Given that Ramadan is the month of the Quran, I wanted to rewrite one of my favorite essays from last year titled “A Love Letter to the Holy Book.”
First, a shout-out to my newest paid member
. Thank you so much for supporting my creative work! Writing is a labor of love (and a business) and having people believe in me allows me to keep going, especially when I am sick, and want to sleep instead of write.My teacher and friend said “When you want to speak to God, you raise your hands in supplication; when God wants to speak to you, you read the Quran.”
Hazel grew up Catholic. She was the first person to frame the Quran as a love letter. The Quran is not a book, or bound pieces of paper. The word for book is “mushaf” in Arabic. The Quran means something entirely different. Quran means “the thing that which is recited.” It’s like a conversation, a dialogue between the Creator and His created beings - us- and the story of angels, prophets, peoples, emotions, and humankind... There is so much emotion in the stories: jealousy (Cain + Able); temptation (Joseph + the Pharaoh’s wife); trust (Mary). The Quran is meant to be recited, to be read aloud. In fact, “silent reading” where you gloss over the letters without using your voice is not considered reciting.
Last year, I decided to change my own limiting beliefs. I want to know what God says and what He wants. I want to read the Quranic Arabic, not the translation or transliteration. I want to read out loud, no matter how awful I sound.
I signed up to learn the science of reading the Quran properly, or tajwid with a teacher. The Arabic words tajwid mean “to get better.” The teacher is the key because she hears things I don’t hear.
The journey to learning to recite Quranic Arabic has been humbling and illuminating. It meant starting at zero. I had to learn how to breathe properly, take enough air into my lungs to actually finish a verse. I had to learn where each letter sound originates, then decipher vowels and symbols, then learn rules of stopping and nasalization of sounds, etc. I found it excruciating, not easy.
I always wondered what those squiggly lines were, and why the مً is so small sometimes, and why the آ gets skipped. Now I can decipher the text a little better than last year. I can read with mistakes but I can read it when I’m called on in class. It’s a slow, painful process. I can actually follow the text when my child recites from memory. These are big changes.
The only way to get better at classical Arabic is to exercise the entire oral cavity, listen to the recitation and practice every day. There are no shortcuts. The improvement is so gradual, that no one even notices it.
Muslims believe the Quran is the word of God. The Prophet Muhammad (SWS) was illiterate and could not write or read. In fact, when the revelation came to him, through the angel Gabriel who said “Read” his response repeatedly was “I cannot read.”1
The Quran is a miracle. Not a single letter or vowel has changed in 1445 years. The primary way it was preserved was by people who memorized it. People committed 600+ pages to memory in every generation. These people are know as huffaz. An individual who memorizes is known as a hafiz or hafizah, or the protector. Memorizing the Quran, also known as "Hifz," is a common practice among Muslims, especially in countries like Indonesia and Pakistan. It's estimated that millions of Muslims have memorized the Quran throughout history and millions continue to do so today.
As a community of writers, having one book that everyone not only reads but some people memorizes is nothing short of spectacular. Outside of a book club, no one reads the same book anymore. No text remains the same; everything gets translated and reimagined, but Muslims believe that God has preserved this book for all time, for all people because this is a timeless, universal message.
A Question for You
Is there something that has been hard for you to learn as an adult? Is there something you’ve found harder the more you seem to try? How did you overcome that challenge? I might have failed Tajwid class more than once, but I keep retaking it anyway.
Welcome to the Ramadan Learning Series, which offers micro-lessons I’m learning for a joyful Ramadan. Here’s what I have so far:
Pre-Read: Ramadan: A Guest That Stays a Month.
Lesson 1: A Small Intention
Lesson 2: 3 Levels of Fasting
Lesson 3: Sleep is a Gift
Lesson 4: Do Less, Not More
Lesson 5: More Gifts
Lesson 6: Five-Minute Phone Calls
Lesson 7: Who’s Your Pharaoh
Lesson 8: A Pause
Lesson 9: Thank Your Mother
Lesson 10: Run from Triviality
I practice reciting the surahs I know by heart and have studied the translations, but you’re inspiring me to get a teacher too! I’d love to be able to recite the entire Quran and understand it. Great piece!
Wonderful piece! I especially loved the theme of the Quran as a love letter to the human being. There is so much wisdom behind every word. In my journey I have found myself asking questions while reading the Quran and having these queries immediately addressed by God through His Book as I read along! Making the Quran my life companion has been nothing short of fulfilling, inspiring and humbling.
Even as a native Arabic speaker myself I have found myself, as @Kiran Zeeshan eloquently put it: “learning, unlearning and relearning” the language through the Quran.
However, it has not been easy for me. I have learnt a harsh lesson that, despite an unabated desire to learn, the process of seeking Divine knowledge (whether it be by reading the Quran or simply rediscovering Islam) will require substantial commitment as an adult. I need to devote some time daily to read and reflect, and this has been overwhelming at times, what with the mounting (albeit considerably rewarding) responsibilities we shoulder during this month.
In the past few weeks, I have found myself falling behind on these Ramadan rituals. Consequently, I was disheartened and almost gave up on my goal of completing the Quran by the end of Shahr Ramadan. I had to tell myself that stagnation does not equate to failure, and I can catch up again if I wanted to, but it would require some discipline. Chores and socialising would be kept to a minimum for a day, and that day will be completely devoted to reading the Quran’s ajzaa (parts) that I missed.
All in all, I’ve learnt that the older you get, the more responsibilities you have and the greater discipline you must exercise to make the most of this month. It’s been a challenge but totally worth it!!