The One Who Reads the Quran Without Knowing Its Meaning will be Rewarded

Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Salih Al-Uthaymeen

Question: I continually read the quran but I do not understand its meaning. Will I be rewarded by Allah for that?

Answer: The Noble Quran is full of blessings. Allah has said,

"[This is] a Book which We have sent down to you, full of blessings that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember" (Sad 29).

A person is rewarded for reciting the Quran regardless of whether he comprehends it or not. But a believer must not recite the Quran without understanding it while he is responsible to apply it. If a person wants to learn medicine, for example, and he studies the books of medicine, he will not benefit from them until he understands their meanings and explanations. In fact, he will be very desirous to take advantage of every opportunity to understand their meanings in order to apply them. If that is the case with books like medicine, what must be the case with respect to reading the Book of Allah without thought and understanding of its meaning while it is a cure for what is in the hearts and an admonition for mankind? This is why the Companions would not go beyond ten verses until they understood the meanings of those verses with respect to what they contain of knowledge and how to apply them. A person is rewarded and recompensed for reciting the Quran whether he understands it or not. However, he must be most anxious and use every opportunity to understand its meaning and to take that meaning from the trustworthy scholars, like [studying] the Quranic commentaries by ibn Jariral-Tabari, ibn Katheer and others.

Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Salih Al-Uthaymeen

Islamic Fatawa Regarding Women - Darussalam pg.362