Suhaib Webb – Guidance For All – Part One- Background & Introduction
AI: Summary ©
The host of a series discusses the history and characteristics of the Q booked, including its cultural implications and potential for transformation and life-changing outcomes. The series is organized in a way that challenges the conventional belief that the book is impossible to navigate and is a rihla. The host provides examples of how the book can be transformational and transformational for Muslims.
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum, so welcome to our series
Qur'an for Non-Muslims.
I made this series first and foremost because
of my own experiences.
I became Muslim in 1992 and one of
the greatest challenges I faced early on was
having a copy of the Qur'an and
really knowing how to approach the Qur'an.
And to be honest with you, I was
very young.
I was super intimidated and felt like I
was ill-equipped to take on that important
journey that ultimately ultimately led me to embrace
Islam.
So first, let me tell you sort of
that story.
I was 16 years old and I had
a very good friend who was Muslim and
I would ask him, I would actually like
pepper him with so many questions that are
kind of the typical cultural sort of bait
questions about terrorism, women, lack of freedom, lack
of respect for the intellect, you name it,
as only a 16-year-old could phrase
it in Oklahoma of all places.
And he basically was the one who said,
you know, you should just go like read
the Qur'an.
So I went to a library there and
actually found a very old print of the
Qur'an in English that was actually printed
backwards.
And I didn't know that it was printed
backwards because Arabic goes from right to left,
not left to right.
And I took the Qur'an home.
I hid it from my mother.
My mother was a staunch Church of Christ
Oklahoma woman, so I was worried if she
found Muhammad's Bible in her house, I would
be, as we say, lunch meat, you know.
So I hid it.
And then finally that night, late at night,
I opened up the Qur'an and I
began to read it and I didn't realize
it was printed backwards.
So then I got really confused.
I was like, oh my gosh, like this
book is impossible to navigate.
And finally I realized it was printed what
I considered to be backwards.
And I started to read the Qur'an
on my own and I was mesmerized.
I was captured.
But at the same time, I really didn't
know what skills I needed to have in
my head to benefit holistically from a reading
of the Qur'an.
So that's the purpose of this series, is
to present the Qur'an in a way,
number one, that definitely will challenge you.
I think it's important that we think about
the benefit of being challenged, not just watering
things down to the point where there's no
sense of aversion, there's no sense of wrestling,
there's no tug of war, if you will,
spiritually, intellectually, there's no tantalization that happens.
Obviously like that's going to happen in this
series.
Number two, to show you some of the
patterns, even in English, that if you learn
them, your reading of the Qur'an will
be enhanced.
It will be pixelated in a way that
will really make it an intimate gathering, an
intimate setting between you and the book of
God, as we consider as Muslims.
And number three, answer a lot of questions
I know that I had and probably you
have as we begin this important relationship with
the Qur'an.
And that's the fourth point that I'll make.
You want to see this as a process,
not an event, especially after what happened on
October 7th and the ensuing sort of genocide
in Palestine.
Lots of people are coming and asking about
the Qur'an, but they're expecting like fast
food.
This is not in and out, right?
This is not Chipotle.
This is not something you just get it
and you understand it.
It's a rihla, we say in Arabic, like
it's a trip.
It's a journey that lasts throughout our lifetime.
And that ultimately led me, after embracing Islam
and being sort of fascinated with the Qur
'an to study for around 17 years, I
was able to memorize the Qur'an in
two years.
I learned the varied ways of reading the
Qur'an, what are called the qiraat, and
moved to Egypt and continued to educate myself
and came back as an educator.
So I hope that God will use me
in this short time that we have together
to facilitate an entrance into the Qur'an
from the perspective of someone who is very
similar to you.
Someone who sat there in front of it
and was completely successfully confused.
So welcome to our series on Qur'an
for non-Muslims.
Also Muslims will be able to benefit as
well, so don't think that if you're Muslim
there's not things here that will help you.
And what I'm going to do is go
through some of the main chapters of the
Qur'an, starting with the first chapter of
the Qur'an and then around the last
12 chapters of the Qur'an to really
open up hopefully and expand a potential relationship
that can be transforming and life-changing.
Thank you for listening.
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.