I was not a conscientious Muslim. As I entered my freshman year of high school, I had one very specific goal which I was determined to accomplish: to become popular. “Piety” was not consistent with this goal – at least not in my perspective. It was for this reason that I expressed disdain when my dad announced we would be undertaking the religious journey to Mecca in the summer following my freshman year of high school. I recall telling a friend, “Man, I’m scared. I don’t want to change!” I knew people went to Mecca and then became super religious. I didn’t want that to happen to me.

Mecca

As we entered the Grand Mosque, my dad told my mom, my brother, and me to keep our eyes down until we reached the opening of the Masjid, until we were in a space which would allow for our first glimpse of the House of Allah, the Ka’ba, to be in our full view. As we walked through the halls of the Grand Mosque, I heard my mom and dad crying. I knew this was supposed to be a spiritual experience. I could see that they were going through something incredible, but I felt nothing. I felt absolutely nothing. Finally, we approached steps which led to a great opening. At this point, my dad instructed, “Look up.”

ALLAH! In that moment, my vision was suddenly filled with the beloved Ka’ba. As if awakened from the dead, as if beating for the first time, my heart was immediately gripped indescribably. It suddenly filled with this unexplainable, fully tangible presence of the Creator of the Universe. I began to bawl; I was struck with the realization that this feeling, this closeness to God, could only happen because He truly exists. I began to regret all I had done and all the time I had wasted; I began circumambulating the Ka’ba, weeping, begging Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He) to forgive me.

When we returned to America, I had difficulty maintaining my spiritual awakening. I decided that I would begin to read the Qur’an. I reasoned that I could watch hours of television a day and so, at the very least, I had an obligation to read at least five pages a day. I hadn’t touched the Qur’an in years. I’m not Arab, I was not raised knowing Arabic; I had just learnt how to read the letters when joined together when I was really young, like many Muslim children. I hadn’t practiced reading Arabic in so many years that I was painfully slow at it; reading five pages easily turned into an hour ordeal, if not longer. I didn’t understand anything I read, but I kept trying.

One day, my mom passed by my room and suggested, “Maryam, why don’t you read it in English? At least then you’ll understand what you’re reading.” To me, this was a lucrative suggestion; I was a really fast reader in English. If I read half the page in English and half of it in Arabic, it’d take much less time to get through five pages a day.

I began and I transformed. Reading the Qur’an in English and being able to come to an understanding of what its message conveyed captivated me. I began to change internally and it slowly took hold of my external being; my thoughts, my intentions, my actions… I slowly began to internalize a conscientiousness that revolutionized my life. I was mesmerized by the Qur’an and it was then that I decided I would undertake memorizing it.

It took me over seven years to memorize the Qur’an. In the time span that I spent memorizing, I had other responsibilities simultaneously. I was either studying or working full time (or a combination of both), I was the president or lead figure of an organization or community work, and I had familial responsibilities. The only time I was able to focus almost completely on the Qur’an was when I moved to Egypt for eleven months, in which I dedicated about two hours a day to memorization while I also studied Arabic and did Arabic homework for about seven hours of the day. However, the majority of the memorization occurred in America, amidst a crazy schedule. I memorized while I had to take care of life responsibilities; you, too, can memorize while taking care of business.

10 Tips for Serious Seekers of the Qur’an

1. Realize the Reason, Know Allah is Your Guide
• Why memorize the Qur’an? Because it will give you a constant, incredible, and personally special relationship with The Creator, with The Sustainer, with The One Who has power over all things.
• You want the best of both worlds? It’s through the Qur’an. It’s through memorizing, understanding, loving and most importantly, living it. When one is sincere about memorizing it, one needs to be completely aware of the heavy responsibility and glorified honor of living as Allah’s servant and carrying His words in their hearts. This must translate into their actions. The key: Sincerity.
• Make the Intention to Invest in Your Akhira (Hereafter)
• The Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him) taught us,  ‘The Qur’aan will meet its companion on the Day of Resurrection when his grave is opened for him, in the form of a pale man. It will say to him, ‘Do you recognize me?’ He will say: ‘I do not recognize you.’ It will say: ‘I am your companion the Qur’aan, who kept you thirsty on hot days and kept you awake at night. Every merchant benefits from his business and today you will benefit from your good deeds.’ He will be given dominion in his right hand and eternity in his left, and there will be placed on his head a crown of dignity, and his parents will be clothed with priceless garments the like of which have never been seen in this world. They will say: ‘Why have we been clothed with this?’ It will be said: ‘Because your son used to recite Qur’aan.’ Then it will be said to him: ‘Recite and ascend in the degrees of Paradise,’ and he will continue to ascend so long as he recites, either at a fast pace or a slow pace.’ [Ahmad, Ibn Majah]
• Know that Allah is with You
• Allah Most High says in a Hadith Qudsi (record containing the words of God), “When my servant takes one step towards Me, I take ten steps towards him. When my servant comes walking towards me, I come running towards him.” Recognize that you are not alone; that it is the One Who revealed these words Who will help you learn and retain them. The struggle must begin with the servant, but the Lord is the One Who will continually open the way and aid you through the struggle.
2. When it’s Hard, There is Twice the Reward
• Wait, what? You don’t understand Arabic? Wait, what? You aren’t Arab? Wait, you’re Arab, but your tajweed (rules of recitation/pronunciation) is really off?
• For you, the Prophet ﷺ has shared words of encouragement, “Such a person who recites the Qur’an and masters it by heart, will be with the noble righteous scribes (in Heaven). And such a person exerts himself to learn the Qur’an by heart, and recites it with great difficulty, will have a double reward,” (Muslim).
3. Start Correctly and Use Technology
• Find a Teacher or Qur’an Buddy, Learn tajweed and Work Consistently
• When I first decided I would commit to memorizing, I found a teacher and told her I was ready. But I had never studied tajweed and my recitation was completely incorrect! She asked me, “Do you want to memorize, or do you want to memorize correctly? There is no point in memorizing it wrong and then having to go back and do it all over again.”
• The most difficult test I came across with memorizing the Qur’an was not being able to find a consistent teacher. This sometimes led to many months of not memorizing anything and only working on review. When I didn’t find a teacher, I turned to friends who could help me with my tajweed and we became Qur’an buddies. On campus, over the phone, in cars in random parking lots, in-between running from one meeting to another, we would recite to one another and we would keep each other in check until we were able to find teachers. A teacher (or if you can’t find one, a Qur’an buddy) is CRITICAL to progress with the Qur’an.
• One of the best things that has ever happened to me in my entire life, all praise and thanks be to God, was being blessed with the Qur’an teacher that helped me so immensely through my memorization: Shaykh Moheb. I learned love for the Qur’an, commitment to the Qur’an, a life of gratitude and incredible contentment because of the Qur’an and a balanced perspective through the Qur’an from him. Seeing I was not Arab and was trying to memorize the Qur’an correctly, he took it upon himself to see me through it. May God bless his family in both worlds. I made du`a’ (supplication)(fervently) for a teacher like this for many years and was blessed with more than for what I made du`a’, but it took patience and continual struggle until I was rewarded with a teacher of such caliber. Seek the best teacher you can find and if they are not there, keep making du`a’ for one and work through other avenues.
• Use technology to assist you; to help practice your tajweed and help you memorize, there are a number of resources dedicated to those who want to memorize the Qur’an. If you have ever used one, please feel free to share what has worked for you!
4. Date the Qu’ran
• When I was MSA President in college, I had many responsibilities added to my academic, work, volunteer, knowledge, and familial obligations. However, everyday, I made a special date with the Qur’an that no one could touch. My phone was away, my email was gone – I was booked for that time period and it didn’t matter how huge of an event I needed to prepare for the next day. Just as we make time for people, work and classes, we need to schedule in time to meet up with the Qur’an and strive to show it that we’re sincere and serious about a long-term relationship.
5. The Qur’an is Where the Party’s At
• Sometimes, memorizing the Qur’an means denying invitations to social gatherings. Don’t get me wrong; it is ESSENTIAL for one’s spiritual and emotional well-being to be balanced and have social connections and relationships regularly. However, there will be times when the portion that must be memorized is going to take more time and that means leaving early from or not being able to make it to the party. These are sacrifices we make for Allah (swt) and the Qur’an and He replaces them with better if we pay attention.
6. Make Du`a’ Constantly
• In every prayer, in every moment of prostration, between every athan (call to prayer) and iqama (call to begin prayer), ask God to make us of the Ahlul Qur’an (the people of the Qur’an), those whom the Prophet ﷺ taught, “The people of the Qur’an are the people of Allah and His special servants,” (An-Nisa’i). Realize you are not alone. There are some du`a’ I began making seven years ago and they only have started to manifest six or seven years after I started making them rigorously. There will be times one might want to give up, one might feel like there’s no progress, one might feel like everyone else is finishing so quickly, so easily, and that nothing is clicking. Wait. Be patient. Keep working and keep making du`a’. Soon, everything will open because of your sincerity , work and du`a’and when it does, every second of the struggle is so much sweeter and so much more worth it.
7. Trade a Mushaf (Qur’an) with Someone and Understand What You’re Memorizing
• When starting, find someone else who wants to begin and give them a mushaf (written Qur’an) and ask them to give you one as well. This way, every time they or you work on memorizing, you’re both receiving incredible rewards from each other’s memorization.
• It can be more difficult to memorize if one has no clue what the meaning of the verses are. If one does not understand the language of the Qur’an, make sure to also keep a translation close by to read from it to contextualize the verses and pick up on the meaning.
8. Do Good Deeds “For the Sake of the Qur’an”
• When one experiences extra difficulty in memorizing or has just finished a great portion, give some small financial or action-based charity and ask Allah (swt) to accept it for the Qur’an; ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala fervently for tawfiq(success), for sincerity, and for a love life with His Words.
• The Qur’an is special and it does not “need” us. We need the Qur’an to guide us and to enrich our lives. The Qur`an isn’t going to just come to anyone who attempts to memorize it, then leaves it, then attempts it, then leaves it. It also doesn’t just easily lend itself to individuals who knowingly commit sins and persist in those sins without regret and without seeking to change. As one Shaykh taught, “The Qur’an is Aziz (dear, noble, venerated). If you don’t want to be with it or memorize it, then it’s not going to ‘wait around’ for you.” You want to be special to the Qur’an? Work for it through your righteous actions when you’re not working with it directly.
9. Honor One’s Parents
• As I learned from an anecdote shared by Imam Suhaib Webb, the pleasure of one’s parents incredibly aids in easing the memorization of the Qur`an. The more one wants to memorize, the more one should increase in treating their parents with dignity, respect and appreciation through words, through actions and through merciful companionship. (Thank you Mom and Dad!!)
10. The Qur’an Should Spark an Internal Revolution
• Even more important than memorizing the Qur’an is allowing it catalyze one’s transformation. If one’s character is not reforming and improving, there’s a serious problem. Check your heart from the start and keep checking it; one’s actions should become more balanced and stronger in quality when interacting with the Qur’an.

Many people feel facing the challenge of memorizing the Qur`an is too difficult of a task. They may have tried it and given up, dabbled in it and lost focus or drive or simply refused to consider the idea because they feel it insurmountable. Think of memorizing the Qur`an like lifting weights. For a person who has never worked out and who desires the health benefits of increasing their strength, they may begin with just a few pounds. As they continue, the amounts they began with will feel insignificant in comparison to the heavy amounts they are now able to lift.

Similarly, beginning the memorization of the Qur’an seems difficult. One verse, two verses, may take a long time to memorize correctly; getting the pronunciation down perfectly may take years, remembering the order of the words may be a frustrating task. However, when one commits to it and makes it a part of their daily responsibilities, it becomes easier and easier. The two verses that took an hour to memorize will turn into the memorization of one entire page in fifteen minutes.

The Qur’an is easy and The One Who revealed the Qur`an tells us, “And We have certainly made the Qur’an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?” (Qur`an, 54:17). It just takes dedication, commitment and time. Even if it takes you, as it took me, seven years, ten years, fifteen years, imagine being able to say, “I had a seven-year memorization relationship with the Qur’an and the quality of my life improved in every second. Now that I’m finished, an incredibly exciting chapter of our long-term, eternal relationship is about to begin!”

We all seek for our hearts to be in a state of contentment, tranquility and ease. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala tells us, “Those who believe, and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah, verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest,” (Qur‘an, 13: 28).

The best form of remembrance is that of the Qur`an. Will you allow your heart to find rest through it?

Using mp3 tracks similar to the ones below, you can do this exercise:

1. Create mp3′s of your favourite reciter that cover 1 page of the Quran per track. I love Sh Abu Bakr Ash Shatiri. Make sure they only cover 1 page though (I had to create the track below myself using audio editing software).

2. Set a countdown timer to 1 hour, or however long you feel like doing it for.

3. Play the track on repeat & follow along with the Shaykh – going through the page over & over again.

It may seem like 1 hour is a long time to just go over 1 page. If you did 1 page a day, at that rate it would take you over a year and a half just to complete the Quran. However, in that year and a half you would have completed the Quran about 20 times, not just once!!

Most people try to read 2 pages of the Quran per day, and complete the Quran in just under a year, and still aren’t very fluent at reciting it. Using this strategy, you’ll complete the Quran 20 times in a year and a half. Once again, this website is being true to its name

Quran Page 50 – 3_1-9

What is Taqwa?

I define ‘taqwa’ as ‘conscious power’. You may have seen some Quran translations describe it as ‘God-consciousness’. While this is pointing in the same direction, it also lacks something. The actual word ‘taqwa’ does not contain the concept of ‘Allah’ within it. If you want to say ‘be conscious of Allah’, you say ‘itaq Allah’ (imperative tense). In that sense, taqwa is consciousness. The more you are conscious and aware, the closer you get to Allah. There is another subtlety in the word ‘taqwa’. The Arabic word for ‘strength’ is ‘quwwa’, which is contained within ‘taqwa’. Taqwa means having the inner strength to do what you need to do in any given circumstance. This brings us to my definition. Taqwa is ‘conscious power’. The conscious use of your God-given strength.

So, why build up your taqwa?

How does it enhance your life? Well, first and foremost, the Quran states that if you have no taqwa, the gates to divine guidance are closed to you. So are the gates to success in life. And the gates to Paradise. The opening line of the second Surah of the Quran, Surah al-Baqara, is a response the prayer in the first Surah, al-Fatiha, which we recite at least 17 times a day in prayer: “guide us to the straight path”. The response is:

“This is the book without doubt in it is guidance for those with taqwa”.

If you want to access the wisdom and guidance of the Almighty through the Quran, you need to build up your inner-taqwa. This makes perfect sense. It takes time, discipline, focus and study to access the treasures of the Quran. I do my best to short-cut this for you as far as I can, but in reality you need to build up your taqwa so you can engage with the Quran yourself.

Taqwa enhances your life. Building your personal level of conscious power is the most empowering thing you can do. It means building up your ability to take control of your life. When you have a high level of conscious power, you can do anything. You simply need to think up a goal, commit to it, and make it happen. No wimping out of fear, no giving in to laziness – those factors won’t affect you when you up enough taqwa.

How To Build Your Taqwa

If we acknowledge that taqwa is your conscious power, building it becomes easy. Let me give you an example: Have you ever had the feeling that you ‘cant be bothered’ praying? Have you ever prayed anyway? If so, you exercised your taqwa. And I bet you felt a million times better afterwards. That wasn’t by accident. You earned and deserved the right to feel good because you exercised your taqwa, and it grew.

Think of taqwa like a muscle. To grow a muscle, you need to exercise it. Specifically, you need to lift a weight and take it to the point of ‘momentary muscle failure’ – the point at which you exert full effort but you cannot physically bring the weight all the way up. If you don’t reach that point in your weight training, your muscles just won’t grow. It’s the same with taqwa. It requires progressive training.

To build your personal conscious power, you need to decide to do something. It could be anything you know you need to do. It could be a religious or spiritual action like prayer or reading the Quran. Or, it could be something less glamourous like cleaning your bedroom. Once you’ve decided what you need to do and when you need to do it, if you follow through, you will build your taqwa. If you do not, you’ll get a little bit weaker on the inside.

Instituting 5 daily prayers into the religion of Islam was beyond genius – it was Divine. If your life feels like it’s in a mess, pray. Five times. On time. Within a couple of days, I bet you’ll feel differently about your situation. It’s almost like something magical happens. In fact, something magical does happen. Through prayer, as the most symbolic example, you transform yourself from the inside out by building your taqwa. With that higher level of personal conscious power, you now have the inner strength and focus to tackle whatever life throws at you next. If you’ve ever done this, you know from your own experience that it is true, and it works. If you haven’t, try it out and see for yourself.

Salah isn’t the only way to build your taqwa. You can literally pick any goal you’re working on. A great way to do this is to figure out what the ‘frog’ is. Brian Tracy, a famous personal development author has a book called ‘eat that frog’. The idea is simple. If one day you lose a bet (or something more Islamically equivalent!) and the punishment is that you have to eat a frog, when is the best time to do it? The later you leave it, the worse your day will get as you’ll be pre-occupied and you won’t be conscious (have taqwa) throughout the day.

If on the other hand, you eat that frog first thing in the morning for breakfast, how will the rest of your day be? Freakin’ Phenomenal! You’ll be able to do anything life or work throws at you that day, and you’ll be completely focused and on the ball. You’ll arrive at work feeling like a champion. You’ll be fully conscious all day. You’ll be living with taqwa.

Figure out what your frog is right now, and go do it. Then comment below to inspire other busy people with your story of how building your taqwa is improving your life.

As far as Islam is concerned, it must be noted that Arab and Muslim majority societies are seriously lacking in spirituality. There is not a deficit of “religion” but of spiritual life. It can be encountered among Islamists, as well as among secularists and ordinary citizens. Religion refers to the framework, to the structure of ritual, to the rights and obligations of believers and, as such, lies at the heart of social and political debate. In the classical Islamic tradition, framework, reference and practices can — like all religions and spiritual traditions — be best seen in the light of their relation to meaning (here, to the Divine), to a conception of life and death, to the life of the heart and mind. Contemporary Islamic discourse has, however, too often lost its substance, which is that of meaning, of understanding ultimate goals and the state of the heart. Increasingly, it has been reduced to reactivity, preoccupied with the moral protection of the faithful, based on the reiteration of norms, rituals and, above all, prohibitions. But spirituality is not faith without religion; it is the quest for meaning and peace of heart as the essence of religion. Viewed in this light, Muslim majority societies are profoundly bereft of serenity, coherence and peace. The time has come for a spiritual and religious emancipation.

The decline of Islamic civilisation, followed by colonialism, has left its mark, as has the experience of political and cultural resistance. The way in which religion, and the Islamic reference, are understood was gradually adapted to the requirements of resistance: for both traditional Muslim scholars (ulama) and Islamist movements (which often began with mystical aspirations) moral norms, rules pertaining to food, dress and strict observance of ritual have come increasingly to the fore as means of self-assertion, in direct proportion to the danger of cultural colonialism and alienation perceived and experienced in Arab societies. Caught up in political resistance, Islamist movements have gradually focused their attention on questions of a formal nature, setting aside the spiritual core of religious practice. Between the rhetoric of traditional religious authorities and institutions, and that of the Islamists, whether narrowly rigorous in outlook or hypnotized by political liberation, ordinary citizens are offered few answers to their spiritual pursuit of meaning, faith, the heart and peace.

A yawning void has opened up; mystical (Sufi) movements have re-emerged, some of them respectful of norms, some fraudulent, in what is often an approximate answer to popular aspirations. The Sufi movements or circles are diverse, and often provide a kind of exile from worldly affairs, in contrast to ritualistic traditionalism or to Islamist activism. Focus upon yourself, they urge; upon your heart and inner peace; stay far away from pointless social and political controversy. A specific feature of mystical circles is that they bring together — though in physically separate groups — educated elites in quest of meaning as well as ordinary citizens, including the poorest, who feel a need for reassurance that verges on superstition. Their teachings are, more often than not, general and idealistic, far removed from the complexities of reality; politically, they sometimes voice passive or explicit support for ruling regimes, even dictatorships.

Furthermore, a substantial number of Sufi circles yield to the double temptation of the cult of the personality of the shaikh or guide (murshid) and the infantilisation of the initiates (murîd): the latter may be highly educated, hold high rank in the social hierarchy, yet at the same time place their hearts, minds and even their lives in the hands of a guide who, it is claimed, represents the ultimate path to fulfillment. This culture of disempowerment strangely echoes the fashions of the day: a combination of withdrawal from the world and living in a kind of existential confusion between emotional outpouring (the spectacle of effusiveness towards and reverence for Sufi elders can be disturbing, disquieting and dangerous) and a demanding spiritual initiation. Such initiation should be liberating, open the door to autonomy through mastery of the ego and lead to coherence between the private and public life. But what emerge instead are parallel lives: a so-called Sufi spirituality allied to egocentric, greedy, self-interested and occasionally immoral social and political behavior. Arab elites and middle classes find such behavior to their advantage, as do socially fragile sectors of the population.

Between the overbearing ritualism of official religious institutions and the obsessive politicisation of Islamist leaders the thirst for meaning, which finds its expression in cultural and religious references, seeks for ways to express itself. Mysticism sometimes provides the solution. But careful thought should be given to the real-life impact of such phenomena as they relate to the crisis of spirituality and therefore of religion. In every case, the teachings propounded do not encourage the autonomy, well-being and confidence of human beings in their everyday individual and social lives. In their formalism and concentration upon norms, the traditional institutions that represent or teach Islam reproduce a double culture of prohibition and guilt. The religious reference is transformed into a mirror in which the believers are called upon to judge themselves for their own deficiencies: such rhetoric can generate nothing more than unease. The Islamist approach, which seeks to free society from foreign influence, has in the long run brought forth a culture of reaction, differentiation and frequently of judgment: who is a Muslim, what is Islamic legitimacy, etc. It sometimes casts itself as victim; even in the way it asserts itself against the opposition. Social and political activism prevails over spiritual considerations; the struggle for power has sometimes eclipsed the quest for meaning.

By way of response to this void, the majority of mystical movements and circles have called upon their initiates to direct their attention inwards, towards themselves, their hearts, their worship and their inner peace. Around them has arisen a culture of isolation, social and political passivity and loss of responsibility, as though spirituality were somehow necessarily opposed to action. Still, it must be noted that a large number of Sufi circles do speak out on social and political issues, and actually encourage their followers to speak out on social and political matters, and to become actively involved in society. Between the culture of prohibition and guilt and that of reaction and victimisation, between abandonment of responsibility and isolationism, what options remain for the Arab world to reconcile itself to its cultural, religious and spiritual heritage? What must be done to propound a culture of well-being, autonomy and responsibility?

There is a need to rediscover and reclaim the spirituality that permeates Eastern cultures, and that lies at the heart of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions, a consideration that today’s social and political uprisings can ill afford to neglect. For there can be no viable democracy, no pluralism in any society without the well-being of individuals, the citizens and the religious communities.

As time goes on, it will be increasingly difficult for Britain to uphold its value of ‘multi-culturalism’ amidst such diametrically opposed world views. The more legislation that comes in to govern Muslims, the more strength is given to the marginal Muslim right wing. As well as falsely believing that all non-Muslim Westerners will and should go to Hell, they hide behind arguments of liberalism and freedom, but in reality would love to not only see women in niqab, but taken out of the workforce altogether (never mind paid equally!). The fact that niqabis find it very difficult to get jobs is a win-win for them.

Well, fear not, for I have the solution.

Trust me, this plan is flawless…

The safest way to protect the rights of Muslim women who choose to wear niqab is for all of us to get together in one voice and campaign for the rights… of nudists.

Well, hear me out.

The weakest argument for niqab in the West is that ‘Islam says so’. This is weak for 2 reasons. 1 – no it doesn’t. 2 – so what if it does? We’re in a secular country, where the vast majority of people do not believe in Islam, and if we took a poll right now, most of them would probably agree that as far as dress-codes go, this one’s rather ugly, maybe even abhorrent. This entire line of argument leads us down the wrong path – trying to get people to feel sorry for Muslims because we’re victimised and nobody truly understands us. How undignified!

The strongest argument for niqab in the ‘free’ West is that women should have the right to wear whatever they choose to. It is simply not the government’s role to interfere with the way we dress. There is another group of British people who couldn’t agree more with this argument. Nudists.

If we are truthful in our claim that the reason women should be allowed to wear niqab is that the government shouldn’t interfere with the way we dress, and women should be free to wear whatever they want, then surely, it would be nothing short of hypocritical for us not to support nudism.

Personally, I’m completely pro-niqabi… and pro-nudist.

Now, to be fair, I don’t particularly want to see nudists walking around on the streets. I have a feeling there would be more Billy Connelly’s than Jessica Alba’s. But then, I’d rather not see niqabis on the streets of Britain either if I’m totally honest. But, my personal preferences really aren’t the point. The point is I’d be willing to do just about anything to protect your right to look how you want to look and wear what you want to wear while out in public.

Now let’s say we do somehow do manage to get these two groups of people to team up and campaign together. I believe several excellent things will happen.

Firstly, we would have an incredibly strong, consistent and internally logical political argument based on integrity, not hypocrisy. It’s called ‘liberalism’. It means you can do pretty much anything you want, as long as you’re not harming anyone, and as long as you don’t mind me doing whatever I want, too. This works out great for Muslims who want to freely practice all aspects of Islam, according to any interpretation they want. It doesn’t work out so well for Muslims who want to make everyone else follow their interpretation of Islam, too. I like to think of political liberalism as the government’s way of upholding the Islamic value of ‘free will’. In this sense, all niqab-wearers in Britain are either politically liberal or complete hypocrites, whether they realise it or not.

Secondly, what a brilliant conversation that would be! Can you even imagine walking through Covent Gardens and seeing a nudist sitting at a table, having a cup of tea and crumpets… with a niqabi? I can. I call it “Great Britain”. Although right now it’s more likely to happen in someone’s back garden than in the city centre, I can even imagine how that conversation might go. Nudist: “Why do you dress like that? Are Muslim women really all oppressed.” Niqabi: “Actually love, the government allows me to wear my outfit. One of us two certainly is oppressed!”

Third, let me pre-empt something. I can almost hear the cries of Muslim women saying “But I don’t want my children to see people walking around with no clothes on!”. That’s the point. There are a lot of people who don’t want to see you dress the way you do either. Does that mean you shouldn’t be allowed to? I don’t think so. I think we need to learn to live together.

Finally, even if you disagree with everything else in this article, you’ve got to agree with this: “Niqabis And Nudists” – Best. Reality. TV Show. Ever.

The Quran is unequivocal about one thing: true believers (mu’minun) earn and deserve their place in Heaven and ‘Kafirs’ earn and deserve their place in Hell. I couldn’t agree more with this concept. All virtuous qualities, all noble values are assigned to the Quran’s description of the ‘believer’ and all vices and human faults that cause harm are assigned to the Quran’s description of the ‘disbeliever’ or ‘kafir’. Which begs the question…

What Is A ‘Kafir’?

There are two ways to explain the word ‘kafir’. The way the Quran actually uses the term, and the way Muslims commonly use it. Linguistically and spiritually, there is immense beauty in the way the Quran uses the term ‘kafir’. A ‘kafir’ is literally ‘one who covers or hides’. It is the active participle of the word ‘ka-fa-ra’ and refers to a farmer who’s job it is to cover up and protect his crop from the elements. So, the spiritual meaning of the ‘kafir’ is the one who covers up and hides the truth. My preferred translation: ‘the one who is in denial’.

This is the ultimate sin of the heart – having the truth in front of you, and even acknowledging that it is the truth, but denying it and hiding it because you might lose something – wealth, status or power – if you accept it. This was the main reason that during his time, some people did not follow Muhammad, peace & blessings be upon him.

Unfortunately, the way Muslims have come to use the term ‘kafir’ is very different from the way the Quran uses it. Muslims, originally for legal purposes, and now out of habit and social conditioning, have come to use the word ‘kafir’ to refer to anyone who is not Muslim. This is the beginning of a multitude of social problems Muslims face in the West.

Who Is A True Kafir?

The key distinction we need to draw for the Quranic concept of ‘kufr’ to have any relevance in real life is: we don’t know who is which. And we won’t know, until the Day of Judgement, at which point we won’t be concerned with anyone but ourselves.

It is a fatal error for Muslims, especially those in the West, to assume that:

a) All Muslims are ‘believers’ as the Quran describes them

b) All those who are not Muslim are ‘kafirs’ as the Quran describes them.

Unfortunately, the majority of Muslims – students and teachers – particularly in the Muslim world, make this generalisation all the time, as though it’s a fact, and as though if you challenge this misconception there would be a fault with your own faith.

This idea is completely wrong, and actually quite dangerous when taken to its logical conclusion. I can’t imagine how closed minded I would have to be, and how much hate I would need to harbour in my heart, in order to believe that my next door neighbours and dear beloved friends who are not Muslims, are actually “kafirs”, in the Quranic sense of the word. That 2 dimensional world view has lead to some disastrous consequences – including terrorism. No terrorist could kill innocent non-Muslims without first making the huge leap to equating “non-Muslim” to “kafir”.

If all Muslims were ‘true believers’ as the Quran describes them, we would never miss a prayer, we would all understand and purify ourselves through the Quran on a daily basis, we would never cheat in business, avoid taxes, touch intoxicants, fornicate, or commit adultery and we would all give to charity, help the needy, bring up orphans, and… you get the point. This is obviously not a reflection of reality.

If all non-Muslims were ‘kafirs’, then upon reading the Quran we would have to conclude that they are ignorant, arrogant, evil people who seek the destruction of Earth for no reason other than selfish greed. This is an equally inaccurate view of reality, if we take a look at the ‘non-Muslims’ all around us.

Many Muslims would agree that it’s true that not all Muslims are ‘believers’ as many Muslims profess faith, but their faith is weak or they don’t believe at all, which places them under the 3rd category that the Quran is explicit about: hypocrites.

However, there is a 4th category that we’re missing out on here. It’s a category that the Quran alludes to but remains silent about. It’s a category that the majority of people on the planet fall under. Think about this for a minute:

• Believers are those that are Muslims and embody the noble qualities the Quran encourages
• Kafirs are those that are not Muslims and embody the harmful vices the Quran discourages
• Hypocrites are those that claim to be Muslim and embody the harmful vices the Quran discourages
• What’s missing?

Obviously, those that are not Muslim, but embody the noble qualities the Quran commends. What does the Quran say about these people (that might make up a few billion of our sisters and brothers in humanity today)? Nothing. At the most the Quran alludes to their existence, but doesn’t actually say anything about them – there’s especially no mention of whether or not they go to Heaven or Hell.

Why?

That’s a great question. My theory is that the Quran doesn’t talk about this category specifically because, in reality no-one falls under this 4th category. We ALL fall under ALL of the first 3 categories – Muslim or not. Let me explain…

Being born into a Muslim family isn’t enough to make you a ‘true’ believer as the Quran talks about believers. If it did, we wouldn’t need to fast or pray or do good, we would have a free ride to Paradise. That would be great for me – not so great for my friend Jonny Raynor who grew up down the street from me. Unfortunately virtually every page of the Quran emphasises that this is not the case. You simply cannot read the Quran and come away with the idea that because you were born into a certain family, you are saved. To the contrary, by talking about Heaven and Hell, the Quran emphasises that you must take full responsibility for every decision you make. Your choices must be conscious, as there will be consequences both material and spiritual, in this life and the Next – regardless of your colour, caste, tribe, family, etc.

Similarly, being born into a non-Muslim family just isn’t enough to make you ‘kafir’. You don’t get a free ride to Hell just because you were placed in the wrong club from birth. It doesn’t work that way – at least not from the Quran’s point of view. To get to Hell you need to do some seriously messed up, evil things and feel no remorse about them. Or let them happen in front of you and be silent, allowing your soul to decay a little each day on the inside (remember Nazi Germany?).

As for the ‘hypocrites’, well, in a way, we’re all hypocrites. We all have social masks we use to hide our true selves from other people. We all crave to have the people around us think of us as ‘good’ – we all want people to ‘like’ us. As a result, we sometimes make how other people see us a far more important part of our lives than how Allah sees us.

In reality, every one of us, Muslim or not, has all 3 archetypes living inside of us right now. As we read the Quran we’re brought face to face with the best and worst parts of ourselves. By making us face all parts of ourselves, the Quran purfies our inner ‘kufr’ and increases our spiritual strength & resolve.

Do Non-Muslims Go To Heaven?

This is a dumb question. You might as well ask: “does a human being go to Heaven?” Like I mentioned earlier, we all fit into one or more of the 3 categories laid out at the beginning of the Quran: true believer, kafir (rejector; one in denial of truth), or hypocrite. So a non-Muslim, just like a Muslim will be judged by the only One who can judge – the One who can see right through us. The One who happens to be the All-Loving, All-Knowing, All-Wise.

That being said, is it possible for someone who is not Muslim to fall under the Quranic description of the ‘believer’? From experience, I can safely say ‘yes!’. I know plenty of people who pray, meditate, fast, are extremely ethical and conscious of what they feed their bodies with, are constantly seeking answers to the big questions in life and yet are not Muslim because they were not born into Muslim families. Many of these people do not follow any religion, and some of them are atheists, sincerely seeking meaning in life. It seems obvious to me that if that person knew what I know of the Quran, they would believe in it whole-heartedly. If they were brought up how I was, and taught the Quran the way I was, of course they would believe in it as I do!

Ultimately, I can’t see into their hearts – only Allah can. I don’t know if I or they are true believers. Only Allah does.

We simply do not know who goes to Heaven or Hell. This knowledge is reserved for Allah alone.

So, whether you call yourself a Muslim or not, and whether you act in front of others as a Muslim or not, the Quran is drawing our attention to something much deeper, much more spiritual, and truly universal that goes on inside every one of us:

The ongoing battle between light and darkness within ourselves. The fight between the truth of who we really are, and the false images and masks we put on so people will like us. The struggle to do what is best for ourselves and humanity in the long term, versus the easy path of seeking our short-term selfish interests and immediate pleasures. This is the true battle between Islam and Kufr and it rages on inside each of us – Muslim or not.

I wanted to go back to sleep but wasn’t really tired. I knew that if I ate an unhealthy breakfast that surge of calories would probably make me feel sleepy enough to knock myself out. From there, I would stay in bed for as long as possible. I realised that I could go and spend the entire day in bed, but then, what would I be hiding from? Reality. Hiding from Reality, or being in denial, is what the Quran calls ‘kufr’.

But, then I remembered something that gave me a little jolt. I remembered that all of these distractions are just there to take me away from the way I’m feeling right now, in this moment. Then I embraced the present moment and felt everything that was going in inside me – the tiredness, the aches, the fear surging through my body. Upon doing this, I had a glimpse of clarity and realised something very scary: I have complete and total freedom in my life.

This sounds like a good thing, but it’s scary as Hell.

Imagine having complete freedom. You can do literally anything you want. What do you do with that gift? Go and study the Quran? Learn a martial art? Go out and socialise? You need unwrap layers upon layers of social conditioning to even get close to experiencing true freedom, from the inside out. And when you get here, it is frightening. It’s frightening because you realise something you’ve known all along: you, and no-one else will be responsible for every decision you make and every action you take. You can no longer blame your family, community, school or friends for the way your life will turn out. It’s all down to you.

Still experiencing the present moment, and still feeling awful, I decided to face myself. I knew that if I could face this very moment with all my presence, all of the negativity would disintegrate.

“Evil cannot look upon itself and survive.”

This is a spiritual principle that can you can use to pull yourself out of a negative spin. Trying to think positively when you’re going through a rough spot is like trying to drive a car without a steering wheel. Instead, do this:

1. Go to a mirror, and look at yourself directly in the eyes.

2. Keep looking directly into your own eyes for about 15 minutes.

At first, you’ll immediately try to look away, or find small things to distract your vision. Next, you might think ‘this is stupid’, and quite soon a barrage of negative thoughts will stream through: “you’re so ugly”; “who the hell do you think you are?”; “you’ve got a big nose”; “no-one likes you, and why would they?”

But pretty soon, these thoughts pass and they almost seem silly. Evil cannot look upon itself and survive.

Next up, you’ll be more present and start to notice negative feelings inside your body. These are the feelings you’ve been avoiding; the feelings that make you want to go straight back into bed; the feelings that you’ll surf the web or watch TV to avoid. The key here is to keep your eyes fixated and allow the feelings to come up, be felt, and let them pass in their own sweet time. They will leave as easily as they came up.

Next, you will feel a lot lighter and, keeping your eyes fixed on yourself you may have a few positive thoughts, or just see things much more clearly. At this point I saw new solutions to the problems that made me feel bad in the first place, and my perspective on the entire thing changed. What’s interesting is that no amount of rationalising or thinking about the situation would ever have had this effect of clarity, as my ego and negative emotions were still caught up in it.

Finally, you feel much, much better. Like a heavy insurmountable weight was just lifted. Now go and pray and you’ll notice the difference. Now go and get to work on the solutions or next step, and the quality of that work will increase beyond measure, because you’re doing it from a space self-love, not inner fear.

Next time you’re in a tail-spin of negativity, do this exercise, or come back and read this article if it helps you. You need to face your deepest fears before you can become the best possible version of yourself. Often this fear is hiding under layers of other emotions. The only way to release them is to face them.

In fact, it kind of makes you wonder what would happen if you wrote down all of the laws apparent in the Quran upon your reading of it and tried to follow them literally. Maybe nothing would happen – maybe you already do.

To the most part, I’ve avoided the question. That’s partly because I keep re-focusing people towards their primary goal (Quranic Arabic) and partly because I haven’t seen a particularly effective method of learning Modern Standard Arabic that I can easily recommend. (Okay, I have come across a couple of phenomenal teachers, including Professor Muhammad Mustafa who teaches in Paris, and other teachers in Egypt – but none that I could easily recommend to people in the UK). Trust me when I say, I’m saving you a lot of hassle by not recommending the SOAS diploma and the accompanying, infamous ‘Green Books.’

Recently a friend of mine, Arslan, who also studied Arabic at SOAS showed me his big project. It’s awesome, and it solves the problem of wanting to learn Modern Arabic in an effective immersion environment. Click here to enrol in it, if you’re in London. I know a couple of the teachers and they’re great!

Immersion

If you want to learn a new language, you need to pick up a lot of vocabulary. The slow, lame way of doing this is to sit there with a really big vocabulary list and try to memorise all the words. The quick, easy way is to immerse yourself totally in an environment where everyone is speaking the language. I’m currently learning Spanish using the immersion process. I have NEVER sat down to learn a vocabulary list, but I’m quite fluent in Spanish in most everyday situations. Of course, you can’t do that with Quranic Arabic… unless you have a time machine.

However, with MSA you can… but not in the Arab world. If you want to be in an environment of people speaking MSA, you basically need to be in a classroom where people, (especially the teacher) speak it. If you go to the Arab world, most people will understand MSA but will speak to you in a local dialect. This is pretty much useless to you if your objective is to learn MSA. Once you know MSA, you’ll be able to pick up the dialect after a few months – depending on which country you’re in.

This course gives you a strong element of immersion, as far as possible, to help you pick up vocabulary and get you using it… BUT, it also teaches Arabic grammar in a structured way. That way, you get the best of both worlds.

Structure

What I love most about this course is the simple, effective structure. There are 2 lessons per week – 3 hours per week total. In one month you cover 1 level. There are 5 basic levels, 5 intermediate and 5 advanced levels, so you could complete the entire course in 15 months – a year and a bit.

Ever see a Woody Allen movie? My favourite quote of his is “80% of success is just showing up”.

If you take this course, to be successful, all you need to do is basically show up for class. The teachers will take care of the rest. If you’re starting from scratch (which you’re probably not), in 5 months time, you’d be ready to go to an Arab country and get around with basic introductory conversations, ordering food and stuff like that.

In another 5 months, you’re Arabic would be quite advanced – about GCSE level. In fact, they give you the option of actually taking GCSE Arabic at that point. When you get to that level, if all you do is converse in MSA with Arabs, you could probably get away with no further study. It depends on how precise you want your language to get. I’m guessing by the time you get to this point, you’ll probably just want to go the whole 9 yards – stay in class for another 5 months and get your A-Level in Arabic.

Will you be able to read the Quran and understand it at that point?

Yes, and no. You’ll still lack Quranic vocabulary, but you won’t require further Arabic study. At this point, you could just go through a word-for-word translation of the Quran, learn the extra vocab, one page at a time, and get reading. Basically, using the method I recommend, the day after you finish this course, you’d be able to start reading the Quran with understanding, 1 page at a time – you’d just have to learn a few words of  Quranic vocabulary before reading each page, which is very easy to do. Contact me then, and I’ll show you videos that walk you through it.

So, again, if understanding the Quran is your primary goal, learning the everyday MSA vocabulary isn’t the quickest way to do it. However, all Arabic grammar is the same – modern or classical. So, everything you do to learn Arabic will help, not hurt, your goal of understanding the Quran.

What you will be able to do at that point is kind of cool though. You’ll have a lot of vocabulary that’s not in the Quran but that you might find in hadith, and will certainly find if you listen to Islamic lectures in Arabic. You’ll also be able to do something that I can no longer do – speak to people in MSA. I can read the Quran with understanding, but I haven’t spoken MSA in a long time. If I was in London, I’d probably join you on this course to refresh the everyday Arabic that I lost.

So, in case you haven’t already, enrol in the Alif Arabic Institute course by clicking here!

The easiest, most lucrative and deceptive way for me to continue this Quran For Busy People movement would be to pretend that I am indeed a pseudo-scholar who is free from sin and temptation. All I’d really need to do is give eloquent lectures, throw in some words of Quranic Arabic that the make me sound like I know what I’m talking about, and hold up an image of a young, hip Maulana. I already tick all those boxes. If I really wanted you to think of me that way, I might even grow a beard, and wear Arabesque clothes.

But, if I did that, I’d be lying to you and to myself. So, let me give you a clearer picture of the way my life really looks, and let you know something very personal about me that may cause some of the more self-righteous & judgemental readers to protest.

In fact, I’ve been embarrased and ashamed of you finding this out about me, even though I have no problem with Allah knowing. When you fear people rather than Allah, you are being insincere and fake. And, soon, you start living a double life. You act one way in front of one group of people (like your non-Muslim friends) and another way in front of other people (like the Muslim community). That’s a formula for headaches and internal conflicts that you really don’t need.

My mission in life requires me to be completely congruent – to be one way with everyone, come what may.

So, you want to know my deep, dark secret…?

Here goes…

I hang out in bars. And every once in a while, if I feel like it, I’ll even go into a club to dance.

Yikes! I guess that means I need to hand over any remnant of religious authority to the next young religious-leader wannabe.

Now, if you have a strong urge to email me or post some “advice”, don’t bother. I’m not going to stop, unless I feel like it.  If that means you don’t want to read this blog any more, so be it. But before you delete me from your bookmarks, know this…

I’ve never been more connected with Allah, or understood the Quran more deeply than I do right now. I’ve never taken Salah more seriously than I do right now. I’m definitely much closer to Allah, and remember Allah much more than I did when I was a student leading the Islamic Society at university – even though I never went to pubs or clubs during that phase of my life. I realise that this might be annoying for you to hear, and it might conflict with your world-view.

“After all,” you may be wondering, “how is it possible that someone who studies the Quran in its original Arabic and prays regularly and consistently can break all social conventions and go to places where alcohol is served?”

Well, there are a lot of factors to consider, besides the fact that I’m a ‘sinner’ – factors more to do with my personal life than the Quran and Sunnah…

1. I wasn’t brought up in a particularly religious family (although kudos to my blessed mother who started becoming religious around the same time I did, but for very different reasons)
2. I’ve been going to pubs since I was a kid, and never had any issue being around people who drink alcohol without drinking it myself
3. I believe that if something is religiously and spiritually important, it is addressed directly in the Quran. Drinking alcohol is addressed, but hanging out with friends in a place where people drink is not. (Note: This isn’t to say it’s halal or haram – just that it’s not that important to me… and its completely okay if you don’t agree with me).
4. If I’d had some problem with alcohol in the past, before I became ‘religious’, I probably wouldn’t go near a pub. I would probably keep out of an environment of temptation. When I’m on a diet, I don’t go near a McDonalds or down the ‘confectionary’ isle in Tescos. But, I’ve honestly never even been tempted to drink. And my friends who are not Muslim completely respect that.
5. I hang out more with non-Muslims of all backgrounds than with Muslims, and I do that on purpose. I find that spending time with people who are all from one background severely limits my ability to consciously grow into the best possible version of myself.
6. This is definitely not a peer pressure thing. If I didn’t want to go to public houses, I wouldn’t. From my personal experience, I just don’t see the harm in it.
7. A few weeks ago I went to a pub just to get out of the house, and found myself sitting on a table for several hours, sipping on sparkling water, reading a book on the life of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. I didn’t even notice the irony of that situation until a friend later joined me and pointed it out.

Now, does this mean that I’m incapable of being a Quran Coach? And does it mean that I recommend everybody starts going to pubs and clubs…?

Well, to answer the first question, I’m afraid that I am the Quran Coach, I invented the concept of Quran Coaching and in the future, if Allah wills it, there will be more Quran Coaches, who will most likely have been trained by me. Deal with it.

It may reassure you to know however, that during Quran Coaching I do not actually ‘teach’ the Quran, and I certainly don’t impose my crazy view of the world onto a student. Rather, I empower students to learn ancient Arabic so they can read the Quran for themselves, like I do.

Many of my students are far more conservative than me, and probably wouldn’t touch a pub with a barge pole. As a coach, I respect your model of the world. That doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. You’ll probably struggle to find one individual Muslim who shares all of your beliefs and rules. You may agree on the big stuff, but the more detailed you get, the more you’ll find to disagree on.

This really isn’t about being right or wrong. It’s about being honest. With all the articles on this blog about how to study the Quran and effective strategies on how to improve your dhikr and salah, I didn’t want to lead you on to believe I’m something that I’m not.

So, does this mean that I recommend everybody starts going to pubs and clubs? Absolutely not. It’s not my job to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. It’s your job to make those decisions, and no one else’s. No one is going to stand in front of Allah in your place on the Day of Judgement – certainly not me.

What I would highly recommend, however, is some introspection. Do you act completely congruently with everyone you are with? Do you talk to non-Muslims about Islam differently to how you would talk with your Muslim friends? Do you have a large number of non-Muslim friends? Do you have any? Is that the way you want it?

Do your parents or family know what you get up to when you’re not at home? Are you afraid of them finding out? Do you ever find yourself hiding pictures on Facebook because you’re afraid of a certain group of people seeing them?

If you don’t like your honest answers to these questions, the problem may be that you have too many social masks. I’ve had the same problem. When people know you’re ‘religious’ they make all sorts of false assumptions about you, and then you don’t want to disappoint them.

It can be scary to show people the real you. But, if you fear anything other than Allah, it may be time to make some changes.