The Third Method of achieving a Soft Heart – The Qur’ân

To read the previous method: Click Here

by Shaykh Abû Amînah Bilâl Philips

The third way by which we can soften our hearts is the Qur’ân itself. Allâh states:

“Has not the time come for those who believe for their hearts to fear Allâh when they hear the Qur’ân (dhikrullâh here is in reference to the Qur’ân) and what truth there is in it, so that they not be like those who received the Scripture before, but in the passage of time, their hearts became hard. And most of them are corrupt.” [Qur’ân, Al-Hadîd, 57:16]

If we reflect on the Qur’ân, it has the power to soften our hearts. Allâh said, about the jinn who heard the Qur’ân,

“Indeed we heard an amazing Qur’ân; it guides us to Allâh and we believe in it and we will set not partners besides Allâh.” [See Qur’ân, Sûrah al-Ahqâf 46:29-32

Allâh goes on to describe the righteous,

“And if they (this is amongst the Christians) hear what was revealed to the Messenger, you will see their eyes welling up with tears because of what they know of the truth of what has been brought.”

This was the case of the ruler of Ethiopia. When Muslims sought refuge there and they recited a portion of the Qur’ân, they saw his eyes fill with tears.

This is how we should be. When we hear the Qur’ân, we should reflect on the meanings. The Qur’ân should not become for us a replacement for pop songs that we used to hear before. People buy recordings of their favourite reciters for the beauty of their voice. The listening of the Qur’ân has become more of a musical thing. We are entertained by that music, so much so that when the reciter is reading, we hear people in the background going, “Allâh! Allâh! Allâh!” People making statements in the background as thought it were a pop show! This is not the Qur’ân. Allâh tells us, “ Will they not reflect (on the meanings)?”

The Qur’ân is a Book of Guidance and it is in the reflection on the meaning of the Qur’ân that we benefit, for it is very important for us to re-assess how we are dealing with the Qur’ân. We should be reading it regularly, not just during Ramadhân. We reflect on it. Not just reading it only in Ramadhân so we can finish the whole Book and say we finished the Qur’ân in Ramadhân. It really does not matter if we don’t finish the Qur’ân in Ramadhân. For most of the Prophet’s SallAllâhu ‘Alayhi wa sallam life, he did not finish the whole Qur’ân in Ramadhân. Most of the companions did not finish the reading of the Qur’ân in Ramadhân. Today, for us, Ramadhân is not complete unless we read the whole Qur’ân in Ramadhân. We hire reciters to recite the Qur’ân at 99 miles an hour so much so that even Arabic-speaking people cannot figure out where in the Qur’ân the reciter is!

This has become the precedence – finishing the Qur’ân in Ramadhân and if you can finish it twice, even better! But this is not what the Qur’ân is for. The Qur’ân is for reflection, so that when we hear it, as Allâh says of the believers who hear the Qur’ân recited, goose bumps come over their skins. It touches them and causes their heart to tremble.

“Allâh has revealed (from time to time) the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself, yet repeating (its teaching in various aspects): the skins of those who fear their Lord tremble threat; then their skins and hearts do soften to the remembrance of Allâh.” [Qur’ân Az-Zumar 39:23]:

If when we listen to the Qur’ân, we don’t find this reaction of tears coming to our eyes, then we should make ourselves cry. Force ourselves to cry because we need to respond to the Qur’ân in this way. If we don’t, we are lost! This is the Word of Allâh, the only preserved Word of all the revelations that were given from Adam till now. This is the word of God preserved.

We should read the Qur’ân believing this is Allâh speaking to us, because that is what it is. It is Allâh talking to us directly. Every time he tells us something about the Jews, we should not (merely) take it as a piece of information, that the Jews are this and the Jews are that. No! Whenever Allâh tells us something about the Jews, we should see in it as a warning to ourselves – that we don’t become like them. When Allâh said, “ ghairil maghdûbi ‘alayhim wa la-ddâllîn.” in Sûrah Al-Fâtiha, the Prophet SallAllâhu ‘Alayhi wa sallam explained that al-maghdûb ‘alayhim are the Jews and that ad-dâllîn are the Christians. Those with whom Allâh is angry are the Jews and those who have gone astray are the Christians. Allâh is angry with the Jews because they KNOW the truth and they don’t act on it. “ You call people to righteousness and you forget yourselves.” They changed the Book. The Christians are without knowledge; they are lost. They think that God is a man!

This is a warning to us. Every time we recite these verses, Allâh is warning us not to be like them – we have the truth, we have the Scripture, but we are not acting according to them. If we do not seek knowledge, if we do not find out what it is Allâh wants from us, then we are lost. Every time we read the “ ghairil maghdûbi ‘alayhim wa la-ddâllîn.” it should touch us. We should reflect on it and it should touch us.

There are so many verses throughout the Qur’ân that remind us of the Hereafter, that remind us of the signs of the Day of Judgement. It is enough for us to open any part of the Qur’ân to read about them. In virtually every chapter of the Qur’ân Allâh addresses the next life. It is linked to our second point of visiting the graves and remembering the Hereafter. The Qur’ân speaks about the life to come and to reflect on it.

Source: www.islaam.net

To read the fourth method of achieving a soft heart: Click Here