It was said to ‘Ā`ishah – Allāh be pleased with her, “There are people who faint when they hear the Quran.” She said. “The Quran is nobler than to have people lose their minds from it. Rather, it [should be] as Allāh the Mighty and Sublime said:
Those who fear their Lord tremble with fear by it, then their skins and hearts settle to the remembrance of Allah. (Sūrah Al-Zumar: 23)
Abū ‘Ubayd Al-Qāsim b. Sallām, Faḍā`il Al-Qur`ān p214.
It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. ‘Urwah b. Al-Zubayr said, “I asked my grandmother Asmā` (bint Abī Bakr) – Allāh be pleased with her, ‘How were the Companions of Allāh’s Messenger – Allāh peace and praise be upon him – when they heard the Quran?’ She replied, ‘their eyes would shed tears and they would tremble (with fear), as Allāh described them (in the Quran).’ I said, ‘There are some people here who, when they hear the Quran, fall down unconscious,’ She said, ‘I seek refuge with Allāh from the accursed Shayṭān.’”
Al-Bayhaqī, Shu’ab Al-Īmān 3:417; Ibn Al-Mubārak, Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqā`iq 3:54 with a slightly variant wording.
It is also reported that Asmā` was asked, “Did any of the Salaf used to faint out of the fear of Allāh?” She replied, “No, but they used to cry.”
Al-Qāsim b. Salām, op. cit. p214.
It is reported that Ibn ʿUmar – Allāh be pleased with him – once passed by a man from Iraq who had dropped unconscious. He asked, “What is wrong with him?” [People] replied, “When the Quran is recited to him or he hears the remembrance of Allāh he falls unconscious out of his fear of Allāh.” Ibn ʿUmar said, “We fear Allāh and we do not drop unconscious!”
Ibid p214; Al-Baghawī in his Tafsīr, Sūrah Al-Zumar: 23 with a slightly variant wording.
It is reported that Anas b. Mālik was asked about people who drop unconscious when the Quran is recited to them. He said, “That is the behavior of the Khawārij.”
Al-Qāsim b. Salām, op. cit. p215.
It is reported that Muḥammad b. Sīrīn said, having been asked about a man who drops unconscious when the Quran is recited to him, “Make an appointment between us and him, we will sit on a wall, and the Quran – from beginning to end – will be recited unto him. If he falls off the wall, he is as he claims.”
Ibid., Al-Baghawī, op. cit.