A Khatm Every Forty Days

In Shirʿat al-Islām, a very famous book, it is said that it is mustaḥabb, preferable, for a Muslim to make a khatm of the Qur'an — to read it through to the end — at least once in every forty days. In the winter this should be done at night, because the sun goes down very quickly and there is plenty of time to read; and in the summer the recitation should be done in the morning, because Fajr begins very early. It is also advised that this be done in front of one's children and family members, so that they hear the Qur'an and listen to the Qur'an, so that their hearts get used to the Qur'an and those pure minds begin to memorise it.

There is the account of a much-loved family, visited years ago at their home. As supermarkets have music in the background — what they call music — this house had, through the internal speaker system, right through the whole house, a continuous recitation of the Qur'an in a very low voice. The man of the house had installed it. Asked why, he replied that it never stops: in the children's rooms, and in the areas where the family sit together, they always listen to the Qur'an. He said that they had seen in all of their children, before the age of three or four, that although they are not Arabs, their talaffuẓ, their pronunciation of the Arabic words, their makhārij, was beautiful; and that when the imam begins to read a sūrah the children have already completed it, because they have been listening to it continuously, even while they sleep. Even while they sleep, it has such an impact. Even the unborn child: let the Qur'an be put on, and see what happens to that baby in its mother's womb. It has an impact. The Qur'an has an impact, continuously, all the time. So children and family members must be allowed to read the Qur'an: if one is reading, they should all sit down and follow. An effort should be made. When people get together to read together, the ḥasanāt are multiplied, manyfold.