Reflection 11 – A Fresh Perspective on the Quran Inspired Greatly by Nouman Ali Khan

Irrelevance!
I would safely argue that majority of Muslims today feel the irrelevance of Quran to their daily lives whether they say it out loud or not. At its best, are those of us who try to read it on a frequent basis aspiring for the expected rewards. We are so disconnected from the Arabic language itself to begin with. Assuming that we all agree on the divine origin of the book, wouldn’t it be a bit weird that our creator will reveal a 600+ page book for humanity with no real purpose intended? Let me try in the following to sketch out some ideas that people might find useful when dealing with Quran. Here we go.
Humbleness. Any serious student of any type of knowledge needs to adopt a sense of humbleness and humility. You have to acknowledge your shortcomings first. Accept the fact echoed in Quran that Allah knows and we don’t. Finding something to be incomprehensible does not necessitate a failure on the part of the author. Rather, try to reconcile facts or simply accept sometimes that you won‘t understand everything.
The Syllabus. I work in the academic field. Before the academic year begins, instructors are required to prepare their course syllabi. It‘s unheard of in any respectable institution that students are allowed in and then course syllabi get prepared. Allah clearly says in Surat Ar-rahman that he taught Quran and then created mankind. In other words, the syllabus was first revealed and then people were created to abide to it.
Significance of Stories; Approach every story with utmost care and respect. Remember Allah chose that specific episode of that specific story to reveal to you. He excluded lots of events and kept only some for a reason. Don‘t get too consumed in what he left out but rather busy yourself with what was mentioned. Remember everything he says has guidance into it (even if you can‘t fully see it). When we think of father-son interactions, there are probably billions of conversations that took place across time. Allah, in his divine wisdom, decided to include only a couple of those in his final revelation; then this must be for a reason. Therefore, approach these parts with super care.
A Final Note: Try not to project your own biases onto the Quran. Let the word of Allah speak for itself. Don’t come with pre-conceived ideas and try to cherry-pick what validates them. In other words, be fair to the text!