Understanding and Benefiting from the Qur’an

1st kind is Academic;

- Learning the Arabic Language,
- Studying the Tafsir,
- Understanding the linguistic Analysis and tradition etc.

These require you to study, so it becomes an Academic requirement.

MORE important than the Academic requirements are certain psychological or spiritual requirements for benefiting from the Qur’an.

THESE 2nd requirements are the harder ones.

Somebody who’s intelligent can learn, study and memorize the Arabic Language in no time. They can even understand the book of Allah in very little time.

But the psychological attitude in benefiting from the Qur’an,
THEY are a life long struggle. They are requirements which you can meet at one point in your life, then lose them at another point in your life.

They are not something which you can just keep, they are something you need to fight to maintain. More than anything you need to fight yourself

These requirements are not like how in University, once you meet the pre-requisites you don’t have to go back to it.

These requirements are of a different nature.

1st of those requirements are
- Understanding and reminding oneself EVERY SINGLE TIME, WHY am i learning this Tafsir? This Arabic? Why am i memorizing these Aayaat? What is the point? . . . The intention of this?

The cliché answer is for Guidance. We say this so often that we no longer know what it really means. What does it mean that i am asking Allah for guidance?

What that means is; on a given day, every single moment of my day. I will be presented with choices.

- Should i stay in bed, or should i wake up?
- Should i look there, or should i look down?
- Should i talk back, or should i stay quiet?
- Should i earn my money this way, or should i find another job?
- Should i hang out with these friends, or should i leave them?

Choices.

Every time, every second of the day you and i are faced with choices.

When we ask Allah for guidance.
We are asking Allah for strength to make the right choices,
that Allah empowers us because of his word. . . to make the right choices.

This is what Guidance of the Qur’an means