1. Ensure your body and clothes are clean.
2. Make Wudhu before touching and reciting the Qur’an
3. Use Miswaak, during wudhu, before reciting the Qur’an
4. Ensure that the place and surrounding area, where one is going to recite the Qur’an, is clean.
5. Sit facing the Qiblah.
6. Place the Qur’an in a slightly elevated position.
7. Recite “A’oozu Billaa hi minash shayta nirra jeem” and “Bismillah Hir Rahman Nir Raheem” before starting and read again at the beginning of recitation of each Surah.
8. Read Quran with Tajweed (correct pronunciation of letters, Ghunna, Ikhfa etc).
9. To weep when reading verses of fear and Jahannam and express happiness and joy when reading the verses of Jannah and glad tidings.
10. Imagine, according to Imam Al-Nawawi, that you are talking to Allah, since one recites His Real Words, and He sees us.
12. To read with a sweet distinct and pleasing voice and not a “singing” tone.
13. To read in a loud voice but if one fears insincerity or risk of Showing off or disturbing others then one should read in a low tone especially as not to disturb those who are praying Salaah
14. To refrain from idle talk whilst reading the Qur’an. However if one is compelled to talk or answer Salaam then one can do so and start again with “A’oozu Billah…” and “Bismillah…”.
15. Our Holy Prophet (Swallallahu alyahi wasallam) did not finish the whole Qur’an in less than 3 days. (Ibn Saad)
16. One should not use saliva on the fingers to turn the pages of the Qur’an.
17. When one fears that a Qur’an may burn, get soaked, that a non-Muslim may touch it, or that it may come into contact with some filth, then one must pick it up if there is no safe place for it, even if one is not in the state of Wudhu or is in need of the obligatory bath, though performing the dry ablution (Tayummum) is Waajib if possible.
18. It is haraam (forbidden) to use the Qur’an or any book of Islamic knowledge as a pillow.
Imam Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Qurtubi says in al-Jami’ li ahkam al-Qur’an [Taken from Reliance of the Traveller]
It is the inviolability of the Qur’an:
1. Not to touch the Qur’an except in the state of ritual purity in Wudhu, and to recite it when in a state of ritual purity;
2. To brush one’s teeth with a tooth stick (Siwak), remove food particles from between the them, and to freshen one’s mouth before reciting, since it is the way through which the Qur’an passes;
3. To sit up straight if not in prayer, and not lean back;
4. To dress for reciting as if intending to visit a prince, for the reciter is engaged in an intimate discourse;
5. To face the direction of prayer (Qiblah) to recite;
6. To rinse the mouth out with water if one coughs up mucus or phlegm;
7. To stop reciting when one yawns, for when reciting, one is addressing one’s Lord in intimate conversation, while yawning is from the Devil;
8. When beginning to recite, to take refuge from in Allah from the accursed Devil and say the “Bismillah”, whether one has begun at the first Surah or some other part one has reached;
9. Once one has begun, not to interrupt one’s recital from moment to moment with human words, unless absolutely necessary;
10. To be alone when reciting it, so that no one interrupts one, forcing one to mix the words of the Quran with replying, for this nullifies the effectiveness of having taken refuge in Allah from the Devil at the beginning;
11. To recite it leisurely and without haste, distinctly pronouncing each letter;
12. To use one’s mind and understanding in order to comprehend what is being said to one;
13. to pause at verses that promise Allah’s favour, to long for Allah Most High and ask of His bounty; and at verses that warn of His punishment to ask Him to save one from it;
14. To pause at the accounts of bygone peoples and individuals to heed and benefit from their example;
15. To find out the meanings of the Qur’an’s unusual lexical usages;
16. To give each letter it’s due so as to clearly and fully pronounce every word, for each letter counts as ten good deeds;
17. Whenever one finishes reciting, to attest to the veracity of one’s Lord, and that His messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) has delivered his message, and to testify to this, saying:”Our Lord, You have spoken the truth, Your Messengers have delivered their tidings, and bear witness to this. O Allah, make us of those who bear witness to the truth and who act with justice”:after which one supplicates Allah with prayers.
18. Not to select certain verses from each Surah to recite, but rather the recite the whole Surah;
19. If one puts down the Quran, not to leave it open;
20. Not to place other books upon the Quran, this should always be higher than all other books, whether they are books of Sacred Knowledge or something else;
21. To place the Quran on one’s lap when reading; or on something in front of one, not on the floor;
22. Not to wipe it from a slate with spittle, but rather wash it off with water; and if one washes it off with water, to avoid putting the water where there are unclean substances (Najaasat) or where people walk. Such water has its own inviolability, and there were those of the early Muslims before us who used water that washed away Quran to affect cures.
23. Not to use sheets upon which it has been written as book covers, which is extremely rude, but rather to erase the Quran from them with water;
24. Not to let a day go by without looking at least once at the pages of the Quran;
25. To give one’s eyes their share of looking at it, for the eyes lead to the soul (Nafs), whereas there is a veil between the breast and the soul, and the Quran is in the breast.
26. Not to trivially quote the Quran at the occurrence of everyday events, as by saying, for example, when someone comes, “You have come hither according to a decree, O Moses” [Qur’an 69:24],
Or,”Eat and drink heartily for what you have done aforetimes, in days gone by” [Qur’an 69:24], when food is brought out, and so forth;
27. Not to recite it to songs tunes like those of the corrupt, or with the tremulous tones of Christians or the plaintiveness of monkery, all of which is misguidance;
28. When writing the Qur’an to do so in a clear, elegant hand;
29. Not to recite it out aloud over another’s reciting of it, so as to spoil it for him or make him resent what he hears, making it as if it were some kind of competition;
30. Not to recite it in marketplaces, places of clamour and frivolity, or where fools gather;
31. Not to use the Qur’an as pillow, or lean upon it;
32. Not to toss it when one wants to hand it to another;
33. Not to miniaturize the Qur’an, mix into it what is not of it, or mingle this worldly adornment with it by embellishing or writing it with gold;
34. Not to write it on the ground or on walls, as is done in some new mosques;
35. not to write an amulet with it and enter the lavatory, unless it is encased in leather, silver, or other, for then it is as if kept in the heart;
36. if one writes it and then drinks it (for cure or other purpose), one should say the Bismillah at every breath and make a noble and worthy intention, for Allah only gives to one according to one’s intention;
37. And if one finishes reciting the entire Qur’an, to begin it anew, that it may not resemble something that has been abandoned.
Etiquettes and Rules of Tilaawat:
1. To memorize one Ayah of the Quran is Fard-e-Aeen on every Mukallaf Muslim; to memorize the entire Holy Quran is Fard-e-Kafyah; to memorize Surah Fatiha and a small Surah or something similar like three small Ayahs or one long Ayah is Wajib-e-Aeen. (Dar al Mukhtar)
2. To read the Holy Quran while looking at it is better then reading without looking at it because in this case one touches the Holy Quran, sees the Holy Quran, and reads the Holy Quran and all this is Ibadah. (Bahar-e-Shariat)
3. To read the Holy Quran in the restroom and such places of impurity is not allowed (Na-Jaiz)
4. If somebody is reciting the Quran incorrectly then it is Wajib to tell him/her unless if one fears jealousy and hate. (Gunyah)
5. To memorize the Holy Quran and then to forget it is a sin.
6. It is from the etiquettes of respecting the Holy Quran that one does not put their back towards the Quran or spread their legs towards the Quran or sit in a high place when the Quran is beneath. (Bahar –e- Shari’at)
7. During recitation reflect on what you are reading. For example, when reading about punishment, one should repent; when reading about paradise; one should rejoice and pray for Jannah.
8. The way to do Sajdah of Tilaawat is as follows: If one hears or reads the Ayah of Sajdah then he should stand with the intention of performing the Sajdah of Tilaawat and say “Allaahu Akbar” and then should go straight into Sajdah and recite the Tasbih of Sajdah at least three times. Then one should say “Allaahu Akbar” and then stand up. To say Allaahu Akbar both times is Sunnah. Similarly, to stand before and after the Sajdah is Musthahab (preferable). (Dar al Mukhtar)
Reciting Qur’an whilst in Qiyaam (Standing in prayer)
Abd-Allah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn al-‘Aas (RA) narrated that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam)said: Whoever recites ten Aayah (verses) in qiyaam will not be recorded as one of the forgetful. Whoever recites a hundred Aayah (verses) in qiyaam will be recorded as one of the devout, and whoever prays a thousand Aayah (verses) in qiyaam will be recorded as one of the muqantareen (those who pile up good deeds).” (Reported by Abu Dawood and Ibn Hibbaan. It is a hasan report. Sahih al-Attargheeb, 635).