The Prophet's guidance concerning reciting the Glorious Qur'an

19- The Prophet's guidance concerning reciting the Glorious Qur'an[1]

1- He used to recite a Hizb (a portion of the Qur'an) and never forsook it.

2- His recitation was Tartil (slow recitation of the Qur'an) neither fast nor quick but an illustrative recitation letter by letter.

3- He used to stop after reciting each Ayah and used to recite the Surah slowly until it looked longer than its real size.

4- He used to lengthen his voice at the letters of Madd [A,I,O], so, he would lengthen Ar-Rahman [the Most Gracious] and Ar-Rahim [The Most Merciful].

5- He used to seek refuge with Allah against the cursed Satan in the beginning of his recitation saying: "A`udhu billahi min Ash-Shaytani Ar-Rajim" [I seek refuge in Allah against the cursed Satan]. and sometimes he would say: "O Allah! I seek refuge with You from the cursed Satan from death (such as madness or sorcery caused by it), arrogance (which it blows inside a human), and poetry (which it uses against Shari`ah)." [Reported by Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah].

6- He used to recite the Qur'an while standing, sitting, laying down, whether performed ablution or not; and nothing could stop him from recitation but major ritual impurity.

7- He used to recite the Qur'an in a sweet voice and said: "He is not one of us who does not recite the Qur'an in a sweet voice." [Reported Al Bukhari]. He also said: "Beautify the Qur'an with your Voices." [Reported by Abu Dawud, An-Nasa'y, and Ibn Majah].

8- He used to listen to the Qur'an from others.

9- When he recited an Ayah of prostration, he would pronounce Takbir and prostration[2] and perhaps he said in his prostration: "My face fell prostrate before the One who created it and brought forth its faculties of hearing and seeing by His Might and Power." [Reported by Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhy, and An-Nasa'y]. Perhaps he said: "O Allah, remove from me a sin (because of this prostration), record for me a reward, save it for me and accept it from me just as You had accepted it from Your Servant Dawud [David]." [At-Tirmidhy and Ibn Majah]. It was not reported from him that he raised his hands for that prostration, nor pronounced Tashahhud or salutation at the end of Salah.