Reflecting on Verses

The bond to be established with the Qur'an should be based on understanding. Because without this, it is not possible to open the doors of knowledge and wisdom of the Qur'an. The Qur'an is a treasure of knowledge, wisdom and secrets. The keys to this treasure are to understand it and reflect on its verses.

There are some methods of concentrating attention on the verses. One of them is that the reader feels in his heart that the Qur'an comes from the Almighty Allah (swt) and is a unique blessing bestowed upon him. In addition, when the reader encounters an "command" or "prohibition" in the Qur'an, he should first think of himself as the addressee. Again, when a "good deed" or a "punishment" is mentioned in the verse, it should not be forgotten that it is the person himself who is given good news or warned. As a matter of fact, the following verse reminds us of this fact: "And do not take the verses of Allah in jest. And remember the favor of Allah upon you and what has been revealed to you of the Book and wisdom by which He instructs you."(Baqarah, 2/231) 

There are two ways to produce ideas on the Qur'an. The first is at the scholarly level. This is the work of scholars who know Arabic and have knowledge of interpreting the Qur'an. The second is the effort of an ordinary Muslim to benefit from the guidance of the Qur'an with his own efforts.

What interests us here is the effort of an ordinary Muslim to understand the Qur'an. While making this effort, of course, the tafsirs (interpretations) written by the scholars are used. But in order to make the Qur'an a part of our world of heart and mind, it is important that we try to understand the verses accompanied by tafsir. The annotative translations and tafsirs of the Qur'an written by reliable people during this study are our main reference sources.