Do you sometimes feel lost and alone in today's chaotic world? During this holy month of Ramadan, embark on a journey of solace with "My Only Refuge". Each episode explores Quranic verses that illuminate God's refuge and protection, and therefore induce much needed hope and comfort. |
بسماللهالرحمنالرحیم اللهم صلّ علی محمدٍ و آلِ محمدٍ و عَجِّل فَرَجَهُم و أهلک عدوّهم أجمعین Script :We are grateful that once again we have been invited to God’s feast in this holy month of Ramadan. Insha’Allah we will be blessed with the opportunity to better contemplate God’s word during God’s feast. And hopefully become closer to His word and to Himself, benefitting more than before, insha’Allah.During this month of Ramadan, we want to focus on an important topic, a topic that preoccupies all our minds and hearts, and that is, who am I? What am I worth? Where have I come from? Although we might not express these thoughts openly, they are intellectual queries on our mind, and we hope we can find answers, so that we will leave this world with fewer regrets.The most important thing for me to cognize, is myself. But interestingly, this cognition totally depends on my cognition of my Creator, my Sustainer, the cognition of Him Whom I belong to and to Whom I will return. In our everyday life, when we own or want to buy an equipment, we want to know which country and which factory it has come from. Who was the producer? What is its brand? How credible is it and what guarantee does it have? Now, are we less than a piece of equipment? Have we never wondered to which factory we belong? Who has created us? Who are we affiliated to and dependent on? Who has guaranteed us and given us credibility? And this is where one becomes proud, wow, I was made by God. Can there be a higher honor than this?Knowing God is the noblest of knowledges, because it leads me to understanding myself. If you think about it, and some of you might have seen in narrations as well, understanding oneself and understanding God are very much intertwined. Now, to know God, where do you think we should start? Where is the logical point of departure?Reason tells us that to know God, we have to refer to His own word, and see how He has introduced and described Himself. Or if He has messengers, how do they refer to Him? What do they say? How do they connect and communicate with him? How do they pray to him? How do they perceive God? The most important issue regarding the cognition of God, is to know that He exists. This fact is depicted in God’s word as well as in the sayings of His messengers. When God and His messengers give an account of past events and of the destiny of past generations, one is clearly able to see the Presence of God. One of the realms where God’s presence can be felt, is within myself. I am able to find and see God within me. He sees me, He supports me, and if I trust Him, I will truly sense this supervision and support.In each of the thirty parts of the Holy Quran, we sought verses that assure us, more plainly and more directly, that God exists, and that He can be relied upon. And how joyful this life is for those who rely on Him, and how wretched a life it can be for those who do not.We gathered the verses, and there were many. Ultimately we tried to choose one in each part, from which we can obtain this meaning more easily. We had the chance to look up the words, interpretations, and the narrations related to each of the verses. Rather than adopting an approach that is more akin to scientific and academic discussions, the intention here is to reflect upon the verses with an emphasis on remembrance (تذکر), which is one of the principles of benefitting from the Holy Quran. Remembrance is in fact an essential characteristic of the Holy Quran (ذکری). We want to grasp something that sticks with us, and hopefully we will be awakened.Basically, over the course of this holy month of Ramadan, we want to see the Presence of God in our lives, and to taste the relief that comes with trusting Him. We want to yearn to rely on Him, and to feel His patronage. We hope this approach can strengthen our sense of God’s Presence and His closeness.To keep the episodes short, we have not gone into the detail of the verses and have not recited them. But we do urge you to look at the verses and recite them, and pursue this evoking approach while doing so. We hope we can hear God’s word with our hearts, insha’Allah |