Why don’t we change with the Quran?

The Qur’an is the Book of Allah and His extended rope to which He has commanded us to hold fast. He says: { So hold fast to that which has been revealed to you } [Az-Zukhruf: 43]. It contains admonition, guidance, healing, and mercy, as in the words of Allah the Almighty: { O mankind, there has come to you instruction from your Lord and healing for what is in the hearts and guidance and mercy for the believers } [Yunus: 57].   It is the spirit of the heart, just as the soul is the spirit of the body. It is the light for us in the darkness of ignorance and confusion: { And thus We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], a spirit of Our command. You did not know what the Scripture was, nor what faith was, but We have made it a light by which We guide whom We will of Our servants. And indeed, you guide to a straight path. } [Ash-Shura: 52]   It contains our remembrance, honor, and glory, as God Almighty said: { Indeed, We have sent down to you a Book in which is your remembrance. Then will you not reason? } [Al-Anbiya: 10]. It is a blessing that we do not fully appreciate nor know its value: { And if We had willed, We could have taken away that which We have revealed to you } [Al-Isra’: 86].   He is the one who raises our souls that are immortal to the earth; As Allah the Almighty said: { And recite to them the news of the one to whom We gave Our signs, but he slipped out of them. So Satan pursued him, and he became of the deviators .} [Al-A’raf: 175], and Allah the Almighty said: {And if We willed, We could have raised him thereby, but he clung to the earth and followed his desire. So his example is like that of the dog: if you chase him, he pants, or if you leave him, he still pants.} [Al-A’raf: 176], {And if We willed, We could have raised him thereby, but he clung to the earth and followed his desire. So his example is like that of the dog: if you chase him, he pants, or if you leave him, he still pants.} [Al-A’raf: 176], {And if We willed, We could have raised him thereby, but he clung to the earth and followed his desire. So his example is like that of the dog: if you chase him, he still pants.} [Al-A’raf: 176], We would have raised him up thereby. (Al-A’raf: 176) That is, the verses of God are an elevation and a sublimation of the soul from attachment to the earth and the material things of this world .   The Companions recognized its great value and dealt with it as a book of guidance and a way of life that they should follow, as Lady Aisha described the Prophet : ((His character was the Qur’an)), and they dealt with it as messages from God to them, and they were addressed by it; therefore, they were stopping at the limits of God, as happened with our master Abu Bakr when he prevented the provision of Mistah because he spoke about his daughter Lady Aisha in the incident of the slander. When he read the verse: { And let not those among you who are endowed with bounty and wealth swear not to give to relatives and the needy and the emigrants in the cause of Allah. But let them pardon and overlook. Would you not like that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.} [An-Nur: 22], he said: “Yes, by Allah, I would like Allah to forgive me.” Then he returned and gave Mistah what he had given him before.   Whenever he became angry, may God be pleased with him, and was reminded of the verse: { Those who spend [in charity] during ease and hardship, who restrain anger and pardon the people – and God loves the doers of good .} [Al Imran: 134], he would relent, forgive, and pardon.   Therefore, they changed from disbelief to faith because it reshaped their thoughts, minds, feelings, hearts, behavior, bodies, concerns, hopes, values, and morals.   As for us, we hear: { Tell the believing men to lower their gaze } [An-Nur: 30], but we do not change by lowering our gaze.   We hear: { And those who restrain anger } [Al Imran: 134], but we do not restrain our anger, nor do we comply with this behavior.   We hear the Qur’an talking about Hell , but we are not affected, and we do not consider ourselves included in the discourse.   We hear the Qur’an calling on those who believe, but we do not pay attention to what it commands us to do after that.   This is because we do not treat it as a book of guidance from our Lord. Rather, each of us is concerned and eager to reach the end of the Surah and the end of the Khatmah, without understanding a single letter or meaning that speaks to our hearts and affects them. We read it like we read newspapers and novels. In fact, we may focus on reading the news, stories and novels more than we focus on listening to and reading the Qur’an. We do not read it slowly as God has commanded us, but rather in a hurry. Therefore, it does not bring about a change in our hearts and behavior. Oh, what a pity for our state with the Qur’an!   Our problem with the Quran, especially during Ramadan , is that we treat it as a book for collecting good deeds through reading only. We do not treat it as a book that guides our souls, influences our hearts, provides insights for our minds, changes our limbs, and heals our bodies.   Books written by humans may be books of information and ideas, books of feelings and emotions, books of stories and novels, or books of behavioral change. The Qur’an combines all of these. It contains stories and history, information about the unseen and the future, sermons and guidance that speak to and influence the heart , and methods of change that alter behavior.   Even the infidels were affected by hearing the Qur’an. They would sneak in secret to hear the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him) recite the Qur’an, because they were aware of its eloquence and powerful impact.   Even their women and children were affected by the Qur’an. It was reported that the women and children of the polytheists used to listen to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) reciting the Qur’an, and this was the reason for the Quraysh’s objection to his prayer and recitation of the Qur’an in his home.   When Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq ( may Allah be pleased with him) decided to build a prayer room in the courtyard of his house in Mecca, he would pray there and recite the Quran in a humble and moving voice. People would gather around him to hear his recitation, even the women and children of the polytheists were affected by that, which worried the leaders of Quraysh. They went to Ibn Al-Daghna – who had taken Abu Bakr under his protection – and asked him to stop him, because they feared that the women and children would be tempted by the Quran. Ibn Al-Daghna told Abu Bakr to stop that, or return his protection to him. Abu Bakr chose to return his protection to him, and said: “I am satisfied with the protection of Allah,” and he continued his worship and his call to Islam.   This is Jubayr ibn Mut’im saying when he was a polytheist: “I heard the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, reciting Surat al-Tur in the Maghrib prayer. When he reached this verse: { Or were they created by nothing, or are they the creators? } [At-Tur: 35], my heart almost flew away.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhari ].   If these polytheists are affected by the Qur’an, why are we not affected?   Have our hearts hardened, becoming like stones or even harder? Even mountains humble themselves at the remembrance of Allah, as Allah the Almighty says: {Had We sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah. And these are examples We present to the people that perhaps they will give thought.} [Al-Hashr: 21]   But how do we change our approach to the Qur’an and build a new relationship of companionship and coexistence with it during Ramadan and after Ramadan?   First: We must rejoice in the Qur’an: { Say, “In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy—in that let them rejoice. It is better than what they accumulate.”} [Yunus: 58]. What mercy and grace are greater than Allah’s blessing upon us by sending down His Book as light and guidance to the straight path? Why has He left us lost without a light to guide us to Paradise? Just as people rejoice in the arrival of Ramadan to enjoy watching Ramadan TV series and entertainment programs designed to distract people from listening to the Qur’an—as the infidels of Quraysh used to do by giving those who entered Makkah cotton to put in their ears so that they would not hear the Qur’an and be affected by it—we rejoice because we are in the month in which Allah revealed the Qur’an to the earth, after He had hated everyone on earth, Arabs and non-Arabs. This is the secret behind Allah’s glorification of this month. Because it is the Night of Power in which the Qur’an was revealed, so we must know its value and rejoice in it.   I remember when I was in a university lecture, and when the lecturer entered, and the students kept talking and disrespecting his presence, he took his papers and left the lecture, canceling it as a punishment for us because we did not respect his presence and his words. And God is the highest example, so it is from God’s mercy towards us that He allows us to hear His words that He truly spoke, and does not deprive us of them because of our sins, negligence, and shortcomings.   We must rejoice in it, yearn for it, and recognize its value, status, and dazzling miracle, and its power to change us. So we read some books that talk about the greatness of the Qur’an and its influence.   Second: We must pay attention to understanding the meanings, and be careful to control the words and structure. This is because our Arabic language is very weak, and we do not understand many of the Quranic words that are not clear to us. This is the first step: to understand the strange words in the Quran from some simple, concise books.   Third: We should read slowly and try to understand the verse. If we do not understand its meaning, we should refer to simple and concise books of interpretation as a first step.   Fourth: We free ourselves and our minds from preoccupations, and liberate our hearts from sins of the heart so that they may be purified and free to receive the great meanings of the Qur’an. Sins close the heart from contemplating the Qur’an, as Allah the Almighty says: { Do they not then reflect upon the Qur’an, or are there locks upon their hearts? } [Muhammad: 24]. And our master Uthman said: “If your hearts were purified, you would never be satisfied with the words of your Lord.”   Fifth: We should listen to the Qur’an with concentration and attention: { Or he listens attentively while he is a witness } [Qaf: 37], as Ibn Mas’ud said: “He should not talk to himself about anything other than the Qur’an,” and the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, loved to hear it from someone other than him.   Sixth: We need to know how the Prophet and his companions dealt with the Qur’an. Was their focus solely on reading, or on reading, understanding, contemplating, using their hearts, and interacting with it?   The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, would recite a single verse and repeat it until morning. Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, may God be pleased with him, said: “The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, would recite a verse and repeat it until morning. The verse was: {If You should punish them – indeed they are Your servants; but if You forgive them – indeed it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise .} [Al-Ma’idah: 118] (Narrated by al-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah, and authenticated by al-Albani ).   He also used to recite long surahs sometimes, but he would interact with them as mentioned above. On the authority of Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, may God be pleased with him, who said: “I prayed with the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, one night. He began with al-Baqarah, so I said: He should bow at one hundred. Then he went on. I said: He should pray it in one rak’ah. So he went on. I said: He should bow with it. Then he began al-Nisa’ and recited it. Then he began Al-Imran and recited it. He recited slowly. If he passed by a verse in which there was glorification, he would glorify God. If he passed by a question, he would ask. If he passed by a seeking of refuge, he would seek refuge.” (Narrated by Muslim)   This is how the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were. Each one of them would recite a single verse for an entire night, never going beyond it to another, due to how deeply affected he was by it and how he lived with it. Tamim al-Dari (may Allah be pleased with him) was narrated to have repeated the verse of Allah the Almighty: { Or do those who commit evil deeds think that We will treat them like those who believe and do righteous deeds ?} [Al-Jathiyah: 21], and he continued to repeat this verse until morning.   It was reported that our master Omar recited a verse, and it made him fall, and he was sick for a month until people visited him. Think with me: a verse, not a surah.   Abdullah ibn Masoud said: “Do not recite the Qur’an like poetry, nor scatter it like dates. Stop at its wonders, and move hearts with it. Let none of you be concerned with the end of the surah…”   The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, forbade Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-Aas from completing the Qur’an in Ramadan in less than three days, and said to him: “ He who recites it in less than three days will not understand it .”   Al-Hasan Al-Basri, may God have mercy on him, said: “The Qur’an was revealed to be contemplated and acted upon, but people have taken its recitation as an act of worship.” Unfortunately, we do the same; we take its recitation as an act of worship but do not act upon it.   On the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar, may God be pleased with them both, who said: “We learned faith before we learned the Qur’an, then we learned the Qur’an and it increased our faith.” (Narrated by Al-Tabarani in Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabir). So do we increase our faith if we read the Qur’an, or do we return from it as we entered it?   Al-Ajurri says in his book (Ethics of the Bearers of the Qur’an): “A little study of the Qur’an, along with contemplation and reflection on it, is more beloved to me than reading a lot of the Qur’an in Ramadan without contemplation or reflection on it.”   He also mentioned in (The Ethics of the Bearers of the Qur’an) a number of questions that arise when a reciter of the Qur’an recites. He said: “If the Qur’an is studied, then it is with the presence of understanding and reason. Its concern is to achieve understanding of what Allah Almighty has obligated it to follow what He has commanded and to refrain from what He has forbidden. Its concern is not: When will I finish the Surah?! Its concern is: When will I be independent of Allah without anyone else? When will I be among the pious? When will I be among the doers of good? When will I be among the trustful? When will I be among the humble? When will I be among the patient? When will I be among the truthful? When will I be among the fearful? When will I be among the hopeful? When will I renounce this world? When will I desire the Hereafter? When will I repent from sins ? When will I recognize the continuous blessings? When will I thank Him for them? When will I understand the speech of Allah Almighty? When will I comprehend what I recite? When will I overcome my self in what it desires? When will I strive in the cause of Allah with the right striving? When will I control my tongue? When will I lower my gaze? When will I guard my private parts? When will I be truly ashamed before Allah ? When will I work hard… ” What is wrong with me? When will I put right what is wrong in my affairs? When will I provision myself for the Day of Judgment? When will I be satisfied with Allah? When will I trust in Allah? When will I be admonished by the Qur’an’s warnings? When will I be occupied with remembering Him instead of remembering anything else? When will I love what I love? When will I hate what I hate? When will I give sincere advice to Allah? When will I dedicate my work to Him? When will I limit my hope? When will I prepare for the day of my death, when my appointed time has been hidden from me? When will I fill my grave? When will I reflect on the situation and its severity? When will I reflect on my solitude with my Lord? When will I beware of what my Lord, the Almighty, warned me about, a fire whose heat is intense and whose bottom is far away?”; and so on from the words of Imam Al-Ajurri, may Allah have mercy on him.   Ibn Omar used to say: “The virtuous companions of the Messenger of God would only memorize a surah or something like it from the Qur’an, and they were given the ability to act upon the Qur’an. However, the last of this nation will recite the Qur’an, including children and blind people, but they will not be given the ability to act upon it.”   On the authority of Ibn Masoud, he said: “Do not recite the Qur’an like poetry, and do not scatter it like dates. Stop at its wonders and move hearts with it.” In another narration: “Let none of you be concerned with the end of the surah.”   Ibn al-Qayyim explains that pondering over a verse is better than completing it without pondering: “Nothing is more beneficial for the heart than reciting the Qur’an with pondering and contemplation, for it encompasses all the stations of those who travel, the states of those who work, and the ranks of those who know. It is what brings about love, longing, fear, hope, repentance, trust, contentment, delegation, gratitude, patience, and all the states that bring life and perfection to the heart. It also deters from all the reprehensible qualities and actions that corrupt and destroy the heart. If people knew the benefits of reciting the Qur’an with pondering, they would be occupied with it to the exclusion of everything else. So if someone recites it with contemplation until he comes across a verse that he needs to heal his heart, he should repeat it even if it is a hundred times, even if it is for a night. Reciting a verse with contemplation and understanding is better than reciting a complete Qur’an without pondering and understanding. It is more beneficial for the heart and more likely to lead to faith and a taste of the sweetness of the Qur’an.”   But my words do not mean that we should not increase our reading and completing the Qur’an, especially in Ramadan. On the contrary: reading is the key to approaching the Qur’an, being affected by it, and acting upon it. The Companions used to divide the Qur’an into sections and recite it in a week. But the goal of my words is for us not to remain stuck at the key to reading, without opening the door, entering the lush garden of the Qur’an, enjoying its gentle breeze, and reaping its low-hanging fruits through contemplation and savoring the words of Allah