Statements at the Gathering with the Holy Quran

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the Awaited One among the people of the earth.

I express my gratitude to the Almighty God for the renewed formation of this gathering and for the sweet and beautiful meeting and listening that this session holds for me. I also praise God for the continuous increase in Quran reciters. Today, our eyes and ears were brightened; we truly enjoyed the recitations that took place from various cities, at different ages, in various styles, all Quranic and all reciters. I was very happy to see Mr. Rouhani-Nejad; after more than forty years, we heard his voice again; he had an extraordinary voice back in his youth when he was a student of Mr. Mokhtari — may God have mercy on the late Mr. Mokhtari — and that remarkable voice of his; thanks be to God. I congratulate you on the arrival of the blessed month of Ramadan, which is truly a great feast for believers and those who appreciate it; we ask the Almighty God to make this Ramadan a true feast for all the people of Iran and for all of you.

What seems important to me is that we can quench our community — our own community first and foremost — from the inexhaustible source of the Quran. We need this, and we are in dire need of it. Both in our personal lives, our ethics, our behavior, and our conduct, there are issues that can be resolved with the Quran; and in our collective life, part of it relates to our internal community communications — our interactions with each other, our collaborations, our mutual affections — and part of it relates to our confrontation with the outside world; these are our issues. In all of these, both in personal matters, in social issues within the community, and in social issues related to the outside world, we have trials that can be resolved with the Quran; the Quran can guide us in this regard and take our hand.

Now, regarding our relationship with the outside world, today the people of Iran are faced with a vast front of infidel or hypocritical powers; this is the case. We have no problem with nations. Nations are either brothers or, if they are strangers, they have no business with each other. Those who interfere with countries and nations are the powerful ones. Today, we are among those countries that are confronted with a vast front of these powerful ones; how should we behave with them? The Quran contains the guidelines for how to deal with them: at what stage should we speak with them? At what stage should we extend a hand of cooperation? At what stage should we strike them in the mouth? At what stage should we draw the sword? All of this is specified in the Quran.

In terms of social issues within the community — communication issues — you know that from the perspective of Islam, after monotheism and knowledge and connection with God, the most important issue in forming an Islamic community is justice, social justice. Prophets did not invite to anything as much as they did to justice after monotheism. We have problems in the realm of social justice; the solution is in the Quran. In our personal lives, we are afflicted with moral and spiritual diseases; not only us, all of humanity today suffers from these spiritual, moral, and existential diseases; they are afflicted with envy, stinginess, suspicion, laziness, hedonism, selfishness, and the preference of their own interests over the collective interests; these exist; they exist among us too; we are also an Islamic community. In some areas, we have made progress, but at the same time, we also have these diseases; the cure is in the Quran. If the Quran is recited correctly — and I will briefly touch on this — if recitation takes place and listening occurs, these diseases will be alleviated.

The Quran tells us both the remedy — pay close attention — and shows us the way, and it also creates motivation within us; this is important. Many people know the way [but] lack motivation, and their intellectual and moral faculties cannot generate motivation within them; the Quran creates motivation. When the Quran is recited well and we listen attentively and reflect on it, then great results will be achieved for us, and these diseases will be alleviated. The Quran itself has mentioned this: He it is Who raised among the unlettered a Messenger from among them, who recites to them His verses; recitation; he recites the verses. What is the result of reciting the verses? And purifies them; this recitation leads to purification. What does purification mean? It means healing of the soul and heart; this is the meaning of purification. The heart of a person, the soul of a person, the spirit of a person is healed from the diseases that I have referred to; this is purification; the Quran does this, the recitation of the Quran creates purification. And teaches them the Book; what is the Book? The Book is the framework of individual and social life; that which the Almighty God has referred to in Quranic and religious expressions as “the truth.” The Book means the overall framework of individual and social life; the shape of social and individual life is a collection that the “Book” encompasses, elucidates, and expresses. And teaches them the Book and wisdom; what is wisdom? Knowledge, understanding of the truths of existence; that a person knows the truths of existence; the recitation of the Book teaches us these.

He recites to them; the Prophet recites the Quran to the people so that these few tasks can be accomplished: “purification, teaching the Book, teaching wisdom.” What do you do? You reciters perform the same task as the Prophet; you also recite. The act of recitation is a prophetic task; the recitation of the Quran is of such importance; that you can transform Quranic concepts into the certainties of the thoughts of individuals. There are thousands of important titles and headings in the Quran; for example, consider “that people may stand for justice” or “practice forgiveness” or “remember God with much remembrance”; all of these are titles and headings. One of the duties and functions of your recitation — if done correctly — is to transform these concepts into the certainties of the community’s thoughts; it becomes established in the community that justice must be upheld; that God must be remembered: “remember God with much remembrance”; that forgiveness must be practiced among brothers: “practice forgiveness”; that “let them fight in the way of God”; and the other concepts that exist in the Quran. This is not an exaggeration: there are thousands of titles and subjects in the Quran that can be transformed into the general knowledge of the people; what does this? Good recitation. [Then] the Quranic literacy of the people increases, and they will think in the way the Quran has commanded.

Generally, a person acts according to how they think. Therefore, the recitation of the Quran and the reading of the Quran and the work you do has such importance, it performs such miracles, it accomplishes such great tasks; but with the observance of the etiquette of recitation; this is the condition. This is what makes your duty heavy; you must observe the etiquette of recitation.

The first etiquette is that when you recite the Quran — whether you are at home, or among the gathering here or anywhere else — know that you are in the presence of God, you are reading His words to us; be aware that in the presence of God, you are conveying His words to us. This gives you a certain feeling; this is very important. This is the first.

Read the Quran with attention to its meaning. Today I saw that some of the brothers observed this well, and the recitations that took place were with attention to meaning. Sometimes, if there is no attention to meaning, the recitation does not have an effect. If you have attention to meaning and know what truth is coming out of your throat — attention to meaning means this — it has an effect. It is possible for someone to be an Arabic speaker and Arabic to be their mother tongue, but they may not pay attention to what they are saying; it is important to know what we are saying; attention to meaning means this.

And read the Quran with tarteel (recitation with proper rhythm). Tarteel, of course, today in the common terminology among us refers to the recitations that take place in these Quranic sessions, where several people sit and recite, saying they are reciting with tarteel; this is not tarteel. [When it says] “and recite the Quran in a measured tone,” tarteel means to read the Quran with understanding, with contemplation, with pause: “And We have divided the Quran so that you may recite it to the people in a measured tone.” Tarteel is a spiritual matter. Know what you are doing, what you are reading, what you are delivering to the other party, and in what form you are delivering it; this is also important, and I may refer to this as well. Tarteel is this. Of course, in the common way that is now prevalent among reciters and those who have written about recitation, the recitation of the Quran is either in the form of “tahqiq” (precise recitation) or “tadweer” (moderate recitation) or in the form of “hadr” (fast recitation) or “tahdeer” (very fast recitation). Tadweer is the middle ground, which we today refer to as tarteel; above this is tahqiq, which is the recitation that you perform; below that is hadr or tahdeer, which is reading the Quran quickly. If the Quran is recited with tarteel — in the meaning we have explained, not in the meaning that is common — it will have an effect. Now, let me say in parentheses that reciting the Quran in this form of tadweer, which we call tarteel, is a very important task, a very interesting task. The fact that it has now become common throughout the country, in Mashhad, in Qom, in Jamkaran, in Khuzestan, in Ahvaz, in Tabas, everywhere they recite the Quran that is broadcast on television, this is a very valuable task, a very good task. Perhaps I cannot express my extraordinary joy and happiness to you when I see various and diverse reciters come and sit to recite the Quran, both with tajweed (proper pronunciation), and with correct pauses and beginnings, and with beautiful and correct articulation; this is truly extraordinary, this is very good; the more this spreads, the better it is. In any case, therefore, the tarteel in the meaning we have explained is the condition for the effectiveness of our recitation.

The third point is that the goal of the reciter in their recitation should primarily be to benefit themselves. When you read the Quran, first consider that you should benefit yourself. Secondly, your goal should be to benefit your audience. Thirdly, provide the necessary aesthetic and verbal arrangements suitable for the Quran; these arrangements, those who read, good voices, beautiful sounds, and good styles of recitation are not a problem. Fortunately, I see among our reciters, those who are now broadcast on television or in this way that we occasionally observe, many of their recitations, their tones, are not imitative tones; they are tones that they themselves initially create. In the early days of the revolution, our reciters had to imitate one of these famous Egyptian reciters; either Abdul Basit, or Mustafa Ismail, or Minshawi and others; today I see that this is not the case. Of course, imitation is not a problem; that is, those who imitate a good reciter's tone and repeat and learn that tone, this is not a problem, this is not a flaw; but today, thank God, our reciters create their own tones; one can observe this in some of the reciters. Therefore, if your goal is primarily yourself, to be influenced yourself, and secondly, your goal is for the audience to be influenced — if this is achieved — then your listener will also become humble. The humility of the listener in front of the Quran is a result of your recitation; when you recite well — “well” in the sense I have mentioned — you humble the hearts of your listeners. This humility is a very valuable and important thing; a state of remembrance arises; “Remember God with much remembrance.” This glorification and this remembrance and this humility that arises in your heart as a result of recitation is a very valuable thing; we need this.

Of course, one issue in our country and non-Arab countries is the issue of understanding meanings, which we need to solve somehow; this is one of the problems we are afflicted with. Today, fortunately, there has been a significant change; our reciters who read, one can understand that they pay attention to meanings, they understand the meanings and are speaking to people. In the early days of the revolution, this was not the case; they recited without understanding the meanings; the result was that in the quality of reading, in the framework of reading, in pauses and beginnings, and so on, many issues arose. Today, thank God, it is good, but it must become more widespread; that is, your listener must also understand what you are saying when they hear the Quran; even if only to some extent, they should understand what you are saying. This requires work, and the responsibility lies with the education system, the organization of propagation, and the Quranic institutions that are engaged with the Quran. They should sit down and think of ways to truly find solutions. Of course, one of the ways is to write translations, which they write and it is good; there are other ways that they should explore and discover. This was the character of the reciter, the heart of the reciter; we said that the reciter must read the Quran with their conditions.

The appearance of the reciter is also important; first, the reciter should have the appearance of a righteous person. In the early days of the revolution, any reciter who wanted to come here from any country, one of the conditions we set was that they must grow a beard; because they do not consider shaving the beard to be forbidden, they shave their beards; they are clerics, but they are beard-shavers. We conditioned that when they come to Tehran, it is forbidden; all of them accepted; I do not remember a case that did not accept. Many reciters came; famous reciters, so-called renowned reciters of today, most of whom have passed away, all of them grew beards; none of them had beards where they read and in other places and other countries, but here they had beards. This appearance of righteousness is very important. Our reciter must observe this. Because having a beard is the appearance of the righteous, the appearance of the pious; this must be observed by the reciter, especially the reciter who wants to read on television or in public gatherings or in mosques and other places.

The issue of clothing is the same. I told one of my friends who traveled, well, in various countries, our reciters are welcomed, they are praised and welcomed; some of our reciters wear their clothing; I said why? Why do you wear their clothing? You are Iranian; wear your own suit and trousers; at most, just throw a cloak over your shoulder. Or they put on their hats, wear their clothing; or they wear the clothing of a certain Egyptian reciter, which is also a subject of discussion! What is the necessity? Preserve these appearances; that is, the distinction of being Iranian.

One issue in this recitation appearance is avoiding forbidden tones. Be aware; I mentioned in the last session, I think it was last year, that I named some reciters; they said this [person] you mentioned has many fans; yes, we know they have many fans; we ourselves also enjoy their reading, but sometimes their reading is such that one sees, for example, that it is no different from the reading of a certain Egyptian reciter; it is just like that, they are reading the same. Well, these are not Quranic tones; Quranic tone is another tone, and it does not contradict good reading. Now, you reciters who read here, our good reciters and those who read even better than them, have very good tones, they read well, it is beautiful, it is sweet, one wants to listen to it, and it is not forbidden; therefore, it is possible to avoid forbidden tones.

We said that imitation in the style of recitation is not a flaw, but that we strive and hold festivals for training imitators, I truly do not understand this; I do not know where this initiative comes from that, for example, we should sit down and teach that if you want to read like Sheikh Mustafa Ismail, you must read this part like this! I do not understand the necessity of this teaching; now if they learned it themselves, that is very good, it is not a flaw. By the way, I brought the tapes of Mustafa Ismail to Mashhad; I ordered them from Arab countries and we broadcast them. They did not know Mustafa Ismail in Mashhad. I mean, I am fond of his reading and recitation, but that we should come and teach our children to say, you come and imitate him or Minshawi or Ahmed Shabib or the other one, this does not seem to me to be a very logical task.

One point is that various organizations are responsible for the issue of the Quran and deal with the Quran; the Ministry of Culture deals with the Quran, the Organization of Propagation deals with it, the Endowments deal with it, the Broadcasting Organization deals with it, and there are other various organizations, and the general public and popular groups also deal with it; well, they should synergize. The way to synergize is that this Supreme Council of the Quran that has been formed makes policies; these policies should be taken into account; this is an important task, a useful task; that is, it should be such that throughout the country, the Quranic work that progresses is in consideration of various aspects and different issues. I saw that some Quranic scholars had discussions — which the gentlemen provided me with some of them — important matters, significant matters regarding Quranic issues, recitation issues, they shared these, they paid attention to them, focused on them, and took care of them; well, these should be utilized. In particular, the Broadcasting Organization should welcome high-quality Quranic productions; that is, it should truly support them. We truly have very good productions in the field of Quran recitation, we have outstanding productions; these should be utilized and the people should benefit from them.

Fortunately, our country's progress in terms of the Quran has been a rapid progress compared to other countries that we see; that is, in a country where the Quran was neglected, Quran recitation was limited, and in large cities, there were two, three, or five Quran sessions, and at most, there were six or seven Quran reciters who read the Quran well, with tajweed, today, fortunately, throughout the country, even in small cities and perhaps in some villages, there are good reciters, outstanding reciters who recite. Well, these are our distinctions, and they cannot claim that the Islamic Republic has not been able to work in the field of the Quran; no, thanks be to God, very good work has been done, and even more should be done. However, these points I mentioned should be taken into account; that is, the main thing is that the spiritual spring of the Quran should flow into the thoughts of the people, into the hearts of the people, and consequently into our actions; this is the main thing. May God willing, may He grant you and all of us this success.

Once again, I thank all of you. I thank the organizers of this session. I thank the honorable moderator who conducted the session very well. I thank each and every one who recited or executed the program. God willing, may you all be successful.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.