Maryam Amir – If you havent reached your Ramadan Quran goal

			I am someone who could never
finish the entire Quran in
		

			Ramadan. I always wondered how in
the world anybody did it. I would
		

			spend, like, hours and hours
trying to read, and as much as I
		

			could, I could never get to a just
a day. And it was so defeating,
		

			because I felt like everyone was
talking about how much Quran they
		

			were reading, and every day in the
masjid, or frequently, I should
		

			say, someone would get on the
microphone and talk about how this
		

			is the month of the Quran. If
you're not reading at least one
		

			entire Quran a month, you're not
doing enough. And it took me many
		

			years to realize that the people
who were giving those lectures
		

			were native Arabic speakers, that
they could read the Quran because
		

			it was their native language, that
it was easy for them to read
		

			quickly because they'd been
reading it for decades. And I had
		

			none of those in my background,
and so I had to shift what
		

			everyone was saying is the best
way to engage with the Quran in
		

			this month to what was realistic
for my for my reality. Many times
		

			we speak about the scholars, like
Imam as Sheik, I read the Quran 60
		

			times in Ramadan. And you know,
the scholars would leave all of
		

			the classes they would teach just
to recite as much Quran as
		

			possible, which is incredible. But
let's think about two things.
		

			Number one, they were scholars who
read the Quran. That was their
		

			job, like now my job. I read the
Quran. I do have sort of the
		

			Quran. They knew Arabic, even if
they had to learn it because they
		

			weren't native Arabic speakers. By
that point, they would have read
		

			the Quran many times in their
lives, and that is amazing. It is
		

			an honor. We should all strive to
be that way, of course, but
		

			Ramadan for them was like a break
from their, you know, typical
		

			scholarly classes that they would
do throughout the rest of the
		

			year, and they would just focus
invest in recitation. Because, of
		

			course, every single letter is
rewarded, and your reward is
		

			massively multiplied in Ramadan.
But for many of us who have, you
		

			know, other responsibilities,
work, school, family, anything
		

			else. And I'm not saying that they
also didn't have those
		

			responsibilities, of course, but
like, okay, living in America, for
		

			example, you have so much going
on, and many times you don't
		

			understand what you're reading. So
Ramadan is a time to reset so that
		

			you can look at what the rest of
your year is going to be with the
		

			Quran. So if you are someone who's
gotten to this part of Ramadan,
		

			and you are very far away from
your Quran goal, reset it to look
		

			at what your you want your Quran
goal to be for the rest of the
		

			year. For me, at that point in my
life, before I learned Arabic and
		

			memorize Quran, it was I want to
know what the Quran is saying to
		

			me. So every single day, I would
take a translation of the Quran. I
		

			would read the translation of what
they were going to be reciting in
		

			prayer for that night, because I
was able, at that time to go for
		

			tadawi every night. But set an
amount if you don't understand it
		

			in the translation, if you do
understand it, then in your than
		

			in Arabic. If you can read Arabic
but don't understand it, do both.
		

			And set a goal, not for just this
Ramadan. Set your goal for the
		

			Ramadan of the next five years and
the next five years. Do you want
		

			to understand what you are hearing
in Salah. Do you want to
		

			understand what you're reading?
You're not going to be able to
		

			speak Arabic by doing this. But
this is what I did, and it helped
		

			me learn so much Quran that by the
time I went to study Arabic, my
		

			teacher was like, how do you know
all these words when you can't?
		

			Can't even ask me, how are you in
Arabic? She realized it was just
		

			like all the I had read in the
translation and listen to with the
		

			translation. So make your goal
that from now you are going to try
		

			your best, that by next Ramadan,
you're going to understand more.
		

			So every single day, starting now
in Ramadan, start reading it in
		

			translation. Start reading it in
the Arabic If you can with it.
		

			Listen to it as much as possible.
Claudia, the woman Quran reciters
		

			app, is available for you for free
to download on Google Play or
		

			Apple Stores. It's women's Quranic
recitation, if you'd like to
		

			listen to women, if you're a
sister, if you read like five
		

			pages a day of half English, half
Arabic a day. And by next Ramadan,
		

			your Quranic connection is going
to be completely different.
		

			Inshallah, do today what you want
to see in five years for your
		

			relationship with the Quran.