Quran Pocket Guide

permanently. This feeling engenders in him an inner divine state which has been described as piety in the Quran. The next most important virtue fasting produces in a man is the spirit of thanksgiving. A man remains hungry and thirsty all day until evening comes. He remains in this state until the sun sets. Now he breaks his fast and he eats and drinks to his fill. This custom of breaking the fast is as an experience that reminds a man of the reality of how great a blessing God has given to mankind in the form of food and water. And this experience of a blessing reminds a man of all the other blessings of God. He then filled with gratitude. The third quality which fasting infuses into a man is the spirit of prayer. The month of Ramadan is the month of spiritual training for the one keeping the fast. In this month a man, by bearing the trials of hunger and thirst, subdues the material aspect of his existence and develops its non-material aspect. The frequency of prayer awakens in him the feeling of total devotion to God. By reciting and listening to the Quran, he comes to understand its meanings. And the consciousness of God’s greatness is awakened in him. Thus he comes to fear, thank and glorify God. In this way, fasting enables a man to pray to God with sincerity. His prayer becomes one full of feeling; his prayer becomes that of a questing man; his prayer becomes the invocation of a man who has come very close to God. Importance of Praying to God “Recite what has been revealed to you of the book, and pray regularly. Surely prayer restrains one from indecency and evil and remembrance of God is greater. God has knowledge of all your actions.” (Al- ‘Ankabut 29:45) In this verse the sentence ‘Surely prayer restrains one from indecency and evil’ is the recognition of prayer rather than simply the result of prayer. The second sign of true prayer is that with it remembrance of God should become uppermost in the suppliant’s feelings. And the remembrance of God is undoubtedly the greatest of all the virtues. Prayer does not just have an external form but also an internal spirit. Whenever the spirit of prayer enters into the life of the worshipper. Certain cardinal virtues manifest themselves in him. The repetition of ‘Allah is great’ in prayer makes him feel small and insignificant. The recitation of the Quran in prayer awakens the consciousness of God in him. Bowing down and self-prostration in prayer engender in him the feeling of humility. Observing prayer behind an Imam teaches him the lesson of sociability. To say ‘Peace and the blessings of God be upon you’ at the end of prayer arouses in him the sentiment that the feeling of peace and blessings should well up in his heart for all the people of the world. Quran: A Cure for the Heart The Quran is the cure for any sickness of the heart. This means that when a true seeker recites the Quran, he will continually find answers to the questions he has in his heart during his recitation. He will also come to know the cure for the sickness of his heart. For example, a man may have all the material comforts, but he may not have mental peace; he lives in depression and despair. When such a person begins to recite the Quran and reaches this verse “those who believe and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance of God – surely in the remembrance of God hearts can find comfort;” he is startled and then he begins to reflect on this and even come to discover such a reality as was quite unknown to him before. This reality is that these material things are not any source of comfort: only the remembrance of God can bring comfort. There is, no doubt, a cure for human hearts in the Quran. But this cure is only for those who seek guidance for themselves from the Quran; that is to say, those who read the Quran with an open mind and are ready to accept the message of the Quran unconditionally. In this world only those can achieve a desired thing who are truly its seekers. The Status of Women in Islam