Can repeating a certain portion of the Quran for a time equivalent to completing the entire Quran be regarded as a khatm?

Firstly: We congratulate you on what you are doing of good by constantly reciting Quran, and you should carry on with that, because the religious texts speak of the great virtue of doing that.

It was narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever recites a letter of the Book of Allah will have one good deed recorded for him, and the good deed brings a tenfold reward. I do not say that alif-lam-mim is a letter; rather alif is a letter, lam is a letter and mim is a letter.” At-Tirmidhi (2910); classed as sahih by al-Albani.

This reward is attained by everyone who reads or recites any surah of the Quran, whether he recites it as part of a khatm in the correct order, or in his prayer, or in any kind of recitation, without paying attention to any particular khatm.

But repeating what you have memorized from al-Baqarah to al-An‘am is not regarded as a real khatm of the Quran, even though you will attain reward for reciting Quran. So strive to recite what you recite well from memory, then complete the rest by reading from the Mushaf.

The practice of the early generations (the salaf) was to complete the entire Quran, then go back to the beginning and start again, and so on.

Ibn Qudamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It is disliked (makruh) to take too long in completing the Quran and to take more than forty days to complete it.

Ahmad said: What I mostly heard is that the Quran should be completed within forty days.

That is because taking longer than that will lead to forgetting the Quran and becoming negligent about it. Therefore what we have mentioned is more appropriate.

This applies if there is no excuse. If there is an excuse, then the matter is flexible.  End quote from al-Mughni (2/611).

Secondly: you should understand that the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). He has told us the timeframe for completing the Quran, and one should not go beyond that.

It was narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said to him: “Read the Quran in a month.” I said: I can do more than that… Until he said: “Read it in seven days, and do not do more than that.” Narrated by al-Bukhari (4767).

He also forbade them to complete it in less than three days. It was narrated that ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The one who reads the Quran in less than three days will not understand it.” Narrated by Abu Dawud (1394); classed as sahih by al-Albani.

Shaykh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: What is the longest timeframe for completing the Quran?

He replied: There is no set timeframe for that, and the best one can do in that regard is what the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) explained to ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As when he asked him about how to read the Quran. ‘Abdullah told him that he completed the Quran every day and fasted all the time, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) told him to fast and not fast, and to sleep and pray qiyam, and to complete the Quran every month. He said: “Your own self has a right over you, your wife has a right over you, and your guest has a right over you, so give each of them his or her due.” ‘Abdullah asked for more, and in the end, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) told him to read it in a week, as he said: “Read it every week,” meaning every seven days.

So the best timeframe to complete the Quran is seven days, and if a person takes longer to do it, there is nothing wrong with that. So it may be completed in a month, or in twenty days, or more than that. The minimum time frame for completing it is three days, as it says in the hadith “The one who reads the Quran in less than three days will not understand it,” or however the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said it. End quote from the Shaykh’s website.

We have previously given a detailed answer regarding this matter; please see question no. 156299.

Thirdly:

Completing 8 juz’ in an hour and a half means that each juz’ is completed in 11 minutes, which is a very short time to recite an entire juz’ of the Quran. It is barely possible for a person to recite in a proper manner in this time, and to recite it as it should be recited, let alone understand what he is reciting and reflect on it.

The early generations disallowed reciting Quran quickly, if that will lead to mispronouncing the words or will not give any opportunity for reflection. It was narrated that Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Do not recite the Quran rapidly as you recite poetry, and do not utter its words carelessly in the manner of handling poor quality dates. Rather, pause to reflect on its wonders and let your heart be moved by it. The main focus of one of you should not be merely to reach the end of the surah. Al-Bayhaqi: Shu‘ab al-Iman (1883).

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: There was a time in our lives when one of us would learn about faith before learning about the Quran, and a surah would be revealed to Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and he would learn what it permitted and what it prohibited, and where one should pause to reflect and understand, as you learn the Quran. Then he said: I have seen some men, one of whom starts to recite Quran, and he recites it from al-Fatihah to the end without realising what it enjoins and what it prohibits, or where he should pause and reflect, and the way in which he recites it is (careless) like one who is handling poor quality dates. Narrated by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak (1/35); he said: It is a sahih hadith according to the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and I am not aware of any problem with the hadith. And adh-Dhahabi agreed with him.

Reciting the Quran with speed is described by the scholars as qira’at al-hadr.

One of the conditions of qira’at al-hadr is that it should not lead to mispronunciation. Qira’at al-hadr means reciting one word after another in rapid succession, whilst paying attention to grammar and the correct pronunciation, and pronouncing the letters clearly. See: al-Itqan fi ‘Ulum al-Quran (1/345).

Reciting a juz’ in ten minutes does not allow one to pronounce words correctly or pay attention to grammar; rather it is reciting at such speed that it is not possible to follow the meaning.

What was narrated from ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan (may Allah be pleased with him), that he recited the entire Quran in a rak‘ah, is not a precedent to be followed by others; rather it is something unique to ‘Uthman. We are not like him, and what he was enabled to do is something that we cannot be enabled to do. If it is said that this is a karamah (miracle or extraordinary feat) with which he was honoured, that would not be far-fetched, but most of the Sahabah used to recite the Quran in seven days.

Al-Hafiz al-‘Iraqi said: The Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) used to complete the Quran every seven days… Among those who completed it every seven days were: Tamim ad-Dari, ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Yazid, Ibrahim an-Nakha‘i, ‘Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, Abu Mijlaz, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and the wife of Ibn Mas‘ud. Masruq regarded that as something good. Among those who would complete it in eight days were Ubay and Abu Qilabah. Among those who would complete it in six days was al-Aswad ibn Yazid. Among those who would complete it in five days was ‘Ilqimah ibn Qays. Among those who would complete it in three days was Ibn Mas‘ud. And he said that the one who recites it in less than three days is reciting at speed. End quote from Tarh at-Tathrib fi Sharh at-Taqrib (3/102).

And Allah knows best.