Quran Recitation During Pregnancy : Surah Maryam

It is a common practice in our society to recite Surah Maryam during pregnancy when expecting a baby daughter even though there is no explicit hadith from our Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him recommending such action. 

The practice could have taken root based on the fact that the surah tells the story of Lady Maryam and  it is hoped that the unborn child will inherit the honorable traits of Lady Maryam. 

However, upon closer inspection, this surah of 98 verses; contains story of other prophets too namely:

1) Prophet Zakariyya and his son; Prophet Yahya (verse 2-15),

2) Lady Maryam and her son; Prophet Isa (verse 16 - 34),

3) Prophet Ibrahim and his sons; Prophet Ishak and Yaa'qub (verse 41-50)

4) Prophet Musa, Harun and prophet Ismail Alaihim Salam (very briefly)

Therefor, the story of Lady Maryam and Prophet Isa appears in less than one sixth of the surah.

This doesn't mean that the surah is not beneficial to the pregnant mommy. On the contrary there are a lot of beautiful verses in the surah that when you read it, you hope and you pray that your unborn baby will develop similar traits.

Below are some commendable characteristics mentioned in Surah Maryam :

1) The character of Prophet Yahya alaihissalam (verse 12 - 15)

"...And We gave him wisdom, while he was yet a child."

 "And (made him) sympathetic to men as a mercy from Us, and pure from sins, and he was righteous."

"And dutiful towards his parents, and he was neither arrogant nor disobedient (to Allah or to his parents)."

"And peace be on him, the day he was born, the day he dies, and the day  he will be raised back to life."

2) The chastity of Lady Maryam (verse 20)

"...How can I have a son when no man has touched me nor am I unchaste?"

3) The qualities of Prophet Isa alaihis salam (verse 31- 33)

"and He has made me blessed wheresoever I be.."

"and dutiful to my mother, and made me not arrogant, unblest."

"and peace be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive."

4) The feature of Prophet Ibrahim and his sons; Prophet Yaaqub and Prophet Ishak alaihim salam (verse 48 - 50)

"and I (Prophet Ibrahim) shall turn away from you  (his father) and from those whom you invoke beside Allah.." 

i.e. the attribute of tawheed and turning away from shirk

"and We gave them (Ibrahim and his two sons) Our Mercy (bountiful provision) and We grant them honour on the tongue (of all the nations; that is everyone remember them with good praise)"

i.e. the bountiful ni'mah granted by Allah and good standing among society.

5) The traits of Prophet Ismail alaihis salam (verse 54 - 55) 

"..Verily! He was true to what he promised.."

"and he used to enjoined on his family and his people the Salah and Zakah, and his Lord was pleased with him."

6) The mark of Prophet Idris alaihis salam (verse 56 - 57)

"..He was a man of truth.."

"and We raised him to a high station."

7) The virtues of the guided and chosen ones (verse 58) 

".. when the verses of the Most Beneficient (Allah) were recited unto them, they fell down prostating and weeping."

8) last but not least to be among those who repent and believe in Allah and His messenger and do righteous deeds so that they may enter the Eden (Paradise) (verse 60 - 61)

"Except those who repent and believe (in the Oneness of Allah and His Messenger Muhammad) and perform righteous deeds. Such will enter Paradise and they will not be wronged at all."

"They will enter "Adn (Eden) Paradise, which the Most Beneficient (Allah) has promised to His servants in the unseen, Indeed! His Promise must come to pass."

These are all commendable attributes that all of us would love to adopt and would even more so love our children to practice. It is then in my opinion, very beneficial for us to recite this surah regardless we are carrying a son or daughter in our womb and we hope by reciting these wonderful verses our unborn child will be used to hearing these wonderful traits of the Prophets and will apply it in his life later on. 

Wallahu A'lam..

Pregnancy and Islam; Tips for Mommies-to-be / Tips Untuk Ibu Mengandung

My families have always commented that I have the easiest to manage boys (alhamdulillah) and asked what I practiced during my pregnancies. For those keen on giving their kids a head start, read on! I hope the tips are as beneficial to you as they are to me.

Tip no 1 : Say A Little Pregnancy Dua

It is narrated in the Shahih Bukhari and Muslim that after 120 days of gestation, Allah will place the "Ruh" in the baby and four things will be decided for him ; rezeki or livelihood, death, deeds (good or bad) and condition of life (easy or hard).

It is because of this hadis, that I make it a habit to say this prayer:

O Allah, please take care of my baby inside of me and cure him of any ailments for there is no cure except yours. O Allah please bestow on my child good body, intellect and manners, please let him be a practising moslem, a god fearing believer and a filial child. O Allah please record for him happiness and victory in this world and hereafter. O Allah please grant him a good ending in life with your compassion Ya Karim . 

Tip no 2: Recite Surah Luqman

I'm sure that most of us have heard of the practice of reciting Surah Maryam if you are expecting a girl and Surah Yusuf if you are expecting a boy so that the child will be born as pretty/handsome and pious as Lady Maryam or Prophet Yusuf. For those expecting boys, you would of course know that Surah Yusuf is a pretty long surah as compared to Surah Maryam. Personally, I always feel sleepy reading Surah Yusuf (beats me every time!) so, I decided to read Surah Luqman instead. It's a short surah, with only 34 ayah but it's really packed with good advice and when I read it, I pray in my heart that Allah bestow on my child the characteristics mentioned in these wonderful verses.

Tip no 3: Try to khatam the Quran

Well, most of our pregnancies are around 40 weeks and the quran is about 600 pages, that works out to about 2-3 pages per day, which you can pretty much cover on the train ride to/from work or even during your lunch break.  If you are not really fluent in reading Quran, sticking to a few verses and repeating it every day is also beneficial. Remember the best deed that is dear to Allah is the consistent one even if its only a small act. 

You can choose from as simple as Al-Fatihah (so that your child will always be thankful to Allah and will only pray to Allah and ask from Allah, that he may be among those guided by Allah and that he be protected against Allah's wrath) or even Surah Al-Mu'minun ayah 1-11.

Tip no 4: Practise Zikir 

It doesn't matter if it's as simple as "Ya Allah" or any salawat that is easy for you, treat it as though as you are singing a lullaby to your baby so that when he is born, he is used to that soothing voice of yours repeating the zikr and he will calm down to it. 

You can also choose any of the 99 names of Allah as zikr, say if you want your child to be smart, you will zikr  "Ya Rashid" if you want him to be kind hearted its "Ya Latif" and so on.

Tip no 5: Talk to your child

If I'm not mistaken, the child starts listening around week 20, so it's best to start communicating with the baby right away! I remember during my first pregnancy I keep talking to my son every chance I get. I usually say things like "When you come out, I hope you will help mummy by being a good boy, listen to mummy and daddy's advice, I hope you will be a happy baby and grow up to be a good moslem." 

Talk to your child regarding your hopes for him. I think it's good to say all the good things that we hope he will be as I always believe that a mother's word's are as good as a prayer. And it's good to pray for our children.

Well, those are basically what I practised and I hope that you find it useful. May Allah give us the strength to be good parents!  

You may be interested in:


"Newborn Checklist: What to do after the birth of your child" here
"Quran Recitation During Pregnancy (Surah Maryam) here
"Quran Recitation During Pregnancy (Surah Luqman) here