completing the entire Qur’an during this month is an encouraged action ابن باز

The following question was posed the the former mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, sheikh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz bin Baaz:

السؤال: هل يمكن أن يستفاد من مدارسة جبرائيل عليه السلام للنبي ﷺ القرآن في رمضان أفضلية ختم القرآن؟ ـ

Question: Can we understand from the reviewing of the Qur’an with Jibril during Ramadan that completing the entire Qur’an during this month is an encouraged action?

الجواب: يستفاد منها المدارسة، وأنه يستحب للمؤمن أن يدارس القرآن من يفيده وينفعه؛ لأن الرسول عليه الصلاة والسلام دارس جبرائيل للاستفادة؛ لأن جبرائيل هو الذي يأتي من عند الله جل وعلا وهو السفير بين الله والرسل، فجبرائيل لابد أن يفيد النبي ﷺ أشياء من جهة الله ، من جهة حروف القرآن، ومن جهة معانيه التي أرادها الله. ـ

Response: From this reviewing, we can understand that it is recommended for the believers to study and review the Qur’an with someone who can benefit them. That is because the Messenger reviewed with Jibril in order to take some benefit, for Jibril was the one who came from Allah as an intermediary between Allah and the messengers. So of course Jibril was going to bring something of benefit from Allah to the Prophet – both in terms of the words of the Qur’an and in terms of the meanings which Allah intended by those words.

فإذا دارس الإنسان من يعينه على فهم القرآن، ومن يعينه على إقامة ألفاظه، فهذا مطلوب كما دارس النبي ﷺ جبرائيل، وليس المقصود أن جبرائيل أفضل من النبي عليه الصلاة والسلام، ولكن جبرائيل هو الرسول الذي أتى من عند الله فيبلغ الرسول عليه الصلاة والسلام ما أمره الله به من جهة القرآن، ومن جهة ألفاظه، ومن جهة معانيه، فالرسول ﷺ يستفيد من جبرائيل من هذه الحيثية، لا أن جبرائيل أفضل منه عليه الصلاة والسلام، بل هو أفضل البشر وأفضل من الملائكة عليه الصلاة والسلام، لكن المدارسة فيها خير كثير للنبي ﷺ وللأمة؛ لأنها مدارسة لما يأتي به من عند الله وليستفيد مما يأتي به من عند الله. ـ

Therefore, a person should study and review with someone who can help him to understand the Qur’an and help them to learn its wordings correctly. This is what is sought, just as the Prophet reviewed with Jibril. But the point here is not that Jibril is better than the Prophet. Rather, Jibril is a messenger who came from Allah to convey what Allah had commanded him to convey of the Qur’an and its wordings and meanings to the Messenger. So the Messenger took benefit from Jibril in this way and from this aspect – not that Jibril was better than the Prophet. On the contrary, the Prophet was the best of mankind and better than the angels. It was just that this studying contained a great deal of good for the Prophet and for the ummah, and because this was reviewing what had come from Allah and it was done in order to take benefit of what Jibril had brought from Allah.

وفيه فائدة أخرى وهي: أن المدارسة في الليل أفضل من النهار؛ لأن هذه المدارسة كانت في الليل، ومعلوم أن الليل أقرب إلى اجتماع القلب وحضوره والاستفادة أكثر من المدارسة نهارًا. ـ

There is also another benefit, which is that reviewing during the night is better than during the day. That is because this reviewing was carried out during the nighttime, and it is well-known that nighttime is more conducive to having presence of mind and heart, and also more beneficial compared to reviewing in the daytime.

وفيه أيضًا من الفوائد: شرعية المدارسة وأنها عمل صالح حتى ولو كان في غير رمضان؛ لأن فيه فائدة لكل منهما، ولو كانوا أكثر من اثنين فلا بأس أن يستفيد كل منهم من أخيه، ويشجعه على القراءة، وينشطه فقد يكون لا ينشط إذا جلس وحده، لكن إذا كان معه زميل له يدارسه أو زملاء كان ذلك أشجع له وأنشط له، مع عظم الفائدة فيما يحصل بينهم من المذاكرة والمطالعة فيما قد يشكل عليهم، كل ذلك فيه خير كثير. ـ

There is also another benefit here: that this type of reviewing is something encouraged and that it is good deed. And this is regardless of whether it is done inside or outside of Ramadan, because it brings about benefit to both people taking part – and if there are more than two people then that is fine too, all of them will benefit from their brother and feel encouraged to recite and feel more motivated.
Because a person might not feel motivated if he is just sitting on his own, but if he has another person of a similar level or a few people with him to review then that will help him to be more motivated and enthused. And in addition to that, this would increase the benefit they get out of this through their studying and revising of what was difficult for them. All of this involves a great deal of good.

ويمكن أن يفهم من ذلك أن قراءة القرآن كاملة من الإمام على الجماعة في رمضان نوع من هذه المدارسة؛ لأن في هذا إفادة لهم عن جميع القرآن، ولهذا كان الإمام أحمد رحمه الله يحب ممن يؤمهم أن يختم بهم القرآن، وهذا من جنس عمل السلف في محبة سماع القرآن كله، ولكن ليس هذا موجبًا لأن يعجل ولا يتأنى في قراءته، ولا يتحرى الخشوع والطمأنينة، بل تحري هذه الأمور أولى من مراعاة الختمة ـ

And it is also possible for us to understand from this that the imam reciting the entire Qur’an to the congregation during Ramadan is one type of this reviewing, because in this manner the entire Qur’an is conveyed to them. Because of this, Imam Ahmad liked for the person whom the people appointed as the imam for the taraaweeh prayers to complete the entire Qur’an with them. This is part of the actions of the salaf, that they used to love to hear the entire Qur’an.
However, this is not something obligatory, because then the imam might rush, not taking his time in his recitation and not seeking to have khushoo’ and contentment while praying despite the fact that seeking to have these things while praying is more deserving of attention than trying to complete an entire reading of the Qur’an.

[Taken from the sheikh’s website here. Also can be found in Majmoo’ Fataawaa wa Maqaalaat al-Sheikh ibn Baaz 15/324]
https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/12309/%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B6%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AE%D8%AA%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B1%D9%85%D8%B6%D8%A7%D9%86

https://tulayhah.wordpress.com/2018/05/28/some-benefits-derived-from-the-prophets-annual-review-of-the-quran-with-jibril-sheikh-bin-baaz/