Sharpen Your Saw Now

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

A man sees a woodcutter furiously trying to cut down a tree with an obviously dull saw. So he asks "Hey, why don't you stop for a minute and sharpen your saw? Your work would go much faster!". The woodcutter replies, "Stop and sharpen my saw? I don't have time for that! Look at all these trees I have to cut down!"

People are all too busy with their lives and they don't think to stop and sharpen their saw. We all agree that Qur'an is the Book of guidance but why aren't we learning it? Most common answer we hear is, "I am busy with this and that ..."

There is no better wealth than Qu'ran. Let us not be like the woodcutter, too busy to sharpen his saw to make his life easier. Never say you are too busy to study the Qur'an. Giving a little time to study the Qur’an will improve your life tremendously.

You spend 15-25 years of your life in elementary school until you get through college/post graduate studies and get a job. And another 30-40 years working (if you live that long) to pay for this and for that. What do you have in the end? If you have something to show for, you have to leave them behind when you are called to your grave to start a new life of the hereafter. You bring nothing that you have worked so hard for to your grave except a few sheets of white cloth that wrap your body.

If you have Qur'an in your heart, you will bring it with you and it will be your companion and a source of happiness there. And in the Day of Judgment, "It will be said to the person who memorized the Quran, 'Recite and ascend and recite with slow, rhythmic way just as you used to recite in the worldly life. For verily, your position in Paradise will be at the place of the last ayah (verse) that you recite.’" [Abu Dawood and Tirmidhi]

There are at least 6000 grades of Paradise (based on the number of verses in the Qur'an and there is a huge difference in between each grade). According to this hadith, the companion of the Qur’an will keep increasing his grade for every ayah that he will recite. In that grade, the companion of the Qur'an will not stay there just for 30-40 years but forever in bliss.

"Someone without Qur'an in the heart is like a ruined house." [Tirmidhi]

So, don’t say, "I am busy" to learn the Qur'an. Don't say, "Qur'an is difficult," for you are denying what Allah is saying, وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ ﴿١٧ (And We have certainly made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember? (17)) [Al-Qamar 54:17] Be smart and put some time learning the Qur'an. It is your best investment for this life before the next. You will not sweat in the next life inshaAllah.

May Allah make us among the companions of the Qur’an. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam