The Holy Quran is the primary source in the formation of Muslim personality and of an exemplary Islamic society. The values that Muslims have produced throughout history and the great civilizations established by them confirm this point. In this respect, the main purpose in approaching the Qur’an should be to understand and live by it. However, reciting the Qur’an is not just a purely intellectual activity. It is understood that reciting the Qur'an, which is merely pronouncing its words, is also an important act of worship along with its dimension of building thought and life. Indeed, the fact that reciting the Qur’an is a form of worship is included in the definitions of the Qur’an. It is quite reasonable that the recitation of the Qur’an, which is essentially divine in its words and meaning, is not the same as reading another book. The hadith of the Prophet that promises ten thawab (spiritual merit) for reciting one letter of the Qur’an is quite significant at this point. The Prophet cited a verse that is formed by the combination of only three letters, namely “alif-lam-mim” as an example of this. This example at first glance suggests that, in terms of worship, it is not a priority to understand the meaning of the Qur’an. Indeed, according to the general opinion of the mufassirs (writers of the commentaries on the Qur’an), only Allah can know the meaning of such verses. Therefore, it can be said that the interlocutors of the revelation do not have a duty to understand these verses. Moreover, the pursuit of these subjects (with malicious intentions) is defined as the indicator of the deviousness in the hearts.
It is also seen that Muslims have a tradition regarding the recitation of the Qur’an. This tradition, which is reciting the entire Qur’an from the beginning to the end, is called khatam. This deep-rooted tradition has existed among Muslims for centuries. Also, Muslims have another tradition called muqabala, which is performed by completing khatam collectively. Muqabala is performed by one person reciting the Qur’an and others following it. Considering its widespread presence in Islamic societies, the idea that the tradition of khatam should have a foundation in the time of the Prophet (saw) and Companions seems rather reasonable. It is possible to see riwayah (narrations) grounding the practice of khatam in hadith sources and other classical works written in different branches of Islamic sciences. In these narrations, information about the quality of khatam is also mentioned. These narrations were conveyed from the Companions named Abdullah b. ‘Amr, Qays b. Abu Sa’sa’a, ’Irbad b. Sariyah, Jabir b. Abdullah, and Ubayy b. Qa’b. There is also a mursal narration conveyed from Zurarah b. Awfa. The content of the riwayah conveyed from Abdullah b. ‘Amr and Qays b. Abu Sa’sa’a is about the reasonable periods of reciting the Qur’an from the beginning to the end. In the mursal narration conveyed from Zurarah b. Awfa, the Prophet compared the person who recited the whole Qur’an to a passenger who paused and stayed, and then continued his journey. The narration conveyed from ‘Irbad b. Sariyah and Jabir b. Abdullah states that one who completes the khatam would have a prayer that will be accepted by Allah. Another narration conveyed by Ubayy b. Qa’b states that the Prophet restarted the Qira’at (recitation) with the Surah al-Fatihah after reciting the Surah al-Nas, then he read the first five verses of the Surah al-Baqarah until he reached the verse “it is those who are the successful”, and then he did the prayer of khatam.
It has been determined that some of riwayah examined are authentic (sahih). Although some riwayah have lost the feature to be proof as their narration chain is problematic due to the fact that some of the narrators were considered weak, they are in line with authentic riwayah in terms of content. This can be seen as supporting the riwayah in question. Therefore, when the riwayah are evaluated together, it can be said that the tradition of khatam has a foundation from the time of the Prophet and Companions. It should also be considered that the aim of the khatams done in those times may have been to memorize and protect the Qur’an.
In some of the riwayah discussed, reciting the Qur’an is expressed with the word qira’at, but in some, this verb is expressed with the word khatam. Considering that the dictionary meaning of the word khatam is “to reach the end of something”, it can be said that, expressing the verb of reading the Qur’an as khatam is meaningful in terms of its widespread use. In the narrations which include the word qira’at, it can be said that the recording of this for a certain period of time also signifies khatam in the known sense.
