Mohammad
Usman Najati, Hadeeth and Ilm un-Nafs (Lahore: AI-Faisal Publishers and
Traders, n.d.).
character.
We too need to understand and apply the Qur'an to our lives. Lastly, we must
remember that recitation of the Qur'an is not only aesthetically pleasing to
our nature, but it also calms our hearts. As Allah (SWT) mentions:
by the
remembrance of Allah hearts find
(Qur'an 13:
28)
