Wa Alaykum Assalaam,
Insha'Allaah the following Q&As will help you:
Question:
Asalamu-Alaikum,
This is in regards to Question 2237 'Reading Soorat Yaa-Seen in congregation on Friday nights'. Actually I am referring to the hadeeth you mentioned where The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever reads one letter of the Book of Allaah will have one hasanah (reward) for doing so, and every hasanah will be multiplied by 10. I do not say that ‘Alif, laam, meem’ is one letter, but ‘Alif’ is a letter, ‘laam’ is a letter and ‘meem’ is a letter.’”
I was wonderring if this hadith was also true if one is reading the Qur'an in a different language (i.e. English Translation) in order to actually understand what he is reading?
Thank You, Allahu-Akbar
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
We ask Allaah to reward you for your keenness. In response to your question, the reward mentioned in this hadeeth is only for the one who reads the Qur’aan as it is in Arabic, not for the one who reads the interpretation of the meanings in any other language. However, if a person reads a translation of the meanings in order to understand the meaning and benefit from what the aayaat are saying, then he will be rewarded for doing this, and his reward is with Allaah, because the Muslim will be rewarded for reading tafseer (explanation and commentary), and a translation is tafseer. But there is no indication that the person who reads a translation will earn the reward mentioned in the hadeeth. The bounty of Allaah is immense. And Allaah knows best.
Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Question:
I always read Qur’aan but I do not understand the meanings… will I be rewarded by Allaah for that?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
The Holy Qur’aan is blessed, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“(This is) a Book (the Qur’aan) which We have sent down to you, full of blessings that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember.” [Saad 38:29]
A man will be rewarded for reading it whether he understands its meanings or not… But the believer should not read the Qur’aan without understanding at the time when he is responsible for his actions. If a person wants to learn medicine, for example, and studies medical books, he cannot learn anything from them unless he understands what they mean and it is explained to him. Indeed, he would very keen to understand what they say so that he can put it into practice. So how about the Book of Allaah which is healing for what is in people’s hearts and exhortation for all people? What about a person who reads it and does not understand or ponder its meanings?
The Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) would not go beyond ten aayaat until they had learnt them and understood the knowledge therein and how to act upon it. A person will be rewarded for reading Qur’aan whether or not he understands it, but he should try his best to find out what it means and to seek this knowledge from scholars who can be trusted. If he cannot easily find a scholar from whom he can learn, he should refer to reliable books of Tafseer such as Tafseer Ibn Jareer, Tafseer Ibn Katheer, and others. And Allaah knows best.
From the Fataawaa of Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen.
http://www.islamqa.com/index.php?ref=4040&ln=eng