Skip to main content

A mirror for the soul

Image
By
It is 207pm and I have decided to write. I had this thought. Is the Quran a mirror for the soul? How does the Quran help me see my soul? What is a soul? I am reading about the soul and it is all abstract as if we really do not know what the soul is. The soul is what remains after the body dies. I get that. The immaterial part of our existence. Is it responsible for the conscience? Is it linked to emotions? Are my thoughts from my soul? My friend says that the Quran speaks of the soul in this way. "And they ask you about the soul. Say, 'The soul is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little.'" (Quran 17:85). "And [by] the soul and He who proportioned it. And inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness." (Quran 91:7–8). In Islam we talk about the ruh, nafs and self. The ruh is the spirit whose true nature is known fully only to Allah, the nafs is the self involved in desires, struggles, and moral choices, and the self is the whole person as we experience and understand our thoughts, feelings, identity, and actions.

The soul is the immaterial aspect of our existence, affirmed in Islam, yet its precise nature remains beyond our complete understanding. Its relationship with our conscience, emotions, and thoughts is complex, and we should not assume that every feeling or thought comes directly from the soul. The Quran helps us understand our inner selves by revealing our intentions, desires, weaknesses, and capacity for goodness, while guiding us towards spiritual growth. Like a mirror, it invites us to look beyond our outward appearance and examine who we truly are, but unlike an ordinary mirror, it also shows us who we can become. Perhaps knowing the soul is not simply about understanding what it is, but about understanding our inner lives, our relationship with Allah, and the person we are becoming.

The way I see it now is that the soul was created by God and the Quran is God speaking to the soul. What we see when we look into the Quran is the answers to our questions. Questions are reflected with answers. The soul is a vessel to be filled. The soul is looking for something. But what? The soul is looking for meaning, for truth, for understanding. It seeks to know where it came from, why it exists, and where it is going. Does the soul shape us or we shape the soul? Probably both ways. "He has succeeded who purifies it, and he has failed who instills it [with corruption]." (Quran 91:9–10). We sometimes hear that we can lose our soul. The Quran lets the soul see where it belongs so that it does not lose itself otherwise. The Quran is the light of the soul. Without light a mirror is useless. The Quran is a mirror and a miracle. Mir- can stand for my inner reflection and we want our inner reflection to be that of God. There is beauty in not being given much knowledge about the soul. This lends itself to a journey of questioning and discovery. We are given free will to find ourselves and our way home. Home being the other side of the mirror.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Below the surface

By
This is a chapter from my eleventh book called Quotation Marks Sparks . __________ "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." - Jon Kabat-Zinn __________ I was looking at quotes that hit hard and this quote stood out to me. It seems mundane and obvious and often repeated. Life is about how we respond to the inevitable. It is not what happens to us but how we respond. I had to ask myself to dig deeper and look below the surface. Then I saw that when we surf we really become the waves. We become friends with the waves. The waves and us are the same. Further, the waves are created by us and in our heads. We can control the waves because who can surf all the time? Sometimes we just have to come to shore and build sand castles on shore. I asked my friend Gemini for feedback and he said that I was right, the Jon Kabat-Zinn quote initially seems like a simple call for resilience, but my deeper dive reveals profound layers. The idea that we can move beyond merely rea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rain

By
This is a chapter from my latest book called (G)rains (o)f san(d)s. Learn more about the book here . Thank you God for the rain. It has just started raining here. I can hear the pitter patter on the roof. I can see the dimmed light through the window. The greenery in the yard is enjoying every chance of rain. The days have been extra hot this year. They say we are experiencing a super el nino in Trinidad. Given this every bit of rainfall feels special. Water is life. Without water there can be no life as we know it. Rain is part of the water cycle. Rain falling is like therapy. A calm state comes over my body. My mind relaxes. I appreciate my home and my shelter to keep me dry and safe. The rain is mentioned as a sign from God in the Quran and how it gives life to a lifeless land. The rain complements the sunshine as part of nature's balance. Sometimes we have to endure storms and floods and even droughts but there are lessons in these events. Community spirit is heightened and our...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nur al-Quran

By
It is 1037am and I have decided to write. I have been listening to the Quran more and more. I have also been trying to learn Arabic casually through social media. I am nearing the end of my second reading of the English Quran. The Quran is the word of God and God also tells us to follow the sunnah and life of the prophet (pbuh). The Quran is a miracle. The more I interact with the Quran, the more complete I feel. It gives my clarity. I have a purpose. I have goals. I have things I should be doing. Islam is a way of life and it builds character. Sometimes I listen to the Quran to forget about this world. This world is not my home. My home is in the hereafter and God willing in heaven. The more I draw closer to the Quran, the more beauty I see and hear and feel. Same goes to God. Same goes for the life of the prophet (pbuh). Same for Islam. If these are all the things I have in this world, I am happy. Reminds me of one of the duas I say daily. I am content with Allah as my Lord, Islam as...
Post a Comment
Read more