March 25, 2024

Today I was listening to Women of Qur’an podcast and Ustadha Sarah in sharing her journey with the Qur’an mentions her familiarity and proximity with the Qur’an growing up, seeing it in her parents and people around her. She also mentioned that to be a person of the Qur’an, one didn’t need to have read the Qur’an from cover to cover or be a hafidh/hafidha (translates to preserver/protector - name for one who has memorized the Qur’an). And it got me thinking about my own journey with the Qur’an and the women in my life who were instrumental in molding what it meant to love the Qur’an and seek it.

I thought of my mother and my grandmother (may Allah have Mercy on her), neither of whom is a hafidha but are and were frequently doing murajaah (revision) of the portion of the Qur’an they knew. Up until late into her life, my grandmother (Allah’s Mercy upon her), Nana as we called her, was still attending halaqas (study circles) and Qur’an classes to revise and increase in her Qur’an. I remember, accompanying her to the masjid (mosque) for her classes when I was only a tween. She had to walk with a cane but she never missed a single day of her Qur’an class. I would carry her water jug in one hand, while holding her hand with the other as we made our way to the masjid.

When she would come back from her Qur’an class, she would call me or my sister or any of my cousins to read with her the surahs that were covered in her class. There were 3 surahs in particular that my Nana (Allah’s Mercy upon her) loved and would always recite. They were surah Al-Layl, surah Ad-Duha and surah Ash-Sharh. She would make sure we recited them first before we read any other pages. To this day, these three surahs have become a permanent core memory of my grandmother. At the time, I didn’t really know the meaning of these surahs besides the fact that these were the surahs Nana (Allah’s Mercy upon her) loved and would recite. And I would tell this to anyone that would care to listen whenever I would come across them.

Now that I’m older and have learned the meaning of these surahs, I am left to wonder if my Nana (Allah’s Mercy upon her) knew their meanings at all. What were the secrets in her heart that she shared with Allah, which caused her to gravitate towards these surahs and find comfort in them? Because in these surahs you find, hope, comfort, reassurance, relief and a reminder and promise of ease. Thinking about my Nana (Allah’s Mercy upon her) brought me to tears because it is only now that I realized how significant those moments with her were.

I witnessed her love for the Qur’an growing up and I saw how much of it she passed on to her children as well, in my mother and her brothers. And there is no doubt that her love for the Qur’an nurtured my mother’s love for the Qur’an and very early on, planted that seed in my nascent heart. What a legacy! My Nana (may Allah have Mercy on her) was not a hafidha nor did she complete the Qur’an from cover to cover neither is my mother (may Allah preserve and protect her) but they are my women of Qur’an. And it is this love of the Qur’an and Allah that made them into the servants of Him that they are. I know of no women who are so dedicated in their salah and ibadats with so much sincerity and excellence besides them. And I only pray that Allah makes me an abidah (servant/worshipper) like them. I pray may Allah place in my heart a love for the Qur’an like theirs. May every letter, every ayah, every surah I recite be counted for my Nana and for my mama.

Whenever my mama will remember Nana or anyone really who has returned to Allah, she would always say - “I have not called on you except with goodness.” So I say Nana, I have not called on you and spoken about you today except with goodness. May Allah have Mercy on you and expand your grave and fill it with His noor (light). I send you my salam with tears in my eyes as I write this. I pray may Allah allow it to reach you. May Allah reunite us with you in the highest of Jannah, in a gathering of Qur’an with His most beloved Muhammad ﷺ.

My hope and prayer is that I will be a pious granddaughter who will always pray for you as you have returned to Allah and a pious daughter who will pray for mama after she returns to Him. I pray may Allah ﷻ allow you and mama to be among those who will be granted the crown of dignity on the day when wealth and children will be of no avail. Ya Rahman bring light to my Nana’s grave and joy to my mama’s eyes through me in this world and make me a source of reward for them in the hereafter. Ya Rabb rectify me and my actions and bless me and bless them. Allahumma Amin.

With Love, Ibtisam