Thinking Over the Verses of the Qur’an

The Qur'an is the final book Allah sent to all people. Every person living on the earth is responsible for learning the Qur'an and fulfilling the commands communicated in it. Most people, however, do not learn it and fulfil what Allah commands in the Qur'an, although they accept it as a divine book. This is a consequence of their not thinking about the Qur'an, but knowing it by information gained here and there. For a person who reflects, on the other hand, the importance of the Qur'an and its place in man's life is very great.

First of all, those who reflect want to know their Creator Who created them and the universe in which they live, gave them life when they were nothing, and bestowed countless blessings and beautiful things on them. Someone like that wants to learn what kind of conduct He would be pleased with. The Qur'an, which Allah sent through His Messenger, is a guide answering the questions above. For this reason, people need to know the book Allah revealed to people as a guide and in which He distinguished good from evil. They need to ponder over each verse and fulfil what Allah orders in the most proper and pleasing way.

Allah states the purpose for which the Qur'an was revealed to people:

[It (the Qur’an) is a Book We have sent down to you, full of blessing, that they may ponder over its versesand that people of intelligence take heed.] (Saad 38:29)

[No indeed! It (the Qur’an) is a reminder to which anyone who wills may pay heed.] (Al-Muddaththir 74:54)

Many people read the Qur'an, but the important thing is, just as Allah states in His verses, to ponder on each verse of the Qur'an, to draw a lesson from that verse, and to improve one's conducts in compliance with these lessons. Those who read the verse [For truly with hardship comes ease; truly with hardship comes ease] (Al-Inshirah 94:5-6), for example, reflect upon it. They understand that Allah creates ease with each hardship, and therefore, the only thing they have to do when they meet a hardship is to put their trust in Allah and find the ease that is with it. Allah's promise being so, we see that giving up hope or being stricken with panic in moments of difficulty is a sign of a weakness in our faith. After reading this verse and reflecting upon it, our conduct will go in line with the verse throughout our lives.

In the Qur'an, Allah relates stories from the lives of the prophets and messengers who lived in the past, so that people can see how are the conduct, conversation, and life of a person with whom Allah is pleased, and take them as examples. Allah states in some of His verses that people must think over the stories of the messengers and draw lessons from them:

[There is a lesson in their stories for people of intelligence.] (Yusuf 12:111)

(And (We left a Sign) also in Musa when We sent him to Pharaoh with clear authority.) (Adh-Dhariyat 51:38)

(We rescued him (Nuh) and the occupants of the Ark and made it a Sign for all the worlds.) (Al-`Ankabut 29:15)

In the Qur'an, some of the attributes of past nations, their manners, and the disasters that befell them are mentioned. It would be a great misconception to read these verses merely as the narration of historical events and an account of what has befallen past nations. This is because, just as in all other verses, Allah has revealed the verses about past nations for us to think over, and for us to amend our conduct by deriving lessons from the events that befell these nations:

(We destroyed those of your kind in the past. But is there any rememberer there?) (Al-Qamar 54:51)

Allah has revealed the Qur'an as a guide to all people. Therefore, reflecting upon every verse of the Qur'an, and living according to it by deriving lessons and warnings from every verse is the only way to gain the approval, the mercy, and the Paradise of Allah.

Source : http://www.onislam.net