♥ ♥ Participation of the Inner Self When Reading
the Qur’an ♥ ♥
Reading the Qur’an, the tilawah, must involve your
whole ‘person’. Only thus will you be able to elevate
your encounter with the Qur’an to the level where
you can be called a ‘true’ believer in the Qur’an (al-
Baqarah 2: 121).
♥ ♥ What is the Heart? ♥ ♥
The more important part of your ‘person’ is your
inner self. This inner self the Qur’an calls the qalb or
the ‘heart’. The heart of the Prophet, blessings and
peace be on him, was the first recipient of the
Qur’anic message:
Truly it has been sent down by the Lord of all the
worlds, the Trustworthy Spirit has alighted with it
upon your heart [O Prophet], that you may be one
of the warners …(al-Shu’ara’ 26: 1924).
You will therefore reap the full joys and blessings of
reading the Qur’an when you are able to involve
your heart fully in your task.
The ‘heart’, in Qur’anic vocabulary, is not the piece
of flesh in your body, but the centre of all your
feelings, emotions, motives, drives, aspirations,
remembrance and attention. It is the hearts which
soften (al-Zumar 39: 23), or harden and become
stony (al-Baqarah 2: 74). It is they which go blind
and refuse to recognize the truth (al-Hajj 22: 46) for
it is their function to reason and understand (al-
A’raf 7: 179;al-Hajj 22: 46; Qaf 50: 37). In hearts, lie
the roots of all outward diseases (al-Ma’idah 5: 52);
they are the seat of all inner ills (al-Baqarah 2: 10);
hearts are the abode of Iman (al-Ma’idah 5: 41) and
hypocrisy (al-Tawbah 9: 77). It is the hearts, again,
which are the centre of every good and bad thing,
whether it be contentment and peace (al-Ra’d 13:
28), the strength to face afflictions (al-Taghabun 64:
11), mercy (al-Hadid 57: 27), brotherly love (al-Anfal
8: 63), taqwd (al-Hujurat 49: 3; al-Hajj 22: 32); or,
doubt and hesitation (al-Tawbah 9: 45), regrets (Al
‘Imran 3: 156), and anger (al-Tawbah 9: 15). Finally it
is, in reality, the ways of the heart for which we shall
be accountable, and only the one who brings before
his God a sound and whole heart will deserve to be
saved.
God will not take you to task for a slip, but He will
take you to task for what your hearts have earned
(al-Baqarah 2: 225).
The Day when neither wealth nor children shall
profit, [and when] only he [will be saved] who
comes before God with a sound heart [free of evil]
(al-Shu’ara’ 26: 88-9).
You must therefore ensure that so long as you are
with the Qur’an, your heart remains with you. The
heart not being that piece of flesh but what the
Qur’an calls qalb.
♥ ♥ Dynamic of Inner Participation ♥ ♥
You should understand the dynamic of inner
participation well. For how is your heart seized by
Truth? First, you come to know the truth. Second,
you recognize and accept it as the truth and as
relevant to your life. Third, you remember the truth,
as much and as often as you can. Fourth, you
absorb it until it soaks into the deepest recesses of
your inner self. The truth thus becomes an ever-
alive state of consciousness, an enduring posture of
the heart. Once a truth so permeates your inner
world, it must pour out in the world of words and
deeds.
