The Basics How to Read and Memorize Quran for Beginners

Many people asked and searched how to read the Quran for beginners. Here in this article, we pointed out some points for Beginners. The first point for a beginner to understand the Quran is its form.  The Arabic word, ‘Quran,’ literally means both ‘recitation’ and ‘reading.’ Thus, the Quran was both recited orally and written down in book form. 

The real power of the Quran continues in the oral recitation, as it is meant to be read aloud and melodiously, but still, the verses were written down on available substances as an aid to memorizing and guarding it, and these were collected and managed in book form both privately and, at a later stage, institutionally. The Quran was not meant to tell a chronological story, and thus, the Quran should not be seen as a sequential a narrative like the book of Genesis.

The Quran usually repeats certain verses and themes, changing topics between them, and often describes narratives in summarized form.  We can see two reasons for this.  First, it serves a grammatical purpose and is one of the powerful rhetorical techniques of classical Arabic. 

Second, all themes of the Quran, no matter how varied, are wrapped around one common thread going through the entire book: there is no true god but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger.

The Quran, unlike the Bible, is not treated with genealogies, historical events, or minute historical details, many of which don’t suit an oral discourse.  The purpose is to use facts, from past and present, to show this central message.  So when the Quran is discussing the healing properties of honey or the life of Jesus, not the topic is an end in itself, but each is described in one way or another to the central message – the Oneness of God and unity of the prophetic message.

Quran tutoring is a program that one can learn the Quran from a tutor who is far away from the student. Another vital point to keep in mind is that the Quran was not revealed in one sitting, but rather it was revealed in parts over 23 years.  Many paragraphs were in reply to specific events. 

Often, Quranic revelation would come from the angel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad as a response to questions raised by unbelievers.  The Quran addresses these unbelievers, the People of the Scripture (a term used by the Quran for Jews and Christians), humanity at large, believers, and, finally, the Prophet himself - commanding him what to do in a particular situation or solacing him in the face of ridicule and rejection.  Understanding the historical and social context of revelation clarifies the meanings contained in the text itself.

The Quran is composed of 114 parts or chapters of unequal length.  Each chapter is called a surah,  surahs to memorize in Arabic, and each sentence or phrase of the Quran is called an ayah, literally ‘a symbol.’ Like the Bible, the Quran is divided into discrete units, referred to as ‘verses’ in English.

These verses are not standard in length and where each starts and ends was not decided by human beings, but dictated by God.  Each one is a discrete act of locution of closed signification, or ‘sign,’ denoted by the word ayah in Arabic. 

All surahs, except one, begin with Bismillah hir-Rahman Nir-Rahim, ‘I begin with the Name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the Compassionate.’ Each surah has a name that generally relates to a central theme within it.  For example, the longest surah, Surah al-Baqarah, or “The Cow,” is named after the story of Moses commanding the Jews to offer a sacrifice of a cow, which begins by God saying.