Inspiration and Spirituality
The Resonating Soul
By Muhammad Awais Tahir
What happens when you move the knob of the radio dial? You are tuning it to a particular station. When the frequency of the internal circuitry matches frequency of the station you wish to listen to, it starts to resonate. This resonance enables you to clearly hear the station you desire. What happened to Najashi (ra) when Jabir (ra) recited the Holy Quran to him? The inscription on his soul began to resonate with the words of the Holy Quran and he started weeping. The effect the Holy Quran had on his heart made it crystal clear to him that it had the same source as the Taurah and Injeel.
All of us are born on true nature (fitrah). The moral laws within us, the divine verdicts inscribed on our soul are enough for our guidance but this world takes us away from our real essence. We start to forget our purpose in life. At that time, the Az Zikr (Holy Quran) reminds us why we were sent to this world. The non-believers, if they posses fitrat e saleema (sound nature), their souls experience a shiver as they go through the Holy Quran. Many non-believers enter into the fold of Islam upon simply hearing the Holy Quran. Many get convinced on the truth of Islam when they listen to the recitation of the Holy Quran even when they don’t understand it. This divine melody has the power to penetrate into the soul and shake it, and its meanings have the muscle to influence sound minds.
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There is a constant battle between our soul and animalistic body. The soul continually forces us to associate ourselves with Allah, as the soul has direct connection with Allah. The animalistic body only focuses on its material wants. A successful person is one whose soul wins, and the loser is one who listens to the animalistic needs alone. We are made to go through various exercises which make us understand our true selves. “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey; we are spiritual beings on a human journey.” A soul, which influences more than the body, with which it is merged, can experience more of the marvels of Holy Quran. For the believers, when the Ayaat of Quran are recited to them their Imaan increases. The soul (ruh) starts resonating with the words of the Holy Quran, which in turn moves the spiritual heart (qalb) and that brings a shiver in the human body through the physical heart (fuaad).
Some say music is the food for the soul and that musical instruments, which come from the materials of the earth are able to move the human body alone. No wonder you see people dancing while listening to the music. Even the one who’s not paying any real attention to it starts to tap his feet. This feeling of resonance is something that gives you an illusion of sukun (tranqulity). The dancing body, the resonating body feels that it is experiencing sukun, but the musical instruments only move the outer body. The inner body still awaits its food. You continue feeding the body, and forget the soul. The soul does complain in the beginning. The anxiety you experience after listening to the music, when you are new to it, is because of the protest of the soul. Later on you become immune to it. You put so much dirt on your spiritual heart (qalb) that it forgets to resonate or protest. The real food of the soul is divine music. Those who don’t even know the reality of the soul cannot devise a melody that will shake it. We are given very little knowledge concerning the soul. Only the creator of the soul, Allah, can give us the melody that will move it.
The true song is the one which is sung by the Ruh and heard by the Ruh.
The sukun experienced by the dancing soul is inimitable. Each and every Ayah of the Holy Quran is truly a sign. Its unique genre, its literary perfection, its brave challenges and its accuracy are truly perfect miracles, but perhaps the greatest miracle of all is its ability to bypass the material world and reach the soul and tell it directly “I am nothing else except the word of God.” When you want Allah to talk to you, open up the Holy Quran and read it. Beautify it with your voice, and make it the hub of your thoughts. If at once you don’t feel the resonating soul, don’t worry, the Holy Quran is doing its job. It has the remedy to all problems. It is removing the dirt which is already there. When the dirt is removed, you will experience the soul resonating.
Have you solved many mysteries of knowledge and still you are unable to reach the soul? Are you still unable to feel your connection with Allah? If you want to experience the sweetness of faith, if you want to have supernatural proofs for the truth of Islam, open up the Quran and recite! Recite the divine words. Feel that this Ruh (Quran) has been sent by Allah through the Ruh (Angel Jibreel) and is descending directly on your Ruh (soul). A time will come when with each word of the Holy Quran your spiritual heart (qalb) will resonate and your soul will dance with the divine music and your human self will become purified and it will experience an unimaginable sukun.
The Resonating Soul for Dummies:
1- Learn Tajweed: Learn at least as much tajweed that will enable you to say the Arabic letters from the correct articulation points so that you are able to avoid Lahn e Jali (clear cut errors) that change the meaning of the Holy Quran if recited incorrectly.
2- Beautify the Quran with your voice: Learn to recite Quran in a beautiful manner. Listen to the famous Quraa (recitors) of the world. The more beautifully you recite, the deeper you can penetrate into the soul.
3- Learn Arabic: Learn enough Arabic so that you are enable to understand the general theme and meaning of an Ayah without the need of any translation.
4- Learn Tafakur: Learn how to contemplate on the Ayaat of the Holy Quran
5- Learn Tadabur: Learn how to meditate on the Ayaat of the Holy Quran
6- Be Patient: The Divine Book will itself make you capable of experiencing this resonance.
7- Be Regular: If you are reading, understanding, contemplating on the Holy Quran regularly, in sha Allah, soon you’ll experience the sweetness of resonance.
8- Action: When your soul starts to resonate. It will definitely force you into action. Listen to it.
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Swaying in the Wind
March 30, 2010 at 1:52 AM
Asalamu alaykum,
SubhanAllah Just what I was looking for … JazakAllahu khairan!
How does one learn tafakur and tadabur? A future article focusing on those two would be quite wonderful and beneficial! inshaAllah
Wsalaam
mystrugglewithin
April 1, 2010 at 10:22 AM
>> How does one learn tafakur and tadabur? A future article focusing on those two would be quite wonderful and beneficial! inshaAllah
True :>
Abdus-Sabur
March 30, 2010 at 8:11 AM
Subhanallah! I am so thankful that you wrote this piece. Jazakallahu khair.
ummahmed
March 30, 2010 at 8:36 AM
Assalamualykum,
Mashaallah.Jazakallahu khairaa .Be patient..That`s so important..Sabr in learning tajweed, word meanings and in learning tafsir..Seek help from Allah through sabr and salah..Jazakallahu khairaa.
salaam
Khan
March 30, 2010 at 8:38 AM
jazakAllahu kairan for this beautiful article. I concur with the view of Swaying in the Wind that an article on Takafur and Tadabur in detail will be beneficial, insha Allaah.
Muhammad Awais Tahir
March 30, 2010 at 10:00 AM
It is pretty important to ask ALLAH SWT to bless us with Tadabur and Tafakur in the right direction. The famous duaa of Umar bin Khattab RA goes :
Khan
March 30, 2010 at 10:08 AM
Make the above mentioned dua in easy readable Arabic font :). jazakAllaah
Muhammad Awais Tahir
March 30, 2010 at 12:05 PM
Akhi…I cant alter the font in comments…Simply copy paste it note pad and increase the font for easy reading…JazakAllah :)
jts5041
March 30, 2010 at 12:23 PM
Would it be possible for someone to post a transliteration of this du’a, for those who either can’t read Arabic (yet, inshaAllah), or who can’t read without the diacritical markings (fatha, kasra, dhamma, etc). It would help a lot. JazakumAllahu khayran
Ify Okoye
March 30, 2010 at 12:21 PM
Increased the font size for you.
ummbudimary
March 30, 2010 at 3:27 PM
May Allah reward the person who wrote this article because it is SUPER BENEFICIAL.
Mumin
March 30, 2010 at 10:24 PM
THis was truly a wonderful article. MashAllah. I see very few writings like this. Most Islamic Literature is very rigid and kind of has a “not very inviting feel” THis is Aweseome.
Salam
Abu "Ubuaidah
March 30, 2010 at 10:49 PM
Jazakhallah Khair for the reminder!
ttpop
March 31, 2010 at 12:41 AM
Would be better if you did not use the term dummies and list such great deeds after.
Hafsa
March 31, 2010 at 3:34 AM
Jazakallahukhair for this!
Katham
March 31, 2010 at 10:11 AM
Transliteration request:
اللهم ارزقني التÙكر والتدبر لما يتلوه لساني من كتابك ØŒ والÙهم له ØŒ والمعرÙØ© بمعانيه ØŒ والنظر ÙÙŠ عجائبه ØŒ والعمل بذلك ما بقيت ØŒ إنك على كل شيء قدير
Allahumma urzuqni attafakura watadabbura lima yatloohu lisani min kitabika, walfahma lahu, walma3rifata bi ma3aneehi, wannadhara fi 3ajai’bihi, wal3amala bidhalika ma baqeetu, innaka 3ala kulli shay’in qadeer.
May Allah make it easy for me to memorize it.
Kaltham
March 31, 2010 at 10:26 AM
Masha Allah the article was amazing, it explained things I’ve been thinking about lately.
Could it be that sometimes things other than the Quran can resonate with the soul? Like an advice someone gives you, or a story you hear or witness. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala communicates with us through the Quran and sometimes we don’t understand the verses not because of the language but because we have not shed light on the issue in hand.
Like for example a few weeks ago I went to Friday khutbah and the lecture was about death. It was a really good one, very moving. But I did not shed a single tear. The sister sitting in front of me though was weeping. I understood all the verses and the ahadeeth the shaykh mentioned, I even had most of them memorized, but they did not move me. I found myself wondering the whole time what it is that she had and I lacked that made her cry and weep in that manner. Maybe I thought too much about her crying and me not crying and did not imagine myself in a grave like the shaykh intended, but I still feel like there is a level of understanding that I have not reached yet. There is a barrier and I don’t know what it is. So how do I look for something when I don’t know what it is? Am I confused?
Fi Amaani’Laah
sister
March 31, 2010 at 4:38 PM
http://www.tayyibaat.com/2010/03/17/islam-and-ego-br-nouman-ali-khan/
Olivia
April 1, 2010 at 3:17 PM
mashallah that was sweet.
Ryan
April 1, 2010 at 9:16 PM
I thank you for writing this article but I could not disagree with you more.
It has become so easy for those who have not faced true hardship to simply say turn to the Quran and your answers will be found. Well I haven’t found the answers and the one I constantly hear is, “it resides with Allah and his plan,” well when your son is taken from you this plan no longer makes and sense. Or when your forced to remember a life you have taken in war things don’t seem to make much sense. And these are only my problems…
How about the Muslims that still deal in child slavery or Saudi’s who abuse their servants? Why can we so easily say these wonderful things about Islam in the “West” but in real life most of these things never come to fruition in “real” life. As a Westerner who has travelled the world, I think “Western” Muslims need a huge wake up call that action is needed more than words.
What about us who can’t find the answers, what are we left with? I’m sorry to bring negativity but I really feel this site sometimes brings such a false sense of reality that the “real” Muslim world is such a wonderful place. If I’m wrong please tell me. Thanks.
Ryan
Fazila
April 1, 2010 at 10:06 PM
Just because a person is Muslim does not mean that their actions are those prescribed by their religion. It is not God that makes bad things happen, it is people. We are given the greatest gift by God and that is free will. We choose war over peace, we choose luxury over saving the lives of countless millions who starve. A true Muslim, and similarly any person who prescribes to any faith under God should live a peaceful life and not be selfish.
But then there’s that questions we all want an answer to, why does God allow bad things to happen? Losing a child or any loved one is difficult and I am truly sorry for your loss. There is no answer any human being can give as to why such things happen. When we have no answer we say it is part of God’s plan, but it’s a sour pill to swallow when it is your loved one that is lost and it offers no help! I have thought many years about this and I have come to some resolution. You may or may not agree…
I’m a scientist and as such I am aware of the forces of nature- genetics, evolution, etc. I have come to the conclusion that when people die naturally due to illness, disease or old age it is a mechanism of the balancing forces of nature. In other words, it is a random mechanism to keep population at a sustainable level. These causes of death are not a punishment from God. God doesn’t make bad things happen to test us, they just happen. However, there is consolation in the knowledge that our loved ones have gone to a better place.
When a person is killed in war, as seems to be in your case, then this is a mechanism of human action. How can God affect such things without compromising our free will?
In conclusion, when a Muslim kills a person, or oppresses, etc it is not a Muslim that is doing these things, it is a human. It is the same when a Christian/Jew/etc commits such acts. We as humans are still primitive and we will only be true to God when these things no longer occur but that utopia is far away. It is sad when people use the pure and beautiful words of God in a corrupt manner to justify such actions.