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Editor’s Note: How to achieve a rich and interactive experience of the Quran recitation that gets your inner self involved? The author discussed 2 steps in part 1; he offers 5 further steps in this article.
Hearing from Allah
Third: Say to yourself: I am hearing from Allah.
As a part of your effort to involve your inner self, you should try to think as if you are hearing the Quran from the Sender himself.
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The Quran is the speech of Allah. For, just as you cannot see Him while He is always with you, you cannot hear Him while it is He who is speaking.
Let the printed words and reciter’s voices therefore recede and allow yourself to move nearer to the Speaker. This feeling will be generated and greatly strengthened as your consciousness of ‘being in His presence’ continues to grow.
Al-Ghazali, in his Ihya’, tells about a person who said:
I read the Quran but did not find sweetness in it. Then I read it as if I was hearing it from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was reciting it to his Companions.
After that, I moved a stage further and read the Quran as if I was hearing it from Jibreel while he delivered it to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Then Allah brought me to a further stage and I began to read it as if I was hearing it from the Speaker.
Such feeling will imbue you with a delight and sweetness that will make your inner self fully enveloped by the Quran.
Allah’s Direct Address
Fourth: Say to yourself: Allah addresses me directly, through His Messenger, when I read the Quran.
No doubt the Quran was sent down at a specific point in history, and you have received it indirectly through persons, time and space. But the Quran is the word of the Ever-living Allah, it is eternally valid and it addresses every person.
So let all these intermediaries recede for a while and allow yourself to read the Quran as if it is talking directly to you, as an individual and as a member of a collectivity, in your time. The very thought of such direct reception will keep your heart seized by what you are reading.
Every Word for You
Fifth: Say to yourself: Every word in the Quran is meant for me.
If the Quran is eternally valid, and if it is addressing you today, then you must take every message as something which is totally and urgently relevant to your life and concerns, whether it be a value or norm, a statement or piece of knowledge, a character or dialogue, a promise or a warning, a command or a prohibition.
Such understanding will make your Quran reading alive, dynamic and meaningful. There may be some problems in translating messages intended for persons who look so different from you into messages relevant to your person and concerns, but with sincere and right effort it should be possible.
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