Is Reading Only Recognizing Letters? Surah Al-‘Alaq and Understanding Ourselves

4 July 2021

Question: Can someone read a great deal and still misunderstand life?

Of course they can.

Recognizing letters and understanding are not the same thing.

We may finish a book. But when we do not live by what we learn, our knowledge remains distant from our lives.

The opening call of Surah Al-‘Alaq invites us to reconsider reading.

Reading is not merely going through the line before our eyes.

It is paying close attention to creation, our own conduct, and the signs our Lord presents to us.

Read in the Name of Your Lord Who Created

Surah Al-‘Alaq begins with the call, “Read.”

Then we are reminded of human creation and Allah’s teaching.

Let us consider this sequence.

First comes a statement reminding people that they did not bring themselves into existence.

Then attention is drawn to the opportunity to learn.

Sometimes we can see ourselves as people who know everything.

When we learn to read, we are not merely deciphering the meaning of a line.

We also learn to connect the things we see around us.

We can observe how the soil changes when rain falls.

We can pay attention to the shape of a leaf, the formation of a fruit, or the order of day and night.

Examining these things requires curiosity, patience, and a desire to learn.

Question: Have I begun accepting the things I encounter every day without questioning them anymore?

When someone looks at a familiar subject with fresh eyes, they may notice another detail.

That is why reading is not a task that ends, but an ongoing search.

Investigating the origin of a word can also be part of that search.

But let us take care not to focus on one word and miss the meaning of the whole sentence.

If we want to understand the Qur’an, let us try to consider the word, the sentence, and the context together.

Yet when we were born, we did not know anything as we know it today.

We learned to speak, write, walk, and acquire a profession over time.

Let us think of the first letters a teacher explained.

When we learn those letters, we begin reading words we did not previously understand.

Then words become sentences. Sentences help us understand a subject.

But can we say that we have reached the end of learning?

No. Everything we learn opens the door to another question.

Question: When we read, do we truly want to understand, or merely to have read?

This difference matters.

When we read a verse, we can try to understand what its words say.

Considering that verse’s context is more valuable than rushing to judgment.

When we do not understand an expression in the Qur’an, we can investigate.

We can pause where we do not know.

Learning the meaning of a word can be a beginning to considering the meaning of an entire sentence.

Let us not turn reading into merely repeating other people’s words.

Let us also use our own minds.

Let us not neglect observing, questioning, investigating, and considering the consequences of what we learn.

The Pen, Learning, and Effort

Surah Al-‘Alaq reminds us of teaching by the pen.

The pen is an important sign for reflecting on preserving and transmitting knowledge.

When people write down what they learn, they can return and read it again.

They can notice points they did not previously understand.

They can benefit from the knowledge others have accumulated.

Today, we speak with people elsewhere in the world using a mobile phone.

Let us consider proverbs used in the past.

We say, “Drop by drop, a lake forms.” We say, “The calculations made at home do not hold at the marketplace.”

Sometimes we repeat these automatically. Yet they may contain the distillation of long experience.

They remind us of the value of accumulation, the existence of unexpected circumstances, and the need to be prepared.

Question: Can we turn advice we know into conduct?

A child may hear the saying, “Even mountains of wealth cannot withstand living off them without replenishing them.”

But if the child continues spending what they have without thinking, they have not lived the meaning of the saying.

An adult can make the same mistake.

Even as their income increases, their expenses may grow faster.

Then we should think not only about earning more, but also about how to set limits on our desires.

The value of learning appears here: Can we apply the measure we know in daily life?

The knowledge preserved by the pen gains meaning when brought into our lives.

An image and a sound reach us at the same time.

For someone who does not know how this happens, it may seem astonishing.

But behind it lie learning, research, and prolonged effort.

Technology did not emerge by itself.

People worked to understand something, experimented, and developed what they learned.

This example reminds us that seeing a result does not mean understanding the effort that led to it.

When looking at a student, let us not see only the exam result.

Let us also consider the study habits that led to that result.

If we want an undertaking to succeed, we cannot be content merely with good wishes.

We need to learn, produce, and take responsibility.

Knowledge touches our lives more powerfully when combined with effort.

Let us consider an example from everyday life.

Parents immediately give their child everything the child wants.

The child never considers how the things they have were obtained.

Over time, the child may struggle to appreciate their belongings, food, and the effort spent on their behalf.

Is advice alone what is missing here?

Perhaps it is an experience they have lived, a small responsibility they have taken on, and their relationship with effort.

The old saying, “Stretch your feet according to your blanket,” is an everyday reminder of this measure.

The saying, “Those who are not content with little will not find abundance,” also invites us to consider limiting our desires.

Instead of merely memorizing these sayings, let us look at their expressions in our lives.

As our means increase, do our gratitude and moderation increase too?

Or do we begin wanting more as we gain more options?

Seeing Ourselves as Self-Sufficient

Surah Al-‘Alaq draws attention to how people may transgress when they see themselves as self-sufficient.

This is very important.

Working, earning, and learning can be valuable.

But saying, “I no longer need anyone,” after all of this is an entirely different attitude.

As people increase their own power, they may forget their limits.

We may have succeeded in an undertaking.

Sometimes people use success as a measure for considering themselves self-sufficient.

It is easy to say, “I did it, I earned it, I know.”

Yet a teacher’s help, an employee’s effort, our family’s support, and many other opportunities have a place in our lives.

When we disregard all these things, we may attribute what we possess solely to ourselves.

Question: Can I also see other people’s effort in something I have achieved?

Becoming a manager does not make someone more knowledgeable than everyone around them.

They may still need the warnings of the people beside them.

Nor does someone always make the right decisions when they become a parent.

Sometimes they may recognize their own mistake by listening to what their child says.

Not considering ourselves self-sufficient does not mean saying we are powerless.

It means choosing to remain open to learning.

This attitude can make it easier both to gain knowledge and to build healthier relationships with people.

But this success does not mean that we will never make a mistake.

Our knowledge of one subject may have increased.

Yet in another subject, we still need to learn.

Sometimes seeing themselves as self-sufficient prevents people from hearing another person’s warning.

Question: When a correct warning reaches me, do I listen because it is right, or only if I like it?

This is where we encounter our own desires.

We want to protect what we possess.

We want what we desire to happen.

We may also want everyone to admire what we have achieved.

But pursuing all our desires does not lead us to what is right.

Someone may forget honesty while wanting to earn money.

Another may interrupt people so that their own idea will be accepted.

Parents may fail to hear how their child feels while wanting to exercise authority over them.

Having power does not mean that we should use it however we wish.

Sometimes being strong means being able to limit our own desire.

Sometimes it means being able to say, “I made a mistake here.”

Remembering that Allah has taught us is an awareness that can prevent people from seeing themselves as unlimited.

For a human being is a learner, not someone who knows everything from the beginning.

Prostration, Closeness, and Everyday Life

At the end of Surah Al-‘Alaq is a call to prostrate and draw close to Allah.

This ending should be considered together with the opening call, “Read.”

Where is what we read taking us?

Are we becoming more arrogant?

Or do we see our own limits more clearly as we learn?

Prostration expresses a servant’s turning toward their Lord.

We should also seek the expression of this turning in our lives.

In worship, we say that we want to be close to Allah.

But how do we treat people in our daily lives?

Do we use the truths we have learned only to point out other people’s mistakes?

Or can we also use them to correct our own?

Trying to be trustworthy at work, maintain balance within our family, and respect other people’s rights matters too.

When helping someone, we should be able to do good without calculating what they will give us in return.

When we encounter hardship, we should consider our responsibility instead of merely complaining.

Of course, there is much we do not know.

But we do not have to present everything we do not know as though it were certain.

Even if we cannot explain every detail of creation, we can recognize the blessings we see.

We can keep reflecting when we look at the sky, watch a tree, or see how the soil changes after rain.

Reading thus ceases to be an activity detached from life.

It reminds us both to ask questions and to act responsibly in response to what we learn.

Question: Which truth I have read and understood today will change one of my actions?

Let us begin here.

Let us read a verse without rushing. Let us consider its meaning.

Then let us look at which behavior in our own life that verse touches.

May our Lord increase our knowledge. May He also grant us the ability to live by what we learn.

For reading means not only opening our eyes, but also seeing the direction of our life anew.