I and my kids do a Quran study circle a few times a week. We attempt to study around half a page from the Mushaf in each sitting. We start with vocabulary and grammar and then move on to tafseer. We also discuss what lessons can be drawn from these ayaat and how to apply them in our lives.
To save time and make things easier for my kids, I study the ayaat beforehand and make detailed notes. And during our Quran study time we use those notes to learn and discuss.
I am sharing the resources I am currently using to study Quran here, for the pleasure of Allah, and to help other students of Quran out there.
Many of these resources can be used by everyone while others will need at least an intermediate level understanding of Quranic Arabic. (If you want to learn Quranic Arabic on your own through mostly free resources check out my Pathway to Quranic Arabic)
Word to Word Translation
The first thing I do is to read a word to word translation of the ayaat under study. There are many word to word translations available but the one I prefer is A Word for Word Meaning of the Quran by Dr. Mohar Ali. The are several reasons why I prefer this translation over others. Firstly, it is recommended by Dr. Abdul Raheem. (Dr. Abdul Raheem is the author of world renowned Madinah Arabic books. Apart from the Madinah Arabic books, he has authored several other books in a complete program of study to learn Quranic Arabic and it was through his books that I learned Arabic. His books form the spine of my Pathway to Arabic.)
Secondly each word in this book is traced back to its roots, giving a more in-depth understanding of Quranic vocabulary. Grammatical notes, particularly verb forms and verbal nouns, have been given as far as possible which enables a non-Arab reader to understand the Quran as well as to improve his knowledge of Arabic, particularly the Quranic Arabic.
Sometimes I also look up the more interesting words in the classical dictionaries, specifically الصحاح by alJawhari and لسان العرب by Ibn Manzoor.
Iraab of the Quran
Next step is to understand the grammar of the ayaat. For this purpose, I use a combination of resources. I first read the complete iraab (grammatical analysis) of the ayaat from the book Iraab Mufassal. There are many books available on the iraab of the Quran and I find this one just right for my level of understanding.
Sometimes I also read الجدول في إعراب القران . And sometimes I also go to the Quran corpus website.
Tafseer Ibn Katheer
I start my study of tafseer with Tafseer ibn Katheer. It is quite short compared to other books, but I like it because it provides many ayaat and ahadeeth which explain the ayah under study. Lots of ahadeeth mentioned in my Quran study notes are taken from Tafseer ibn Katheer. The English translation available online is quite abridged, so I try and read from the original Arabic text.
Tafseer Sa’adi
Written by Sheikh Abd ar-Rahman ibn Nasir alSaadi, it is a clear, concise Tafseer that is considered Authentic. It is a very good choice for beginners, due to its simple language. It is a great place to start reading the Quran in Arabic as it will give you enough context for the verses you don’t understand. You can read the original Arabic version online.
Maarif alQuran
The next step is reading Maarif alQuran. Of all the tafseer books available in English language, this book of tafseer is highly recommended by many scholars. It is targeted towards laymen, so it doesn’t include any scholarly debates and is quite easy to understand without being too short or too lengthy. One of the things I really like about this book is that it mentions the rules of fiqh which have been derived from the ayaat. I prefer reading the original Urdu version, but it has been translated into many languages including English.
Verse by Verse Quran Study Circle
The people behind this blog have done a wonderful job of combining the explanation of Quran from many different sources in easy to read, flowing explanations. So my next step is always reading the tafseer of the designated ayaat from here.
Classical Tafaseer in Arabic
Depending on how much time I have, I will try reading a few other tafaseer of the ayaat. I read through Tafseer Uthmani by Shabeer Ahmad Uthmani (unfortunately I can’t find an online version) and try my hand at classics like الجامع لأحكام القران by alQurtubi or the tafseer of ibn Qayyim. But I will admit that I read these classical Arabic tafaseer more to exercise my Arabic comprehension than for the sake of studying tafseer, since I am still in the process of learning Arabic. But even with my limited understanding, I find lots of things to ponder upon.
This makes up my compulsory reading for each ayah. While discussing my notes with my kids, we may read additional stuff about any historical events mentioned in the ayaat (e.g. Battles of Badr, Ahad etc.), or the fiqh involved in the ayaat (e.g. inheritance laws, laws of marriage and divorce etc.).
I am in the process of cleaning my notes, which are in the PDF form, so I can share them on this space too, Insha Allah. If you are interested in getting notified whenever I post them, please subscribe to this blog via email.
Update: You can download my notes in the PDF form from here.
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