There is this saying my mom would always say with regards to the Qur’an -

“when you leave the Qur’an, it leaves you. But when you come back to it, it returns running.”

I’ve heard mama say this since childhood; she still says it. I don’t think I fully grasped what it meant until quiet recently.

It became clearer to me as I have spent more time reciting and reflecting on the Qur’an this Ramadan. I used to spend more time with the Qur’an when I was younger - going to Islamic school and Alhamdulilah we also had ‘makarantan dare’ (‘night school’ in Hausa) in the masjid that was only dedicated to Qur’an recitation and memorization. We would stay in the masjid after Maghreb salah to recite and memorize the Qur’an until Isha, pray Isha and then continue after Isha before going home at night. A big part of makarantan dare was the musabaqa (Qur’an competition) that we would hold throughout the year. Alhamdulilah this allowed the Qur’an to be a significant part of my life.

Life happened, then I moved across the ocean to a different part of the world. It all just fell apart from there. The lack of practice and less and less time I spent with the Qur’an, the less I could remember of what I had previously memorized. It always did bother me that I was spending less time with the Qur’an but I never stopped making du’a and whenever I was overwhelmed by my guilt or a hardship I was going through, I would always go back to the Qur’an. It almost felt like Allah was placing trials in my life as a way of drawing me back to it. More and more the only place I could find comfort and reassurance in hard times was the Qur’an. Alhamdulilah.

And SubhanAllah, spending more time with the Qur’an this Ramadan, it felt like it never did leave me. An ayah will randomly pop in my mind or something will happen and then I’ll remember an ayah I had read that was related SubhanAllah. And then mama’s words suddenly made so much sense.

I am so grateful to Allah for granting me this sweetness through His mercy. I feel a connection to the Qur’an I had never felt before Alhamdulilah. It has been such a journey and I pray that Allah strengthens me to never leave the Qur’an. May Ar-Rahman allow me to be its companion and allow it to be my companion both in this world and the next. Amin.

With love, Ibtisam