In Islam, the Holy Quran is believed as the one true guideline that human beings should look up to and apply in their everyday situations. Comprised of 114 surahs, the Quran acts as the most perfect reference compared to prior ancient holy books, as believed by Muslims.
Not only do the surahs in the Quran explain largely about Islamic rituals (i.e. salah, zakah, etc), they also contain valuable life lessons. It guides us to be on the straight and right path. Indeed, that is exactly how it is stated in Surah Al-Haqqah ‘…the Quran is a reminder for the righteous’ (QS 69:48). The verses can easily touch the hearts who read them wholeheartedly. Such idea can be found as part of Surah Ar-Ra’d ‘…verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest’ (QS 13:28). As a result, having a constant and intensive interaction with the Holy Quran should be our priority as Muslims wherever we are.
With little doubts, Muslims all over the world most usually have the Holy Quran somewhere placed neatly in one of their shelves in their homes. Moreover, since we live in the digital era nowadays, the full version of Al-Quran can easily be accessed through whatever gadget Muslim millennials have.
Nevertheless, have you ever wondered, how many of us really interact with our Holy Book on a daily basis? If so, how many times do we read the Quran in one day? On a different perspective, if we do read the Quran, the majority of us tend be done once we have read the Arabic version of the verses. Furthermore, we also tend to focus on how many verses or juz we are reading rather than comprehending the meaning behind the verses. There is a possibility that we might not realise how strong and powerful the Holy Quran really is.
In this article, four alternative solutions are presented, especially for Muslim millennials to be closer to and get to know the Holy Quran better. It is a well-known fact that people nowadays are clinged to their gadgets so why not use technology to get to know Islam, particularly through the Holy Quran, better?
As one of the leading Islamic App, Muslim Pro has offered simple day-to-day base Islamic features, such as prayer reminders and qibla. Moreover, Al-Quran has been made available to its users completed with its translation in the chosen language. Quite regularly, once a day even, Muslim Pro notifies its user a ‘Verse of the Day’. As portrayed by the name, users are given one random verse of the Quran with just one click away. Such feature is particularly useful since users are presented consistently with one verse a day, with just little efforts made.
Furthermore, another app that is very much popular among the millennials nowadays is Instagram. According to Statista.com, Instagram is used by around 800 million users per September 2017. On a daily base, 500 million accounts access Instagram. These numbers show how the majority of people nowadays are influenced by this particular kind of social media. Despite the drawbacks Instagram (or any other social media) might have, as once written by Noshin Bokth, we can always turn our perspective and see it as a tool that offers advantages, too.
Among many accounts that offer Islamic perspective in their feeds, @quransayings which is followed by a little over 1 million followers, consists of verses of the Quran displayed in beautiful pictures with appealing fonts for Muslim millennials. One picture weighs no more than two verses of Surahs that are very light and related to everyday conditions.
A perfect example of this is an image that was posted about Surah Adh-Dhariyat (QS 51:50) that was liked by over 41,000 likers. The post also received kind and positive comments from Muslim brothers and sisters across the world. On the comments, most of them seem to really find such posts very encouraging and empowering.
Although a specific look at Quran quotes and the effect they might have on someone (e.g. emotional state, motivation) has not been found, there are other similar professional looks on the positive effects associated with motivational quotations.
A post shared by Learn Quran App (@learnquranapp) on
One of the reasons released in an article by Gwen Moran has to do with the fact that the message in such quotes are motored by a powerful language usage. More importantly, it also has to do with our basic human characteristics that seek out more powerful figure as an example to follow. As Muslims, we firmly believe that the Holy Quran contains the words of Allah Swt, the most powerful source there is. Hence, safely to say that it is automatic that we are touched and motivated by verses of the Quran but this time, it is presented in a less conventional but without reducing its meaning whatsoever.
The third alternative tech-savvy tool to bring us closer to Al-Quran can be found in SoundCloud, a platform that enables free music and podcast sharing, worldwide. A team of Muslim millennials in Indonesia sees this platform as an opportunity to do goodness, particularly in spreading the spirit of getting closer to the Holy Quran for the younger generation. The #QuranIDProject short for Quran Indonesia Project was found publicly in 2014 and it is still active in ‘spreading, even if it is just one verse’ – according to their motto. One audio track equals to one (or more) verse(s) of the Quran and they come not only in the original Arabic language, but also in Indonesian and English translations. To attract more young listeners, famous and young Indonesian artists are the ones reading the verses of the Quran instead of Sheikhs. Clearly, the audio tracks in #QuranIDProject are incomparable to how the Sheikhs recite the holy verses. Nevertheless, it is a nice start and certainly a positive movement from the youths to encourage their generation, to not just be drown in worldly matters but also to be closer to the Holy Quran.
The final alternative is offered by : an App that helps you learn how to recite the Holy Quran itself. Instead of learning how to read the original language of the Quran traditionally (i.e. coming to a Madrasah), people can access Quran study anyplace and anytime. Among the different features of this App, users can record their own voices and listen to how the hafiz read it, to check whether the users read it correctly. Furthermore, users can evaluate their comprehension of the tajwid with just a few easy steps. Learn Quran Tajwid is therefore especially suitable for Muslim millennials who have so much on their plates but want to improve their Quran reciting technique.
In the era of technology, it is hard for Muslim millennials to avoid the internet and the different kinds of application offered, completely. Therefore, we simply need to utilise it wisely, especially the ones that can lead us to have a more pious life. Since gadget is our ‘best friend’ with whom we access the internet and its applications, four viable options are given in this article as the alternative solution, namely Muslim Pro, @quransayings (and any similar account), #QuranIDProject on SoundCloud, and Learn Quran Tajwid. Do bear in mind that these options are just the ‘taster’ of the whole Al-Quran. We definitely must seek other learning opportunities to enrich our knowledge of the Quran, as there are so much more to the Quran than just what can be found on your screen.
Written by Rinda S. Kurnia for Learn Quran
References
https://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-active-instagram-users/ (Instagram users)
https://www.fastcompany.com/3051432/why-inspirational-quotes-motivate-us (Factors behind liking motivational quotes)
http://productivemuslim.com/utilizing-social-media-to-gain-barakah/ (Noshin Bokth’s article)
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