What are the 'signs' that Allah mentions in the Quran? They are everywhere but we don't stop to think. We get so caught up in our lives, all these worldly things that distract us and forget to just take a moment to think about what we have. What Allah blessed us with. This is just a thought I had on this cold day after I came home and had the luxury of warming myself with heaters and tea. This is all from Allah. These 'little things' are not really little. Things like water and food should remind us of Allah. When we eat- Alhamdulillah. When we can shower- Alhamdulillah. When we sleep on our beds- Alhamdulillah. It should be Alhamdulillah every single day not matter what happens. 

Sometimes you're out in the cold and your hands are literally hurting because it's freezing, and then a couple of hours later you are warm again. It's a really simple scenario but a reminder that there is so much to be grateful for. Especially when so many in the world don't have that luxury. Whenever I catch myself getting lazy with my ibaadah I always remind myself that 'Allah takes care of you every single day, so why is it so hard to give Him some of your time?'

Abou- Horairah said that the prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said: the first point of Blessings the servant of Allah will be asked about at the Day of Judgement that it will be said to him: Didn't We give you a sound body?  Didn't We make you drink cold water.)  
Tafseer Al-Bagwee of the last verse of surat Al-Kwathaar (ثم لتسئلن يومئذ عن النعيم ).

There is something very 'ummatic' in having a month dedicated to some certain sūras in Qur'anreflect.com. It inspires us to be united in carrying the torch of reflections, dedicated to  sūrah Ya-Seen this month. Here is my first reflection inspired by this beautiful āya in the beloved sūrah Ya-Seen. 

Similarly to Allah's book (the Qur'an as a muṣḥaf), we look at the Earth around us as a 'book' that we can also read. The Earth is full of the signs or Āyāt of the Almighty. We can experience the world through our senses, understand the numerous indications around us and pronounce tasbīḥ in joy, happiness, and even sorrow. All range of emotions, despite their place in the spectrum of our feelings, direct us to say Subḥānallāh, Alḥamdulillāh, Allāhu Akbar. In any state, we praise Allah, these are our signs of stating Tawḥīd. We are satisfied, we accept and we struggle in the cause of faith. We are Allah's servants and we were given these two books, the muṣḥaf through the beloved Rasūl ﷺ and the world around as reminders to teach us about Allah and our aim in this world. 

Despite these two books, there is another one located inside us, it is there, deep in our chests, there is our 'book'  the heart through which we also can know Allah taʿālā.  When I was reading this āya 33, about the way how Allah Subḥānahu wa-taʿālā, teaches about the sign of nature, which is the 'dead' earth that is empty of any sign of life and how Allah changes dead state of the earth in seasons, how He brings life to it, how He nurtures it and how by it all life around is nourished, I remembered about our 'book' in the chest, our hearts, the locus of our spirituality and well-being. 

Allah turns the earth from being dead to being alive, I know that even if our hearts feel 'dead', Allah may change them as He changes other things around us. He, ʿazza wa-jalla, can bring our hearts back to life even when we feel our hearts are dead inside us. He can nourish our hearts and in turn, He can nourish people around us by the lights of vitality within our hearts: softness, kindness, compassion and love.  Yā Muqallibal-qulūb, we ask You, by Your beautiful Names bring life to our hearts, nourish us by your love and forgive us! We ask You,  thabbit qulūbanā ʿalā dīnik!

#YaSeen

Alhamdulillah. There's this one moment that I'll always be grateful to my mother for. I was less than ten at the time when my mother gave me some pocket money as we walked through a number of stalls. In one of them, I saw this box with a slip in the centre of it and asked her, "What's this for?"

She told it was a charity box, where you could put money into to help those in need who may not have enough food or clothes, or struggling with something else. She then gave me a choice. She said I could spend it on what I like, but I could also use the money she gave me to help someone eat or stay warm. No pressure, no coercion.

From a young age, it'd be instilled in me this habit to help those around me, so I did what I could to give and support. My upbringing as it was, it felt natural to remind others to do the same. Bit by bit though, these ideals were being chipped away. When I suggested giving in moments of extravagance or to be do good in moments of comfort, sometimes it would only come down to an awkward smile and chuckle before they continued to wonder what more they could do with any surplus time and money, pretending I'd never brought it up. Other times, those who didn't need the help, but would ask out of laziness anyway, going even so far as feign difficulty to guilt you into doing so.

I couldn't help but see it within my own childhood and within my early teens. By then, I was beginning to doubt myself. I didn't know why, but it felt like everything I was on was worthless. Everyone was only out for themselves. Why? Why should I give and do good to others when it feels like they only ever take advantage of it to do bad? Why shouldn't I keep to myself and think only of myself?

As time went on and these feelings began to reach a tipping point, a gentle whisper reminded me: "... but this isn't what Allah wants". I knew enough about Islam to know that to do wrong because others wrong, to be selfish because it seemed like others were wasn't an option. 

In that single moment, my anguish dissolved, wiped out entirely. Instead, without any verse of the Qur'an in mind, I made for myself an analogy. You know what? I refuse to do wrong. Not only that, but I want to instead spend my entire life proving myself wrong. No matter what, I want to keep planting seeds everywhere until I'm surrounded by a field of flowers in which others can enjoy, one in which I can lay down peacefully and rest upon. If I could do this until my last breath, I'd have proven myself wrong and set a standard, one that proved you didn't need to lose yourself and that it was still possible to be the best along the best.

Everything is more beautiful, your heart at peace when you can let go of the ills surrounding you to then strive upon the best. You'll find to this day that I have an acute appreciation for nature, especially flowers. It's a personal hobby of mine to visit flower gardens. Well, now you know why.

نبههم الله تعالى بهذا على إحياء الموتى، وذكرهم توحيده وكمال قدرته. وهي الأرض الميتة؛ أحياها بالنبات وإخراج الحب منها. القرطبي:17/440.
السؤال: ما الفائدة من ذكر الأرض الميتة وإحيائها في هذا الموضع؟

* يمكنك وضع إجابتك عن الأسئلة في التعليقات حتى تعمّ الفائدة

* للمزيد عن هذه الآية في مصحف تدبر وعمل: https://altadabbur.com/#aya=36_33

#وقفة_تدبرية

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh!

InshaAllah we will continue our Live Interactive Reflection Workshops-ReflectionRetreats today at 2:30pm (BST)/ 27th September 2025.
. 
These workshops are designed to help you in reflecting on the Quran more effectively inshAllah

The sessions touch on;

1- The Five Lenses for reflecting on the Quran as developed by our resident scholar Dr. Sohaib Saeed which you can find here http://www.quranreflect.com/5lenses 

2- The Way to The Quran by Ustadh Khurram Murad (RA) 

3- Tadubbur Tips developed by Sr. Ilham

4- Following a brief discussion of the above by our Quran Reflect Moderators (Br. Basit and Sr. Ilham and myself) we will then apply the principles learnt to a case study verse(s) in the Quran.

5- This will be done in break-out rooms followed by a class discussion inshaAllah

6- Before our forthcoming workshop we invite you to study the following Surah/ Verses in advance: [Surah Yasin, Verses 1-50]

Please join us and see details below.
📅 Session Date:
Saturday, 27th September 2025 (today)
⏰ Time:
2:30 PM BST (UK)
9:30 AM EDT (New York)
6:30 PM PKT (Pakistan)
9:30 PM MYT (Malaysia)
4:30 PM AST (Saudi Arabia)
👉 Join and interact live:
www.quranreflect.com/zoom 

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh!
 
InshaAllah we will continue our Live Interactive Reflection Workshops-ReflectionRetreats at 2:30pm (GMT)/ 6th December 2025.

 These workshops are designed to help you in reflecting on the Quran more effectively inshAllah.

The sessions touch on;

1- The Five Lenses for reflecting on the Quran as developed by our resident scholar Dr. Sohaib Saeed which you can find here http://www.quranreflect.com/5lenses  
2- The Way to The Quran by Ustadh Khurram Murad (RA)  
3- Tadubbur Tips developed by Sr. Ilham 
4- Following a brief discussion of the above by our Quran Reflect Moderators (Br. Basit and Sr. Ilham and myself) we will then apply the principles learnt to a case study verse(s) in the Quran. 
5- Before our forthcoming workshop we invite you to study the following Surah/ Verses in advance: [Surah Yasin, Verses 1-50]

 Please join us and see details below.
 📅 Session Date:
 Saturday, 6th December 2025  

⏰ Time:
 2:30 PM GMT (UK)
 9:30 AM EST (New York)
 7:30 PM PKT (Pakistan)
 10:30 PM MYT (Malaysia)
 5:30 PM AST (Saudi Arabia) 

👉 Join and interact live:
 www.quranreflect.com/zoom 
#reflectionRetreat ​ ​ ​ ​

salam wa Rahmatullah. You can watch this on here: https://quranreflect.com/ReflectionRetreat

Bilal May Allah be pleased with him stopped giving the athan after the prophet peace be upon him passed away as it would remind him of the blessed prophet. 

I never truly understood this concept untill I had to recite these surahs after my mother الله يرحمها passed away. Tbh I’ve been avoiding these surahs because of the emotional weight they have on me now. 

I still love these Surah , but there is this memory attached to them now that I recited these a lot by my mother’s death bed. 

Even walking through the streets that I passed by while talking to my mother,  somehow remind me of her. Subhan Allah 


Sometimes I almost accidentally pick up the phone and dial her 


I trust that Allah rewards a person every time  they remember a loved one that they lost and practice patience 

Until then 

و لذكر الله اكبر

A year or two before I had even decided to start researching Islam, I recall I had a Music History class in college. The book came with a CD that had various examples of music styles. For the recitation section, they had recorded Surah Ya Seen. I remember listening to it and thinking about how beautiful it sounded. At that time, I really didn't know what I was listening to, and if you would have told me I'd be a Muslim one day, I would have laughed!
It's the first surah that I ever recall listening to, and I pray that Allah (SWT) will allow it to be the last surah I hear before leaving this world as well.  Ameen.

SubhanAllah connecting with Surah Yaseen this morning and being reminded that everything we have is only from Allah, none of us are entitled.  If you’re choosing to celebrate Thanksgiving then at least remember with your heart and prove to Allah with your actions (prayer, charity, reading some Quran, maintaining good relations with family..) your gratitude. You know, things we should be also doing every other day of the year and throughout our lives. It’s easy for our egos to assume if things have been given to us, then we are worthy of these blessings. But Allah doesn’t owe us anything and we should at least acknowledge that so we don’t fall in this life like the Gardener of Surah AlKahf or like People of the Town in Surah Yaseen and so we don’t regret being full of of ourselves when the Day begins.

Bismillah! Al-Hamdulillah!
AsSalamu Alaikum My beloved Sister,

Just a correction of the phrase 'If you’re choosing to celebrate Thanksgiving'
This should not be there my sister. 
This is not a permissible thing in Islam that a Muslim observes the Deen (Way of Life) of the Kuffar.
As Rasulullah Sallillahu warns, 
'Whoever imitates a people is one of them.' Narrated by Abu Dawood, 3512; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel, 2691.  
Please have a look at the Fatwa in this regard. I can refer you one mostly trusted.
https://islamqa.info/en/answers/947/ruling-on-celebrating-non-muslim-holidays-and-congratulating-them
And Allah knows best.
May Allah save us from following the Kuffar's Deen.
Ameen.

The heart. There's something worth noting about it. The thing about about the heart is, even though it's hidden from the sights of people, the heart beats. In other words, it makes a sound.

{ But when it is said to them, "Beware of what is before you and what is behind you—perhaps you will receive mercy." } (Qur'an, 36:45)

Consider the three signs presented to us immediately before this verse: the land, the sky, the sea. Then again, if you've been keeping up with my reflections, you'll know we only need one, so in this reflection, I'll do my best to keep to one.

The land. When the rain falls, it can fall upon fertile soil, rock, or something of the like in between. In time, those with sight begin to see the fruits each land produces... or the lack of.

Personality, character. Like intelligence and wisdom, like Islam and faith, though commonly interchangeable, there's this distinction to be made between them. While character is about the morals you stand upon, personality refers more to how you prefer to express them. For example, honesty is a part of character. However, as to how you might go on to express that, you can be: energetic about it; calm; curious; forward. That's personality, it appears pretty much any time.

Personality, character. The land. The heart. Some prefer to be around people who are more often energetic as opposed to calm, others the opposite. There's nothing wrong with that, but the issue is that we can too readily label someone we like as good. That's character, not personality. Though that aspect of that heart is mostly hidden from the eyes, the heartbeat can be heard as the rain falls upon it, its rhythm understood as the rain continues to fall upon other days.

As for those hard of heart, upon being told to be mindful of what's before and behind them as a means of acquiring mercy,

{ And no sign comes to them from the signs of their Lord except that they are from it turning away. } (Qur'an, 36:46)

Not the heart, not the land, not the sky, not the sea, not those who could present to you its signs clearly, nor the book that they understood it from. No matter what was presented to them, they weren't looking. This is where we can truly begin to see the destructive nature of the distractions around us, this need for everything to happen, right here, right now. To wake up in the luxuries we've built within our homes, to prepare to go out drive and to work so that our eyes are constantly on the road and never on the surroundings, only to be surrounded by walls once we reach our place of work. Every free moment spent then enclosed in a screen. Among them are those who recognise the emptiness that appears in turn, so they turn to the Qur'an. "I don't get it". Slow down, let yourself walk, sit by the trees, gaze at the sky during the day and the night, feel the water run through your fingers, the people who remind you of truth and of patience. Slow down.

{ And when it is said to them, "Spend from that which Allah has provided for you," those who disbelieve say to those who believe, "Should we feed one whom, if Allah had willed, He would have fed? You are not but in clear error." } (Qur'an, 36:47)

Unable to slow down, they stray. They stray far, they become sceptical. Having never spent the time to understand and instead covering themselves with the darkness they've become accustomed to, they present these arguments found within the dark that they themselves never attempted to consider nor strive against. And so they fall further into the rabbit hole,

{ And they say, "When is this promise, if you should be truthful?" } (Qur'an, 36:48)

Go back. Slow down.

{ But when it is said to them, "Beware of what is before you and what is behind you—perhaps you will receive mercy." } (Qur'an, 36:45)

It was never about them. Allah will care for them as He does for everyone. It was always about the individual and the mercy every person is in constant dependence of.

Go back. Slow down.

{ And a sign for them is the dead earth. We have brought it to life and brought forth from it grain, and from it they eat.
And We placed therein gardens of palm trees and grapevines and caused to burst forth therefrom some springs—
That they may eat of His fruit. And their hands have not produced it, so will they not be grateful? } (Qur'an, 36:32-34)

The fruit you eat from, its sweetness you enjoy. They come from lands ready to receive the rain. Those lands are in themselves people who were guided by Allah and so received His mercy.

Go back. Slow down.

{ Indeed, We have put shackles on their necks, and they are to their chins, so they are with heads aloft.
And We have put before them a barrier and behind them a barrier and covered them, so they do not see.
And it is all the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them—they will not believe.
You can only warn one who follows the message and fears the Most Merciful unseen. So give him good tidings of forgiveness and noble reward. } (Qur'an, 36:8-11)

Miserly and unable to give, your mind aloft with the status and wealth you've acquired and what more of it you can have: Allah places shackles upon you; He places a wall in front of you and behind you. You're being imprisoned, withheld from His mercy because of what you used to do. Yet, when told to notice the walls in front of you and behind you, asked to recognise the situation you're in, you turn away. You argue. Why should I help anyone else?

You failed to slow down. You failed to remember, to follow right against wrong. You missed every single sign. You missed the point of feeding the poor.

Go back. Slow down. Remember.

{ On a straight path. } (Qur'an, 36:4)

I'm not sure why we have to go so far as to consider why it's good to help those in need. The straight path would've been help those in need, to do good to others. No one's going to tell you that the straight path is to kick them down while they're weak and take whatever belongings they have left while you have the chance. Suddenly, the arguments they present doesn't seem as strong anymore, and you see where everything went wrong.

{ Look how they strike for you comparisons, but they have strayed, so they cannot a way. } (Qur'an, 25:9)

And so one day, there will be nothing left to say.

{ They do not await except one blast which will seize them while they are disputing. } (Qur'an, 36:49)

Remember. Go back. Slow down.