Iftikhar Ahmad
Introduction
In this article I will attempt, with the permission of Allah ﷻ, to shed light on the importance of understanding the Glorious Holy Qur’an and attaching oneself to it throughout one’s life. The Glorious Holy Qur’an is without a doubt the spoken words of Allah ﷻ to the Messenger ﷺ and his Ummah. Allah ﷻ sent the glorious Holy Qur’an as the instruction manual for our lives – it contains blessings and guidance. Therefore, it is very crucial that we do not only recite the Holy Qur’an, but also understand and implement the Holy Qur’an, so that we may be guided as Allah ﷻ states. Everything in this world is a creation of Allah ﷻ except the Holy Qur’an which is the spoken words of Allah ﷻ. This is something we must value greatly. We have mastered many languages such as English, French, and Spanish because it brings us benefit in this world, but why have we neglected mastering the language of our Lord? Is this not a greater benefit?
What is lost by not Understanding the Holy Qur’an?
If we fail to understand the Holy Qur’an directly through Arabic, we will lose out on many things, and some are detailed below. (May Allah ﷻ help us avoid them all).
The Purpose of Revelation
Allah ﷻ says:
“(Here is) a Book which We have sent down unto you (O Muhammad!), full of blessings, that they may ponder on its revelations, and that men of understanding may receive admonition” [Surah Sad 38:29]
Furthermore, Allah ﷻ also says:
“Will they then not meditate on the Holy Qur’an, or are there locks on the hearts?” [Surah Muhammad 47:24]
Allah ﷻ revealed the Holy Qur’an so that we may ponder (Tadabbur) and remember (Tadhakkur) Him. But how can we achieve these two things when we do not understand the Holy Qur’an? One can only ponder after he understands it. For instance, if you read stories or newspapers in the language you understand, then you do not have go back to comprehend the message. However, can you read a book of Science or Maths in the same manner? When you are reading a Science or Maths book you cannot fully understand it without pondering and thinking about it carefully.
In addition, this is important especially when one is praying his daily prayers, if he understands the Holy Qur’an he can focus more, and his prayers will be more meaningful.
Garden and Mind
The mind can be thought of like a garden. If you do not sow flowers, weeds will grow. Even if you sow flowers, weeds will still grow. You will need to remove the weeds continuously. By this analogy, we can think of flowers as guidance from Allah ﷻ and weeds as satanic thoughts being whispered by the Satan. The guidance of the Holy Qur’an will enable one to purify the garden from the weeds. Allah ﷻ sows flower seeds into our brain every time we listen to Holy Qur’an, especially in Salah. If we do not water them (ponder), they will be wasted, and weeds may grow.
Objectives of Recitation
There are 5 main objectives of reciting the Holy Qur’an:
Reward – every letter we recite, Allah ﷻ bestows us with 10 rewards. Now imagine if we recite passages of the Holy Qur’an which includes ayats made up of those letters; how much rewards will we accrue? This is beyond our imagination and is solely the Mercy of Allah ﷻ..
Knowledge – In understanding the Holy Qur’an, we gain knowledge of our Deen. Islam is the complete code of life, and this code has been detailed in the Holy Qur’an.
Action – By understanding the Holy Qur’an, we can act upon it accordingly. There is no benefit reciting and understanding the Holy Qur’an if we do not implement it within our lives.
Shifaa - The Holy Qur’an is a cure and purification for the hearts of minds that may be filled with filth.
Munajaat – by understanding the Holy Qur’an you will be able to talk with your lord personally and which one of us wants to miss out on this great benefit?
Cleaning of the Heart (Shifaa)
The main problem of a human is a rusted heart due to deviance and sins. A clean heart is essential for all the higher levels. If we take Fajr as an example. people know that Fajr is compulsory, but why do only a few come to the Masjid to pray it in congregation? This is because their heart is rusted with love for other things such as our job. We will wake up early in the morning for our jobs, but not Fajr which is a compulsory command. This means we have given priority to the world over the hereafter. In addition, we have a big confusion that Holy Qur’an is a book of commandments only. Commandments only constitute less than 10% of the Holy Qur’an. The rest 90% is for curing the heart and mind from filth such as sins. Allah ﷻ says about the Holy Qur’an:
“a healing for the (diseases) in your hearts” [Surah Yunus 10:57]
Moreover, the Holy Qur’an will help us reduce anxiety and stress, whether we are facing worldly stress such as work, exams etc, or due to the trials and tribulations that we face from Allah ﷻ. The Holy Qur’an provides us continuous reminders and warnings to remediate ourselves, and no one can provide a better formula than Allah ﷻ Among the examples in the past, we know that the words of the Holy Qur’an changed the heart of Umar (RA), whilst he was on a journey to assassinate the Messenger of Allah ﷺ – the very man who came with the Holy Qur’an.
Secret Invocation (Munajaat)
Prophet ﷺ used to converse with Allah ﷻ through Holy Qur’an recitation.
“And when he recited the Verses which referred to the Glory of Allah ﷻ, he glorified Him (by saying Subhan Allah) - My Rabb, the Supreme is far removed from every imperfection, the Great, and when he recited the Verses that mention supplication, he supplicated, and when he recited the Verses that mention seeking Refuge of the Rubb, he sought (His) Refuge.” [Sahih Muslim].
We will not be able to live without talking every day to our near and dear ones.
Allah ﷻ is most beloved to us, in fact, He loves us more than 70 times that of our mothers, and yet, we still can live without talking to Him (through Holy Qur’an and Salah) for days. Is this not
something to think about?
Live Guidance
Whenever we read or listen the Holy Qur’an, it is a live guidance (Direct; Planned; Personal; Relevant or DPPR) from Allah ﷻ.The Holy Qur’an does not have an expiry date, rather it is guidance for every situation that we face. Someone who is wise cannot neglect this and they express great appreciation and love towards this live guidance.
Strengthening Relationship with Allah
There are different dimensions to maintaining relationship with Allah ﷻ: His love, Sincerity, trust in Him, remembering Him directly and whenever we see His signs in creation, pondering His creation and in His names, not complaining of Qadaa, etc. This relationship is strengthened over time. It requires slow and steady cooking with regular heat coming from Holy Qur’an. The Holy Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ in pieces.
“And those who disbelieve say: Why has not the Holy Qur’an been revealed to him all at once? Thus, that We may strengthen your heart by it, and We have arranged it well in arranging.” [Surah Al-Furqan 25:32]
Therefore, the Heart should be firm in belief to His promises and warnings.
Qur’anic Character
If we live a life according to the Holy Qur’an, then we will certainly live a life of good, there is no doubt about this. We need our life to be according to its commandments (his orders and prohibitions). It will take some time to implement Holy Qur’an into our lives, we just need to be steadfast and attached to the Holy Qur’an. If you read any book on success literature, you will find the advice: Read it again and again slowly. We can use this principle for the Holy Qur’an as it is the ultimate book of guidance that will continuously guide us through every walk of life. The Prophet’s ﷺ life according to our mother Aisha (RA): “His morals were Holy Qur’an”.
Daily Reminders
Holy Qur’an is a reminder. We should receive it as:
Addressed to me directly (Direct)
A reminder cannot be random (Planned)
It cannot be irrelevant (Relevant for today)
It is catered personally for my life
6 reminders:
2 in Fajr, 2 in Maghrib and 2 in Isha. (through the Qur’anic recitation of the imam)
For the women, this is applicable every time they read the Holy Qur’an
Therefore, 6 reminders per day, 2000 per year and 600+ in Ramadan
Allah ﷻ says about His (beloved) slaves:
“And they who, when reminded of the communications of their Lord, do not fall down there at deaf and blind.” [Surah Al-Furqan 25:73]
Do we listen to the Holy Qur’an like a deaf person (who does not care to take it to heart) or read like a blind person? Understanding Holy Qur’an is necessary to avoid ‘deafness’ and ‘blindness’. Who is doing that reminder? The one who loves each one of us more than 70 times our mothers do.
Overall Efficiency
In order to gain full benefits of the Holy Qur’an, we need to understand what it says. Many people just rely on the translations, commentaries, and other Islamic books. They have the assumption that they do not need to know the Holy Qur’an in Arabic. They simply do not realize the power of Holy Qur’an in everything: in convincing, motivating, and providing solutions. Their efficiency, effectiveness, and vision will be multiplied hundreds of times if they interact with Holy Qur’an directly and daily. If they are ‘satisfied’ with their translations and Islamic literature, it is like a person who could earn billions, but was content with just hundreds.
Excellent opportunities to converse with Allah
There are times when you want to listen about signs, or commandments or joys of the hereafter or punishments in hell or so on. If you want Allah ﷻ to talk to you on the subject you want, just open the relevant chapter.
Signs: Surah An’aam
History: A’raaf
Story: Yusuf
Hereafter: 30th Juz
and so on….
Recite the Holy Qur’an and feel (with firm belief) that Allah ﷻ is talking to you on that topic. This opportunity to recite even arises when you are traveling, waiting, or you are just alone. And if you have memorised the Holy Qur’an (or a part of it), you can just start listening to Allah ﷻ !You can think of this as similar to asking your grandma to tell you a story when you were a child!
The Fine Aspects of the Holy Qur’an
Many people just grasp vague ideas (by catching a few words) when the imam recites, for example, the Hereafter or signs etc. They do not feel the need to go further in understanding. They say: after all, I know about the Hereafter, so why do I need to hear this again? It is like someone equating the poetry of the biggest poet with an ordinary one; and to say that after all, both are talking about the same thing. This person has absolutely no sense of appreciation.
Each verse of the Holy Qur’an has its own planned ‘programming’ for us. If it is the Hereafter, it may be the paradise aspect which Allah ﷻ wants us to focus on today, or the horrors of hell that we need to acknowledge. If we think about the music industry, people listen to so many songs (for whatever wrong reasons) or poetry. However, every song affects them in a different way, even each song is talking about the same thing such as love, sadness, happiness etc.
Standard Excuse
Most of us have just one excuse for not learning Qur’anic Arabic, and that is, “we are busy”. When a person says, “I am Busy,” he just has higher priorities and is doing something more important to him. As if in 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, he has no time slot for studying Holy Qur’an, but he has time for many other worldly things. This is a loss, and he should prioritise his time for Holy Qur’an as this will help him for his salvation ultimately.
Conclusion
To conclude we have acknowledged the benefits of reciting, and more importantly, understanding the Glorious Holy Qur’an. All these benefits boil down to recognising and strengthening our relationship with our creator, which is the most important thing a believer can do! We give better treatment to other books such as maths, science, business etc, but we give the worst treatment to the best of Books which contains guidance. Allah ﷻ has made the Holy Qur’an easy to learn, so if we just make the effort to take some time out to learn it, we will definitely be able to understand His book. We can use our daily Salaah as milestones, so we can understand the surahs that we read the most and work our way from there. May Allah ﷻ give us the capability and strength to fulfill all the rights of the Holy Qur’an. i.e., Believe, Recite, ponder, follow, and spread it.
Iftikhar Ahmad
Solicitor, Alimiyyah Graduate and student of
Shaykh Faizulhaq Abdulaziz حفظه الله
Jazak Allah
Only if this article could read by the world
Masha Allah. amazing article barakAllah feek
MashaAllah nice article
Mashallah
Subhanallah what a beautiful insight into the Holy Qur’an especially in the month of Ramadan