Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Qur'an help! Okay Internets- your turn!

Assalamu Alaikum,

Where can I find a 'large-print'(NOT just large Size) Uthmanic Arabic-only Qur'an? I saw one at the masjid the other day that made me drool. Let me explain:

One of the hardest things for me this past summer at Fawakih was struggling to read the Qur'an, both aloud and to myself, consistently. Our tajweed class literally drove me to tears.

It did help when we sisters were allowed to take the course from a sister who has ijaza instead of in front of the whole world. But I figured out that my real problem had more to do with the whole struggle itself to SEE and capture what I was reading.

See, Arabic script in nearly every Qur'an I've seen has been MUCH smaller than comparable typeface. SO not only do I have to remember the sounds that go with the letters and how to string them together properly, and THEN read with the proper hukm/rules (ha ha, sorry, just remembered the way our Algerian sheikh would ask us, 'Wha' tha hukm?'), I also have to fight just to SEE what I'm reading with every dot and haraka correct. In Arabic, the dots make a difference. It's not like leaving the dot off a lower-case letter I in English. Beyond the ordinary frustration, reading and missing dots and having to concentrate intensely on every. single. word-it's extraordinarily tiring.

And the ordinary frustration is great- I'm one of those people who read whole lines at a time in Latin script (English, Spanish, Portuguese- doesn't matter). Arabic flipped the script for me because I can't 'capture' and understand the words, because I don't know vocab. I don't understand what I'm reading. So it flies right out of my head until I get it explained. I find it a lot easier to memorize Qur'an while driving and repeating back what a passenger recites to me, for example, than reading it or sitting in front of a computer listening to it.

So I end up asking a ton of questions. My teacher would ask me to 'just memorize it, it doesn't matter if you understand it'. Huh? That's a poor and last-ditch way to retain knowledge if you ask me. Sure, if all you're trying to do is preserve the way the sounds go through the generations, that's what you do. Anyway.

Since it's rare that I actually have someone in the car to recite the Qur'an to me and then explain what it's about (Thanks, Emad and Waheed), I've been trying to take time out of my day to read it to myself. I have Qur'an translations as well as a transliteration (which I don't like to use), so I'm okay with meaning. My problem is reading the actual arabic.

So then, the other day at the masjid I saw a musHaf that made me drool. I COULD READ THE SCRIPT. The words were relatively large (I'd say about a 14 pt font?) and uncrowded on the page. It had colored tajweed script (not the highlight blocks that drive me nuts). The top and sides were color-notched and labeled according to Surah AND Juz. And it was hardback. It was one of those moments when you can almost see the beam of light shining down from the heavens- THIS! This was exactly what I needed! It was so easy to read! And to find the surahs I already knew in English! MashaAllah! I spent an hour in the masjid just reciting with that mushaf.
Of course, it belongs to the masjid.

So. Does anyone know where I can get my hands on a Qur'an of this sort? I'm willing to forego the (awesomely excellent) juz and surah notching, and even the tajweed rules. But a Qur'an of this type, for someone whose eyes aren't that good/a beginner in reading Arabic is something I'm willing to pay for. I've searched a lot of web sites, and what I've found are large SIZED mushafs, with script the same as everywhere else, not helpful. Please lend me your expertise!

Also, I'll be at ISNA, so if you know for a fact that there's a certain vendor there who'll have these or know of them, let me know.

Thanks!

peace,
TwennyTwo

5 comments:

  1. Having a large script is so important. I don't know any particular vendors who are going to be at ISNA, but if you go to any book vendor, you should be able to find such a Qur'an easily if you explain what you are looking for. I know that my parents have bought plenty of Qur'ans such as the one you are describing from vendors.

    Just a quick tip: Make sure you flip to an ayat that you can read well but you know can be tricky and check out how the writing looks. That can be a good way to judge how your reading of that type of writing will go in the future when you are looking at an unfamiliar ayat. I hope that makes sense! Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'll be on the look out for you.
    but if you want, I can get a hold of an uthmani quran for you, but it won't be too quick.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've seen that type of Qur'an before too, but I'm also not sure where you purchase them. If I find one I'll let you know the source too. Mash Allah, you're studying...at least you are trying. I just can't even bring myself to try because I see no point in learning to "make noises in my throat" that I don't even understand. At least that's the excuse I make for myself. I think I'd be better off like you though, at least you are working on it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. SIDRA SAID....

    INSHALLAH ALLAH WILL HELP YOU.BECAUSE YOU REALLY WANT TO LEARN. i TRY MAKING THE SOUNDS FROM MY THROAT. i HAVE SEEN THOSE QURAANS BEFORE BUT I NEVER READ IN THOSE I READ IN A TAJWEED QURAAN WHICH TELLS YOU ALL THE RULES BUT IM NOT ALLOWED TO READ THAT TYPE IN MOSQUE BUT IM DOING WELL ON MY TAJWEED. iNSHALLAH ALLAH WILL HELP YOU AND GUIDE YOU ASTRAY.AAMEEN
    ,JAZAKALLAH.

    ReplyDelete
  5. sHUANSIMA SAID;
    DON'T LAUGH AT MY FUNNY NAME



    aLLAH WILL INSHALLAH HELP YOU AND MAY HE TAKE YOU TO JANNAT AAMEEN

    ReplyDelete