A beautiful person in Life - Part 2

As I was left in thought, Yousef asked, " Do you know Sura Al-Hamdh?" and before i could answer he chuckled, "Ofcourse you would know, but do you know its meaning?"

I replied, "Yes. I know the meaning of the Surah"

But he went on telling me the meaning. As he reached the sixth verse, "Ihdina alssirata almustaqeem" , he again asked, "Do you know what it means?"

I replied, "Yes, It means "Guide us to the correct path.. that is guide us to Islam."

Then he said, "It means, 'Show us the straight road'.. it doesn't say anything about Islam" 

This puzzled me, so I challenged, " But the Thafsir, interpretation says it means Islam, am I wrong?" 

He replied, "Ofcourse interpretation says that. And its right too. The straighest mos correct path is Islam. And so we are asking Allah to Guide us to that path. So, interpretation by scholar is absolutely right."

He smiled, and then he added, " But a Ayah (verse) has a greater meaning than its interpretation. When you read Quran, you are not reading a narrative nor a history book. Quran is a Live book. When you read Quran, you are communicating with Allah. So the meaning will have a more personal meaning too."

Then he started giving example. He said, "Now when I am driving I dont know which road is better, left or right. In life you dont know which path is good. This decision or that.. So you always ask Allah, " Ihdina alssirata almustaqeem" many times in all your Salahs ( obligatory prayers).We are guided to Islam, MaSha Allah, but we keep on making that prayer many time a day."

That was another gem of an advice I got from Yousef, that day. I pondered on what he had said. And when I deeply looked into the Quran and meaning, I just got in awe with the Glorious Quran. Its a Book alive. It was revealed to Prophet Muhammadh (saw). But it was intended for the Ummah, a gift to each and everyone of us.

When we recite, through it, we are conversing with God. Many verse has a personal feel, a personal meaning you can attach to it. True, there are some incidents of the past, like stories of prophets told in Quran, but on them you can reflect yourself and situation of your life on those stories. 

And some ayah make more sense and are more meaningful when throught through a personal perspective. Like the first Ayah of Surah Kafirun. It says, " Say : You Disbelievers" .. But what disbelievers am I calling to when I am reciting alone at home? Will disbelieving human folks even wait to listen to this? When you put it in the personal context, you immediately know it is referring to Disbelieving Satans (with evil whispers) around you.That whole surah is more meaningful in this context.

Blessed be Yousef. In his brief time with me he gave valuable advise in words and by character. Our encounters may not be lengthy, but he had made my mind more inquisitive and made me more closer to Holy Quran. 

Some people come to life and you meet them just for a few days,but they make an impact on you. And some people you never get to properly meet,  yet have a drastic life changing impact on you.