My Quran Reflections

Bismillah. The existence of God The existence of the soul The existence of the Hereafter - including heaven, hell, Day of Judgement, etc. That God created the universe The existence of jinn The existence of angels The existence of miracles The existence of the above is unquestionable in the eyes of the Muslim because we believe these things to be true as told to us by Allah in the Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). Matters of spirituality cannot be proved by science. To look for spirituality in science is like looking for knowledge in an empty book. It is true that science has provided many answers to how the physical and material world functions and its purposes, however, we should not look for spiritual answers in science, like we should not look for scientific answers in the Qur’an. No doubt there are some scientific facts that can be found in the Qur’an and Hadith but this is incidental. The purpose of the Qur’an is to provide you with spir...

There is no doubt that every interpreter of the Qur'an has been affected by the geopolitical circumstances of his/her time. From Ibn Taiymiyyah and the Mongol hordes to Ibn Laden and the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia. Every age looks at the Qur'an as a text beyond time and space to make sense of their world. Violence is justified when people start to see parallels between what they are going through and how the early Muslims dealt with violence during their time. No one approach of hermeneutics will suffice in today's diverse and complex world. Muslims need to relook at the Qur'an in a literary, linguistic, contextual, historical and Sunnah as well as Sirah- oriented way, in order to get to the spirit of the meaning as intended by the Allah and taught by the Prophet. The Salafi interpretation of the Qur'an is very literal and they would prefer the letter of the law to the spirit. Salafi hermeneutics concentrates its interpretation on early scholarly ...

Mattson asserts that, “All those who embark upon the reading the Qur’an – Muslims and non-Muslims, religious and secular people – can learn something about the world and about themselves through engagement with it.” In a hadith, Prophet Muhammad says, “God says, ‘I am as My servant thinks I am.’” Which I believe is the same for the Qur’an, people who approach it looking for violence and hatred will find it, while those who look for love and tolerance will also find it. A person who feels God is wrathful and cruel will find his god, whereas a person approaching the Qur’an with an open and humble heart will find God’s mercy and beauty.   The main connection between God and Muslims has always been the Qur’an, the literal word of God, and the Prophet Muhammad, the divinely inspired messenger of God, through the hadith. Thus, the Muslim approaches these sources of guidance through reverence and reflection, on how the names and attributes of the Divine are connected to their lives i...

Ibn al-Qayyim says: There can be no doubt that assuming the best about Allah only comes as a result of righteous conduct. It is the righteous person who assumes the best about his Lord, since he knows that Allah will reward him for his good deeds and will never break His promise.  On the other hand, the sinner who persists in wrongdoing, injustice, and disobedience is prevented by his evil deeds from assuming the best about his Lord. We can see a similar situation in how people relate to each other. A runaway slave, for instance, is not going to assume the best of his master. Good assumptions never go hand in hand with the disturbed state of disobedience. A sinner is estranged from his Lord to the extent of his sinfulness. The person who has the best outlook on his Lord is invariably the one who is the most obedient to his Lord.  Al-Hasan al-Basrî said: "The believer assumes the best about his Lord so he does the best deeds. The sinner assumes the worst about his ...

“In the Quran He says,  I did not create jinn and mankind, save to worship Me  (51:56), the last phrase of which can also mean “to serve Me.” Fulfilling the proper human role as God’s vicegerent demands serving the Lord, and no service is greater than negating oneself and affirming God, annihilating blameworthy character traits and allowing the Divine character traits to subsist. But what does service/worship have to do with love? Here Sufi texts like to quote the  ḥ adīth qudsī,  “I was a hidden treasure, and I loved to be recognized; so I created the creatures so that I would be recognized.” In other words, God created the universe because, as the verse of mutual love puts it,  He loves them;  that is, He loves human beings; so He gave them the capacity to recognize Him and to love Him in return. By recovering their  fi ṭ rah,  they recognize themselves as God’s servants, and they recognize their Lord as the possessor of the Most Beaut...

The Qur'an is the ocean which all different seekers come to quench their thirst.

“Tawhid  alerts us to the fact that there can be no true lover and no true beloved but God.”  “So, there is no lover but God, and  He loves them,  that is, human beings created in His “form,” for they are the Self-Disclosures of His Most Beautiful Names. And there is no beloved but God, which is to say that human beings love God and God alone, whether they know it or not. This is because no one is beautiful but God; so all love is attracted to His Beauty.”  “T he objects of love are gold-plated by God’s Attributes. People should strive to recognize that it is not these objects per se that they love, but God.” ~  Rumi ~ “No one loves anyone but his own Creator, but he is veiled from Him by love for Zaynab, Su ʿ ād, Hind, Laylā, this world, money, position, and everything loved in the world. Poets exhaust their words on all these existing things, but they do not know. The gnostics [i.e., those who “recognize” themselves and God] never hear a vers...

“The Prophet said, “God is beautiful, and He loves beauty.” With regard to  taw ḥ īd,  this means that nothing is truly beautiful but God, and that no one truly loves but God. Nonetheless, God created human beings in a beautiful form:  He formed you and made beautiful your forms  (40:64). Our forms are beautiful because God created us in His own “form,” which is to say that He in-formed us with the Most Beautiful Names. God loves beauty; so He loves the beauty of human forms, which is to say that He loves the manifestation of His own Most Beautiful Names in creation.”  “‘God is beautiful, and He loves beauty.’ Clearly the Prophet, the last of the prophets and the “most praiseworthy” of God’s creatures, is the embodiment of human virtue and beauty.”  “By following the Prophet, they can actualize the Most Beautiful Names within their own character, and it is the beauty of the reflection of these Names in human beings that God loves. It is of cou...

“Those who seek God’s Face, then, are striving to recognise the Face of God that is their own true self.”  ~  The Qur’an and Sufism by William C. Chittick, in  The Study Quran ~

Micheal Sells asserts that it is the Qur’an that is the basis of Islamic spirituality starting with the mysteries of the Verse of Light. He highlights the deep connection between Islamic art and the Qur’an while also demonstrating the spiritual nature of daily Muslim practices, like the adhan, salah, as well sawm and hajj. The prophet’s night journey, the Miraj, is yet another example of mysteries of the connection with the divine. He also explains the development of sufism from early Islam to before its golden age after 1000 CE. Sayyed Hossein Nasr writes about the Qur’an being central to Islamic spirituality and like Sells he also mentions the Miraj and the first revelations as evidence of the spiritual nature of the Qur’an as well as the prophet himself. Furthermore, he contends that all basic Islamic concepts like the shahadah, tawhid and dhikr, are intertwined for the benefit of the soul. Moreover, the recitation of the Qur’an is a very spiritual experience as every letter an...

The case of the apostate are three: Either he never knew his Rabb in the first place Or he knew of Him but never got fully acquainted  Or he was acquainted but never fell in love For the lover never leaves his beloved Even when they are miles apart Let alone to deny His existence To the lover his Rabb is the only existence To be close to Him is the only pleasure To taste the sweetness of iman the only thirst quencher To remember His embrace is the only memory worth remembering 

Bismillah. Shiblī said, “I learned Sufism from a dog that was sleeping at the door of a house. The owner came out and was driving the dog away, but the dog kept on coming back. I said to myself, 'How base this dog is! He drives him away, and he keeps on coming back.' The Exalted Lord brought that dog to speech and it said, 'O Shaykh! Where should I go? He is my owner.'” I will not leave the Friend at a hundred iniquities and cruelties. Even if He increases them, I will not be troubled, It is I who chose Him over everyone else; if I complain about Him, I will have no excuse. ( Kashf Al-Asrar Tafsir  of Surah al-Baqarah 2:165) As for the faithful, their friendship is the fruit of the Real's friendship - as He says, “He loves them, and they love Him” [5:54]. Therefore the steep roads and trials that come to them do not bring any defect into their love, so they do not turn away from the Real. Despite these tribulations and trials that come int...

Whenever an issue confronts the mind Confounds the heart Troubles the conscience In regard to Allah’s Deen Stop and reflect -  Allah’s Deen is perfect Allah’s Deen is eternal Allah’s Deen is the solution Thus, It is we who are defective: In our thinking In our reasoning In our understanding In our relationship with Allah In our knowledge about His Deen In our egotistic natures In our pride and conceit So, The answer is to: Run to Allah Seek His shade Immerse yourself in His love and mercy Fall down and submit Behave like a humble slave Admit your ignorance Accept your need for guidance And only then -  The answer The prayer The realisation The epiphany Will dawn upon you That Allah’s wisdom is supreme And our serenity and peace of mind Depends on total submission Total love and adoration Of our Rabb!

The classification of Hadith - transmission and preponderance The linguistic understanding of the words of the Qur'an Local custom Cases judged on their own individual merits Ijtihad - Individual scholarly reasoning Public interest - this could change over time and may be applied narrowly in one region or country Juristic preference  Principle of Necessity - could become the norm until the necessity is over

The Prophet Muhammad as the receiver of revelation, guide and teacher of the Qur'an, how he is viewed and characterised has an enormous impact on how the Qur'an is interpreted. To interpret or try to understand the Qur'an without trying to know the man and prophet it was revealed to - is quite absurd and illogical. The true nature, interpretation and life of the Qur'an can only be understood when we understand the Prophet Muhammad. The Qur'an was never a book without context or a guide; it was always contextual, relevant and deeply spiritual. It is quite an amazing aspect that the Qur'an is to every person what he or she expects of it. To the sectarian zealot, it assures their fervent beliefs; to the pious seeker, it is a journey to his or her beloved; to the critical examiner, it is the epitome of excellence in language and structure; to the rejector, it is incoherent, structureless and empty.

Bismillah. MERCIFUL And obey Allah and the Messenger that you may obtain mercy.  [Surah al-Imran 3:157] So by Mercy from Allah, you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them in the matter. [Surah al-Imran 3:159] He has decreed upon Himself mercy. [Surah al-An’am 6:12 & 54] And We have not sent you, except as a mercy to the worlds.  [Surah al-Anbiyaa 21:107] GRATEFUL And be grateful to Me. [Surah al-Baqarah 2:152] Be grateful to Allah if it is Him that you worship. [Surah al-Baqarah 2:172] Glorify Allah for that which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful. [Surah al-Baqarah 2:185] Then fear Allah; perhaps you will be grateful. [Surah al-Imran 3:123] Allah will reward the grateful. [Surah al-Imran 3:144 & 145] Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be grateful. [Surah al-Maida 5:89...

Bismillah. " None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother that which he loves for himself.” (Sahih al-Bukhari #13 & Sahih Muslim #45a; Forty Hadith Nawawi #13)  Imams al-Bukhari & Muslim - Kitabul Iman (The Book of Faith or Belief) Imam an-Nasa’i - Book of Faith and its Signs Imam Ibn Majah - Kitabus Sunnah (Book of the Sunnah) - Chapter on Iman Some prisoners of war were brought before the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and suddenly, a woman prisoner started franticly looking for her son and whenever she found a small child amongst the captives, she took it and started to breastfeed and nursed it. Later, this women found her son. The Prophet  (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) aske d the companions, "Do you think that this woman would throw her son into the fire?” The companions replied, “ By Allah, she would never throw her son into the fire." The Prophet  (sallallahu alayhi wasallam)  then said, "Allah is more mer...

Bismillah. 1. Gratitude in the heart. 2. Patience 3. Repentance

Bismillah. DU’A #1: Sayyidul Istighfar (Repentance) Narrated Shaddad bin Aus  (radi Allahu anhu) : The Prophet (salallahu alahi wasallam) said “The most superior way of asking for forgiveness from Allah is: للَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي لا إِلَهَ إِلا أَنْتَ خَلَقْتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَمَا اسْتَطَعْتُ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ وَأَبُوءُ لَكَ بِذَنْبِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَإِنَّهُ لا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلا أَنْتَ Allahumma anta Rabbi la ilaha illa anta, khalaqtani wa ana abduka, wa ana ‘ala ahdika wa wa’dika mastata’tu, A’udhu bika min Sharri ma sana’tu, abu’u Laka bini’matika ‘alaiya, wa Abu Laka bidhanbi faghfirli fainnahu la yaghfiru adhdhunuba illa anta. O Allah, You are my Lord! None has the right to be worshipped but You. You created me and I am Your slave, and I am faithful to my covenant and my promise as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from all the evil I have done. I acknowledge be...