4 min read
How to Read the Quran: A Beginner's Guide
Key takeaways
- The Quran has 114 surahs, 6,236 verses, and 604 pages, split into 30 juz for reading it in a month.
- You don't need to start at page 1. Many beginners start with short, familiar surahs at the back of the Mushaf.
- If you can't read Arabic script yet, that's a different first step: the alphabet and basic tajweed with a teacher, while reading a translation in the meantime.
- A steady small daily amount, read on schedule, beats an ambitious pace you can't keep.
- Reading (tilawah) and memorization (hifz) are different goals. This guide is about reading; see our memorization guide for hifz.
To read the Quran, you don’t need a fixed starting point or a finished plan on day one. You need a page open in front of you, or a screen, a pace you can repeat tomorrow, and a translation alongside it if your Arabic is still coming along.
The first word revealed to the Prophet ﷺ, opening Surah Al-‘Alaq, was a command to read:
ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ
Recite in the name of your Lord who created
How is the Quran organized?
The Quran has 114 surahs (chapters) and 6,236 verses (ayahs), printed across 604 pages in the standard Mushaf. It’s also split into 30 roughly equal parts called juz, so a reader can finish the whole Quran in a month at one juz a day.
See what a juz is for the full breakdown of juz, surah, and page counts, and how they relate to each other.
Where should you start reading the Quran?
There’s no required starting point. Many beginners start with short, familiar surahs, since they’re easier to read start to finish and often already familiar from prayer.
Others start at page 1 and move forward through the Mushaf in order. Either works, as long as you keep coming back. The surahs most people memorize first are also a natural place to start reading, since they’re short and you may already know how they sound.
What if you can’t read Arabic script yet?
That’s a real, different starting point. Learning the Arabic alphabet and basic tajweed (the rules of pronunciation) comes first. A teacher who can catch mistakes early helps, since a sound learned wrong tends to stay wrong. A translation carries you through the meaning while that’s in progress.
Quran Loop doesn’t teach the alphabet or correct your pronunciation; a teacher does that part best. Once you can follow the Arabic script, or you’re comfortable reading along with a translation, everything below applies.
How to read the Quran every day: build a pace you can keep
A small daily amount, read on a fixed schedule, adds up faster than an ambitious pace abandoned after a week. Reading one juz a day finishes the whole Quran in 30 days; a few pages a day still adds up, just over a longer stretch. Whether you’re reading for reflection or building toward memorization, the pace matters more than the amount on any single day.
Reading vs. memorizing: which comes first?
Reading (tilawah) means going through the text, with or without holding it in memory. Memorization (hifz) means being able to recite it without looking. They’re different goals, and reading comfortably is a natural foundation before you try to memorize.
If reading still feels slow or you stumble over words, that struggle itself carries a reward:
For a full memorization method once reading feels comfortable, see how to memorize the Quran.
Common mistakes beginners make
- Waiting to feel “ready” before starting. There’s no required amount of Arabic or tajweed to begin reading with a translation alongside you.
- Picking an ambitious daily amount, then quitting after it slips once. A smaller amount kept for a month beats a big amount kept for three days.
- Skipping the translation out of a sense that only the Arabic “counts.” Understanding what you’re reading is part of the point. A tafsir goes a step beyond translation; see what tafsir is and how to start using one.
- Never asking anyone to check your pronunciation. A teacher, even briefly, catches habits that are much harder to unlearn later.
Your next step
Pick a surah to start with today, set it on a loop at a pace you can follow, and read it with the translation on if you need it. Come back tomorrow and do it again.
Once daily reading feels steady, see khatm al-Quran for how to turn it into a full read-through on a set pace, from a fast 7 days to a relaxed 60.
Frequently asked questions
Where should a beginner start reading the Quran?
Most beginners start with a short, familiar surah, such as Al-Fatihah or one of the short surahs at the end of the Mushaf, rather than page 1 of Al-Baqarah. Reading in Mushaf order from the start is also fine; there's no required starting point.
How long does it take to read the whole Quran?
Reading one juz a day finishes the whole Quran in 30 days, which is why Ramadan taraweeh prayers are often organized around one juz a night. At a slower pace, such as a few pages a day, it takes longer but still adds up over weeks or months.
Do I need to understand Arabic to read the Quran?
No. Many readers recite the Arabic text while following a translation alongside it to understand the meaning. Understanding deepens with time, a translation, and eventually some Arabic vocabulary, but isn't a requirement to start reading.
What if I can't read Arabic script at all yet?
That's a different starting point: learning the Arabic alphabet and basic tajweed, ideally with a teacher who can correct your pronunciation early. A translation lets you follow the meaning while that's still in progress, and this guide's pacing and habit advice apply once you can read along.
What's the difference between reading and memorizing the Quran?
Reading (tilawah) means going through the text, aloud or silently, with or without understanding it by heart. Memorization (hifz) means holding verses in memory so you can recite them without looking. Reading is a good foundation for memorizing later, but they're different goals with different methods.