Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalam,

First of all, my mother tongue is not Arabic but masha Allah my parents provided their three children with the knowledge to recite and act as per sunnah. We've by hearted the surahs, for which the meaning was forgotten in course of time. Now we are praying uttering those surahs. My question is, perhaps if we misspell or use some other word instead of original scripts due to ignorance of the meaning, will Allah punish us?

Whenever I pray I think of Allah, but shaitaan induces me to think if I'm using correct words while praying. I tried to open the surahs and read in order not to misled while offering. But if I want to pray without the guidance of book, I'm missing some verse or text. I feel disappointed that Allah will punish me for such mistakes as HE mention in the holy Quran that he will accept the Fard prayer only if its perfect.

Kindly advise.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Will Allah punish for mis pronuncing Quran

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2137 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "If anyone recites a letter from Allah's Book he will be credited with a good deed, and a good deed gets a tenfold reward. I do not say that ‘Alif-Lam-Mim’ are one letter, but ‘alif’ is a letter, ‘lam’ is a letter, and ‘mim’ is a letter."

If one strives to the best of one’s ability to recite the Quran as perfectly as they can, and because of their handicap in the Arabic language, and in spite of their best efforts, perchance makes an unintentional error in the recitation or the pronunciation of the Divine Verses…..it is expected that their Lord Most Gracious, Most Merciful will not hold them to account or punish them for their unintentional errors, but rather reward them generously for their sincere striving.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 6.459 Narrated by Aisha

The Prophet (saws) said, "Such a person as recites the Qur'an and masters it by heart, will be with the noble righteous scribes (in Heaven); and such a person exerts himself to learn the Qur'an by heart, and recites it with great difficulty, will have a double reward."

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan