The Sunni Association in Iraq / Clarification of the Issue of Completing the Quran in Less Than Three Days

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Clarification on Completing the Quran in Less Than Three Nights

All praises are for Allah for His continuous blessings and abundant favors, and prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family; all his followers. As for what follows:

It is established in Sahihain from Abdullah Ibn Amr who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "Read the Quran in a month." I said: "I find more strength..." until he said: "Then read it in seven [days] -and in a narration by Bukhari, he said in three- and do not exceed that." And in the Sunan, from him, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "One does not understand [the Quran] who reads it in less than three [days]."

A group of distinguished Companions and following them, Imams of knowledge and guidance, believed that it is preferable to complete the Quran in about seven days. Ibn Hajar (Fath al-Bari: 9/78) narrated with a sound chain from Ibn Mas'ud who said: "Read the Quran in seven [days], and do not read it in less than three." Abu Ubaid (Fada'il al-Quran: 89) reported: Mu'adh bin Jabal disliked reading the Quran in less than three days. Ibn Kathir confirmed this in (Fada'il al-Quran: 254) saying: More than one of the predecessors disliked reading the Quran in less than three days, as was the opinion of Abu Ubaid, Ishaq bin Rahawayh, and others from the later generations, and it was also the view of Ahmad.

An-Nawawi (Al-Adhkar: 120) said: As for those who completed the Quran in one Rak'ah, they are numerous; among them are Uthman bin Affan, Tamim ad-Dari, and Sa'id bin Jubair. And whoever does that occasionally, intending to review their memorization, or to make the most of a virtuous time -like Ramadan-, or because they are in seclusion in a mosque, or because they are dedicated to worship for a specific period in Mecca -for example: it does not contravene the Sharia. This is how the actions of some Imams, who completed the Quran twice in a day or once every day, are interpreted.

Ibn Rajab (Lata'if al-Ma'arif: 171) said: Qatadah would always complete [the Quran] every seven days, in Ramadan every three, and in the last ten nights, every night. Ash-Shafi'i had sixty completions in Ramadan outside of prayer, and Abu Hanifa had a similar practice.

The prohibition against reading the Quran in less than three days refers to making it a regular practice. However, in virtuous times like the month of Ramadan, especially the nights seeking Laylatul Qadr, or in virtuous places like Mecca for those who enter it not from its residents, it is recommended to increase in Quran recitation to seize the time and place. This is the opinion of Ahmad, Ishaq, and other Imams, as evidenced by the practice of others.

The prohibition is for dislike and not for forbidding since the hadith included both command and prohibition. If the prohibition were for forbidding, the command would imply obligation. In other words, since the command in the hadith to read the Quran every seven or three days is not on the basis of obligation, the prohibition against reading it in less than three is not for forbidding. Even some scholars who viewed completing it in less than three days as disliked would complete it in one Rak'ah, like Imam Ahmad.

Ibn Hajar (Fath al-Bari: 8/716) stated: It seems that the prohibition against exceeding [three days] is not for forbidding, just as the command in all of that is not for obligation, which is known from the contextual clues provided by the narrative.

This world is a racecourse, the dust has settled, and the early runners have vanished. What has passed of the world is like dreams, what remains are mere wishes, and time is lost between them. Be children of the Hereafter, not of this world, for the newborn follows the mother, and the world is a passage, while the Hereafter is home. The aims are only sought in the homeland. Thus, engage in reciting the Quran, especially in Ramadan, as Allah Almighty said: "It has been commanded to me only to worship the Lord of this city, Who has sanctified it and to Whom belongs everything. And I am commanded to be of the Muslims * And to recite the Quran." Then whoever is guided, is guided for his own soul; and whoever errs, then say, "I

 am only one of the warners."