Fatwa ID: 04488

Answered by: Shaykh Umer Khan

Question:

Salaam Shaykh. I wanted to know if it is permissible to recite the Quran in a specific Maqaamaat or is it Bidah? Where does the Maqaamaats originate from? Is it from musical instruments or other? JazakallahuKhairan

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the name of Allāh the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Answer:

The Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said:

• "Make your voice beautiful when you recite the Qur'ān " [1].
• "Whoever does not read the Qurān in a nice voice is not from amongst us" [2].

Based on these reports, one should recite the Qur'ān in a nice, pleasant, and clear voice. We also know that it is compulsory to read the Qur'ān with proper pronunciation, following the established rules of tajwīd [3]. Therefore, if reading in themaqāmāt causes one to stretch or shorten sounds in a way that goes against the rules of tajwīd, this would be prohibited [4].

It is a difference of opinion amongst the scholars if the maqāmātoriginate from musical patterns or not. If they do, reading or listening to the Qur'ānin them would be impermissible [5]. Two well-known contemporary scholars of Qur'ānic reading (Shaykh Ayman Suwayd and Shaykh ʻĪsā Maʻṣarāwī) believe that reading in the maqāmāt is not permissible. Others argue that the maqāmāt does not originate from music and therefore should be permissible.

The Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said: "Leave what causes you doubt and turn to what does not cause you doubt" [6]. The safest approach may be to beautify one's voice in a natural way while reading the Qur'ān, without learning the maqāmāt.

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Shaykh Umer Khan

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

[1] Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Hadīth 1468

[2] Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī,Hadīth7527

[3] Al-Muqaddimatu Al-Jazariyyah, line 27

[4] Fatāwā Maḥmūdiyyah 3/485

[5] Al-Bayān li-Ḥukmi Qirā'ati Al-Qur'ān Al-Karīm Bi Al-Alḥān, numerous Aḥādīth

[6] Jāmiʻ al-Tirmidhī, Hadīth 2618