“There shall come to you guidance from Me, whosoever follows my guidance, no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow”
Qur’ān 2:38
I have been starting, restarting, writing and rewriting this post numerous times. I was not sure why, until it dawned upon me, discussing the Qur’ān is one of the closest things to my heart and when one is writing about the Qur’ān, there is an expectation for it to be phenomenal, without fault and flawless, just as flawlessly as it was revealed to us. To me, writing should inspire, this leaves a great amount of pressure as I would like to inspire everyone to love it as much as I do. The Qur’ān has and will always be the most captivating, inspiring and amazing book to study. Upon every reading, it should leave one in wonder, thinking, moving, and the desire to change. The Qur’ān is meant to inspire change in the psyche of the reader’s mind, stir their souls and therefore they become better and inspiring human beings. There are countless lessons to be taken from it, not just in the words written but how it is read and in its understanding. It is for this reason, I would like to discuss tilāwah and tartīl. Acting congruently, they should invoke the reader with emotions that leans to understanding the depth and connecting to the Qur’ān in mind, body and soul.
Tilāwah refers to the act of reading, which is to follow closely behind one after the other in an orderly manner. This extends not just to the placement of the words but the verses following each other as the well as the chapters of the Qur’ān following closely behind one after the other. Tilāwah is an act where one participates one’s entire being, where the act of recitation allows the mind to accept and the actions of the body to follow in conformity to the words. For me, it denotes personal growth in conformity of action when trying to achieve any goal. One task after the other, one intention before action and one act following another just as in all forms our worship.
Tartīl is the process of reading which in this case would mean to read without haste. It is the act of reading and approaching the Qur’ān in a methodical reading that aligns our being into participating our self so that our hearts may be strengthened. In which the understanding of the words read assimilates into our entire being, this leaves us with the desire to reread and repeat so that we understand. There are lessons to everything Islām teaches us as it is meant to be a way of life and like some scholars would say, it is life! Everything we were instructed to do has purpose and attaches purpose to our lives so that we live life meaningfully so that when we die, the legacy we leave behind is understood through our conduct and actions. Apply meaning to your actions and apply insight and thought, so that everything in your life follows a gradual sequence of good change that pleases your Creator. May the words that is spoken by our tongue and our actions be preceded by methodical thought so that it remains righteous and for the sake of Allāh
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