For busy professionals, finding time for our Quran studies can seem like mission impossible. With running a business or working a 9-5 job, spending time with family, trying to stay in reasonable shape, personal goals with no major worldly-reward like studying the Quran, fall to the wayside.

There are a lot of strategies I’ve been experimenting with and sharing on this blog for many years to help myself and others overcome this problem, such as gradually building the Daily Quran Habit. However, in this article, I’m going to share a totally different idea that’s had a transformative impact on my connection and relationship with the Quran. 

The problem with finding time to ’study’ the Quran, is that we’re unconsciously putting the Quran in the category of ‘hard work’. Most of us don’t love ’studying’ after a hard day’s work. Heck, most of us don’t like studying even on a day off. As long as we think of it as our ‘Quran Studies’, we’re stuck in the box of trying to force ourselves to do something we really don’t want to do. 

As long as we think and feel that the Quran is something we don’t want to do (when in reality we do want the benefits, connection and divine blessings that come with it), we’re going to struggle and most likely fail to ever make time for it. 

What if the Quran wasn’t hard work? What if we don’t ’study’ the Quran, but instead really fall in love with it and enjoy spending time with it. This happens by default when we stop thinking of the Quran as a ’subject’ in a classroom and start thinking of it as a friend. Literally.

Making Friends With The Quran

You make time to spend with friends and family that you love hanging out with, right? And it probably (hopefully!) doesn’t feel like a chore or like hard work. You finish up with work and travel somewhere to meet up with them. You look forward to your days off just so you can go see them and hang out with them. What’s going on here? How come we look forward to, and love spending time with friends and hearing their stories and anecdotes… but when we think about the Quran our minds are filled with reactions like guilt and stress? 

There are a lot of reasons, and they might be different for everyone. Some people associate the Quran with angry, self-righteous preachers. Others have never really tried to understand what the Quran is saying, and might actually be afraid to find out, in case they don’t like or agree with the message. (Yikes, that could be inconvenient!). 

For many of us though, it’s probably just a quiet, unconscious, label we’ve put on the ‘Quran’ box in our heads. Instead of thinking of the Quran as a book to study, I invite you experiment with thinking of it as someone to hang out with. In a way, it kind of is. 

As you open the Quran, you’re instantly in the divine presence. You’re literally spending time with Allah, the Most Loving. And, you’re most likely surrounded by angels who may be listening in on your recitation and waiting for the perfect moment to inspire you with a life-changing insight. Blessings, love, and forgiveness are being poured over you, even if you’re not aware of it. Each verse, each letter has its own unique blessing that resonates with your soul. Each paragraph has layers of depth of meaning so profound that you’re almost guaranteed to have a perspective shift in each ‘conversation’ with the Quran. 

And perhaps best of all, you’re spending time with and giving life to, your true self. The part of you that’s always been deeply connected with Allah and has been longing to sing and chant the praises of Allah, so beautifully articulated in the Quran. 

I don’t know about you my friend, but to me, none of this sounds like ’studying’.