Where is the Qur’ān in your life?

بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

When the pandemic struck the world, many people rushed to buy, and read, books on psychology and self-help, to help them navigate through the calamity. Most of us are now addicted to reading the news every day, collecting stories of other people’s tragedies and miseries. And we carry this heaviness with us throughout the day.

The pandemic touched every single part of our lives:

• Our health (physical, mental, and spiritual)
• Our relationships and our parenting
• Our education, work, and travel.

But how did it affect your relationship with Allah (ﷻ)? Did it bring you closer to Him? Did it wake you up to the reality of this worldly life?

Unique bond with the Qur’ān

During the pandemic, my Qur’ān teacher began her online lecture on Surat al-Isrāʾ with a simple question,

كَيفَ حَالُكُنَّ؟

“How are you?”

Many sisters answered her question in the chat box.

Then, she added two extra words to this question,

كَيفَ حَالُكُنَّ مَعَ القُرْآنِ؟

“How are you with the Qur’ān?”

No-one could answer this question.

Malik ibn Dinār, may Allah have mercy upon him, once said,

“The worldly people leave this dunya without having tasted the best thing in the dunya.” [1]

Someone asked him,

“What is that thing?” [1]

He answered,

“Knowing Allah.” [1]

Knowledge of Allah, and living with His Beautiful Names — these are the greatest pleasures. No worldly delight can compare with this.

To know Allah, to love Him, to remember Him, you need to establish a strong connection with the Qur’ān. You will never taste this pleasure if you don’t recite, read, study, ponder, memorise, and act upon the verses of the Qur’ān. You need to live with the Qur’ān, and enjoy its companionship on this journey of life. It is guiding you to live in the best way.

A mercy, a guide, a cure, and a warning

Allah (ﷻ) says,

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءَتْكُم مَّوْعِظَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَشِفَاءٌ لِّمَا فِي الصُّدُورِ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ 

“O humanity! Indeed, there has come to you a warning from your Lord, a cure for what is in the hearts, a guide, and a mercy for the believers.” [2]

The Qur’ān is a reminder, guidance, light, mercy, cure, warning, and glad tidings for the believers.

These are all the ingredients required for a happy, meaningful, and successful life. On the other hand, worldly pleasures have a time limit; they only cover our sadness for a short while. They empty quickly, and keep needing to be refilled.

When you seek closeness to Allah (ﷻ) through His kalām (speech), the happiness and tranquillity you experience has true value and is long-lasting. It is not limited by time. You carry this feeling with you in your heart, wherever you go. The Qur’ān is the best therapy for your heart. It enriches your heart, and brings it back to life.

Allah (ﷻ) reminds us that,

الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ 

“…those who believe and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah, Surely, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.” [3]

Does your copy of the Qur’ān sit gathering dust?

When we remember people and worldly matters, we can feel stressed, sad, worried, and angry.

But when we remember Allah, the All Perfect, our hearts feel at peace,

“…for nothing brings greater pleasure to the heart and nothing is more desirable or sweeter than loving the Creator, feeling close to Him and knowing Him.” [4]

His remembrance removes sadness and anxiety from our hearts. And the best way to remember Him, and to learn more about Him, is by reading and reciting the Qur’ān.

Sadly, and to our great loss, this blessed Book—this source of happiness — sits on a shelf, untouched, in most households.

As it sits there gathering dust, your heart, too, is gathering dust. The heart of the person who abandons the Qur’ān will be tight with darkness, distress, disorientation, doubts, and desires.

It is like sailing alone across a vast ocean, with no map, and no sense of direction.

Allah (ﷻ) warns us,

وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَن ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنكًا وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَىٰ 

“And whoever turns away from My remembrance — indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind.” [5]

Remember your purpose; mind your heart

How can you expect to be happy in this life, if you are not fulfilling the purpose for which you have been created? To know Allah, to worship Him, to love Him, to build a close, deep, meaningful relationship with Him: this is the purpose of our existence.

Check your heart. What is it carrying? Jealousy, envy, greed, resentment, desires, bad thoughts about Allah, doubts, or maybe bad thoughts about people?

Our hearts are filled with diseases that spill over into our lives, leading us to ruin. This is exactly why we need Allah (ﷻ) to fix and cure our hearts.

Heal your heart with kalāmAllah; fill it with that which will benefit it, not that which will destroy it. A heart filled with knowledge of Allah, and His perfect kalām, is a healthy, happy, safe, and sound heart. Understand and appreciate the value of this magnificent Book. Make your life better for the sake of Allah.

Not a moment to waste

Start today, strive to strengthen your relationship with kalāmAllah; make the Qur’ān an important part of your day!

Even if it’s just one ayah a day. Recite it, study its tafsīr, reflect on it, try to memorise it, and live it. You will truly feel alive, because your heart will come alive. Your īmān (faith) will increase, and your dunya worries will shrink away.

The journey to fulfilling an act of ibādah (worship) requires patience and effort. We feel a heaviness as our hearts struggle to push away all the worldly excuses and obstacles that come up to stop us from performing it.

But, as my Ustadha once mentioned, once you are inside the ibādah, you will feel the rahma (mercy) and tranquillity. Your heart will soften. You will surely taste the sweetness of faith.

Regularly quiz yourself

Ask yourself every day,

“What have I done today to help my heart? What have I done to come closer to the perfect pleasure of Allah (ﷻ)?”

And in doing so, keep moving forward. Never stand still, nor run the risk of taking a step backwards.

If you make the pleasure of Allah your main priority in life, you will see so many doors of khayr (goodness) and rahma open for you — more guidance, more knowledge, more understanding, more protection, more blessings, more favours.

So put your phone down. Close the world. Open the Book. And open your heart.

اللّهُـمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ أَنْ تَجْـعَلَ قُرْآنَ رَبِيـعَ قَلْبِـي وَنورَ صَـدْرِي وجَلَاءَ حُـزْنِي وذَهَابَ هَمِّـي

Allahumma innī as’aluka an taj`al Qur’āna rabī`a qalbī, wa nūra ṣadrī, wa jalā’a ḥuznī, wa dhahāba hammī.

“O Allah, I ask you to make the Qur’ān the spring of my heart, and the light of my chest, the banisher of my sadness, and the reliever of my distress. Āmīn.” [6]

This is part of a longer du’ā that Shaykh al-Albani graded as authentic (Ahmad 1/391).

Source: Islam21c

Notes

[1] Sīra ‘Ālām, 5/236

[2] al-Qur’ān, 10:57

[3] al-Qur’ān, 13:28

[4] Tafsīr al-Sa’di, Vol. 5, p.96

[5] al-Qur’ān, 20:124

[6] Ahmad, 1/391 https://sunnah.com/hisn:120