31st May 2019 Friday Ramadan 26th
The last Friday of this Ramadan has been a very special one for me. What has always been part of a routine now just got all the more special. Let me explain;
It was Ramadan 2014. I was dealing with an infant and a cranky 5 year old. Unable to fast, spirituality was at an all time low and frustration was at an all time high. Only mothers will understand this.
To get myself out of this rut, I decided on a whim to set myself a challenge. I decided to memorize SURAH KAHF. 110 ayaat in 30 days. It almost seemed like I was setting myself up for failure, I mean I couldn’t even manage to pray when I wanted and sleep when I wanted.
Nevertheless I said Bismillah and begun. Pretty soon, it was heartbreaking to realise that my tired self just couldn’t grasp the words with the ease I expected to. I remember reading
وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ
We have made this Qur’an easy as a reminder. Is there, then, any who will take heed? (Surah Qamar: Verse 17)
But why wasn’t it easy for me ? Was I that far away from my Lord? I kept at it. By the end of Ramadan that year I had managed around 25 ayaat. Far away from my goal. But, Subhanallah! the sweetness of knowing and learning these ayaat was far greater than the dispppointment of not having reached my goal. And this is what motivated me to pick it up every Ramadan like reaching out to an old friend.
And so, yesterday I finally recited the entire Surah Kahf on my own as part of my Friday Ritual . There is something absolutely inexplicable in the sense of achievement that comes with learning the Quran. Like the tortoise that won the race slow and steady Allah SWT taught me so much more than these verses through these 5 years. Patience in waiting for the sweet sweet end result, the importance if being consistent, the instant Imaan boost you get from learning e new letter or a new verse, that Allah SWT can make it happen no matter how unattainable it looks for a hopeless mother.
Setting a new goal for next Ramadan now In Sha Allah.
May Allah SWT keep us striving in his path in our own small way and increase the love of Quran in all of us
Ameen