Frequently asked questions

02. Who is the Qariah App for?

The Qariah app is intended for women and girls to learn the Quran from women’s recitations. This app is women’s recitations, for women, by women, for the sake of Allah. So the app is intended for women’s use.

0.3 But Should Women Recite the Quran in Public?

This app is for women, but many of the Qariahs on the app are public reciters in their countries, as taught by and supported by the senior scholars of their countries. This FAQ will address the idea of women reciting in places non-mahram (related by blood) men can hear her to clarify the fiqh position in case a user of the Qariah app fears a man (such as her brother, father, husband,etc) overhearing the recitation while she is using it in her home.

04. Where are Qariahs found?

If you’re asking this question, it is likely you do not live in Indonesia, Algeria, Morocco, Malaysia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Yemen or Singapore 🙂 In those countries, women’s public recitation is part of the cultural norm; women recite on television, in public competitions, in weddings and conferences and ceremonies, as approved by and facilitated by the Islamic scholars of those areas. Egypt also used to be one of these countries, with women Quran reciters famed on Cairo’s Quran radio and in religious and social gatherings. However, Qariahs are all over the world. In the countries and cultures in which women are not public reciters, women still privately recite in their homes and in private gatherings of women.

05. Why do some countries or cultures not have well known Qariahs?

This generally goes back to a difference of opinion by Muslim scholars regarding whether a woman can recite loudly in the presence of marriageable men. This dispute stems from a number of evidences, though primarily it is based on different interpretations of one verse in the Quran.

Unless certain countries or specific mosques or organizations hold alternative opportunities for women-led spaces to hear other women, it is likely that even women have never heard other women reciting Quran outside of their families, if that in areas that are dominated by the opinion that is it impermissible for women to recite loudly in front of marriageable men.

Also, at times, the impact may be a political one. For example, prior to colonialism, Egypt’s women Quran scholars would recite in the palace on an official basis for the Caliph. But curiously, once Egypt was colonized, the view of women as public reciters changed. Part of this was due to the passing of a fatwa by Azhar in the 1930s, but Dar al-Ifta in recent years has changed that opinion. 

06. What is the verse scholars have different understandings about?

يَا نِسَاءَ النَّبِيِّ لَسْتُنَّ كَأَحَدٍ مِّنَ النِّسَاءِ ۚ إِنِ اتَّقَيْتُنَّ فَلَا تَخْضَعْنَ بِالْقَوْلِ فَيَطْمَعَ الَّذِي فِي قَلْبِهِ مَرَضٌ وَقُلْنَ قَوْلًا مَّعْرُوفًا

“O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women: if you are mindful ˹of Allah˺, then do not be overly effeminate in speech ˹with men˺ or those with sickness in their hearts may be tempted, but speak in a moderate tone.” Quran, 33:32 (Translation by Dr.Mustafa Khattab)

07. What are the classical scholars’ commentaries of the interpretation of this verse?

The classical scholars considered questions such as: Who is the person who has a sick heart? And what type of disease is the Quran addressing? Is it a sexual weakness that has men impacted by hearing a woman’s voice? Or other types of illnesses? 

Qatadah explains that “disease” in this verse means hypocrisy. He mentions that Allah has ordered their  [the Mothers] speech to be clear, and not in a way which would cause a person’s heart to start feeling interested in them, as Arab women used to do when speaking to men by making their voices soft and seductive, like prostitutes- and the Mothers are so much higher in status than such an example (Tafsir alQurtubi, juz 14, p. 162).

This was confirmed from a linguistic perspective by AlZamakshary who mentions the verse is prohibition on sounding like prostitutes and all that implies and entails (Tafsir alKashaf, juz 5 p. 66).

Ikrimah explains this debauchery and flirtation (Tafsir AlQurtubi, v.17, p.138).

Al-Tabari comments this is so the Mothers do not speak to men in a way that women who are “ahlal fahishah” (ie: prostitutes) speak to men (Tafsir AlTabari, Surah AlAhzab, 422).

Baghawi explains in his tafsir that ‘marad’ means immorality and lust. It’s also said to refer to hypocrisy. Therefore, he explains the meaning is,  “Do not be flirtatious in your speech” meaning, do not be soft in your speech so that because of it, a hypocrite or immoral person will desire you.” Meaning, “Do not say a word by which the hypocrite or immoral person will find a way to make you agreeable to him. Thus it is recommended for a woman when addressing marriageable men to be firm in her speech because that is the furthest from eliciting immoral desires and suspicion.” (Tafsir alBaghawi, Surah alAhzab, p. 422)

This perspective is confirmed by Ibn Adil in Al-Lubab (Tafsir ibn Adil, Al-Lubab, Surah alAhzab, j.15, p.544)

However, Imam alSuyuti’s interpretation is slightly different. He mentions, “In it is a preference for a woman lowering her voice.” (Kitab alIklil fi alistibaat altanzil, surah alAhzab 211)

Imam ibn al-Jawzi clarifies what sort of speech encompasses the last part of the verse, the “قَوْلًا مَّعْرُوفًا”, as, “sound, pure, that doesn’t beget covetousness in the immoral person.” (Zaad alMasir, Ibn alJawzi, v.6, p.197)

This understanding is along the lines of one contemporary hadith and linguistic scholar, Shaykh Dr Muhammad Emarah al-Azhari, who explained that the verb “ تَخْضَعْنَ ” in its root is “thulathy mujarrad” (trillateral originals), not a “maf3oolon bih” (direct object). 

Thus, Shaykh Dr. Emarah explains that it’s not denoting *you* (the mothers of the believers, God be pleased with them) doing the action. Instead, it’s talking about the mothers being cautious not to be deceived by the words of *others* with a disease of the heart, such as an indistinguishable hypocrite who intends harm for the Muslim community (Interview with Shaykh, Dr.Emara’s direct student).

From these examples, one can see that this verse can be understood in a number of different ways, none of which explicitly prohibit women from the public recitation of the Quran. 

Can that ruling be made through extrapolating the meaning of the verse? Yes absolutely. But can the opposite also hold true? Yes, as we see from classical scholars. 

08. Is there any evidence from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ preventing women from public Quran recitation?

There is no evidence from the Prophetic corpus prohibiting a woman’s recitation being heard by men. There is no direct hadith with prohibition, there is no general hadith which could be interpreted to mean prohibition. 

In fact, we have multiple narrations of women saying they memorized entire Surahs by hearing them from the Prophet (peace be upon him) while he ﷺ led sermons in the masjid, affirming women were both present in the masjid, and actively memorizing the Quran. For example, Um Hisham bint Haritha said, “I took the chapter, “Qaf, by the Glorious Quran,” (50:1) from the mouth of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, on Friday. The Prophet would recite it on the pulpit every Friday.” In a separate narration, she said, “The Prophet would pray with it in the dawn prayer.” (Muslim 872)

While this is not explicit proof of a woman companion raising her voice in recitation, it is proof that women would actively learn Quran by being present in public spaces with the Prophet ﷺ And as anyone who has memorized the Quran knows, the recitation needs to be done out loud. It is almost impossible to memorize the entire Quran silently or in such a quiet whisper that very few nearby can hear.

Thus, explicitly on a woman’s recitation being overheard by men, we have the following narration as proof for permissibility from the sunnah, “…The Prophet ﷺ went out one night to the houses of the Ansar and he heard a woman (in one narration it is mentioned she was an older woman) from them reciting the words of Allah, {هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ الْغَاشِيَةِ}. The Prophet ﷺ immediately began to cry intensely, saying, “Yes, it has come to me, yes, it has come to me.” (Tafsir Ibn Abi Hatim)

The Prophet ﷺ is a legislator. It is a requirement on him ﷺ to be clear about rulings of what is allowed and what is prohibited. If he ﷺ heard a woman reciting the Quran and it was haram, he would have been required to comment and make clear the prohibition. 

In Madinah, homes were not made of soundproof material. There are multiple narrations of women’s voices carrying outside of their homes and being heard by those beyond. Considering these were women witnessing the Revelation and actively engaging in worship by reciting the Quran, there were undoubtedly times their voices carried out into the streets while they were reciting. And yet at no point did the Prophet ﷺ make a general command that women needed to ensure their voices were excessively quiet even within their homes to ensure that no men could potentially hear their speech or especially their Quranic recitation. 

Some scholars point to the mention of her being an older women as the reason the Prophet ﷺ didn’t discourage hearing her voice. However, this is the understanding of some of the scholars due again to the fear of fitna. Some scholars are not enough to make an all encompassing unanimous prohibition (ijmaa). 

09. Are There Classical Scholars Who Have Ruled on Women’s Public Recitation?

The renowned Shafi scholar Imam alBujayrimi (d. 1221 hijrah) addressed this issue, stating, “And listening to her voice is impermissible- even with regards to the Quran- if there is a fear of temptation from it, or if [a man] is turned on by it. If not, then no [then it is not haram] (Hashiyah alBujayrimi ala alKhatib 3/372).

Ibn Muflih alMaqdisi (d. 763 hijrah), a Hanbali scholar states, “The voice of a woman [who is not blood related to a man] is not awrah [impermissible to listen to] in the correct understanding, and it is impermissible to listen to her voice if he is turned on- even if it is by her recitation.” (AlFuru wa Tashih alFuru 8/190).

Both of these scholars address the responsible party for turning away if faced with desire for a woman in a way he should not feel while listening to the words of God, to be the man who finds himself turned on by a woman’s voice- even if it’s as pure as Quranic recitation. They do not rule women should not recite- they rule men should turn away if turned on by the recitation.

10. Do some scholars allow it, but say there are times a woman should not recite aloud?

Contemporary Fatwa organizations such as Dar alIfta in Jordan and in Egypt both speak to the permissibility of women reciting in public, with the nuance of how it is done and protection from temptation.

As mentioned by Dar al Ifta in Jordan, “It is permissible that a man listens to recitation of a non-Mahram woman. This provided that the recitation is conducted with a normal tone of voice without any thinning that would open the door for listeners to enjoy it or get aroused by it, and this varies from one woman to another. However, it is better for the Muslim woman to avoid reciting at the presence of non-Mahram men if there is no need for doing so.”

And Dar alIfta in Egypt states

 أما الممنوع أداءً واستماعًا فهو القراءة المصحوبة بما لا يُراعَى فيه حق القرآن من التلاوة المستوفية لحق المعنى بلا ابتذال لأنه قد يكون حينئذٍ من باب الخضوع بالقول، المنهي عنه في قوله تعالى : ﴿فلا تَخْضَعْنَ بِالْقَوْلِ فَيَطْمَعَ الَّذِي فِي قَلْبِهِ مَرَضٌ وَقُلْنَ قَوْلًا مَعْرُوفًا﴾ [الأحزاب: 32 ].

The scholar Shaykh Bin Baz (d.1999) said in response to the question of men hearing women recite, “I do not see a problem in this. If men and women are in separated sections without mixing in the place of listening, and the women are in their own area and covered away from the men. As for the listener, is listening for benefit and contemplating the words of Allah- there is nothing wrong with this. But if the [listening] with sexual desire for women’s voices, this is not allowed. [In this case], the default is impermissibility if the objective is sexual enjoyment for women’s voices and desire for their voices, then no. As for if the objective from listening is to [find] benefit and enjoy listening to the Quran and to benefit from the Quran, then there is no problem with this, God willing (source: https://binbaz.org.sa Fatwa: حكم-الاستماع-الى-تلاوة-النساء-للقران)

Shaykh Shinqiti states, “It is allowed for her to recite the Quran with a loud voice, but it’s better for her to recite quietly in her prayer, for example, or outside of prayer, if it may bother people. Yes, it’s allowed for her to raise her voice- as in, she can hear herself- even if men are close by (and may hear her), but this is if there isn’t a fear that her voice can cause fitna.”

11. Why is There Prohibition and What Should Be Done?

Consider the caveat of even the scholars who rule permissibility, such as those quoted above.

Their prohibition rests on the idea of a man being tempted by a woman- of a man having impure thoughts and sexual desire that stems from hearing the recitation of Allah’s words from the voice of a woman. 

So to prevent this, some scholars used the Islamic legal methodology of Sadd alThari’ – preventing the means to evil- to close the door to women’s recitation completely. 

However, many scholars of the past and present put such responsibility on men; rather than closing the door for women’s recitation, they stated it was haram for a man to listen if it puts him in a state of finding himself sexually attracted by the recitation. 

Thus, an easy solution is to suggest that a man who is finding himself turned on by listening to a woman recite the Quran should simply scroll away from the post on social media, not download the Qariah app, or walk out of a conference where a woman is reciting if he finds himself turned on by her recitation.

12. Did Women Recite Quran Publicly in Islamic History?

There is a narration attributed to Imam al-Sakhawi, who when he heard a specific woman he was not related to recite the Quran, he commented with how much her recitation touched him.

In Alhaan Al-Samaa, approved by the major Quranic commentary Shaykh al-Sharawi, the author Shaykh al-Saadani describes that in the time of the Ottomon ruler Muhammad Aly Pasha, there were women famed for Quranic recitation. 

The author discusses women Quran reciters whom the ruler would ask to recite in gatherings he held at the palace. He mentions 3 famous Quran reciters including Sayyidah Nabwayyah alNuhaas, Sayyidah Karimah alAdliyyah and Sayyidah Munirah Abduh. Shaykh al-Saadani also mentions the story of a wealthy merchant from Tunis who heard a woman reciting in Egypt, offered her 1000 junay to recite in Tunisia, and she refused and so instead he came to hear her recitation in Cairo in Ramadan since he was so moved by the way she recited Quran.

Shaykh Abu al-Aynayn Shyeesha was a famous reciter on Cairo’s Quran Radio, alongside five other women including Munirah Abduh. He was the first Egyptian to recite at a professional capacity in Masjid alAqsa and he was the contemporary of Abdul Baset. When Azhar passed the fatwa in the mid 1900s that women could no longer recite the Quran on the radio, Shaykh Abu al-Aynayn said, 

«لن يهدأ لي بال حتى تعود المرأة كقارئة للقرآن الكريم في الإذاعة، والعودة إلى العصر الذهبي للأصوات النسائية، التي تجيد تلاوة القرآن مثلما كان موجودًا قبل أكثر من 50 عامًا».

“I will not rest until the woman returns as a reader of the Noble Qur’an on the radio, and returns to the golden age of women’s voices, who are as good at reciting the Qur’an as it existed more than 50 years ago.”

Shaykha Sayyidah Nafisa was the teacher of the more contemporary Shaykha Umm Saad (d.2006), who held the highest sanad in the world in Hafs (durra). Some of the most famous men Quran reciters of Egypt received their ijaza from her and men and women would travel from Saudi, Kuwait, Palestine and elsewhere to receive their ijaza under her because of her short sanad and lofty status as a scholar of Quran (youtube:

تعرف على الشيخة السكندرية “أم السعد” أشهر معاصرة في علم قراءات القرآن الكريم).

There are too many examples of women reciters throughout history, who are known in their regions to have passed the Quran down from generation to generation. It is time we revived their legacies and returned to the Quran.

13. What is the “fitna”- the trial, temptation, tribulation- that needs to be prevented?

As mentioned, scholars of the past who have ruled it is prohibited for women to recite in public spaces do so to prevent the potential fitna (trial, tribulation) of a man listening to a woman and having unholy thoughts to the point that he is turned on by a woman who is reciting Quran. But scholars of the past may not have lived in times where women’s (and men’s) singing on overtly sexual topics was easily accessible. Whereas now, not only is it accessible within seconds practically everywhere- women’s recitation is on the other end practically inaccessible to many parts of the world. 

And so today, there is an even greater fitna we need to prevent. And that is the fitna of women seeing women in every space except that of the Quran, not even knowing the Quran is for them, not knowing they can become master Quran reciters, not having role models of scholarship and Quran to aspire to become, not seeing their place as Muslim women. And this is a fitna we CAN work to address by opening the door of making women’s recitation easily accessible to other women.

14. What happens when women don’t have access to women’s recitation- and what happens when they do?

A woman who doesn’t have access to Qariahs may not know they even exist. And without that modeling, she may never know that she can become one too. 

Yet when our ummah’s daughters know they can seek the Quran, following the footsteps of the women they actively see examples of in their lives- we can create generational change in our ummah returning back to the examples of our foremothers, the women companions- the women who witnessed the Revelation.

15. Wait, Why are We Discussing Women’s Public Recitation?

Again, this app is for women, by women. The purpose of this fiqh discussion is so that when a woman is listening to the app and she fears her husband, older brother, uncle, etc., hearing a woman recite, she may rest knowing that it is permissible according to many scholars for men to hear women reciting beautifully. The onus is on the man to stop if it causes him issue. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, the majority of the women on this app are public, famous reciters in their home countries as encouraged by the senior scholars of their countries.