How To Interact With The Holy Qur'an

1) Understanding with the heart/qalb

This is due to the known fact that what is felt in the heart will bring forth to actions, and the condition of our heart will affect our behavior. Simply said, our behavior is the outcome of what we understand with our heart. More than often we see people acting out what they feel, rather than what they know.

The heart is important as it governs us as said in a narration that many of us are familiar with, the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said: 

”Unquestionably, in the body there is a lump of flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt, and behold, it is the heart.” [Bukhāri and Muslim]

So if we understand the Qur'an with our hearts, rather than with our mind, inshaAllah, we will further appreciate the messages within the Qur'an itself, and of course, we hope that we will not just read but also practise the messages in the Qur'an as the Qur'an is sent to us as a blessing and guidance for us to attain Jannah inshaAllah.

2) We must feel as if the verse is talking about us

We often read the Qur'an mindlessly because we never felt as if we are in the same context with the people that Allah described in the Qur'an, and usually, even if we feel as though Allah is addressing us, we would shrug our shoulders when it comes to verses with the beginning, "Ya ayyuhal kafirun" which means, "O disbelievers". 

Exactly how faithful are we to think that we will enter Jannah, as promised by Allah to the mu'minun? 

Remember, Jahannam is also created for us, and we should always ask from Allah to bring us away from becoming future members of Jahannam. 

We are not a member of Jannah yet, so please don't act as if we already are.

3) Understand Arabic

Of course, it is given that we must try our best to learn Arabic so that we can understand thoroughly what Allah is trying to tell us. 

The reason that the Qur'an is in Arabic, other than the fact that it was delivered in our Prophet's mother tongue, is because the Arabic language is very rich and vast, and also very specific, so a tafseer is better than mere translations, if you really want to know what exactly the verse is talking about. 

I do not know how exactly I am going to explain this but if you're eager to know and understand more what I am talking about, you might want to check out Ustaz Nouman Ali Khan's Qur'anic lectures on Youtube. Honestly, I fell in love with Arabic because of him. May Allah increase him in His favours ameen.

Below is one of my favourite lectures. Watch it if you want to find out how it feels like to actually understand the Qur'an. :)

4) Understand the reason of descent/asbabun nuzul

For example, if you read the verses in Surah 'Abasa, verse 1-6:

The Prophet frowned and turned away
Because there came to him the blind man, [interrupting].
But what would make you perceive, [O Muhammad], that perhaps he might be purified
Or be reminded and the remembrance would benefit him?
As for he who thinks himself without need,
To him you give attention.

you might probably question the reason to Rasulullah's behaviour. Certainly, to our seemingly righteous eyes, the Prophet might be very picky when it comes to who he is doing da'wah to. If you do not understand the asbabun nuzul, you might think that, there Rasulullah was, preaching to the big shots of Quraisy, but frowned when a blind man approached him with genuine interest in Islam.

But what actually happened during that time was, the Muslims were tortured and that time was the peak of oppression for the Muslims, and Rasulullah was preaching intensively to the leaders of Quraisy in hope that some of them would at least accept that Islam is harmless and not something to be against but something to be accepted. It so happened in the middle of his preaching, a blind man(perhaps due to the fact that he was blind he was unaware) approached him and he ACCIDENTALLY frowned because he was interrupted. The surah was then revealed to the Prophet as Allah wants to correct him for his mistake of frowning at the sincere blind man.

5) Know who WE are

Of course we know who we are! We are Muslims for God's sake, and none other than that. And to know who we are, we must of course understand the history of us, of Islam, how it all began with one man, Rasulullah s.a.w., the rise and fall of Islam, sirah/story of the Prophet. Unless we understand who we really are, we might not be able to entirely engage with the Qur'an.


All the best in making the Qur'an your best friend. May Allah accept our efforts. Ameen.

Last but not least, a reminder to all ODOJ*ers out there,

ODOJ = One Day One Juzu', check what it means here.