‘Ā’isha reported the Prophet as saying, “Reciting the Qur’ān during prayer is more excellent than reciting it at other times, and reciting the Qur’ān at a time other than during prayer is more excellent than extolling God and declaring His greatness. Extolling God is more excellent than sadaqa, sadaqa is more excellent than fasting, and fasting is a protection from hell.”
Abū Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “Expound the Qur’ān and take as guide its unusual expressions, they being the things made obligatory in it and the limits set in it.”
‘Uthmān b. ‘ Abdallāh b. Aus ath-Thaqafī, on his grandfather’s authority, reported God’s messenger as saying, “A man’s recitation of the Qur’ān without using a copy of it produces a thousand degrees of reward, but his recitation while using a copy is double that, reaching two thousand degrees.”
‘Uqba b. ‘Āmir said that when he asked God’s messenger whether he should recite sūra Hūd (Qur’ān, 11) or sūra Yūsuf (Qur’ān, 12), he told him he could recite nothing more effective with God than “Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of the dawn.”
