Being Who God Wants You To Be
Reflections on the month of Ramaḍān
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Reflections on the month of Ramaḍān
Mar 2
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Welcome to a new section of my Substack, Reflecting on the Qur’ān. Here I’ll have a chance to share some of my reflections on the Qur’ān which come from both my teaching at Middle Ground as well as from my own personal devotions and studies.
For my first post, I wanted to share a short talk I gave after our Fajr Club Breakfast at Middle Ground (every Saturday, by the way, for those who wish to attend live or via our live stream) on the second of March, 2024/the twenty first of Sha’bān, 1445. This talk, or khāṭirah as we call it, centered around a few themes I touched upon in my khuṭbah that Friday, mainly: being who Allāh wants you to be and the struggle (mujāhadah/مجاهدة) and determination (ṣabr/صبر) that it will take to achieve this mighty goal.
In my talk, I also spoke about the differences between the Qur’ānic Recitations of Ḥafṣ and Qālūn:
The significance here being that the Inhabitants of Paradise (Aṣḥāb al-Jannah/أصحاب الجنّة) are described as, according to the reading by Ḥafṣ, “you will hear no vulgar talk within (Paradise)” [the picture on the right] whereas Qālūn reads it as “no vulgar talk is heard within [Paradise]” [the pictures on the left]. The first accentuates the habits of the Inhabitants of Paradise whereas the second accentuates the environment of Paradise itself. Taking the perspectives that both of these readings have to offer, they can assist us by drawing our attention to the importance of what we actively, and passively, do. In other words, the Inhabitants of Paradise (Aṣḥāb al-Jannah/أصحاب الجنّة) are those who, in this worldly life (dunyā/دنيا), pay attention to that which they actively lend their attention but are also keenly aware of the passive effects that one’s environment has on oneself, and so seek to counteract that affect through the remembrance of Allāh (dhikr/ذكر) and steadfast worship.
Sūrah al-Ghāshiyah read in the Recitation of Imām Qālūn
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