Group recitation of the Qur’an

Reciting the Qur’an in a group is a practice permitted by Islamic law because of the number of evidences of its recommendation.

Evidence of the Qur’an

Those who read the Book of Allah establish salat and spend what We provide them secretly and publicly, hoping for a business that is not a loss.
(Al-Fatir, 35:29)

Evidence of SunnahThe Prophet, peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, said:

Recite the Qur’an as it will intercede for those who recite it on the Day of Judgment.
(Narrated by Muslim from a hadith narrated by Abu Umama al-Bahliy)

Islamic legal thought stipulates that an absolute order requires its unqualified application with respect to persons, conditions, times, and places.
When Allah, the Almighty, legislates a matter in general (‘am) or absolute (mutlaq) terms, it should be applied as such and it is not permissible to specify or restrict it in any way, except with evidence of sharee’ah.
Failure to take this into account would result in innovation in religious matters, and would create unnecessary difficulties in matters that Allah and His Messenger made widespread.

The fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) practiced certain aspects of restricted or unrestricted acts does not in itself specify the general or limit the absolute, so long as he would not have forbidden the acts that he refrained from doing.
This has been expressed by Islamic theorists with the axiom: “absence is not proof”, i.e., the fact that the Prophet did not perform a certain action does not prove his impermissibility.
And this axiom is the one agreed upon by all the scholars of the salaf and jalaf.

Imam Abu Zakariya Yehya an-Nawawi devoted a large and beneficial chapter in his extensive book At-Tibyan fi Adab Hamalat Al-Qur’an to this subject and entitled it “The virtue of reading the Qur’an in congregation, the virtue of those who read it in a group and the virtue of their hearers and of the one who gathers people, invites them and encourages them to recite it.”
Writes:

Know that reciting the Qur’an in a group is a recommended act based on explicit evidence and the practice of salaf and khalaf.
Ha sido transmitido de manera auténtica por Abu Huraira y Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, que Allah esté complacido con ellos, que el Profeta, que la paz y las bendiciones de Allah sean con él, dijo:

There is no group of people who remember Allah except that angels surround them, mercy envelops them, tranquility descends upon them, and Allah mentions them in His presence.
(At-Tirmidhi, Saheeh hadith).

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, said:

No people gather in a house of Allah’s houses (the mosques) reciting the Qur’an and studying it among themselves, except that tranquility descends upon them, mercy envelops them, angels surround them, and Allah mentions them to those who are in His presence.
(Collected by Muslim and Abu Dawood with authentic attribution according to the criteria established by Bukhari and Muslim).

Mu’awiyah related that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, approached a group of people from among his Companions and asked: ‘Why are you sitting [juntos]?’
They replied, ‘We sit together to remember Allah, we praise Him for guiding us to Islam and for favoring us with His blessings.’
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Gabriel, peace be upon him, came to me and informed me that Allaah is proud of you before the angels.”
(Collected by al-Tirmidhi and al-Nasa’.
At-Tirmidhi stated Saheeh.]

The number of texts that illustrate this are many.

– Al-Darimiy transmitted with a chain to Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, who said: “Whoever hears a verse from the Book of Allah (the Qur’an), it will be a light to him.”

– Ibn Abu Dawood narrated that Abu Darda, may Allah be pleased with him, led a group of people to recite the Qur’an.

– Ibn Abu Dawood reported that some of the greatest scholars among the Salaf and Khalaf and some of the judges who preceded their time studied the Qur’an in congregation.

Therefore, group recitation or congregation of the Qur’an is permissible and considered a laudable action, as it falls within the mindset of remembering Allah, and remembering Allah in a group is something that Allah is proud of before the angels.

---

Article by Shaikh Ali Gomma, taken from aligomma.com and translated by Fundación Mezquita de Sevilla