Q542 :In many non-Arabic speaking parts of the
Muslim world, you find people who memorize the Qur’an in full, but
without understanding it. I know that one is rewarded for reciting the
Qur’an, but the purpose of reading and memorizing is not served in this
way. Please netment.
A542 : There is no doubt that to memorize one of the
parts of the Qur’an and to study it at the same time in order to
understand the meaning of its verses and what they signify in actual
life is infinitely better than memorizing the whole of the Qur’an
without understanding its meaning. Scholars have always emphasized this
and quoted the example of the netpanions of the Prophet who used to
study a few verses at a time. Many of them would not move on to study
another passage until they have implemented the first one in their
lives. This means that their approach was not merely one which relied
on understanding, but they took it a step further to practical
implementation. Having said that, I should add that those who memorize
the Qur’an, even though they may not understand it, serve an important
purpose. Allah has guaranteed the preservation of the Qur’an without
distortion for all time. When you remember that printing is, relatively
speaking, a recent development and that the Qur’an was revealed in a
nation in which people who were able to read and write were very few,
then you realize that it was passed on from one person to another on
the basis of memorization. There were attempts by colonial powers and
other hostile forces to promote special prints of the Qur’an in which
they might have introduced a small distortion here and there. But these
were soon discovered and all copies were burned out. The Qur’an
memorizers have played an important role in foiling such evil attempts.
[It will not be correct thus to netpare one with the other when both
have vital contribution in the life of Muslims. Of course those who are
able to memorize the Qur’an and understand it are by far the blessed.]
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )