Is it Permissible to Recite and Listen to the Quran in Lo-fi Style?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
A phenomenon has recently emerged on many social media platforms, with people reading the Quran in a “lo-fi” style or with autotune. I want to know whether this is permissible or not, as it has a lot of resemblance to music.
I also remember that we are told to “beautify our voices with the Quran” so would that mean that using “lo-fi” and autotune is impermissible? Jazak Allah
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
It is not permissible to recite or listen to the Quran in a lo-fi style that is reverbed, which is an electronic echo and slowed with a low tempo on the resemblance of music.
Instead, one should learn how to recite the Quran in different rhythms, tunes, and methods of beautifying recitation and also listen to people who do the same, and not that it is generated from a computer or reverbed from music tunes, etc.
Make the Quran Beautiful with Your Recitations
Bara ibn ‘Azib (Allah be pleased with him) reported the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Beautify the Quran with your voices.” [Abu Dawud]
Allah Attentively Listens to the Recitation of the Quran
Fadala ibn ‘Ubayd (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Allah listens more intently to a man reciting the Quran aloud in a beautiful voice than an employer of singers listens to his singers.” [Ibn Maja]
Related Answers
- Are Computer-Generated Music Permitted? (seekersguidance.org)
- Reciting the Qur’an Properly and With a Beautiful Voice – SeekersGuidance
- The Sunna Method of Reciting the Qur’an and the Legal Status of Reciting With Tajwid – SeekersGuidance
- Beautifying One’s Voice – SeekersGuidance
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
