Some of the Skills the Qur'an Teaches

Dr. Pasha

(Bringing Islam to the World One Concept at a Time!
Taking the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It --
And which One Does Not?)

We seem to live in an age when books and reading are fast becoming fading memories.

Was the Qur'an predicting the advent of our Twitter Age? Allah only knows.

The amazing thing about the Qur'an is – one of the billions upon billions of amazing things that there are in the Qur’an – that the Qur'an covers everything that was; everything that is; and everything that will be.

Aayat of the Qur’an:

Lawu Annakum Kuntum Ta’lamoon!

Paraphrase:

“If only you knew!”

Aayat of the Qur’an:

“And if only you understood!”

Paraphrase:

In Kuntum Ta’qiloon!

One way we can cope with this situation – with the rapidly receding Age of Reading and the accelerated atrophying of skills associated with Reading – is to organize Reading Clubs and Reading Sessions in schools.

And everywhere else.

These Reading Clubs and Reading Sessions will do three things:

a) They will train our youth, of all ages, into the skills of reading, listening, asking questions, making comments and engaging in focused and productive discussions.

b) They will give us some idea who is reading and possibly benefiting from our literature, beyond simply handing out the books to people and then walking away.

c) They will be yet another way for us to Take the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Need It -- and Which One Does Not? It will be a most natural and organic extension of what we do Working for Allah.

For, Qur'an is about reading and it is about books.

And the Qur’an is about reading what we read in the most perfect and beautiful way.

And it is about paying full attention to what we read.

And it is about listening with rapt focus and attention to what is being read and spoken.

And it is about comprehending and grasping what we read.

And it is about internalizing what we read. It is about making what we read a part of our psyche and our entire being.

And it is about turning what we read into everyday practices: individually; in our families; in our groups and organizations.

As well as in our institutions and societies.

And in our businesses and occupations.

And in our places of play as well as work.

And that means in all our private as well as our public affairs, and in the entirety of our cultures and civilizations, and in every single aspect of our life – in all matters associated with our life as well as our death.

Now, don't go running off to your nearest Mercenary Mullah to fashion a Kafir Fatwa for me, not that it matters. But this is something you all should know:

The Qur'an is, among all the zillion things it is, also a Book of Skills.

And some of the skills the Qur’an teaches include the following:

a) Reading Skills.
b) Attention Skills.
c) Listening Skills.
d) Speaking Skills.
e) Conceptual Skills.
f) Practical Skills.
g) Memory Skills.
h) Organizing Skills.
i) Management Skills.
j) Skills of Turning Ideas into Meaningful, Effective and Useful Practices.
k) Life Skills.
l) Death Skills.
m) Leadership Skills.
n) Team Skills.
o) Group Skills.
p) Emotional Skills.
q) Social Skills.
r) Civic Skills.
s) Political Skills.
t) Economic Skills.
u) Fiscal Skills.
v) Skills of War and Peace.
w) Individual Skills.
x) Collective Skills.

So, people, what are we waiting for?

There is no better time to hit the road than this most blessed month of Ramadan to teach the world the skills the Qur'an came into this world to teach.

It is all part of what we call: Taking the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Need It -- and Which One Does Not?

And there is no better time to do it than Ramadan – the noble and blessed month of struggle and hard work.

END