Du’aa’ whilst reading Qur'aan
Question

                I read Qur'aan, praise be to Allah, and when I reach mention of the attributes of the believers, I ask Allah to make me one of them; when I reach mention of the attributes of the disbelievers and hypocrites and their fate, I seek refuge with Allah from becoming one of them. After saying this du’aa’, do I have to say Bismillaah again, or can I carry on reading without doing that? Is it permissible to interrupt my reading in order to offer du’aa’?.
Praise be to Allah.
    This is permissible and was done by the Prophet (blessings 
    and peace of Allah be upon him). When he prayed tahajjud at night, when he 
    came to a verse of warning he would seek refuge with Allah, and when he came 
    to a verse of mercy he would ask his Lord for mercy. So there is nothing 
    wrong with that; rather it is mustahabb when praying tahajjud at night and 
    when praying by day, or when reading the Qur'aan outside of prayer. All of 
    that is mustahabb and you do not have to repeat the Basmalah or words 
    seeking refuge with Allah. Rather you may offer this du’aa’ then start 
    reading again, without needing to repeat the words seeking refuge with Allah 
    or the basmalah. All of this applies if you are praying alone in a naafil 
    prayer. 

    But if you are offering an obligatory prayer, it is not 
    proven that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to 
    do this in the obligatory prayers. So if you are praying with the imam, you 
    should listen attentively to your imam and not offer these du’aa’s when the 
    imam is reciting. Rather you should remain quiet and listen attentively in 
    the prayers in which Qur'aan is recited out loud. In the prayers in which 
    the recitation is silent, you should recite al-Faatihah and whatever else 
    you can, without saying the du’aa’s that you say in the naafil prayers, 
    because the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not do 
    that in the obligatory prayers. Perhaps the reason for that -- and Allah 
    knows best -- is to make it easier for people and not make the prayers too 
    lengthy, because if he were to offer du’aa’ at every verse which mentions 
    mercy and seek refuge with Allah at every verse in which there was a 
    warning, the prayer might become too long and might be too difficult for 
    people. It is by Allah's mercy and His kindness towards His slaves that He 
    did not prescribe that in the obligatory prayers so that the recitation 
    would be uninterrupted and so that the recitation would not be too long for 
    the people. But in the naafil prayers or in tahajjud, or at night or in Duha 
    prayer and other naafil prayers, there is nothing wrong with doing that and 
    the matter is broad in scope. End quote. 

    Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him).