RISING A GREAT SOUL WITH AL- QUR’AN

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you
Bismillahhir rahmanir rahim:

In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful. ً‫ال‬ َ ‫( ا َ ْهالً َو‬ahlan wa sahlan) to the
ً ‫س ْه‬
honourable judges, timekeeper, teachers and to my attentive audience.

Dear brothers and sisters in Islam,

Rising a great soul with Al- Quran. What a wonderful topic to be discussed in
this beautiful class today. But what does it mean by raising a great soul with Al–
Quran? According to the Online Cambridge Dictionary, raise means to become
greater in amount, size or degree, meanwhile great is defined as very good and soul is
a person of a stated type. Finally, Al– Quran as a definitions is the word of Allah as
revealed to his prophet Muhammad (PBUH- Peace be upon him), transferred to us
through narration in chains, protected by Allah between the lines, recited as a form of
worship and miraculous in its words and meanings. Therefore, it can be concluded
that rising a great soul with al Quran means to build a very good person through
the miraculous words of Allah, that is, the Quran itself.

POINT1
And why it is said that one can rise as a great soul with the Quran? The first
reason is because of its contents that are didactic (mendidik) in nature; it always
stresses on humans to reflect and ponder the truth in a very decent way possible one
can muster for. This can be seen in surah Ar- Rahman where God tells us that He is
the one who is the Most Gracious, from the one who taught us the Qur’an to the one
who created man and gave him intelligence and the moon which moves on its course.
And the verse, which translated “ Then which of the favours of your Lord will

ye deny?” is repeated for 31 times in the surah. This really is engaging human’s
intellect to reflect upon Him as the only God to be worshipped. So it is clear that
through the Quranic teachings, human can practise intellect and become a great
thinker as he uses the Quran as an authority in making wise judgements and decisions
in life.
POINT 2
Another reason why one can rise a great soul with the Quran is that Allah
promises paradise to those who read and memorise it. It is reported by Abu
Dawud and At-Tarmizi in hadith sahih that one’s position in paradise is determined
by the amount of Qur’an one memorizes in this life. ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn Al-
’Aas heard the Prophet (PBUH) saying “It will be said to the companion of the

Qur’an:, Read and elevate (though the levels of the paradise) and
beautify your voice as you used to do when you were in the dunyaa! For
verily, your position in the Paradise will be at the last verse you recite!”
(Abu Daawud and At- Tarmizi, sahih) So dear brothers and sisters, is it not great
rising a good soul with Al Quran? Is a guaranty of paradise not great enough for us? I
leave these questions for you to decide.

POINT 3
And the last reason to rising a great soul with Al-Quran is through its
recitation and elocution that shape humans’ brains. Mohamed Ghilan, a PhD
holder in neuroscience in his article ‘How the Quran Shapes the Brain’ (2018) stated
that the temporal lobe in human brain is activated during the recitation of the Quran.
The parietal lobes are also quite heavily engaged as one learns the Quran. The left
parietal lobe deals with reading, writing, and functions in speech. It's also the part
whose activity is important for math and logic problems. The right parietal lobe
handles speech tone, which is related to elocution. It's also responsible for visual
spatial relationships and understanding facial expressions. The front part is
responsible for the sense of touch discrimination and recognition, which is active
during handwriting. The back part plays an important role in attention. Both lobes are
also activated during skill learning tasks. Overall, having parietal lobes that have been
well activated translates to better logic and math-solving skills, eloquence in general
speech, better ability at reading emotional states from facial cues, improved attention,
and enhanced capacity for understanding visual spatial relationships. This clearly
correlates with God’s first revelation to the prophet (PBUH) in surah Al- ‘Alaq,
which translates: “ Read in the name of your Lord who created. He created
man from a clot. Read and your God is the Most Honourable. Who taught
by the pen. Taught man what he knew not.” (96: 1-5)

Now imagine what such a soul will be able to do when they tackle any subject.
It makes sense how someone like Imam Al Ghazali could study Greek philosophy
during his spare time and masters it within 2 years. Last but not least, what was the
Muslims' secret for their exponential rise in scientific advancement and contribution
to human knowledge? Literally, it is the Quran when it was the centre of their
education system. Till then my brothers and sisters,

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you