How to Deal with the Lack of Positivity While Reading the Quran?
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
Whenever I’m reading the Quran, there is always this overwhelming fear that I won’t feel anything positive when reading it, that my heart would reject it. Sometimes it gets wrong to the point that it disrupts my reading of the Quran.
I’ve read somewhere, and this is the gist of it, that if I don’t feel anything positive or feel impacted by the Quran, then something is wrong with me. My biggest fear is having a cold stone heart, which has been bothering me for the last two days.
If you have any advice, it would be highly appreciated.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I am sorry to hear that you experience fear and anxiety. May Allah Most High grant you ease and allow your relationship with the Quran to grow.
Fear Based On False Assertions
Whoever told you that not feeling anything positive when reading the Quran indicates something wrong with you-has something wrong with their understanding of the Religion.
We seek refuge in Allah Most High from ever being the means of turning people away from the Quran.
Dealing With Doubts of Rejection
There are many resources on the SeekersGuidance website on doubts and misgivings. Read this link for specific details on that.
A Reader on OCD and Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings)
In short, you are not your thoughts (or doubts). These thoughts that come to your mind about the Quran are involuntary and external. They are from Shaytan, and you should ignore them.
You are not accountable for these thoughts. You are only responsible for your choices and your actions.
The Softening of the Heart
Contrary to what you were told, if one were to have a hard heart, it would not be because of not feeling something while reading the Quran; rather, it would be because of not reading the Quran.
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “The hearts rust over just like iron.” It was asked, “O Messenger of Allah! How, then, are they polished?” He (may Allah bless him and give him peace) replied, “(By the) recitation of the Qur’an and remembering death.” [Bayhaqi, Shu’ab al-Iman]
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh]Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
