Practical Tools For Quranic Reflection | Ramadan Essential

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

I'm very happy to see a young and charged audience today, and especially after Sheikh Abu Taymiyyah, inshallah you should all be awake and kicking. Not physically kicking, of course, only metaphorically.

This is going to be an interactive workshop, so I expect your participation as much as my participation. So I'll be asking you to put your hands up, to share your thoughts, share your ideas, your reflections, etc. So, without any further ado, we're going to start with a question to all of you.

How Did the Prophet and His Companions Learn the Qur'an?

How do you think the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his companions — how did they learn the Qur'an? And how did they study the Qur'an?

So from what all of you have said, you've all come close to the essence I'm trying to get to. Abu Abdurrahman As-Sulami, rahimahullah, who narrates in Musnad Imam Ahmed, he says:

(Musnad Imam Ahmed)

"Those who used to teach us Qur'an" — from the Prophet's companions, the senior companions of the Prophet, like Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and Uthman ibn Affan.

How was the Prophet's ﷺ Qur'an school? How did it run? How was it organized? They would not pass by ten verses — so they would teach ten verses at a time. And every ten verses they would teach, the Prophet ﷺ would teach the ilm, the knowledge associated with those ten verses, and the amal, the actions associated with those ten verses. Then they would move on to the next ten verses.

This is how the Prophet's companions would teach, this is how their madrasah ran. So it wasn't built on pure memorization with no meaning. It wasn't built on pure recitation with no reflection. It was slow pace, ten verses at a time. And the Qur'an has thousands of verses, so they were not in a rush to complete. But every ten verses they would learn what it meant, and what they had to do about it, and then they would move to the next ten.

They would learn the action — they would not just learn the words, they would learn the action, how to live the Qur'an. Really, this was what the Prophet's Qur'an learning method was about. How can we live the Qur'an? It wasn't about just recitation, just memorization. They were a means to an end.

The Purpose of the Qur'an: Tadabbur

Now, Allah says in the Qur'an — this is a blessed book, a mubarak revelation. We have sent it down for what purpose? For you to reflect and think about its signs. And people of sound intellect can actually think about what's inside this revelation.

So the purpose of the Qur'an, the reason Allah sent it down, was not purely for its recitation. The ultimate purpose of the Qur'an is that we think about its meanings. We're going to investigate this word tadabbur shortly and what exactly it means.

Elsewhere in the Qur'an, Allah asks the question: Why don't they reflect on the Qur'an? Or are their hearts locked up?

This verse gives us the consequence. If we don't reflect on the Qur'an, if we don't know what it means, what's the consequence of that? It means your heart and my heart is locked up from the guidance of Allah. Can you imagine? That one of us might recite or might memorize the Qur'an, but that recitation and that memorization has no effect on our actions. We've never thought about what it means. It's had no effect on our real life. That means our heart is locked up from Allah's guidance. May Allah protect all of us.

And how many a person we know — a person who's memorized the entire Qur'an, but they don't act on a single word that is within it. And how many of us does that reflect on our lives as well? The purpose of the Qur'an, that it was sent down, is for our minds to be occupied with reflecting, thinking deeply about what it means, and then living the Qur'an.

When Aisha, radiallahu anha, describes the Prophet ﷺ, she says:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 261)

"His character, his actions — he was like a walking Qur'an."

The Three Levels of Engagement with the Qur'an

When it comes down to it, there are three levels of engagement with the Qur'an. The very base level, the very bottom of the pyramid, is what we call Tarteel — to recite the Qur'an beautifully. Many of us, that's all we know. We don't know anything more than recitation. But that is only the first level. Allah says in the Qur'an:

Recite the Qur'an with a beautiful melody. That's just level one, my friends. That is not the destination. That's just the first step.

The second step is to know its meanings and to think about those meanings. Imagine a day you wake up in the morning and the whole day you're thinking about:

...from different angles. You're asking questions. You're thinking about how you can act on those verses. That's a day where you've really engulfed your mind in thinking about the Qur'an. But then it's still not complete. The journey is not complete. You did not reach the destination. You are not a person of the Qur'an yet.

There is one final step. It is action. You have to act on the Qur'an. The Qur'an demands us to change. The Qur'an demands us to move. The Qur'an demands us to act.

The Sahaba were practical people. The Qur'an was not just something they'd listen to in the car on their commute. It changed their life completely.

Imagine Umar ibn al-Khattab. He went on a journey and he realized that his idol — he had left his idol at home. So he took a bunch of dates, he molded it into the idol, and then later he got hungry. So he ate it. And he laughs at himself over this story. So this man who was doing such an action — there comes a time 20 years later where he is the emperor, the khalifa of an empire stretching from east to west. From someone doing such an unintelligent thing, to someone who is the master of such a large khilafah from east to west. What changed Umar? Was there something in his tea? Something in the lamb? Something in his food? Did he start eating different kinds of diet? Was it that he moved locations so the weather was different, something was in the air? What changed Umar?

It was the Qur'an. The thing that transforms people is the Qur'an. And it transformed this group of Arabs from people who were fighting with each other, tribes killing each other, burying their daughters alive — it transformed them into the masters of civilization. You and me, the reason we recite the Qur'an and it does nothing to us is because we are satisfied with just recitation. We have no interest in the Qur'an changing our lives or impacting our actions.

Abdullah ibn Abbas, radiallahu anhu, the Prophet's companion, he said: for me to recite a small surah, a small chapter of the Qur'an, like إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ الْأَرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا or Surah Al-Qari'ah — one of the shortest chapters of the Qur'an — for me to recite a small surah while thinking about its meanings and really going deep in its meanings is better for me than reciting all of al-Baqarah and Ali Imran, a hundred pages, without thinking about their meanings.

For you and me, the criteria is the opposite. We would rather get through the pages quicker than stop and think. We are obsessed with quantity. They were obsessed with quality.

Tafsir vs. Tadabbur: Understanding the Difference

Can anybody reflect on the Qur'an, or does it require some qualifications? Some subject matter expertise, some special prerequisite knowledge? Or can anybody just pick up the Qur'an and share what they think about the Qur'an's meanings?

There are two different terms you need to understand. There's something called tafsir, which is explaining what does the Qur'an mean. And there's something called tadabbur, which is reflecting on those meanings.

Tafsir is something that can only be done by scholars, by qualified and very knowledgeable scholars. Tafsir in Arabic is to convey a meaning, to explain what does something mean. Tadabbur is to take that meaning and to then think about it and apply it to your life. But you cannot tell me what the Qur'an means because the Arabic language is deep. Every word has 10, 15 different possible meanings, connotations. If anybody — you and me — could just say, "yeah, the Qur'an means this and the Qur'an means that," then we'd be in big trouble right now.

However, once the meaning has been given to you — the correct meaning has been arrived at and an interpretation has been given to you — you can then think about that meaning and think about how to apply it to your life. You can make connections between meanings. But uncovering the meaning itself has to be done by the scholars. This is where tafsir comes in and the difference between tafsir and tadabbur.

So who can do tafsir? The scholars. Who can do tadabbur? Who can reflect on the Qur'an? Anybody. It's open to all.

How is tafsir done? Tafsir has a process, it has a framework. You have to look at the Arabic language. You have to look at other verses of the Qur'an. You have to look at the ahadith of the Prophet ﷺ. You have to look at what the Salaf, the earliest Muslims, said about these verses. It has a process and a framework before you can say the ayah means X.

Tadabbur, on the other hand, has no limited material. You can have as many reflections as there are people on this planet. And somebody in the 21st century can have a reflection that somebody 10 centuries ago could not reach. So tadabbur in Arabic comes from the Arabic letters which means to get behind something — to make an effort to get behind something. You want to know what's below the surface. You want to dig deeper. You want to dive to find the pearls in the Qur'an. This is what tadabbur is about. It's to get beyond the surface, beyond the apparent meaning of the Qur'an.

So it's a two-stage process. Think of it like — let's say you are hungry for lunch and you don't have the money to go and eat out. So you go to the supermarket, you pick up a frozen pizza, and you put the pizza in the oven. But before you put it in the oven, you add some toppings of your own — some olives, some pieces of chicken, some special sauces. The pizza base came already made, because you and me, we don't know how to make dough, we don't know how to bake bread. But we can add the toppings. Similarly, all the hard work to tell you what does this verse mean is done by the scholars of tafsir. And then, you and me, we have to think about how do these verses connect, how do these verses apply to me, and we have to think about those verses.

And inshallah, in today's session, we're going to give you three practical tools to engage and to really reflect on the Qur'an.

Why Do We Struggle to Reflect on the Qur'an?

Before we jump into that, a question for all of you: why do we struggle to reflect on the Qur'an's meanings? For some people, it's a mental block. When you tell them, look at the meanings of the Qur'an and think about them, they don't know where to start. They're stuck. Why do we struggle to do this? When was the last time we did this? And what has stopped us from engaging with the Qur'an at a deeper level — more than just recitation?

Our sins can sometimes be an obstacle for us. Lack of sincerity. Maybe you just didn't know the process — I think that would be most of us. Many of us are sincere, we want to know what the Qur'an is, but we don't know where to start. Some of us have a hard heart. Even if all of that tafsir was given to us in the world, it would not penetrate. We're not willing to make the time. A sealed heart. May Allah protect all of us.

Allah says in the Qur'an: As for the one Allah has opened their heart to Islam, it is like they are upon a light from Allah. How horrible is the situation of people whose hearts are too hard to remember Allah.

That can be many of us. We can be too spiritually dead to benefit from the Qur'an. We can have all the material, all the information, the books, the resources, the clips, but nothing goes through. May Allah protect all of us.

Setting the Scene: Preparing for Qur'anic Reflection

Before we get into the tools — the practical tools — you need to first set the scene. You need to set the environment. When you go to a restaurant, we don't just go there for the food — you could have ordered takeout. We go there for the ambience, for the lighting, for the seating, for the dishes, for the service. You need to set the scene before you can really benefit from the Qur'an.

There are a few tips here.

The first thing — you need to prepare the heart. If this heart is a rock-hard heart, then you need to soften it. There's nothing that can soften the heart like seeking the forgiveness of Allah and seeking sincere repentance.

The second thing is to really recite the Qur'an with a melodious recitation. There's a reason why the Qur'an did not come as a book that dropped out of the sky. It was a recitation. The word Qur'an in Arabic literally means a recital — something that is recited. And the recitation of the Qur'an can unlock the heart by itself. So try to recite the Qur'an beautifully as best as you can.

Number three — engage with the Qur'an. Don't be in a rush. Why are you in a rush? When the Prophet ﷺ would recite the Qur'an, especially in the night prayer, if he passed by a verse about the hellfire, what would he do? He would stop and he would seek refuge from the hellfire. Imagine you are reading the Qur'an and you read: "The people of paradise are so occupied with enjoyment." And you stop and you imagine that moment. And you say, "O Allah, make me from the people of paradise." Say Ameen. And then you move on to the next verse. You tasted the verse. You rolled it around your mouth. You let the flavor sink — and then you moved on to the next verse. Engage. What's the rush?

The second part of that is repetition. The Prophet ﷺ, if he was reciting the Qur'an and he came across an ayah that hit him, he would stop and he would repeat the ayah again and again and again. There was a time in which the Prophet ﷺ prayed the entire night reciting one verse of the Qur'an:

(Sunan an-Nasa'i, Hadith 1010; also reported in Musnad Ahmad)

"O Allah, if you punish my ummah, my people, then they are Your slaves — You can do as You wish. But O Allah, if You forgive them, You are the Mighty and the Wise." Oh Allah, forgive my ummah. This verse, when he recited it, it made him cry. And he recited it again and again and again and again until Fajr.

Try doing it this Ramadan. Choose a verse of the Qur'an that hits you and repeat it in salah 50 times. Stop. Don't rush to the next one. Pause. Enjoy it. Taste the sweetness of this verse of the Qur'an.

Number four is writing your reflections. Having a journal — a notebook that you buy — and you write on top: "This is my Qur'an Reflections Journal." And everywhere you go — you're in the metro, you're in a taxi, you're on a long train journey, you're sitting in the hospital waiting for your appointment — you put your earphones in and listen to some Qur'an, you read the meanings, and you start writing your reflections. And 20 years later, you look back at your reflections. What a beautiful journey. What a beautiful documentation of your journey with the Qur'an. So write and share your reflections. And also to memorize — now, I just told you one of the best ways to taste the Qur'an's meanings is to repeat the verse again and again. That's what memorization is. Memorization is to repeat the verse again and again. So when you memorize the Qur'an, see it as a means to an end. Learn the meanings of the verse, then memorize it, and you will taste it, you will enjoy it, it will impact you and transform your life.

Number five — share with your friends and family. Don't just keep the study of the Qur'an and the reflection of the Qur'an to yourself. Make it a communal thing. Start a WhatsApp group, start a circle. "We're all going to reflect on Surah Yaseen this month, on Surah Al-Fatihah this month." Make it a group thing, because together you will be stronger. Alone you will lose consistency, you will lose motivation, you will drop out of the race. But together you are stronger.

This is why the Prophet ﷺ in the famous hadith says:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 35, Hadith 6518)

Anytime a group of people gather in a house of Allah, they recite the Book of Allah, and they study its meanings together — it's not just about coming together in the masjid and reciting the Qur'an, it's about reflecting together, sharing your reflections together. And the Prophet ﷺ promises that the mercy of Allah will descend, and the angels will descend, and you will feel peace of mind and peace of heart.

Start a group for Qur'anic Reflections Anonymous. Bring a group of people, and let all of you reflect on:

And share your reflections — about time, about the passage of time, about the loss of not making use of your time, about the people of iman. Talk about it, share. And you will find that gathering — you know, many of us, when we want recreation, we want to enjoy ourselves, we go for food. You sit there, you eat, you banter with your mates — 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours — you come home and you feel emptiness in your heart. You don't feel fulfilled. Something was missing from the gathering.

But I'm telling you something — try it once. 45 minutes, half an hour of a gathering where you are discussing the Qur'an, will fill you up so much that for weeks you'll go by without needing any socializing. Because it's a wholesome socializing. You're socializing around the Qur'an. So revive this concept of reflecting on the Qur'an together, as groups, as brothers, as sisters.

The Art of Asking Questions

There are three tools I'm going to share with you today. But before the three tools, there's a skill you need to learn. Half of reflecting on the Qur'an — 50% of the skill and the art and the science of tadabbur — is about asking questions of the Qur'an.

Here are some example questions:

• Why did Allah say it this way?
• What is the link between this verse and the previous verse?
• Why did Allah give that example and that analogy?
• How is the oath that Allah took linked to the statement after the oath?
• How can I apply this in my life?
• Where do I fall short?

The more questions you ask, the more you'll be able to reflect. And if you don't know how to ask a question, you will not be able to reflect on the Qur'an.

Practical Exercise — First Verse

In the Qur'an, Allah says:

"Those who spend money when times are easy and when times are difficult. And those that swallow their anger and are forgiving to people. And Allah loves the people of ihsan, people of excellence."

Questions you can ask of this verse:

• What was the context of this verse? What were the verses before and after?
• What is the link between spending money and anger?
• What does muhsin mean — being people of excellence?
• What does it mean if you're poor and you can't spend?
• Why is it in that order? Why is spending first, restraining anger second, and forgiving people last?
• How do you define ease and hardship?
• What does ihsan — being somebody of excellence, of closeness to Allah — have to do with spending, forgiving, and controlling your anger?
• How come salah is not mentioned here?
• Does spending, al-infaq, just refer to money, or does it also mean time, sweat, blood, or tears?

All of these questions can be turned into reflections. You can reflect that spending and sacrificing for the sake of Allah is more than just money. You can reflect that a poor person, even if they spend one penny, but if that's hard for them and they did it for the sake of Allah, that might bring them to the state of ihsan. You might reflect on how important people interactions are to reach closeness to Allah — forgiving of people and controlling anger. And there's no mention of salah and zakah, even though those are the arkan, the pillars of Islam. So these questions turn into reflections.

Practical Exercise — Second Verse

Allah says in the Qur'an:

"O people, all people — here is an example, an illustration, so listen carefully. Those who you call on beside Allah, they cannot create a fly, even if they all came together to do so. And if a fly took something away from them, they would never be able to retrieve it. The one making du'a is weak, and the one they're making du'a to — they're both weak."

Questions you can ask:

• Why is Allah talking about a fly? Why not a camel?
• Why doesn't Allah just talk to the believers? Why all people? Why Ya ayyuhannasu?
• Allah usually, when He gives an example, He just gives the example. But here He stops and says: fastami'u lahu — "Listen carefully to this example." Why does He do that?
• Why does Allah show us their weakness, rather than showing us His strength?
• Why does Allah mention the fly taking something away, and not just the creation of the fly?

You see, questions beget more questions. When you hear people's questions, you start getting ideas as well. It opens doors for you to think about the Qur'an in a way you never thought before. So when you do create your WhatsApp group and your Tadabbur Anonymous group, make sure you start the session with questions — and then you can discuss the answers later.

Now, what you shouldn't do is tafsir — you shouldn't twist the meanings or create new meanings. "The fly symbolises the end of times." Hold on a second. "The fly represents Russia and Ukraine." Hold our horses here. So there is a limit. There's a boundary. I'll give you the guidelines at the end, inshallah. This is not GCSE literature. You can't put words in the author's mouth. There's a limit.

The Three Practical Tools for Qur'anic Reflection

Tool One: Getting an Overview of the Surah

The first tool to reflect on the Qur'an is getting an overview of the surah. When you are in a city, you are on the ground and you just see all these houses and the structure doesn't make sense. But as you zoom out and you go up in an aeroplane, from bird's eye view, you can see the city is organized in a certain way. Similarly with the Qur'an — when you are reciting a surah verse to verse, it may seem like the surah has no structure. It might seem chaotic, like a maze. But if you zoom out for a second and you try to get a big picture view, it will all make sense. The way the topics and themes move will make sense.

So, let's say you pick Surah Al-Zalzalah. First, before you reflect carefully on the surah, do a quick skim read — what are the main subjects that the surah talks about? One, two, three. It talks about the world ending, how all the secrets will come out, the consequences, etc.

Number two — once you've got that big picture of the surah, ask: why is some themes more emphasized than others? Why did Allah spend 80 ayahs talking about this subject, but that subject He just talked about for two ayahs? That will start for you to realize — what is this surah really about?

And lastly, think about how are these themes connected. What's the link between them? What does this have to do with that? Because you can think about the word surah in Arabic — it refers to a fence, or a big gate around a city. You can think of a surah like a city. Every city has its unique features, its own languages, its own attractions, things people do. But if you buy a ticket to go to Algeria or Morocco, and you land there, you'll feel lost. You won't have a clue what you're supposed to do. Before you go, you get an idea: "I'm going to Fez, the people speak this, these are the main masajid to visit, these are the main museums." Okay, I have a plan now — then when you reach there, you don't feel lost.

This is the first tool. Before you jump into studying a surah, try to get a big picture of the surah. What are its main themes? How are they connected? And why does Allah arrange it this way? Think about it from a big picture. Don't worry about individual verses. What is the big picture of the surah about?

Meccan vs. Medinan Revelation

Part of this first tool — knowing the background of a surah — is knowing whether the surah was revealed before the Hijrah, before the migration of the Prophet ﷺ, or after. The reason is because revelation before and after the Hijrah is very different.

Surahs revealed in Mecca, before the Prophet's migration, tend to be shorter, they tend to rhyme more, they tend to focus on tawheed, on the Day of Judgement, on Prophethood. They have specific subjects, specific style. And because of which audience — when the Prophet ﷺ was in Mecca, his main audience was non-Muslims and new Muslims. So Qur'an revealed in Mecca is primarily talking to non-Muslims and new Muslims. The verses are shorter, more concise, more rhyming, with different themes and a different audience.

Qur'an that was revealed after the Hijrah, in Medina — now the Muslims have a government, they have a state, they have an army, they have enemies. So verses are not just talking about Allah and the Day of Judgement; they're also talking about laws, inheritance, divorce, war. And who else is in Medina that wasn't in Mecca? Jews and Christians. Medina has a large population of Jews. So the Qur'an is now suddenly talking not just to disbelievers and new Muslims — it's talking to Ahlul Kitab, to Jews and Christians. So the style, the theme, and the audience differ depending on where the surah was revealed.

This information you will find in the tafsir books, and some translations of the Qur'an as well, such as Muhammad Abdel Haleem's translation, or the Qur'an Project — a black book which is a translation of the Qur'an that also has some of these details about the surah: the main themes, where it was revealed.

So just like before you go and visit a city you want to know the background, similarly, before you jump into the surah, you should know some background knowledge about the surah: what are its subjects, what are its themes, where was it revealed? Now you know the audience, the style, the subject matter, the focus of the surah.

The Circular Structure of Surahs

As an example — Surah Al-Baqarah. Approximately 50-odd pages, the longest surah in the Qur'an. When you break down its themes, it actually has a structure that makes sense. And you find that most surahs of the Qur'an have a circular structure — a symmetrical structure.

What do I mean? The first passage of Baqarah talks about iman and kufr, belief and unbelief:

And in the last part of Baqarah, what does Allah talk about? Famously:

So the first part of Baqarah talks about iman, belief. And the last part of Baqarah talks about iman. The second subject in Baqarah is about Allah creating Adam and Eve — and the second last subject of Baqarah is the same. The third subject of Baqarah and the third last is the same. The fourth subject and the fourth last is the same. The surah is like a mirror in the middle. The start is like the end, and the second is like the second last, and the third is like the third last. So you see the surah has a circular structure.

Many scholars of the past — al-Suyuti in Nizam al-Qur'an, and Imam al-Farahi from the subcontinent and others — they identified that the Qur'an, which many people think has no structure and is just a mess, actually has a certain structure that Allah has arranged in every surah. So this is the first tool: knowing the surah before you jump into the surah. Knowing the city before you visit the city.

Tool Two: Knowing the Context of the Verses

Tool number two is knowing the context of the verses you are reflecting on. There are some verses in the Qur'an you will not understand them until you know why they were revealed and in which situation they were revealed. We know the Qur'an didn't just drop from the sky — it was revealed in bits and pieces over the course of 23 years. So Allah would reveal a certain verse at the right time and the right place. When you understand why and where He revealed this verse, it starts to make sense for you.

I'll give an example. Allah says in the Qur'an:

"O Prophet! Why do you make prohibited something Allah made halal for you?" If one of us made something halal into haram, that's a big problem. So what is this verse talking about? Did the Prophet ﷺ play with the laws of Allah? No, he didn't.

The context: the Prophet ﷺ had some honey with one of his wives and he stayed longer with her. And when he went to another one of his wives, they could smell the honey on him and they made an issue about it. So he said, "I will never have honey again." So Allah says to him: "O Prophet of Allah, don't prohibit yourself — don't make forbidden honey which Allah made halal for you." The meaning is in a new light now, because you know the situation in which the verse was revealed.

Here's another one. Allah says in Surah Al-Hujurat:

"O believers, don't raise your voice in front of the Prophet ﷺ." Do you think any companion would scream at the Prophet ﷺ? So what is this verse about?

What the majority of the scholars of tafsir say is the reason this ayah was revealed was because Abu Bakr and Umar got in an argument in front of the Prophet ﷺ and they started shouting at each other — not at him, at each other. So Allah says, "don't raise your voice in front of him." Then He addresses the Bedouins who came outside his private quarters telling him to come outside to talk to them:

"Those that are just calling you out saying 'come out, talk to us' — these are people of no etiquette." So, to understand the situation in which the verse was revealed helps you in contemplating the meaning of that verse.

The Relationship Between Consecutive Verses

Part of this is also understanding the context within the surah — the relationship between the verses. Here's an example. Allah says in the Qur'an:

"Has not the time come for those who claim belief — those who are believers — that their heart should soften when they hear the remembrance of Allah?" Then the very next verse Allah says:

"Know that Allah revives the dead earth after it dies." What is the relationship between verse one and verse two? What does grass, the dead earth, and plants coming out — what does this have to do with the heart and the Qur'an?

The link: first Allah says, "are your hearts so hard that when the Qur'an is recited you feel nothing?" The next verse He says, "look — if I can revive the dead earth, the dead soil, I can bring plants out of it. I can revive your heart as well." There's the link between the verses. So don't just look at the context of where was the verse revealed — look at the verse after, the verse before, how are they linked? Think, ask questions.

Tool Three: Looking at Themes Across the Qur'an

The third tool is thinking about themes inside the Qur'an. Here's an example. Go to the Qur'an and look for everywhere Allah said وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ — "Allah loves X." Find every time Allah said He loves something, make a list, and think about: how do I earn the love of Allah? This is your bucket list, your shopping list, to earn the love of Allah.

Another example: go to everywhere Allah mentions purification in the Qur'an, and see what does purification mean in the Qur'an. Or, go to every time Allah says in the Qur'an:

"Don't follow the footsteps of the shaytan." Gather all those verses and think about them together as a theme. Look at the examples and analogies in the Qur'an — like the fly which we took earlier. What do those analogies mean? What's the purpose? What's the action I can take away? These are some ways where you can look at the Qur'an as a whole and not just a single surah.

So these are three tools: looking at an overview of the surah, looking at the context of the verses, and lastly, looking at themes across the Qur'an.

Recommended Resources

There are some translated tafsir works that can help you. As you all know, Tafsir Ibn Kathir has been translated. Tafsir al-Qurtubi has been translated by Aisha Bewley. Tafsir al-Sa'di has been translated by Dr. Suhaib Saeed. And you have many other examples.

One work I especially recommend all of you to look at: Ustadh Asim Khan has an English commentary on Surah Yaseen called The Heart of the Qur'an, and he has an English commentary on Surah Al-Mulk called The Kingdom of God. These English explanations help you to access the deeper meanings in the text and make sure you don't go wrong in your reflections.

A Starting Point — Act Today

Now here's a starting point for you to act on today. Not tomorrow, not next week — today.

Number one — choose a surah. Either a short Meccan surah, like something from Juz' Amma or Juz' Tabarak — the last two sections of the Qur'an — or choose a story-based surah: Surah Al-Kahf, Surah Yusuf, Surah Al-Qasas, Surah Al-Ankabut, Surah Al-Anbiya. Why? If you choose a surah that is full of rulings — like rulings of inheritance, Surah Al-Nisa', Surah Al-Ma'idah — you'll spend a lot of time and you'll get nowhere, because you're not qualified to deduce the rulings from the Qur'an. So choose a story-based surah, or a surah revealed in Mecca before the Hijrah.

Number two — in groups or as individuals, use the tools I gave you today. You can choose one surah for all of Ramadan. Let's say Surah Al-Mulk or Surah Yaseen. The whole of Ramadan, you and your group are the Surah Yaseen Tadabbur Crew. By the end of Ramadan, you're going to have a journal full of reflections on Surah Yaseen. Pick a surah, find a group, and promise each other that you will gather once a week or once every two weeks, and together you will reflect on the meanings of the surah throughout Ramadan.

Guidelines for Valid Reflection

Some important guidelines — how do you know that your reflection of the Qur'an is valid? Ibn al-Qayyim mentions:

Number one — your reflection should not change the original meaning of the verse. You should not go too far from the meaning of the verse in the translation or in the tafsir that you read. For example, if we're reflecting on:

...you cannot then conclude and say, "all of us should never drink honey again." Stay in your lane. Don't go far from the meaning of the verse.

Number two — if you can, use resources: videos, books, tafsir books, anything you can get your hands on to enhance and deepen your understanding of the surah. One of the best forms of tadabbur, if you want to see a real-life example of great reflection on the Qur'an, there's a whole playlist called Fajr Reflections in Masjid Al-Furqan — a great example of real-life reflections on the Qur'an.

Number three — make sure that any reflection you bring, you are not introducing a new meaning of the verse or changing the meanings in the Arabic language. You are not deducing a fiqh ruling, a real-life ruling. You stick with the original meaning of the verse and think: how do I apply this to my life? Some questions that you ask, you will not find the answer in your head. You cannot invent an answer. That might be your reflection, but you should go back to the books of tafsir and check. Ask someone of knowledge if you are unsure.

And with this, inshallah, we'll come to the end.

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ