Ramadan Log DAY 5: Longing for the Qur’an

I don’t think I have ever experienced this in my life before, and it is a strange, new feeling.

During Ramadan, in an attempt to not listen to music, I have been having Qur’an playing as I drive or write my blog posts. I’m still in that mode where I need something to listen to when I do things. I miss my music like crazy, but the whole point in giving it up is so that I can try to replace the time I listen to music with time devoted to worship, in this case listening to the words of God.

This month however, as I listen to my Qur’an CDs, I get this feeling in my heart, and the only way I can describe it is a longing to hold a Qur’an in front of me and recite the words with my own tongue. These past three years studying Arabic has made me completely fall in love with the language, and as I have said before on a Ramadan Log from a few years ago, I love the sound and feeling of speaking Qur’anic Arabic with my own voice. I usually don’t like how my voice sounds – I think most of us have this trait in common – but somehow, reciting Qur’an makes my voice sounds so much prettier.

I have always had an appreciation for poetry, and the Qur’an is the epitome of poetic. Saying the words in that rhythm and flow and rhyme is…. “fun” doesn’t seem appropriate, but I’m not sure what other word to use. I enjoy reading the Qur’an.

And I am so thankful that I have gotten to this point, because He knows that I wasn’t always like this. I pray that this bond I have with the words of God is not temporary and continues to grow stronger.

*Quote of the Day*

Today’s reading was about ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn ‘Awf. I recognize his name from my Muhammad book last year. He grew to be one of the wealthiest Sahaba, but was also known for his generosity. My quote for today isn’t specifically related to him, but I like it because it shows how good of a leader the Messenger (S) was.

“Soon after arriving in Madinah, the Prophet in his unique manner began pairing off the Muhajirin and the Ansar.* This established a firm bond of brotherhood and was meant to strengthen social cohesion and ease the destitution of the Muhajirin” (Hamid 50).

(*Muhajirin are the people who emigrated from Mecca to Medina. Ansar are the natives of Medina who took in the Meccans. It literally means “The helpers.”)

No wonder the Muslim population grew so strong in Medina. Right from the beginning, the Messenger (S) made sure that those from Medina and those coming to Medina established that bond of brotherhood and sisterhood. Back then, Islam was all about establishing a faith-based community with bonds stronger than any familial or national bond. This was a great way to establish that community. MashaAllah.