'iLM-I-TAJWID. 



159 



act of worship brings a Muslim so near to Grod as tilawat, the 

 act of reading or reciting some portion of this book. 1 The 

 Traditionist Tabrani says : " Whosoever teaches his son to 

 read the Quran will receive a heavenly crown. " Tirmizi 

 hands down a saying of the Prophet to the effect that " who- 

 soever reads only one letter does a good act which will meet a 

 tenfold reward." The ceremonial acts to be observed before 

 the reading commences are the legal ablution ( y=j ) and 

 prayer ( Vcj ). The Quran itself says : " Let none touch it but 

 the purified. " The usual prayer is, "I seek Cod's protection 

 from cursed Satan," followed by the invocation, " In the 

 name of Grod, the Merciful, the Compassionate." Pleasant 

 verses should be read in a cheerful tone, those which speak of 

 threatenings and punishment should be recited with awe. If 

 the reader cannot cry, he should assume the appearance of 

 one in great sorrow. Whenever the words of those whom 

 Muslims call Kafirs ( are quoted in the Quran, the reader 

 should recite them in a low tone of voice. Such quotations 

 are the following : " The Jews say, 6 Ezra (Ozair) is a Son of 

 G-od,' " and " the Christians, < The Messiah is a Son of Grod ' " 

 (Sura ix, 30) . After reading the verse " Adam disobeyed his 

 Lord, and went astray" (Sura xx, 119), the reader should 

 not pause, but quickly pass on to the following words, " After- 

 wards his Lord chose him for himself, and was turned towards 

 him, &c." The idea is, that as Adam is one of the Anbiya- 

 ulul-'Azm, 2 the six chief prophets, the stress should be laid 

 on Grod's forgiveness of his fault and not on his disobedience. 



The name of Grod is repeated twice in the following verse : 

 " We will not believe till the like be accorded us, of what was 

 accorded to the Apostles of Cod. Grod best knoweth where 

 to place His mission" (Sura vi, 124). As this is the only 



1 It is not necessary that the reader should know the meaning. He may 

 be utterly ignorant of Arabic, but he must be able to pronounce it correctly, 

 and he should observe all the legal ceremonies. 



2 Literally, ' The Prophets who were possessors of purpose,' i.e., Adam, 

 Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. 



