You have the enthusiasm and determination to start but don’t know how to start or what to do. This guide will help you to learn Quran if you are an absolute beginner.
Why learning Quran?
Learning Quran is an important step for learning Islam which is mandatory on every Muslim whether man or woman.
Quran is the book of Allah SWT revealed to His prophet Muhammad PBUH that contains the message of Allah to humanity. Millions of Muslims around the world learn the holy Quran and memorize it for that it’s their path to Jannah.
Due to the importance of this holy book, learning Quran is essential for every Muslim that can lead them to Junnah.
Tip Learning Quran in a young age is always best for that kids have better memory and ability to learn. So if you have kids, don’t be hesitated to teach them Quran.
Best ways to learn Quran
Quran Halaqas or classes
This is the right way to learn Quran and you will need a Quran teacher or Shiekh to learn with even if you studied a recorded course. This is because Quran learning must be with a teacher to help you read Quran the right way with Tajweed. Because reading Quran must be with Tajweed.
If you cannot go to a Quran teacher, we offer Quran classes online from the comfort of your home.
Quran recoded courses
This is not the ideal way to learn Quran for the reason stated above. But it would be great to take a Noorani Qaida course, Nour Albayan course or any basic Arabic reading courses before starting Quran classes. This way will save the teacher time rather than starting from the scratch.
Quran learning books
These books must be for learning with a Quran teacher or a Quran course but you can’t study these books alone. Learning Quran should be with listening not just reading. That’s why there isn’t any books for beginners. And, don’t learn reading Quran with English letters by reading transliteration, this way you will never read Quran correct.
There are some books for Tajweed and Quran recitation which is recommended to read though.
How to learn Quran for beginners
Start with learning the basics of reading Arabic
Well, the first steps are the most difficult. The objective is to be constant and not lose your focus. If your goal is to learn to read Quran, these fundamentals will help you to be successful.
Notes
- Reading Quran must be in the Arabic language.
- You should read Arabic correctly before learning Quran recitation.
Learn Noorani Qaida or Nour Albayan
These two books will help you to learn to read Quran starting from reading letters to reading long words. Only one of these two books will give you same but in a different lesson’s order.
There are many online courses that teach you Qaida available for free. You can also study in a paid online classes like we offer in our Online Quran Academy.
Reading Arabic fundamentals
To make things simple for you, there are a few things in the Arabic language you need to know in order to make the learning process easier. Based on the way of Nour Albayan book these are some things will help you learn Arabic reading.
The vowel symbols Fatha, Kasra and Damma
The Arabic language has three symbols for the vowel sounds. In English, you need “e i u” to make a vowel sound when pronouncing any letter. But in Arabic there are symbols for vowel sounds and there is also three vowel letters.
Depending on the book you will learn from, those symbols are named differently but pronounced the same.
For Arabs, the vowel symbols are three. Fatha, the letter will sound like it is followed by letter (a). Kasra, the letter will sound like it is followed by letter (e). Damma, the sound of the letter will sound like it is followed by letter (o).
Fatha is a small dash written above the letter. Kasra is a dash at the bottom of the letter. Damma is this shape (و) but small at the top of the letter.
Let’s take this with examples. (ب) is the second letter in Arabic named Baa. If it is written with Fatha like this will be pronounced Baa.
If it is written with Kasra like this will be pronounced Be.
If it is written with Damma like this will be pronounced Bo.
Now the vowel sounds symbols seem simple right? What about the vowel letters.
The vowel letters
As I’ve told you there are vowel symbols and vowel letters in Arabic. You can make a vowel sound with symbols but why there is vowel letters then?
Here’s what the vowel letters do. They simply prolong the sound of the letter. How does this happen? You can figure that out in the following lines.
There are there vowel letters (ا و ي). These letters can be constant letters or vowel letters. To be read as vowel letters. There must be an appropriate vowel symbol on the letter before it.
For (ا), there must be a Fatha on the letter. And the sound of the letter will be longer when there is a Fatha and letter Alif(ا). For (ي), there must Kasra on the letter. For (و), there must be Damma.
This is just a quick explanation of how vowel and constant letters work in Arabic. But we you watch actual lessons in Arabic, I’m sure you will understand it better.
The consonant sound Sukoon
This is the consonant sound of the letter. A symbol is used for this on the top of the letter that looks like a small non complete circle.
In English, consonant sound can be made only at the end of the word like in the word Good. Letter D is consonant because we don’t say da or de or do. It’s just a D sound without any movement. In Arabic, letters in the middle or the end may have Sukoon and will be then consonant.
Shaddah and Tanween
Those are more advanced topics I will not talk about here. But, you should learn after perfecting the previous topics.
Note that these fundamentals in Noorani Qaida course.
Practice reading Quran with yourself
You are able to read Quran now but it’s hard to read it is difficult to read at the same speed as normal at which everyone reads. Don’t worry, you’re still at the beginning. With practice, everything will get better. Here are some ways to practice Quran reading your self.
Tips to practice Quran reading
Try to pronounce the words and letters you read as clear as you can. For that the Arabic letters must be pronounced clearly with a strong sound.
Record yourself while reading Arabic, then compare your sound with the teacher sound in the course you are taking to see if it’s close to his sound. This is very important if you haven’t started Quran classes to make sure you are reading correct.
Observe the difference between similar letters. You will find Arabic letters that looks like each other only dots are different between them. Noticing the difference will help you to read them when there are joined in one word
Give yourself many tries for some words as you don’t have to read all words from the first time. So, when you face a difficult word, it’s normal to try it many times until you read.
If you’re studying in an online course, don’t move to next lessons untill you know the previous ones. As Arabic lessons in these courses are made in an order that depend on eachother.
Practice Quran recitation
Record your voice while reciting Quran. Then, Listen to your voice objectively and try reciting with more than one tone. Try reciting the Qur’an in more than one way, at different speeds, and with different levels. Therefore, you will be able to choose the best tone for reading.
The strength of your voice is one of the important things that you should practice. You should raise and lower your voice so that you can control your ability to vary its strength. This is something very useful in practicing oratory, that helps to remove that suffocation that occurs while reading.
Try to speak at a speed of 90 words per minute. This is the average speed for reading Quran. Ask your friends what they think of your speed.
Read as clear as you can the pronunciations of the letters and their characteristics. And practice hard-to-pronounce words until you master them especially the words that contain the full mouth letters that are grouped in this word (خص ضغط قظ), as well as the letters of the group whispering in their saying (حثه شخص سكت).
By following these tips you will learn Quran the fastest way and will master Quran recitation. Wish you all the best in your journey to learn Quran.