In the national education system, the ability to read and write the Qur'an has become a competency that students in Islamic universities must be fulfilled. Based on the results of LPMQ research conducted by the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia's Research and Development Agency and Training in 2019 on the Al-Qur'an Reading and Writing (BTQ) Ability Index at 11 State Islamic Universities (PTIN) in Indonesia, UIN Ar-Raniry Aceh came in the last second from the bottom. This paper seeks to explain why UIN Ar-Raniry Aceh students have low ability in reading and writing the Qur'an. This article uses case study method. Questionnaires, interviews, Quranic reading and writing tests, and documentation were used to collect data. The findings of the data analysis reveal that both internal and external variables contributed to the poor BTQ ability of UIN Ar-Raniry Aceh students. Internal factors focus on students' poor motivation to learn the Qur'an, which is exacerbated by external factors, such as a familial setting that discourages the development of habits to engage with the Qur'an in everyday life.