How to Read English Quran? A Guide for New Muslims!

New Muslims are always asking: How to read English Quran? and this is a very good, and a very important questions!

Reading the Quran is difficult for non-Arabic speakers, if you are one of those people who don’t know Arabic language it won’t be a problem.

There is an English Quran for non-Arabic speakers that you could read until you learn Arabic. In this article we will see how to read the English Quran and whether it is okay to read the English Quran or not.

How to read the English Quran? To read English Quran choose a good translation and start reading, and to understand the message behind each surah and aya you should gain some knowledge about Islam. And if you get stuck, ask the questions you need answers to.

How to read the English quran?

Basic Islam Knowledge:

The first step in understanding the Quran is to gain some Islamic knowledge, it’s essential to get a solid foundation that will enable you to understand the Quran. You could start by reading Islamic books.

Examples of Islamic books:

• What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims” by Suzanne Haneef.
• Islam, by Isma’il Al-Faruqi.
• “Islam: The Straight Path,” by John Esposito.

Those are just a few examples of Islamic books, there are much more out there.

Choose Quran Translation:

The holy Quran was revealed in Arabic, but here are many English translations that you could choose from. However you should keep in mind that the translation will vary from one to another.

In order to truly understand the Quran and the message of the Quran you should learn to read Arabic sooner or later.

Some of the English Quran translation includes:

• King Fahd Holy Quran Printing Complex.

• The holy Quran translation by Hilali and Khan.

• The Quran, translation by Abdullah Y. Ali.

Use some helping books or apps:

Sometimes even when you read the surah in your language you will face some challenges in understanding its words.

That’s why you need to find a helping app or search for the meaning of the words that you don’t understand. Even when you can’t understand a verse, don’t continue without searching for its meaning.

The main purpose of reading the Quran is to understand it, so when a word or verse stops you try to find its meaning.

Always Ask Questions:

You will face many challenges when reading the Quran not just in understanding the meaning of the words but also in understanding the message.

Your role here is to understand the message, ask questions to the ones that can help you, go to the mosque and ask the imam the questions you want, and they will surely help you.  

Don’t stop learning:

When it comes to religion or human life in general you won’t stop learning. Along the way many questions will come up in the way. And you will find more things that you need to learn.

The prophet told us to always seek knowledge, even if it was in the other half of the world. New topics and lessons make you learn new things that are the purpose of our life.

Now that you know the answer to your question, a new question might come into your head, is it okay to read the Quran in English? That’s what we will find out now.

Can I Read The English Quran?

It’s okay to read the Quran in English, astTranslation gives us an approximation to the meaning of the surah.

Let’s make it simple for you to understand. When you buy a novel in its original language and its translation and read them both, won’t you find many differences between the two? Even Though they are supposed to be the same.

Translating from one language to another is not easy, can you imagine the translation of a simple book or novel will be hard and won’t deliver the author’s message and intention. How about translating the Quran?

What I mean to say is that the English Quran will not be the same as reading the Quran in its original language. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t read the English Quran, read it until you learn Arabic language.

Not being able to read Arabic shouldn’t make you feel guilty or anything, don’t let anything stop you from reading the Quran.

It’s okay to feel down sometimes; just when you find something that you don’t understand in the Quran, look it up or ask someone.

Will I get rewarded for reading the English Quran?

In order to answer this question we should first understand the purpose of reading the Quran. We read the Quran to understand Allah’s message to us and to become closer to Allah.

Reciting the Quran in Arabic or English will not make any difference. Allah will not reward you more if you recite the Quran in Arabic, and it will not make you closer to Allah than reading the English Quran.

As long as you are reading the Quran no matter what the language you read the Quran with, you will always become closer to Allah.

Becoming closer to Allah is not bound to how much you read or the language, being from an Arab country will not make you closer to Allah. The only important thing is that you read the Quran and you will get rewarded.

Best websites to read Quran:

Here are some of the best websites where you can read and listen to Quran:

• quranonline.com
• Quranclasses.com
• QURAN.COM
• TANZIL.NET
• QURANEXPLORER.COM
• LISTEN2QURAN.COM
• QURANFLASH.COM
• QURANACADEMY.IO
• QURANWEBSITE.COM
• RECITEQURAN.COM
• AL-QURAN
• Quranexplorer.com

Can I hold the English Quran without Wudu?

Yes, you don’t have to make Wudu to hold the English Quran. And the reason why is that because the English Quran is just a translation of the Quran and not the actual Quran.

We have explained the difference between the holy Quran and the english Quran, so now that you understand the difference then you know why you can hold the English Quran without Wudu while you can’t do the same with the Quran (mushaf).

Rules of reading and handling the Quran:

There are a few rules to reading or listening to quran which include:

• Wudu: an essential thing to do before touching or reading the Quran is to make Wudu, however if you are reading from your phone you don’t have to make Wudu, but it’s better if you do.
• Dress up properly.
• Don’t talk while you are listening to the Quran.
• Pay attention to the Quran you’re listening to. And if someone is reciting, try to focus and stay Quiet so that you don’t bother the reciter.
• Start reading any surah by saying ‘bismillah arrahman nirraheem’.
• After you finish reading a surah say ‘Saddaq allah ul Adheem’