Choosing between listening to live and recorded Quran recitation
8-3-2016 | IslamWeb
Question:
Is it ok for a woman to listen to the Quran recitation of a male reciter in MP3 format on a website or TV in order to correct her recitation and to obtain mental freshness during her free time if there is no risk of temptation? If some one hears recitation of the Quran that is not live, do they get the full reward of listening to live recitation of the Quran?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
First of all, we would like to commend your attention for the Quran. We implore Allaah to bless you with success in your endeavors in this regard. Listening to the Quran yields great rewards regardless of whether the listener intends to learn the correct recitation or seek mental freshness to ease his laziness or tiredness. The listener earns the rewards for listening to the Quran regardless of whether he is listening to someone directly reciting the Quran, a radio stream, a tape, or the like.
The Fatwa of the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Fataawa reads:
"Reciting and listening to the Quran are part of the religious duties of the believer in the worldly life; it is one of the best acts of worship. There are many Quranic verses and ahaadeeth that encourage the Muslims to read and listen to the Quran. As for listening to Quran recitation, one can listen to a person who is physically present, a radio stream, or a recorded tape. In all these cases, the listener earns great rewards, if Allaah wills. The listener should attentively ponder over the verses being recited and act upon them. This is the ultimate objective behind the revelation of the Quran to begin with; the Quran was not revealed so that we would settle for merely listening to it, like most people do."
As for whether listening to recorded recitation yields the same reward as listening to a live recitation, you should know that this is among the matters of the unseen; it cannot be affirmed as far as this act of worship or any other act of worship is concerned. We cannot affirm with certainty that any given act of worship will be accepted in the first place to affirm that the doer will earn the rewards for such an act.
It is advisable that the person should identify the most beneficial way that helps him attain khushooʻ (full submission, humility, and absolute concentration of the heart and mind). If he feels that listening to live recitation helps him attain khushoo' and pondering over the verses and the meanings implied therein and that he is more moved by it than by listening to a recorded recitation, then hopefully this would be more rewardable in his case. If he finds that for him it is the other way around (listening to recorded recitation helps him attain khushoo' and pondering over the verses and the meanings implied therein and he is more moved by them than by listening to live recitation), then hopefully listening to recorded recitation would be more rewardable in his case.
This is evidenced by the answer of the question addressed to the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Fataawa as to which is better and more rewardable: reciting the Quran or listening to Quran recitation? The answer reads:
"As for the rewards for listening to the Quran, they depend on the state of the listener's heart while listening to the Quran. If reciting the Quran helps the person attain khushoo' and he is more moved by the verses than when he listens to the Quran recited by someone else, then it is better and more rewardable for him to recite the Quran himself. If it helps him attain khushoo' and he is more moved by listening to the Quran than by reciting it himself, then it is better and more rewardable for him to listen to it. If this person attains khushoo' and is more moved by listening to the Quran from a particular person or a tape that helps him foster his fear of Allaah and hope in His rewards and earning His pleasure more, then there is no harm in that. In this case, listening to the Quran being recited by this person or this tape is better and more rewardable and beneficial to him. On the other hand, if reciting the Quran himself helps him attain khushoo' and he is more moved by it as compared to listening to the Quran recitation, then it is better and more rewardable for him to recite the Quran himself in this case."
Allaah knows best.