Friday Special - What to Focus on after Focusing on God
I’ve shared quite a few blogs emphasizing that the core of Islam is found in your interaction with God. I do not know of any word in the Qur’an that is as repeated as the word “Allah.” In addition, the Qur’an cites and repeats over 100 different attributes of God. It becomes clear that there is no subject in the Qur’an more discussed that God.
If we explore through the numerous passages in the Qur’an we begin to discover a subtle thematic consistency: the text of the Qur’an (including the stories, rules, metaphors, etc.) is driven by its depiction of God. Meaning, whatever the Qur’an tells you, it tells it to you from the perspective of a connection with God (or from the perspective from a struggle to connect with God). Page through the Qur’an and look at its passages.
Once you understand the above simple, yet (for many of us) revelatory point, the question next becomes: where do we go from here?
The next step in the path to God is to learn the Qur’an ethos. The step that follows learning the ethos involves implementing the Qur’anic ethos. Let us briefly explore the process of implementing the ethos.
To develop the Qur’anic ethos, the answer is quite simple: start from page one of the Qur’an. Focus on one passage at a time. Do whatever it is that that passage tells you to do. Most passages in the Qur’an focus on reflection; some require action. Do not proceed to the succeeding passage until you either implement the contents of your current passage, or until you have begun efforts to implement those contents.
But, far more important — at this stage — is the urgent, overlooked step of learning the Qur’anic ethos.
To do this step, the we start from the other end. Meaning, we start from the final surah of the Qur’an, and work backwards.
Start with Surah 114. Reflect on it. Study it. Analyze it. Then, move to Surah 113.
As you page through the Qur’an, you will begin to see more and more issues getting introduced, constructing for you the Qur’anic ethos.
Explore. The fact remains that for too many Muslims, the Qur’an seems to provide nothing but a laundry list of tough rules. By learning and developing the ethos, we are providing a completely different outlook.