#quranreflections

California’s unfolding reality is a striking reflection of the wisdom found in Surah Al-Ankabut. 🌌📖

This Quranic chapter reminds us of the fleeting nature of worldly life and the enduring importance of faith and resilience. In a world full of challenges, these divine truths guide us toward deeper understanding and purpose.

🌟 ❛…And to give glad tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they shall have a fair reward (i.e. Jannah). They shall abide therein forever.❜ [Surah al-Kahf 18 : 2-3]

I remember my first mobile phone. It was just a hand-me-down from my eldest, but I was so excited to finally have one.

Now imagine buying a beautiful house, on top of a beautiful hill, overlooking the blue ocean. Isn’t that going to be your most amazing, most precious property ever?

But you know what happens after several years have passed by? It’s not that beautiful anymore. Whatever possessions or achievements we have right now, we will eventually get bored of it. And that mobile phone I got? I got disinterested fairly quickly as well.

In this aayah, Allah says that for the believers who do righteous deeds, their compensation is that they will remain in Jannah forever.

Now when we read this aayah, and we compare it with our experiences in this dunya, we may think that if everything goes exactly as we want *all the time* in Jannah, then the excitement is going to fizzle out sooner or later, that we will eventually get bored. But look what Allah says about the people in Jannah in another aayah:

🌟 ❛They will reside in it (forever), never desiring any transfer out of it.❜  [Surah al-Kahf 18 : 108]

Imam Ibn Kathir rahimahullah wrote in his tafseer that this aayah tells us how much the people of Jannah love and desire Jannah. Even though one might imagine that a person who stays in one place forever would get tired and bored of it, Allah tells us that despite this eternal stay, they will never choose to change or move from where they are. They will never choose or want anything else than Jannah.

And some scholars even said that there is no better praise of Jannah than Allah's statement of: ❛They will reside in it (forever), never desiring any transfer out of it.❜

There will never be a dull moment in Jannah. There will always be anticipation and excitement, and its inhabitants are constantly looking forward to the next amazing blessings and the next awesome adventure. May Allah make us one of them.

“He said, "I will take refuge on a mountain to protect me from the water." Nuh said, "There is no protector today from the decree of Allah, except for whom He gives mercy.“ {11:43}

Allah will test us. Time and time and time again. Some tests may be greater than others. Regardless of its magnitude, every test comes in waves. And in the midst of all the chaos, you’re calling and pleading for help. The waves are crashing over. You look around. You realise there’s no one there.

Surah Al-Falak is a powerful chapter from the Quran that teaches us to seek Allah's refuge from all forms of harm, both seen and unseen. A timeless reminder of faith, protection, and inner peace.

🌟 Allah says: ❛And lower unto them (your parents) the wing of submission and humility through rahmah, and say: ❛My Rabb, bestow on them (my parents) Your Rahmah as they raised me when I was young.❜ [Surah al-Isra’ 17 : 24]

When someone says that a person is “raising / lowering his wings”, an imagery of a bird comes to mind. Obviously when the bird has wings, it has the ability to raise them anytime it wants.

We have our own job and money. We have a pair of strong wings which we can raise anytime we want. But Allah teaches us to lower our wings,  to be humble towards our parents, to not treat them harshly or say hurtful words towards them.

And then at the end of of the aayah is this beautiful du’a: ❛My Rabb, bestow on them (my parents) Your Rahmah as they raised me when I was young.❜

Showing rahmah alone towards our parents is insufficient for us to compensate for the rahmah that they did for us. So we're taught to seek the best form of rahmah for them from Ar-Rahman Himself.

What a beautiful aayah. May Allah make it easy for us to show rahmah towards our parents so that we may earn His rahmah, and forgive us for our shortcomings in our dealings towards them.

Three letters—Ra, Ha, Mim.

From this small constellation of sounds unfold the great words ‘Rahma’, ‘Rahman’, ‘Rahim’—

Mercy, the Merciful, the Most Merciful.

We live suspended in His compassion, held gently in His decree, as helpless and as cherished as a child within its mother’s womb, breathing not by its own breath but entirely by the One who sustains it.

Without Him, we would slip into nothingness—unmade, unseen, undone.

Yet His love never loosens its hold.

From these letters rises a single word, a sacred echo: ‘rahem’, ‘womb’ -

We don’t talk about it enough. Not really. But here it is, said plainly:

We’re going to die.

And pretending otherwise has never saved anyone.

There’s this quiet ache in us—this instinctive urge to pull away from the idea of an ending. We flinch at the thought of dissolving into darkness, of becoming nothing.

Because deep down, we don’t want to be nothing.

We want to matter. To be held. To be remembered. To last.

To be eternal.

But what if that longing isn’t a flaw? What if it’s a sign? A compass? A whisper from the One who crafted our souls with eternity in mind?

What if the yearning itself is proof that we were made for more?

Because you can live forever—not through ego, not through legacy, but through alignment with the One who already is Forever.

That’s the secret threaded into the simplest phrase we were taught as children:

“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.”

Say it before you eat, before you sleep, before your pen touches paper, before your heart attempts anything meaningful.

Say it so your actions are anchored. So they’re lifted. So they’re touched by the Eternal.

Reflect on the divine wisdom this Ramadan🌙. Let the Qur’an guide your heart to peace and enlightenment. 📖🤲