Is It Disbelief If Someone Laughs at a Passing-By Thought While Reciting the Quran?
Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas
Question
If I was reading a verse in the Quran and had a thought that a part of it sounded funny, and then immediately let out a little laugh, but I immediately repelled the thoughts of it being funny and asked Allah for forgiveness, is it kufr or waswas?
Answer
This is just waswasa. You should ignore it, and the fact that you sought forgiveness from Allah shows that it was not disbelief (kufr).
The Quran, however, is the words of Allah. It has an inviolable status and must be accorded the highest respect. When reciting the Quran, one should not interrupt one’s recitation with everyday human speech (unless needed) or unbefitting actions. The Quran should be read with attentiveness and reflection to comprehend what is being said to one. And each of us should recognize that reciting the Qur’an is addressing Allah in intimate conversation.
For more on this, you may refer to the “Etiquettes of the Quran” of Imam al-Nawawi.
[Ustadh] Salman Younas
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Born and raised in New York, Ustadh Salman Younas graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Political Science and Religious Studies. After studying the Islamic sciences online and with local scholars in New York, Ustadh Salman moved to Amman. There he studied Islamic law, legal methodology, belief, hadith methodology, logic, Arabic, and tafsir. He is now in his final year of his PhD at Oxford University, looking at the early evolution of the Hanafi madhab.
His teachers include: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Shaykh Salah Abu’l Hajj, Shaykh Ashraf Muneeb, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Hamza Karamali, Shaykh Ahmad Snobar, Shaykh Ali Hani, Shaykh Hamza Bakri, Ustadh Rajab Harun and others.
Ustadh Salman’s personal interests include research into the fields of law/legal methodology, hadith, theology, as well as political theory, government, media, and ethics. He is also an avid traveler and book collector. He currently resides in the UK with his wife.
