2 – Why “I” need to read the Quran
So do I really need the Qur’ān? This is the question we need to genuinely ask.
A big part of the answer relies on understanding the most important part of the question itself, i.e. the word “I”.
The reason we realise our need for food, water, sleep and clothes is that we realise that we have a physical body which is in need of these things. However, is “I” only a physical body? If yes, then what use is there in reading a book, said to be sent down from the heavens in an Arabian desert over a thousand years ago, if that book doesn’t help me fulfill the needs of my physical body?! Why would anyone waste their time doing that?!
Who am I?
One of our most important needs (if not the most important) is the need to know our own self. The need for self-recognition. This need shows itself in the fact that over millennia, human beings have debated over what the reality of the human being is! It’s something we need to know.
And here the Qur’ān opens its wings and says to the human: “Read!” Yes, if you wish to recognize who you really are… then who better to ask than the One who created you?
So…
‘Read in the name of your Lord Who created!
Created man from a clot of blood
Read! Your Lord is Most Generous!
He taught man by means of the pen
He taught man what he knew not!’
By reciting the Qur’ān and pondering over its meaning, you are introduced to a new stranger: your own self!
It is then that you begin to feel a sense of honour and self-respect from within. Depression, anxiety and fear no longer hold meaning. Your life begins to gain direction. You understand your place in the world of existence. You know what you are able to become… and you can no longer spend a moment wasting your time on trivial matters. Every breath you take becomes a step towards accomplishing your tremendous mission.
You should now realise that you need to read the Qur’ān, simply because you need to know yourself!
